Dunbartonshire Relays

Reids All About It for Historic Westies Win!

It was just like a Reid gathering of family and friends at the Dunbartonshire Relays. Not only did we have Don & Elma plus their progeny of Victoria, Cameron and Fraser, but also their pals Deborah and Jennifer Stokoe and Steven Brodie to boot. Not only must this be an all time record for Westies juniors turnout in a race, but Deborah won the under 13 girl's race. Running with sickening ease over the porridge-like terrain, she finished strongly in what is probably the first Westies individual victory in a Dunbartonshire event since Bill Sheridan over 20 years ago. Well done, Deborah; tell us your secret?

Elsewhere it was a good turnout for an extremely hard, hilly and wet relay trail in Helensburgh. The trail covered farmland and included the crossing of 2 burns, which turned out to be the nemeses of Mark McColl. The only disappointment was the lack of women; with only Jane and Ana turning out, we failed to finish a team. Had another woman turned out, there would have been every possibility of a team prize.

The senior race started off brilliantly for Westies. With only half a mile to go in stage 1, Mark (running on his own to avoid possible team disqualification...don't ask!) was lying in 3rd place, just ahead of Chris. However, he lost two places at the last burn, probably due to the time taken to remove and redon his spikes to prevent them getting wet. Chris finished strongly in the uphill finish, handing over to Don. Don also ran a cracker, holding off Kirkie to retain 3rd spot at the end of stage 2. Gibson, on his first Winter League outing this year, only lost one place, handing over to Dave. Dave, fresh from an hour's timekeeping, fluffed it, losing 2 places to finish in 6th place.

Hamilton ran first leg for the B team, with a strong run, finishing only a couple of minutes behind Chris. Blair looked good on leg 2, finishing a second faster than Chris and promising to teach Dave a lesson at the Uni Road Race next week. Graeme's pre-race adrenalin burst consisted of a car smash with an old Edinburgh buftie; the ensuing tortuous exchange of insurance details caused Graeme to almost miss the start. Drew ran the final stage, albeit he did manage to avoid incurring the wrath of Margaret who was shouting at every stray runner attempting to cut the corner in the final climb.

In the women's race, Jane showed that she really was regaining form, only narrowly missing out on the fastest vet prize. Ana followed up well, and at the wnd of stage 2, Westies Wimmin were lying in second place. However, there everything ended, with no-one to take over.

Bizarre event of the afternoon was Muffy removing ( and suffocating) a mouse from a woman's trouser leg!

A good turnout, with 17 runners plus Elma, Muffy and Margaret all doing their bit managing weans, timekeeping and bellowing at worn-out athletes.

Results

U11 Boys

15 Fraser Reid 9:01

U11 Girls

6 Jennifer Stokoe 9:06

U13 Girls

1 Deborah Stokoe 10:02

U13 Boys

14 Cameron Reid 11:47

15 Steven Brodie 12:06

U15 Girls

5 Victoria Reid 12:31

Men

1st Team Clydesdale

2nd Team Garscube

3rd Team Kirkintilloch

6th Westies A

Chris 18:20

Don 19:17

Gibson 20:03

Dave 20:19

13 Westies B

Hamilton 20:41

Blair 20:40

Graeme 23:37

Drew 26:20

Women

1st Garscube

Jane 22:10

Ana 23:36

Posted by Dave Calder on Sun 7 Nov 2004 | 5 comments

Category winter league