National Cross Country Championship

Callendar Park in Falkirk was bathed in beautiful sunshine and perfect conditions for running. A memorable day for all, but perhaps for the wrong reason. Considering we are the only Scottish running club who call themselves a "cross country club", it was a pity we weren't able to field a full mens team for the biggest cross country event in the calendar; especially after we saw 20+ at Carnethy and 40+ at the Devils Burdens relays in recent weeks. Is this the first time we've succeeded in fielding less than six men? So the question on everybodies lips is (no, not WHERE WAS JASON KAUSHAL? but) why didn't the captain make a greater effort to get a full mens team out?

In contrast, the wummins team was full of bodies and quality... yes, they not only had the requisite numbers to make up a team but they also had some fast legs between them. Val H. and Catriona M. fought a very close battle with Val managing to pip Cat by just 6 places and 24 seconds in a time of 33.17 for the 4 mile route (mind you, it might be worth noting that Val lost her shoe in a boggy bit and had to stop to put it back on... there's a lesson there somewhere). Muffy had an excellent run, crossing the finishing-line just four minutes behind Val, bringing home the team in 17th place. Pauline McAdam completed the Westerlands female contingent in a time just outside 40 mins.

The quality of the men's team small group of runners was no less inferior mind you, especially with the decent finishing times from the captain and Brian Bonnyman... eh? Who? Brian Bonnyman? Is he still alive, I hear you say? Yes. Make no mistake, he may look the spitting-image of Swaz (and even ran under his guise) but it was defintely our favourite ba-heid from Forfar.

After missing out on his annual Westies bash at the Burdens, Brian made up for it by clocking an excellent sub-50 minute time for the 7.5 mile course; just a couple of minutes behind Chris.

Like Val and Cat, Hamilton and Blair managed a reasonably close-fought duel, with Hammy managing to maintain the upperhand throughout by about a minute.

And like your favourite pair of slippers, trusty old Drew, reliable to the end, completed the Westerlands mens outing... one short of a full-team. Oh well, there's always next year.

Womens Results:

1. Freya Murray 28.00

38. Val Houston 33.17

44. Catriona Miller 33.41

96. Muffy Calder 37.18

119. Pauline McAdam 40.27

Mens Results:

1. Simon Plummer 39.10

131. Chris Upson 47.09

202. Brian Bonnyman 49.35

338. Hamilton Semple 55.08

351. Blair Millen 55.54

414. Drew Turnbull 1.05.34

Full results at Scottish Athletics.

Posted by Blair Millen on Mon 20 Feb 2006 | 11 comments

Category cross country