Dunbartonshire Championships

Mark Wrestles in Mud as Nigel Shows a Clean Pair of Heels

The Dunbartonshire Championships yesterday were an object lesson for those who think that cross-country is for wimps. Posties Park in Dumbarton may not have a “Technical Downhill”, but after several days of persistant rain, the trail was in real championship form with mud, glaur and several hundred metres of Clyde estuary water!

Fresh from his triumph of Loch Ossian a fgortnight ago, Mark took an early lead. However the mud quickly took its toll as first Nigel, then Jon Slowe overtook him to show that cross-country requires more than a few reps with the boys from Shettleston. Nigel maintained the lead throughout, although Jon was gradually pulling him in towards the end. Just behind, last year’s champion Gibbie set off at a fair lick, but was caught by Dave and Steff at the end of Lap 1, although he did manage reestablish his lead over the latter. Donald finished not far behind, with what looked like an incredibly fast last lap, pulling in almost 3 minutes on Steffen. Only afterwards was it discovered that Donald had actually done a “Nige”, taking a shortcut and reducing his last lap by almost half a mile. Good try, Donald, but you should concentrate on other elements of Nigel’s training regime if you want to get into the points in future. Drew brought up the rear, but at least he ran the complete trail.

There was excellent packing for the second week by the Westies Women, with all 3 competitors finishing within seconds of each other. Ana took full points, whilst Liz battled around most of the second lap with an agonising stitch. I say agonising, because that’s what it sounded like; Liz’s moans made Gibson’s bronchial banshee sound like a gentle purr! Muffy thought she had Liz’s scalp in the bag until the dying seconds, when Liz overcame her agony with a sprint finish, winning by a short nose; something which Muffy is never ever likely to achieve! Westies women’s team tactics were good enough to secure second team prize.

In the Men’s league, Nigel has gone into the lead, whilst Mark languishes back in distant 3rd. He must be kicking himself for missing EK last week; now he has it all to do in the last 6 races. Muffy maintains her lead in the Women’s league.

Next week, the National Relays will be event no. 5 and the first opportunity for double appearance points to kick in. This usually means some dramatic changes in fortune for some. Watch this space!

No official results yet. See the website for full league details.