McAndrew Road Relays 2012

6th October 2012

Results

Westies fielded new recruits Kaia Grassl, Amy Fisher and Benjamin Homewood in the Under-1 category at Jordanhill.  Adult participation on the 3.25-mile circuit also showed a marked improvement in numbers from 1 team in 2011 to 2 men’s and 1 women’s team this year.  I think that’s the first full women’s team since 2009, so it’s a great credit to Ellie, Sharon and Elizabeth and hopefully a sign of things to come.  GU Hares & Hounds won the women’s race after Garscube were disqualified for fielding an ineligible runner on Leg 1 (too young; this also affected Kelvin Runners, and Garscube A in the men’s race).

Fine autumnal weather gave ideal running conditions and the usual whippets were out – VPCoG (winners for the first time since 1966), Inverclyde (2nd) et al.  Westerlands A improved on last year’s 17th position to take 10th, with all 4 guys going under Niall’s 18.12 from 2011.  Jon, Iain, Brian and Chris all ran within 20 seconds of each other around the 18-min mark, with top dog Chris setting the record straight after clocking 19.08 in 2011.

I led off for Westerlands B and was pleased to record 19.17, a better reflection of current form after a couple of mis-fires at Cumbrae and Houston.  Nice to be back under 6min/mile even though it’s a longer course than the George Cummings.  No impediment to good running for me today and I hope I can continue to improve.  John, a fast-improving Steffen, and Rod all posted similar times around the 21-min mark.

Grim ran an unoffical Leg 1 in about 24:30.

Former Westie Scott McKendrick must have been at the virtual racing again as he appears in the results with his first-leg colleague’s time.  Scott was actually on Leg 4.

Thanks to Don, Cheryl, Cat, Peter, Tansy and offspring for support.

Westies Wimmin – 13th out of 20, 1:14:39
Westies Men A – 10th out of 39, 1:12:18
Westies Men B – 27th out of 39, 1:22:43

Ellie Homewood 21.33
Sharon Taylor 29.14
Elizabeth Adams 23.52

Jon Slowe 18.17
Iain Stewart 18.06
Brian Bonnyman 17.58
Chris Upson 17.57

Johnston Orr 19.17
John Quinn 21.15
Steffen Gorgas 21.16
Rod Fleming 20.55