National Cross Country Championships

Linwood is possibly one of Scotland’s most dull towns, famous only for an interesting but flawed piece of socialist industrial planning in the 60’s and 70’s called the Chrysler Car Plant, and a mention in THAT well-known Proclaimers song. Such is the anonymity of the place that a certain club secretary travelling from the south side of Glasgow apparently missed the place altogether and was last seen heading over the Erskine Bridge in the general direction of Lochaber (maybe she was just getting confused with THAT song)?

And so it was that every Westie was expecting an easy run on a flat trail behind Linwood Sports Centre. Such is the reputation of the local populace that security was tight, with cops and stewards milling all over the place. In fact it’s the only race I’ve ever been to with bouncers at the changing rooms!

Despite the flat course, it was generally agreed by all that it was surprisingly tough. By the time of the men’s race, when the course had been trampled by several thousand pairs of feet, the grass had turned to chough , which suited the legs of most of our intrepid hillrunning fraternity.

Well, almost! In the women’s 5-mile race, we would have had a team out if our secretary hadn’t decided on her magical mystery tour (whoops, I’m mixing up my songs). Jane and Helen both had fine runs. Liz started off looking promising , but dropped out at half way with a severe stitch. Helen’s 2nd Westie place sealed her Westies Winter League victory this season, so a big congratulations to her for an excellent achievement and some fine and consistent performances throughout the season..

In the Men’s 7 ½ mile race, Mark ran well and came home as first Westie, after Brian mysteriously dropped out the day before. Brian cited illness as the reason, which is a likely story and clearly shows an unwillingness to face the shame of being scalped by the on-form McColl. Mark’s run was all the more impressive as he suffered a bad fall midway through the second lap. Next Westie was Gibson, who had a tremendous run, looking the best he’s been all season(OK, I know that doesn’t mean much). Forty seconds behind was Don, in a somewhat more sombre and crestfallen mood than when he gubbed Gibbie in the West Districts. Then came the new slimline Steffen, with a superb cross-country performance showing that he is clearly the fastest improving guy in the club. It wasn’t one of John Donnely’s better days; he was well behind Cap’n Charlie for most of the race, only overhauling him in the last mile. At least Charlie has the excuse of being distracted by Liz’s wellbeing! Last in for Westies came Drew, who at least had the dubious pleasure of being cheered home by all the rest of us.

In the men’s league, it’s coming right down to the wire. Gibson is 7 points ahead of Mark. In order to win the league, he must compete in the last race, which is the Balloch to Clydebank this weekend. This is exactly what he didn’t want to have to do; rumour has it that he was gloating about Mark’s fall and asking how serious were his injuries. Well, Gibson, you’ll just have to turn out on Sunday and find out. Don has moved into third place and Steffen has jumped 4 places up to 6th.

And, as for next year’s Nationals? Well, after Irvine and Linwood, according to THAT song, it must be either Bathgate, Lochaber or, heaven forbid, Lewis!

Results

Women

1 Susan Partridge 29:00

2 Gillian Palmer 29:32

32 Jane 36:18

59 Helen 39:35

74 finished

Men

1 Graeme Reid 40:06

2 Steven Wylie 40:15

117 Mark 47:26

191 Gibson 50:28

213 Don 51:11

232 Steffen 51:54

253 John 53:06

267 Charlie 53:51

362 Drew 63:47

371 finished

Teams

1 Cambuslang

23 Westies

28 teams finished