The Nationals

Captain Charlie Campbell braved a career threatening injury to lead a 10-man team into the Nationals on Saturday. Meanwhile, the absence of their main rivals ensured that Muffy and Drew took the Westies Winter League titles.

The overnight wet conditions turned the undulating Falkirk course into a bit of a quagmire, which clearly suited most Westies. The Women’s 5-mile and Men’s 7.5-mile races managed to avoid the worst of the weather and there was even a spot of sunshine towards the end of the day.

There was disappointment in the women’s race at the non-appearance of Pat, apparently injured on Wednesday night’s Clyde tunnel run after tripping over some baling wire. This meant that Muffy only had to complete the race to win her first Winter League. To some observers it seemed strange that Muffy had injured herself in a similar manner a couple of seasons ago. Coincidence or what? Not that we would ever accuse Muffy of deliberately planting baling wire on the route beforehand and luring the unfortunate Pat into the trap, would we?

Jane was first Westie home, a minute and a half ahead of Elsie. Muffy struggled around the course further behind, complaining about a sore throat. However she could afford to be complacent as she only needed to complete the race to win the title.For the first half of the race, Liz remained at Muffy’s shoulder, threatening to overtake. However, early in the second lap Muffy seemed to have the situation well under control, although Liz made a brave attempt in the last mile, almost eliminating the gap and finishing just one place behind. Helen also had a good race; for most of the time she had Muffy and Liz well in her sights, although she lost ground in the latter stages.

The elusive and legendary Brian Bonnyman made a rare appearance in the Men’s event, where he put in a quality performance, possibly the best by a Westie all season. The next Westie, John Donnelly, was almost 4 minutes behind Brian, even though he also had a relatively good run, letting Gordon and Charlie make all the early pace before overhauling both in the second half of the race. His four second victory over Gordon belied the ease with which he achieved his goal. Charlie came in 30 seconds later, a remarkable feat for someone who was apparently injured and had no intention of racing. Only when he was told that Don wasn’t turning out and that he could overtake him in the league did he sprint off to the “Run & Become” stand to purchase a pair of spikes so that he could compete. Even the evident wrath of Liz wasn’t enough to put him off the task at hand.Clearly his determination to stuff Don is an inspiration for us all!

Archie was next Westie in, exactly a minute ahead of Blair. The latter obviously has become complacent after his Carnethy triumph, and Archie demonstrated that hillrunning is for nancies while cross-country requires more experience, guile…and requires a bit less in terms of navigation. Or was it simply that Blair had drunk too much at the opening of his latest exhibition the previous night? Or is his mind on other matters such as the forthcoming gardening season?

A fine battle ensued between Pete and Graeme further back, with Pete taking the honours, and Graeme clearly struggled without the trademark black tights which have served him well in past Nationals. Drew had the unusual experience of lapping a fellow competitor on his way to securing the Westie League title. Spectators were, however, disappointed that Ian Murray decided to drop out with only a mile to go, complaining of a groin strain. We were thus unable to enjoy one of the major highlights of the season, the famous Couch sprint finish. The natural ampitheatre of the Callender Park course was an ideal setting to experience this phenomenon, however Ian seemed to get things slightly round the wrong way. In the heady atmosphere of the big event, Ian sprinted off at the start instead of the finish, and after 200 yards was rather too close to Glen Stewart for his own good. Was this when the groin strain started? Never mind, Ian, there’s always next year.

In the Women’s Westies League, Muffy is lying with an unassailable 13 point lead, although the injured Pat remains in the runner-up position. Jane, Elsie, Helen and Liz all move up the league, while Christine tumbles down to the bottom half. In the Men’s league, it is still mathematically possible for Don to finish equal top, but only if Drew doesn’t turn up at next week’s last event and Don runs a stormer. Meanwhile, Charlie was misinformed when he was thought he would overhaul Don; he’s still 2 points behind, and unless his injury disappears quickly that gap will remain. Archie moves up to fourth, and could just sneak up on Charlie is he runs well at the Balloch to Clydebank.

WOMEN

1 Gillian Palmer (Edin. Uni) 30:07

39 Jane 36:37

53 Elsie 38:11

68 Muffy 39:39

69 Liz 39:52

82 Helen 41:19

90 finishers Team 12th/14

MEN

1 Glen Stewart (Mizuno) 39:23

2 Bobby Quinn (Kilbarchan) 39:49

135 Brian 47:42

229 John 51:17

231 Gordon 51:21

240 Charlie 51:44

209 Archie 53:56

306 Blair 54:54

365 Pete 58:07

384 Graeme 59:55

410 Drew 63:22

Ian M DNF

423 finishers Team 28th/31