Senior/U20 Event Report 14th October 2026

The winter season is now well and truly upon us, and we certainly saw most of the weathers on Saturday at West Districts!  In the run up to the start of the XC season though a lot of our athletes have been reaping the rewards of their summer training and racing with the last of the season’s road races.

We start this week in Linlithgow on the 27th of September, where husband and wife team Mark and Amy Alexander took on the 10k race.  Mark was 16th overall and in the money for 3rd V40 in 37:01, and Amy completed the course in 58:38.  Well done both!

Also on the 27th, Kat Kelly and Amanda Bryden were competing in the Dumfries House 5k.  Kat was 6th overall and 1st lady in 20:59, and Amanda was 20th overall in 25:05.  Apologies if I have missed anyone from this race (club names were not on the results!).

Tackling a slightly longer distance on the 27th was Josh McClymont who was racing the Loch Ness Marathon where he delivered a cracking PB of 3:10:23, finishing 135th overall – well done Josh!

The following weekend, all roads led to Glasgow for the Great Scottish Run 10k and Half Marathon.  A total of 16 Harriers completed the 10k, with Ross Granger first back in blue and white in 36:35.  Rory Morris was next in 37:30, followed by our first lady finisher Lorna Baird in 38:32.  Corrie Speirs rounded up our top 3 men with a 41:04 finish, whilst Katie Vallance (42:51) and Amanda Bryden (48:34) completed our top 3 ladies.   Full results available HERE. In the half marathon, we had a whopping 35 finishers (full results HERE), with first back Craig Ferguson in 1:11:22 in 30th overall.  Jonathon Downey was next in 62nd overall (1:14:29) and Graeme Quinn rounded up our top 3 men with 1:15:56.  For the ladies, Kirsty Girvan was first home in 1:28:32, followed by Ellie Anderson making her HM debut in 1:32:41, and Kirsty Mackay in 1:49:35.  Great running from everyone who put a toe on the line!

The weekend just gone saw the return of the XC season with a home fixture for the Scottish Athletics West District relays at the AAA.  We were in a really good position to be able to field 3 complete ladies and 4 men’s teams – huge thanks especially to the athletes who stepped in at the 11th hour to make sure that all teams were filled.  The ladies race was first, and it proved to be a successful one with our Masters team of Laura Haggarty (14:04), Lynsey O’Connor (14:50) and Kat Kelly (14:05) having tremendous runs to finish 7th overall and taking the Scottish V40 gold medal – absolutely outstanding ladies!  Our senior A team of Lorna Baird (14:22), Isla Grant (15:09) and Katie Vallance (15:53) were 13th overall, and the senior B team of Ellie Anderson (15:31), Jennifer Beattie (15:16) and Cara Baillie (18:18) were 26th overall.  In the men’s race, our A team of Jonathon Downey (11:43), Craig Ferguson (12:08), Owen Walpole (12:51) and Ian Wilson (13:50) were 15th overall, the B team of David McLure (13:20), Tom Flood (13:30), Jye Wilson (14:25) and Scott Masterton (13:13) were 30th overall, the C team of Mark Alexander (13:37), Cammy Wilson (12:52), James Wales (16:01) and Scott Martin (15:47) were 39th and the D team of Gary Martin (15:46), Callum Rennie (15:20), Nick Carter (15:34) and Ross McNaught (14:46) were 45th.  Absolutely brilliant to see full teams out enjoying the mud and the rain – same again this weekend guys!

From an admin perspective the winter league races were announced last week on the Facebook page and league tables will start to be published shortly, and another reminder that all Parkrun/half marathon/marathon times MUST be submitted by Friday the 23rd at the latest for inclusion in the summer league tables.