March 11th, 2024

CLUB CAPTAIN KIRSTY O’BRIEN REFLECTS ON THE SCOTTISH CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

“What an incredible weekend for Cambuslang Harriers at the National Cross Country Championships in Falkirk! While this is often the highlight of the race calendar, the effort put in by all athletes, coaches, volunteers and supporters made for an incredible atmosphere, with some amazing results to match
The senior women’s team of Zoe Pflug (5th), Eve MacKinnon(6th), Hannah Addison (22nd), Lesley Hughes (53rd), Georgia Freeman-Mills (58th), and Nathalie Brohan (73rd) made Cambuslang history when they won team silver – the first medal ever won by a senior women’s team at this event. Absolutely incredible. A massive congratulations to them and their coaches Mike Johnston, Iain Crawford and Mark King.
They were backed up by Kirsty O’Brien (78th), Catriona Bain (80th), Marie Kane (117th) and Zara Higgins (123rd). Holly Little and Rachel Wardrope bravely toed the line too despite illness leading up to the event. Unfortunately, despite their grit and determination, they were forced to pull out during the race. Hoping for a speedy recovery for both of them and also Erica Christie, who was unable to start due to illness and injury, but was a fantastic supporter, showing up at various different points throughout the race to voice encouragement at her team mates.
A superb run by Daibhidh Kinnaird brought home Cambuslang’s only individual medal of the day, achieving a fantastic 3rd in the under 15 boys’ race. He was supported by John Frood (13th), Euan Reid (21st) and Angus O’Neill (25th) to take team bronze as well, which is an outstanding success and reflects the coaching support they receive at the club from Iain Reid and Graeme Gallie. Rory Barclay (56th) and Logan Emmot-Sinclair (75th) also ran well.
Earlier in the day, in the under 13 girls’ race Brooke Walker ran through a stitch to sprint down the finishing chute to earn herself a 10th place finish. With her team mates Eve Campbell (77th), Ida Lloyd (91st) and Lily Maclean (100th), they recorded a solid 12th place. Aiden O’Connell flew the flag for Cambuslang in the U13 boys race and achieved 103rd place, while also managing to smile pretty much the whole way round. Many thanks to coaches Fiona Stephen, Lynn Angeley, Graeme Gallie and Ross Noble and also to Fiona Pollock for her general involvement with the younger athletes.
The under 17 men’s team of Christopher Black (23rd), Zach Seenan (28th), Gabriel Murphy (58th) and Alex Gillies (60th) earned a fantastic 7th place, while the under 20 men packed well together with only 48 seconds separating them to win team bronze. First home was Seonaidh MacInnes (21st), followed by Finlay Rob. (22nd), Lewis Roddis (26th) and Joel MacInnes (27th). Brilliant. Unfortunately Zak Povey who had previously been racing well was forced to drop out due to illness. Thanks are due to coach Colin Stephen for his input.
Eilidh Kennedy represented Cambuslang in the under 20 women’s race and was well placed in 36th position.
The start of the men’s race is always a spectacle, with the charge up the hill being both exciting and scary in equal measures with nearly 700 runners starting.
The team of Callum Tharme (14th), Mike Christofourou (16th), Fraser Stewart (18th), Jamie MacKinnon (32nd), Craig Jardine (57th) and Colin Reilly (87th) finished in 5th place. Jamie battled on despite falling a couple of times – evident in the absolutely manky vest he took off after the race and put it into a clubmate’s bag, obviously hoping for it to be washed .
The club’s 6 counters were followed home by Steven Fitzpatrick (152nd), Ian Hodge (165th), Tom Adams (241st), Colin Feechan (273rd), Brian Douglas (279th), Iain Murphy (286th), Eddie Stewart (332nd), Kevin Farmer (378th), Callum Wright (388th), Dan O’Connell (500th), Iain Crawford (589th) and Chris Paton (619th). Both Colin Feechan and Eddie Stewart demonstrated their class. Although both are in the over 65 age group they were the first 2 over 60 athletes to finish. Everyone ran their legs off and left it all out there on what is a beautiful but brutal course. Andrew Carey and Chris McLew also started despite illness leading into the race but were forced to pull out on the last lap.
Club president Des Dickson and Stuart Gibson deserve to be thanked as they answered the call from Scottish Athletics and offered their service as course stewards.
An absolutely amazing day out, celebrated with some well-earned social drinks afterwards”.
While this was the first senior women Scottish Cross Country Team Medal the U17 women had previously medalled in 2013 and the U20 women both in 2013 and 2014. Moira Stewart had also gained individual silver and bronze medals in 2019 and 2020. Both the U15 boys and the U20 men’s teams made a welcome return to the podium after an absence of 5 years. Individual U15 bronze medallist Daibhidh Kinnaird followed in the footsteps of Chris McLew who earned a silver medal in 2017.

A ROUNDUP OF OTHER EVENTS.

The following day Cambuslang athletes were involved in road races in Italy, Spain and England. Ryan Thomson reduced his half marathon time by 91 seconds to the impressive time of 64.40. He crossed the line in 9th place in the Napoli Half Marathon finishing behind 6 Kenyans, 1 Ethiopian and fellow GB athlete Emile Cairess. Such was the standard that the first 3 Kenyan athletes clocked sub 60 minutes and 4th placed Emile missed out on breaking that magical barrier by 2 seconds. The next 4 runners recorded times between 60.28 to 62.44. Therefore, with the first 8 in the race operating at world class pace and clear Ryan was not able to follow in their slipstream. He did, however, have the company of a Morrocan-born Italian, a 62.29/2.08.05 half marathon/marathon performer, and both of them went through 10K in 30 05. Ryan feeling strong managed to pull away from his more fancied rival to open up a 34 seconds gap by the finish. His new pb and race performance augur well for the forthcoming London Marathon.
Moira Stewart’s eyes are on the Women’s Olympic Marathon in Paris in August. Having achieved a pb, a Czech record and an Olympic qualifying time of 2.25.36 in the Valencia Marathon she took a well deserved break. Moira returned to competition in the Facsa 10K in Castellon Spain. As expected there was a strong contingent of African runners participating and this was reflected in the times and placings. The first 3 African women registered sub 30 minutes, the next 4 clocked sub 31 minutes followed by another 4 under 32 minutes. Moira was the 3rd European athlete to finish in 14th spot in the worthy time of 32.40. As part of her Olympic racing preparation she will target the European Half Marathon Championships in Italy in early June.
Paul Kernohan disappeared off the racing radar from January 2020 until September 2023 having sustained a serious injury. He quietly returned to competition from October last year and began to build up his fitness again mainly via parkruns. His patience has brought him twin dividends of recording his quickest times for 5 and 10K in over 4 years such as his 18.27 parkrun and his 38.32 in the Blackpool 10K. By way of a bonus Paul was 5th overall over the longer distance and took the first M45 award.
The Allan Scally Road Relays at Glasgow Green promoted by Shettleston Harriers followed on the following week. While this is an excellent opportunity to record a fast time on a traffic free course the event unfortunately comes at a time when some athletes naturally wish a break at the end of an exacting cross country season. Nevertheless, Cambuslang Harriers fielded a senior women’s team. Late withdrawals by Eve MacKinnon and Holly Little due to illness meant that Catriona Bain (19.44) and club captain Kirsty O’Brien (20.15) filled the gaps and helped Zoe Pflug (16.35) and Stefanie Tucker (17.06) to take 3rd place behind Glasgow University and Aberdeen AC. The fixture also incorporated the Scottish Universities’ Road Championships with Andrew Carey (15.37) and Seonaidh MacInnes (15.52) representing Glasgow and Jack MacKinnon (16.08) Aberdeen while Mark King (17.07) ran for a GSSR Corporate Team.
Cambuslang masters Iain Murphy and Tony McCutcheon also participated in the grueling Glentress Trail Half Marathon which involves 900M of ascent on forest paths. Both acquitted themselves well with Iain finishing 3rd M40 and Tony 5th M50.
Kirsty O’Brien and David Cooney