Press Release

At the Dundonald 10.5k on the 6th August Clydesdale Harrier John Hutchinson ran 53.36.

The Club championships on the same day suffered in attendance and performances from the wet weather which did no one any favours but the athletes all gave of their best and the officials on the night deserve a very big hand. The winners in the various age groups were:
100 metres. Under 20 Men: J Farrell 11.4 seconds; Under 17 Men: A Russell 11.7; Under 15 Boys: S McDade 14.5; Under 15 Girls: K Kelly 16.2; Under 13 Girls: C Wright 15.37; Under 11 Grls: R Busby 15.58
400 metres: U20 M: J Farrell 55.2; U17 M P Bowman 55.9; U15 B T Dolan 73.6; U15 G K Kelly 91.2; U13 G: K Alexander 81.3; U11 G R Busby 83.9
1500 metres: U20 M: D Brown 4:58.1; U17 M: P Bowman 4:34.0; U15 B: T Dolan 5:30.1; U15 G: K Kelly 7:23; U13 G: K Alexander 6:04; U11 G: R Busby 6:03

Age group leaders at present are
U20 M: D Brown 14 points; U17 M: P Bowman 15 pts; U15 B: T Dolan 15 pts;
U15 G: K Kelly 18 pts; U13 G: K Alexander 15 pts; U11 G: R Busby 18 pts.
The competitions in most cases are very close - in the U13 Girls for instance second and third have 12 points each, in the Under 17 Men Anton Russell in second pace is only two points behind leader Peter Bowman, at Under 13 Boys Scott McDade is only two points adrift of Tony Dolan as is Jonathan Farrell in the Under 20 men's competition. It's still all to play for in most cases with the second night this week at Linwood on Wednesday.

On the third of the month nine Clydesdale Harriers made their way to Helensburgh for the Helensburgh Half Marathon. The normally straightforward course was marred by torrential rain which didn’t let up during everyone’s run. First finisher for the club was Paul Carroll in 1.21.52, followed by Mark Collins (1.23.01), Craig Calderwood (1.24.08), Gerry Montgomery (1.27.42). First Clydesdale lady finisher and winner of 1st lady veteran prize was Pamela McCrossan (1.29.24), then next was Stevie Thompson (1.29.53), Peter Rudzinski (1.37.46), Marina McCallum (1.40.08) and Colin Gray (2.14.20).

At the Strathallan Gathering on the same Sunday the club had four athletes in action with varying degrees of success. On a warm sunny afternoon, Johnathan Farrel was second in his Heat of the Open 90 metres and then in a blanket finish in the cross tie he was run out of it - third with only two to go through to the Final. It has to be said in his defence that with a £600 first prize, everybody who fancied himself at all was there and it took eight Heats to sort them out in the first round. He then ran in the Invitation 90 and as second which redeemed the afternoon somewhat. He also competed in the 200 metres and Long Jump. Ian Robertson competed in the 800 and 1600 metres races where he was handicapped out of it - for instance in the 1600 he started from 95 metres with the limit man running from over 320 metres (the distance of a lap). The youngest competitors were the Russell brothers Anton (Under 17) and Chris (Under 13) in the long and triple jumps. Distances at Highland Games meetings are in feet and inches but if we convert them into metres the boys long jumped 5.91 metres for Anton and 4.75 for Chris. It's a bit shorter than they usually manage but remember that they were jumping from a grass run up with a grass take off. Anton had won the Under 13 Long Jump at Linwood the previous Wednesday with 4.90 metres.

Lastly at the Islay Half Marathon the ‘three amigos’ made their presence felt finishing well up on the field. First amigo in was 14th placed Brian Campbell in a time of 1.30.16, followed by Pete Cartwright (16th in 1.32.28) and Bobby Young (22nd in 1.35.40)

Marina McCallum
Club Press Officer