Scottish Schools Cross Country

The Scottish Schools Cros Country is on this weekend at the Beach Park in Irvine with the frst race at 1:00 pm. We should have several athletes forward starting with Roisin and Rachel and through the age groups to Peter Bowman. There are several differences from normal age group cross country races. The first is that the athletes wear different vests from usual - expect Clydesdale Harriers to be wearing at least three different schools vests for a start and don't be looking for vests with white on them! Second the age groups are different - Cross Country for clubs has the ages graded in 'odd' numbers Under 1, Under 15, Under 17, etc. The schools divide them up into Under 1, Under 14, Under 16 and Over 16. So they are running against different groups of runners as well. Third the fields are usually smaller, at the older age groups at least, because not all schools are affiliated and with it being impossible for an athlete to enter even as an individual if his school hasn't taken this step, then there are inevitably fewer runners in the races.
I once asked a local school situated on the Boulevard to enter a runner who would have done well in the Schools Cross Country and told it wasn't worth it since it would cost the school so much money! First the school would have to register with the SSAA (Scottish Schools Athletic Association), second they would have to pay for the individual entry and if a teacher went with them then that would have cost them as well. For one pupil it wasn't worth it!

I like the schools events - they tend to be very well organised, the courses are clear and well laid out and you can see athletes develop over the years. Some get good results in the U13 and U14's because they are physically very mature when everyone knows that endurance running tends to be for the slighter built among our brethren. As these big people realise that they have to start training if they are to maintain the early dominance then they drift away before they reach the Over 16's. And simultaneously the wee-er ones start training because they realise that here is something that they can be good at. The message for the wee-er ones then is, "Hang in there, little buddy, and keep on workin'!"

When the Primary Schools Championships started up in the 80's, we as a club laid on a bus free of charge and offered to take local schools through, assist the school staff in entering the runners and even walk them round the course. For three years it was a tremendous success and we gained members because of it. It then fell away because schools were not prepared to send even one member of staff with the children. Even earlier than that, Derek McGinley used to look after the pupils from two of the Clydebank Secondary Schools because the schools couldn't spare the staff. Or more often because the teams had to be entered rather early on and Derek would be there, enter the teams, at times distribute the numbers and at other times collect the numbers for the school teachers to collect when they arrived. In both cases we as a club were showing a bit of initiative and working with the schools to our mutual benefit. Finally, my friend Kenny Phillips will be there with his camera and should have some good pictures so, to the athletes, run fast and look good because you never know where he will be!