National Championships

It was good that we had runners out in most age groups at the races in Saturday. Conor, Roisin, Claire, Lewis and the others all did well and we should spend at least part of the summer recruiting more to provide them with back-up next year. It's up to the Committee to get the posters and the letters out to the schools, it's down to the coaches to go to school sports and talk to the teachers there - it is also up to the runners to bring along their pals. Ian McCafferty was one of the best ever Scots endurance athletes being a GB international for six years as well as winning thesilver at the Commonwealth Games. He only came into the sport because his pal Alex Brown wanted somebody to make up a team! Clydesdale Harrier Graeme Reid won the Scottish Junior and the Scottish Junior Championships and he only came along because David Moore wanted a team around him! So come on you young athletes, bring a pal, gain a team mate!
The women had half a team out and both women ran very well - look at their positions and then look at the number taking part and be proud of them. The Senior Men were third Dunbartonshire team to finish - they were over 600 points behind Garscube and less than a hundred behind Kirkie Olympiads and twenty points ahead of Westies and almost a hundred clear of Vicky Park. Maryhill did not have a team out. I think we are better than that. This is not taking anything away from the guys who raced on the day - Gary Paul, Gerry and the rest can be pleased with their runs and they were all Clydesdale runners. I'm not happy when a team with two Eritreans, an American and an Englishman among their six counters wins a medal. I do feel however that we could do better in the recruitjng stakes. A scenario: A CLydesdale Harrier does a warm up beside an Anglo and they enjoy the chat and then get on with the race; a member of say Shettleston warms up with an Anglo and then summons three or four other Shettlestonians to talk him into joining their club. A bit extremne but that's what happens. Uncommited athletes are there to be recruited: so recruit them! Sorry I missed the race but it snowed here on Friday night - and it snowed today in Lochearnhead as well!