Running trio miss out on medals

Oct 27 2011 by Kieran Westbrook, West Lothian Courier

TWENTY ONE seconds were all that stood between Lothian Running Club trio Chloe Cox, Edel Mooney and Sarah Inglis, and a Scottish National Cross-country relay medal.

A fourth-place finish out of a total of 73 teams from all over Scotland was still a very credible performance at Saturday's event at Cumbernauld.

Conditions were a bit windy but dry, and apart from a few muddy patches the underfoot terrain was near ideal for running.

The ladies championship saw each team member cover a 2.5-mile course.

Leading off for the Lothian trio was Cox and a determined run saw her keep her team-mates in contention by completing the first stage in 14th place. A powerful second leg run from Mooney, the senior member of the squad, hauled the blue vests right up into medal contention.

Her fantastic run saw her record the sixth-fastest leg time of the day as she edged out Fife AC's Helen Sharp by a mere two seconds.

This saw her hand over to anchor leg runner Inglis in third place behind Edinburgh AC and Hunters Bog Trotters.

Despite being overhauled by the bang in-form Hester Dix from Fife AC, Inglis still turned in a highly commendable performance.

At the changeover she trailed HBT runner Maxine Czarnecka by 38 seconds but saw that deficit reduced to just 21 seconds when she crossed the line to bring the team home in fourth.

The Lothian Ladies B Team of Jocelyn Moar, Saran Jones and Jill Horsburgh finished in 41st place.

Victory went to Edinburgh AC, ahead of Fife AC with Hunters Bog Trotters in third just ahead of Lothian RC.

The club also had two teams amongst the big entry of 127 teams in the Mens event which was run over four legs of 2.5 miles.

The 'A' team of Ross Milne, Max McNeil, Kenton Jones and Steven Lawrie placed 31st while the veteran quartet of Scott Nelson, Kenny Mearns, Colin Banham and David Wardman were 99th overall and 26th in the Masters category. The team from Inverclyde AC took the Mens title.

Club results

Senior Women:

[A] 4th: 14th Chloe Cox [16.27], 3rd Edel Mooney [15.35] 4th Sarah Inglis [15.53]. Total [47.55].

[B] 41st: 31st Jocelyn Moar [17.44], 32nd Saran Jones [19.19], 41st Jill Horsburgh [20.30]. Total [57.33].

Senior Men:

[A] 31st: 23rd Ross Milne [14.33], 15th Max McNeil [14.14], 28th Kenton Jones [16.20], 31st Steven Lawrie 16.27]. Total [1:01.34].

[B] 99th: 92nd Scott Nelson [17.16], 108th Kenny Mearns [19.32], 109th Colin Banham [21.52], 99th David Wardman [28.33].

Relay action continues this Saturday with the Allan Scally Road Relays at Bailliston the event incorporates the Scottish Universities Championships.

Falkirk Parkrun:

26th Paul Young [21.55], 33rd and 4F, Lana Turnbull [22.21], 51st and 10F, Shona Young [24.19], 68th Ted Finch [25.57] PB,79th and 18F Mags Turnbull [27.05], 136th and 60F Val Finch [36.48].

145 Ran.

Edinburgh Parkrun:

101st Stuart Bird [23.16].

228 Ran.

Lothian Running Club’s Herbie McLean was involved in a hill race double-header at Killin last weekend. On Saturday he contested the Meal nan Tarmachan race and 24 hours later, the Sron a Clachen.

In both races Herbie was the victor in the MV60 category, in the longer Saturday race Herbie finished 31st of the 59 finishers in 1.12.59, then on Sunday he finished in 31.33 to place 13th of the 39 who completed.