LASSWADE ATHLETIC CLUB

The heats of the historic New Year Sprint took place at Meadowbank Stadium on Friday 30th December. The 110m handicap race which goes back to 1870 has a top prize this year of £3500. Each competitor is given a “handicap” based on their recent performances and ability so, in theory, all runners have a good chance of winning regardless of ability.

Three Lasswade athletes made it to the start line this year.

James Cunningham, winner of the “big race” in 1998 finished 2nd in his heat but did not qualify for the round. James’s handicap was 13m.

In heat 5, Murray Blair running off 6m finished in 2nd place in a time of 11.56s which was fast enough to make it through to the cross-ties (semis) as a fastest loser.

Ramsay Blair, competing in the senior race for the first time ran in the final heat (heat 8 ). Despite being given a “challenging” handicap of 7.5m, Ramsay acquitted himself well finishing 3rd in his heat.

In the supporting events, Eloise ran in both the 90m Youths handicap race and the 800m handicap race. Eloise qualified for the final of the 90m as a fastest loser where she finished 4th.

Keith Kong and James Cunningham ran in the 90m Veterans handicap. Like last year, the turnout was low and the race was a straight final with seven athletes starting the race. Keith, running off 12.5m this year having been penalised 2m for winning the race the last time finished 3rd and James finished 6th (11m).

The 200m Open Handicap race was also run as a straight final although featured 15 athletes with handicaps ranging from 4m to 66m. Ramsay, running off 14m ran a good bend and worked his way through the field down the home-straight finishing in an excellent 4th place. The race was run by 69 year old Ramsay Sloss running off 59m which goes to show that age has no boundaries!

The cross-ties and final of the 110m Handicap race took place on New Year’s Day at Musselburgh race course. Murray was our sole representative at Musselburgh and was drawn in the 3rd cross-tie against the Ewan Urquhart, the fastest qualifier from Friday’s heats and Greg Kelly, twice winner of the New Year Sprint and only the winner from each cross-tie guaranteed a place in the final it was going to be challenge. Murray’s time of 12.53s did however bag him a spot in the eight man final, his 3rd final in 5 years where he finished 6th in a blanket finish for the 5th, 6th and 7th places.

Well done to all the Lasswade athletes who competed.

The full report and results of the New Year Sprint events can be found here.

The yearly Christmas Handicap Mile race is scheduled for tomorrow (weather permitting). Come along with your Santa Hats and Tinsel for some fun racing!

Saturday 10th December, 2022

Results from the indoor league competition are below. Great performances from all our Lasswade athletes. In the Under 11s 60m, Ada finished 3rd overall in the A race with a new PB and Lara making her debut for the club finished 2nd in the B race and also won her 600m heat finishing 5th overall.

In the U13 girls, Mia recorded 3 PBs in the 60m, 60mH and LJ. Laura also recorded a PB in her 800m. Yvie was making her debut for the club won her 200m heat for 6th overall and also a fantastic 1.30m in her high jump taking 2nd place. This was a 25cm improvement on her performance in the club champs back in September!

Megan was our only Under 15 girls competing and recorded another PB in the shot putt.

In the Under 15 boys, Lauchie took 15 seconds off the time he ran outdoors this summer for a PB in his 800m PB. He followed that up with 7th in the 300m. Ruairudh finished 5th in the 60m and 9th in the long jump.

In the U17 Men, Lewis recorded PBs in the 60m and Long Jump. Harry jumped 1.57m for 3rd in the high jump – a PB by 22cm.

Erin was just outside her 60m PB in the U17 Women’s 60m and Eloise improved on her 300m time from the first match running 45.08 for an indoor PB. Bethan won her 800m to finish 3rd overall. Emily ran her first 200m for the club – hopefully not her last!

In the U20 men’s age group, Petter finished 3rd in both the 60m and 200m with a the latter being a PB. Alastair scored useful points in the 400m, 800m and shot putt, as did Alec in the long jump and high jump.

Whilst PBs can’t be expected every time our athletes step foot on the track, judging from all the hard work that’s been put in during training, both from the athletes and coaches, there’s definitely more to come.

Thanks to John and Susan for officiating (and Susan again for driving the minibus across to Glasgow in the snow!).

The final indoor league match is on the Sunday 15th January. Athletes interested in competing should email competitions@lasswade-ac.org.uk.

With no improvement in the weather, the following sessions have unfortunately had to be cancelled:-
Endurance
Senior Sprints.

Sessions for multi-events and Susan’s sprints group are still on and take place in the gym hall at Dalkeith Campus. Please report to the gym hall at the usual times rather than at the track.

The weather forecast shows an improvement over the weekend with 10°c predicted for Monday so hopefully the track will be clear of ice. This will be the last session for Multi-Events and Sprints until Thursday 5th January. Endurance and Senior sprints will continue on to the 22nd December.

To ensure the safety of all athletes and coaches, we’ve reluctantly made the decision to cancel training for the endurance, sprints and multi-events groups for tonight. Temperature at the campus reported to be -5c at 11:30am today, grass is frozen solid and icy conditions all around.

Stay safe! Stay warm!

[And if you’re reading this after you’ve turned up at the track tonight…]
Please use the Teams App so that we can send notifications to you regarding session cancellations. The Teams app will give you a notification when new messages are sent so you don’t need to check Facebook and the website. It also gives you the ability to record your emergency contact details in case we need to reach parents/carers during training sessions. If you don’t have access the Teams app, please email info@lasswade-ac.org.uk.

Just a reminder that if your child is unwell or showing any signs of a bug that they should be kept off training.

Sunday 27th November, 2022

The last time Lasswade competed in the indoor league was in the 2019-20 season (before the dreaded Covid struck). As a result, only 6 of the 16 Lasswade athletes who made their way over to the Emirates Arena had ever competed indoors before. The Emirates is probably the best indoor athletics track in the UK and I’m sure all the athletes who competed can’t wait to get back there.

Although the turnout could have been better, there were great performances from the team with 10 of our 16 athletes recording PBs in their events and four others competing in the 60m for the first time so will have opportunities to improve on that next time.

The remaining fixtures are Saturday 10th December, 2022 and Sunday, 15th January 2023. Email competitions@lasswade-ac.org.uk if you’re interested in competing.

Thanks to Gary Leek of Athletics Digital for the photos.

Final Results

We are delighted to introduce our new Club Development Officer (CDO), Harry Baird, to Lasswade AC. He has kindly supplied the short bio below so please drop him a message to welcome him to the club.

My name is Harry Baird and I stay in Stenhousemuir near Falkirk. I am married to Beth who is a Health Visitor and we have two kids, Emily 29 and Fraser 26, well we still call them our kids!

I got involved with athletics in 2005 years ago when Fraser joined Falkirk Vic’s. I joined their committee and spent a spell as their President. I also got involved in Track Officiating early on (so some will recognise me from that).

I was fortunate to be selected as an Official for Glasgow 2014 CG and I still enjoy getting soaked almost every weekend of the summer! 

When the Club Together project was launched in 2012 Falkirk were in the first wave of clubs to sign up, and I was appointed their CTO. I left this role in 2020 to allow fresh eyes to look at how best to progress matters further for the club. In 2014 I also became CTO for Forth Valley Flyers which is a disability specific club. In 2020 I was appointed to the same position for Corstorphine AC and I am still kept busy with both these clubs. So, as you can see I am well versed in the problems and challenges clubs face.

I am looking forward to helping Lasswade continue their exciting journey and already have had discussions with Keith who has outlined my priorities for the first period. My role is only six hours per week and is fully focused on helping the club with its admin, including reviewing club policies. Yes, it sounds slightly dull but they are vital in ensuring our club functions properly and our members are kept safe, supported and informed.
So now you know a little about me please feel free to drop me an email and introduce yourself. Just outline what you currently do within the club – athlete, coach, volunteer…. or what you would like to do. Then when meet in person I will have some background.

The deadline for ordering club hoodies in time for Christmas is Sunday 4th December. Ordering details can be found here…

We also have a limited number of these great Lasswade AC 40th Anniversary cups available for only £5 – makes a great stocking filler!

Get in touch if you’d like one.

The first Lasswade Open Cross Country event since pre-covid took place on Sunday 30th October at Gore Glen in Gorebridge. The weather was mild and dry and looked promising at 9.30am when the course was being set up, fast forward a few hours and the rain arrived in time for the first few races!

The first race of the day was the u11 girls with 27 girls in the field and 13 different clubs represented. The race at the front of the field was won by Hannah Inman of Central Athletic Club. The race for second was a close affair with Willow Smith of Springburn Harriers pipping Abbie Boyle of Law and District for second but both girls being given the same time.

The numbers in the u11 boys race were a bit lower with 20 boys in the field but again there was a fair representation of different clubs including one athlete from Lochaber Athletic Club. This was another close finish with Evan Tyler of Giffnock North just pipping Blake Burchill of Harmeny AC for first and Finlay Hamilton also of Giffnock North finishing in third place.

In the u13 girls race Skye Robertson of Falkirk Victoria Harriers came out on top with Beth McWilliam of host club Lasswade AC second and Dionne Maguinness of Airdrie Harriers in third place.

The next race was the u13 boys with Josh Cooper of Haddington Running Club coming home first followed by Shae McGovern of Airdrie Harriers in second and Francis Ovanni- Finnegan of Lasswade AC in third place.

There was yet another close race in the u15 girls race with Nancy Corrie of Harmeny AC in first with Millie Gairn of Airdrie Harriers just a second behind with Airdrie clubmate Eihlinn Gillespie in third place.

The u15 boys race was a battle of the east clubs with Team East Lothian coming out on top with winner Howie Allison. He was followed by Dan McGuire of Harmeny AC and Dylan Daunt of Edinburgh AC in third.

The u17 and u20 women ran together and they were next to go. Jessica Inglis of Law and District was our race winner followed by Lasswade AC athlete Olivia Meikle. Ariane Baillie of Pitreavie AAC came home in third place.

In the u17 men it was a battle between two Lasswade athletes Andrew McWilliam and Rowan Taylor. Andrew came out on top with a clear win followed by Rowan in second and Ryan Kellock of Law and District in third place.

Lasswade AC athlete Lauren Dickson was home for the weekend from university and was our first lady in the women’s race. In second place was Reagan Binnie of Law and District with Susan Ridley of Edinburgh AC in third place.

The men’s race was the biggest field of the day with fifty athletes in the race. It had a bit of international flavour with Spanish athlete Jose Miguel Gomez Garcia competing. Leading the men home was Livingston and District athlete Logan Beagley followed by Jose running unattached and Andrew Ferguson of Corstorphine finishing in third place.

Thanks to all of the clubs that supported this event. It was nice to see good numbers from a few clubs from the west of Scotland. We hope that everyone enjoyed it,

On the whole numbers were disappointing so we need to look at how we can try to increase numbers for the event next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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