Lauren Dickson has once again been selected for the (U20) Great Britain team to compete at the European Mountain Running Championships in Zermatt, Switzerland on Sunday 7 July.
It is a great credit to Lauren that she has been selected as she had a difficult winter picking up and injury in November and missing all of the cross country season only to come back in the spring and fracture her foot putting her out of action again. Anyone that knows Lauren, knows she does not give in easily with her focus and determination paying dividends in the end.
Congratulations to Lauren and Good Luck in your race from everyone at Lasswade AC.
Lasswade’s Track and Field Teams were in action again, at Grangemouth, over both days of the weekend. Saturday afternoon saw the U11s, U13s and U15s in action in the second match of the Forth Valley League season. Sunday was the final match of the lower YDL, with the U13s, U15s and U17s back in action.
Forth Valley League Match 2: Saturday 22nd June, Grangemouth
24 athletes turned up to compete for the team on what turned out to be a great day of athletics. The sun was shining, which has been a bit of a rarity so far this season, and with 24 athletes coming along the team had most of the events covered.
On the day Lasswade finished in sixth place, however individual performances throughout the team were fantastic. Of the 38 events competed in, Lasswade athletes produced a combined total of 13 new personal bests. In addition to that, there were another 12 performances from athletes who were competing in an event for the first time.
The final match of the Forth Valley Season will take place on Saturday 24th August. We will once again be hoping to get as many athletes out competing for that one. Results from match 2 can be found using the following link:
lower YDL Match 3: Sunday 23rd June, Grangemouth Stadium
Sunday saw the largest team of the season, so far, set off for the final match of the YDL season. A total of 30 Lasswade athletes competed across the U13, U15 and U17 age groups, many of whom had already competed for the FVL team the day before. Once again the weather was kind, although the heat proved tough for the distance runners.
Once again all 30 athletes competed fantastically well and, as a result of having a bigger team to back this up, managed to produce a fifth place finish on the day. Our best of the season in this division. There were still plenty of spaces to fill in the team, so hopefully in the coming months we can continue to get more and more athletes out to compete for the teams.
As before personal bests were being produced with regularity at the match. This time there were 25 new personal bests set by athletes. In addition to that another 12 times / distances were set by athletes competing for the first time in an event.
Off the back of a successful weekend at Scotstoun, for the Superteams, last week it was great for everyone to see so many athletes in action for the teams. The number of personal bests shows the level of improvement and quality of the athletes we have at the club. We are also seeing a number of newer athletes coming forward to compete for the Teams. As shown by the number of results where athletes were competing in an event for the first time.
Congratulations to all involved, and for those who couldn’t make it this time, please try to get along for future matches. The teams really do need every athlete available. Results for the match can be found at the following links:
(please note, on the U17 Girls results the names for the 100m & 200m A string have to be switched around. I have been in touch and this will be amended for the final results)
Thanks to Keith Kong and Gary Leek for the photos.
Bethan Kitchen / Ava Inglis / Abbie Foster / Eloise Scott
Congratulations to all three of the teams who competed at the Superteams event through at Scotstoun this weekend. The competition, comprising mini teams of 4, attracted clubs form up and down the country, with over 130 min teams, and in excess of 500 athletes, showing up on the day.
It really was a great event, and one that all the athletes seemed to enjoy. It was also great to have so many of our younger athletes, and newest members, along to compete for the club. Everyone did themselves and the club proud, and we hope to see them all back in action over the course of the year.
The closing date for entries to this years Secondary Schools Track and Field Championships is this Friday, 10th May.
Anyone interested in competing should speak to their school PE department as soon as possible. Schools do not enter pupils automatically for these events, so you do have to ask to be entered. Some schools have already been in touch with the club and are really keen to hear from anyone who is interested.
The Track and Field Championships will take place at Grangemouth Stadium on the 7th and 8th June. Age Groups for this event are as follows:
Group A (Over 17) Born on or before 31/8/02
Group B (Under 17) Born between 1/9/02 and 31/8/04
Group C (Under 15) Born between 1/9/04 and 31/8/05
Group D (Under 14) Born on or after 1/9/05
Further information on SSAA events, including this one, can be found on the SSAA website: SSAA website link
Well done to all those athletes who competed for the team. Individual performances were once again fantastic, unfortunately the Team as a whole will always struggle when numbers are low, so we really do need more athleetes making themselves available for competition.
Next matches up for the team are as follows:
Forth Valley League, match one: Sat 18th May, Livingston (U11, U13, U15 )
Lower YDL, match two: Sunday 19th May, Kilmarnock ( U13, U15, U17 )
Transport is available for both of these matches, and again we are looking for as many members as possible to take the opportunity to become part of our Teams. Emails will be going out to everyone with further details, and to find out who is available. Please reply as soon as possible, to allow the Team Managers time to make selections.
For more information on Teams and competition please contact Craig at lasswadeathletics@gmail.com.
The Edinburgh Marathon Festival Team are currently looking for Event Team members. Each Event Team Member receives payment of at least £15 and this can be pulled together to create a fundraising opportunity for a club or group. The Team are looking for a group of 9 and another group of 6. The payments would be:
Group of 9 – £202.50
Group of 6 – £157.50
The details are as follows: Event: Edinburgh Marathon Festival (Half Marathon and Marathon) Location: Potterow, Edinburgh University Date: Sunday 26th May 2019 Time: 6am – 11.30am
What the role involves: The roles are to be part of the Welcome Team which involves welcoming the runners to the event, answering questions, giving directions around the start area, managing crowd flow in busy areas such as toilet queues.
Minimum age: 17
If you are interested in taking part please contact Craig at lasswadeathletics@gmail.com to confirm.
The new club kit is now available to buy online at our club shop. To access the club shop simply click on the image link on the homepage and it will take you there.
Over the next couple of weeks there will be a small amount of samples available at training. the purpose of these are simply to give athletes an idea of sizes, rather than to display the full range. These samples only include the tops, as these are the items that will be personalised with initials, and thus not eligible for refund if they do not fit.
The full range of items available can be seen in the club shop. Included in the range are a couple of polo tops, which are aimed more at family members/supporters. The Team Tracksuit is aimed particularly at those who are competing for any of our teams throughout the year, with the aim of reintroducing a stronger Team Identity at matches.
The current Hoodies, which remain popular, will continue to be available however come from a different supplier.
Award winners for the Cross Country and Endeavor Awards can be found by clicking on the links above. It is hoped that as many award winners as possible will be able to come along to collect their awards.
New Club Kit
Lasswade will now be using Joma to provide the majority of our club kit. A representative will be coming along to the AGM to show off some of the new club kit that has been selected, and which will be becoming available on the new online club shop. The AGM will be the first chance to see the kit, and a good opportunity to get an idea of sizes and what is available.
Congratulations to all the runners who took part in the 2019 Lasswade AAC Ten Mile Road Race. It is a notoriously tough course, but that did not deter any of the 350+ runner, all of whom completed the course. After the unfortunate cancellation of last years event, due to a snow bound course, it was great to have so many turn up and take part, and hopefully we will see you all back again next year.
Particular congratulations to race winner Adam Gray, of Penicuik Harriers, who completed the course in a fantastic time of 57.04. It was a particularly good day for Penicuik Harriers with three runners finishing in the top ten ( Adam Gray 1st, Ritchie Thomson 6th & John Gibbs 10th) to ensure top spot in the Men’s Team category.
Adam Gray
In the women’s category it was unattached runner Lisa McDonald who took top spot, with another impressive time of 65.01. Winners of the Womens Team Prize was Penicuik Harriers, comprising Gemma Towersey, Jan Dawson & Edite Galite. Second Place went to Portobello Running Club, comprising Grace Mackenzie, Jennifer Holden & Julia Moffat. Lasswade’s Amy Frankland, Julia Cunningham & Debra Urquhart made up the third place team.
The above team results have been changed due to updates to the results
Lisa McDonald
I will update this page with a full list of winners during the week.
Thanks go out to all the volunteers who made today possible. A number of different teams are responsible for making the day what it is. this year we had a mixture of old and new hands helping out at the event. There are far to many to name them all, but I think all will agree that they all did a fantastic job.
Unscrutinised Results are available at the link below. If you spot any errors please get in touch to let us know. Unfortunately we seem to have temporarily lost the contact page from the website, so just email at lasswadeatheletics@gmail.com.
Saturday 23/02/2019 – The National Cross Country Championships were once again held at Callendar Park in Falkirk. The recent weather conditions meant that the course was in great condition with not too much mud on a very spring like mild February day – very unlike a typical Scottish cross country race.
Lasswade had teams in most of the male age groups with the exception of the U17 boys but unfortunately only one complete team in all of the female age groups.
The first race of the day was the under 13 girls with a field of almost 150 runners. Olivia Meikle led the team home with a strong run to finish in 27th, Hannah Knipe in her first championship race was next in 35th followed by Amy McLaughlan in 50th and Skye Foster finishing in 113th to complete the team.
In the under 13 boys we had five runners with Sam Kitchin our first finisher in 32nd, closely followed by team mate Andrew McWilliam in 33rd, Alasdair Brown was next home in 71st with Alec Miller our fourth counter in 125th and Shane Majekodunmi completed the team finishing in 135th
We knew we had our best chance of an individual medal in the under 15 boys race and were quietly confident that Harry Henriksen would be in the mix at the sharp end of the field. Harry did not disappoint amongst the leaders from the start he began to move clear of the group around the half way point stretching his lead on some of the small hills. Harry had a reasonable lead coming down the finishing straight but had no time to relax as the runners behind began sprinting as they fought it out for silver and bronze medals. A fine win and second national cross country title for Harry having won the under 13 boys in 2017. Next home for Lasswade was Alex Porteous in 83rd, Alastair Scott 110th, Jamie Lawlor 122nd and Jonathan Adams 141st.
Harry Henriksen – U15 Boys National Cross Country Champion 2019!
Abby McGlone was one of our few female runners and was flying solo in the U17 girls. Abby had a solid race to finish in 32nd place.
In the under 20 men we had five runners and thought we had an outside chance of a team medal, however it wasn’t to be with the boys finishing a respectable 5th team. Christian Graham was our top finisher in 14th place closely followed by team mate Magnus Tait in 17th. Next home in 28th place was our new member from Finland Severi Salonen followed by Euan Hood 57th and Daniel Kelly just back from a trip to Canada in 63rd.
Our only under 20 lady was Sarah Tait and she started off strongly, however having had a painful foot this week began to suffer a bit on the second lap as it began to get sore. However Sarah rallied and still finished a creditable 17th.
In the senior women’s race Keira Gore was yet another solo Lasswade athlete. Keira not feeling 100% this week decided that she was still going to race. Keira started off steady and worked her way through the field to finish 64th. Lasswade athlete Amy Frankland also in the women’s race but running for Edinburgh University had a very good run to finish in 18th place.
The final event of the day was the senior men and Lasswade had five men competing. Martin Gore ran a strong race and was our first finisher in 109th, he was followed by the first of our masters Steve Brown in 403rd, then came Peter Ness in 437th, Dave Scott was a little further back in 464th and Phil Parr-Burnam completed the team in 583rd.
A great days athletics – congratulations to everyone on their own individual performances and to Harry on his win.
Thanks also to our volunteer marshal’s Stuart Meikle and Graham Knipe for their help it is greatly appreciated.
Finally thanks and congratulations to Linden Nicholson on her promotion, very well deserved. Linden has officiated at this event and other cross country events over a number of years.
Officiating and volunteering helps Lasswade AC as it is noted (not literally) how often clubs help/support these events. For it’s size Lasswade do very well as we consistently provide support. Sometimes we forget how important officials and volunteers are but without them these events would just not take place, so thank you all again.
