Participation? It’s not just about Monday and Thursday training nights!
The summer track and field season will soon be upon us and we’ve now updated the Track and Field guide on our website.
For under 12s, we have the superTeams qualifiers at Saughton Park, Edinburgh on Sunday, 14th April. Sign up using this Google Form.
Our first league competitions are in the Central and South Scotland League at Grangemouth on Saturday 27th April. This is for U11s to Masters age groups. Sign up using this Google Form
The next competition after that is just a week later (Saturday 4th May) in the Forth Valley League for U11s to U15s and is also at Grangemouth. Sign up using this Google Form.
New to the club or competitions? We have our virtual parent’s evening on Tuesday 26th March at 7pm where we can answer all your questions about track and field competitions. Sign up using this Google Form
The 40th running of the Lasswade 10 Mile Road Race took place on Sunday, thanks to the support of VMH Solicitors who kindly sponsored the event this year. The last running of the event was back in 2020 and certainly one to remember due to the torrential downpours in the preceding 24 hours that almost turned the race into an aquathlon! Fortunately, the weather was kinder to us this year and although overnight rain left the course a little muddy in places, the weather during the race was much conducive for a challenging 10 mile “undulating” road race. A small change was made to the course this year to avoid some of the “puddles” that affected the 2020 run, taking the runners along the smooth tarmac past Whitehill House.
The race got underway at 12pm and the 137 runners on the start line made their way out of Rosewell and into 10 miles of the Midlothian countryside.
First home was James Dunn (Corstorphine AC) in 53:57, followed by Edinburgh AC’s Callum Reid in 55:30. Lasswade’s Ross Matheson, who’s in training for the London Marathon in April, was just a further minute behind in 56:30.
First lady to cross the finish line was our own Lauren Dickson in an amazing time of 58:47 which was also good enough for 5th overall. Second was Carol Moss of Moorfoot in 72:42 with Adele Boucher hot on her heels just 7 seconds behind.
More outstanding performances worthy of note:- 17 year old Alfie McDonald clocked 61:27 for first male under 20 and 9th overall.
Possibly the first time at the Lasswade 10, a couple of “jogglers” – running whilst juggling at the same time were in the race. James McDiarmid covered the course in 69:21 and Scott Jenkins in 72:01 and incredibly, Scott managed the entire course without a single drop!
Team honours went to the Edinburgh Men’s team of Callum Reid, Mark Thornton Smith and Sean Eng. Penicuik team of Rachel Drummond, Julie Hand and Helen Osman took the women’s medals.
Congratulations to all runners – it’s certainly one of the toughest 10 milers in the area. Good luck to everyone who used this as part of their marathon training. I’m sure your marathon courses will be less “undulating” than this!
It goes without saying that a race like this simply cannot happen without the volunteers, officials and marshals, many who have supported the event for many years so a massive ‘Thank You’ to all of you. Thanks also to our junior club members who assisted with bags, medals and water stations.
Lasswade AC would also like to thank the following organisations for their support:
VMW Solicitors – our title sponsors. Please mention the Lasswade Road Race if you contact them!
Rotary Club of Esk Valley who provided additional marshals on the course.
Whitehill Welfare Football Club for use of their premises.
Oakridge Group for their help with the course at Rosslynlee.
Whitehill Golf Course
Midlothian Council
Police Scotland
Up and Running
Save the date for the 41st Lasswade 10 Mile Road race on Sunday, 2nd March, 2025.
If you’re looking for other local races, look no further than the Penicuik 10K organised by our friends from Penicuik Harriers on Saturday, 11th May and The Bluebell Trail Run, Dalkeith on Sunday 12th May and has 1k, 5k and 10k races. Entry is free for pupils at Midlothian and East Lothian High Schools. The Bluebell Trail run raises funds for the Midlothian Young Person’s Advice Service (MYPAS) to support the work it does in Midlothian and East Lothian.
Ahead of the summer Track and Field season we will be holding a virtual members/parents night on Tuesday 26th March at 7pm. The topics will cover how the various competitions run and go over some volunteering roles. To register please complete this form and details will be sent nearer the time. If you have any questions in particular just mention them in the form.
This seasons National Cross Country Championships took place at Callendar Park, Falkirk on Saturday. The conditions were perfect for February it was a beautiful sunny and mild day with little or no wind. Conditions underfoot were generally good with only a few muddy sections.
The first race of the day was the under 13 girls and we had six girls running. One of our newer members Isla Madhra got the day off to a flying start, finishing 3rd and winning the bronze medal. A great performance after only a few races for the club. Next home was another one of our newer members Rosa Gomez Candy in 50th place. Team mates Laura Kitchin, Olivia Spark and Eilidh Mowbray were next in 74th, 78th and 86th respectively. Our final athlete home was Darcy Esson in 128th place.
In the under 13 boys Francis Ovani- Finnegan had another good run to finish inside the top 15 in 13th place with team mate Fraser Houston continuing to improve with a strong finish in 83rd place.
The next race was the under 15 girls and we knew we had a strong team so had high hopes of picking up medals. The girls performed well on the day with Freya Brown our first counter in 2nd place with team mate Cerys Wright not too far behind in 5th place. Our next counter was Lucy Ward in 23rd followed by Beth McWilliam 36th and Emma Thomson 43rd. There was some confusion over the team results due to an issue with the technology but after some manual intervention it was announced that the girls had won team gold by the narrowest of margins with one point separating the first three teams.
Under 15 Girls National Cross Country Championships 2024 – 1st Team Lasswade AC
Our under 15 boys team was incomplete as one of our athletes had a stomach bug. Aaden Robertson was our first athlete home in 38th place. Only a few places separated our next two athletes with Finlay Troup in 76th place and Struan Milne in 79th.
In the under 17 women’s race Bethan Kitchin was our only athlete. In probably her best race of the season Bethan had a great run to finish in 24th place.
The under 17 men was another race where we had a strong team, but unfortunately one of our athletes was injured so was unable to race on the day. The remainder of our team performed well with our first counter Rowan Taylor in 7th place followed by Innes Wright in 11th place. Third counter was Laurence Ward in 36th place.
In the under 20 women, Olivia Meikle had her best run of the season to finish inside the top 10 in 8th place.
Club member Harry Henriksen finished 5th in the u20 men’s race representing Edinburgh University.
Claire Houston was first home for Lasswade in the senior ladies race finishing in 120th with team mate Alison Binns in 239th place.
The final race of the day with the biggest field was the senior men and we had four athletes racing. First home for us was Martin Gore in 255th place with the fast finishing Ken McWilliam in 265th place well ahead of his target. Euan Hood was next to finish in 413th with Doug MacDonald completing our runners in 568th. Lasswade athlete Magnus Tait finished in 78th place running for Glasgow University.
A great days athletics that I hope all athletes, parents and supporters enjoyed.
Congratulations to all the athletes on their performances.
Thanks to Linden Nicholson for consistently representing Lasswade as an official throughout the season and to all the other volunteers who helped marshal on the day.
BIG thanks to Kate Kitchin for the chocolate cake !!
Our VMH Solicitors Lasswade 10 Mile Road Race is just under a week away. Entries close midday on Friday 1st March, 2024 but don’t wait until the last minute!
An amazing achievement from one of younger members… 9 year old Sadie took on the “Run the Month: Marathon Edition” challenge for Prostate Cancer UK. We all know January has probably been one of the windiest on record, but that didn’t stop Sadie going out almost every day to clock up over 27 miles over the course of the month. With an original target to raise £100 for Prostate Cancer UK, Sadie managed to smash that with ease and raised over £1000. Her last run of the month was also 3 minutes faster than her first.
The final league match of this winters East District Cross Country League took place in Bathgate on Saturday. It was fairly windy but otherwise a beautiful mild day. It was a largely flat course with good conditions underfoot for the most part, although there were a couple of muddier sections.
On the whole Lasswade had good numbers competing, but the number of boys competing was disappointing. The split for each age group was as follows:
U11 Boys – 0/U11 Girls – 6 U13 Boys – 1/U13 Girls – 7 U15 Boys – 1/U15 Girls – 4 U17 Men – 3/U17 Women – 1 Senior Men – 4/Senior Women – 5
The first race of the day was the U11 Girls and first home for Lasswade was Lara Winters in 35th followed by Isla Houston in 41st. Joella Esson was just a few places behind in 44th, closely followed by Orla Connor 45th and Shauni Devlin in 47th. Sadie Wilson was our final U11 girl in 52nd.
In the third race our U13 girls ran very well with Isla Madhra in her first race for the club having a strong run to finish in 3rd place. Team mate Rosa Gomez-Candy also in her first race for the club was not too far behind in 21st. Our next three runners together with four athletes from other clubs were in a very close finish all being given the same time, Laura Kitchin 31st, Esme Scott 32nd and Olivia Spark in 35th. Our final runners were Eilidh Mowbray 58th and Darcy Esson 60th.
In the U13 boys we only had one runner, Fraser Houston who has been improving all season had his best race to date finishing in 47th.
In the U15 boys again we only had one runner, Struan Milne who had a solid run in 36th place
The U15/U17 girls are all in the same race and we had five athletes in this race. Cerys Wright has been running very well all season and continued that trend with a win on Saturday. Team mate Freya Brown also running very well this winter had another great run to finish in 3rd place. Our third counter was Bethan Kitchin who had a solid run to finish in 24th. Emma Thomson was next Lasswade athlete to finish with a strong run in 36th. Beth McWilliam having been ill and missed training for a few weeks made a great effort to race and was next to finish in 44th.
In the U17 men hopes had been high of winning the league as we went into the final match with a twelve point lead. Our first counter was Andrew McWilliam with a comfortable win and his traditional salute coming through the finish. Next home was Innes Wright with a solid race and fighting all the way to the finish placed 7th. We were missing a couple of our regular U17 men but Kieran Glass stepped up to complete the team and have a strong run to finish in 25th place. We narrowly missed winning the league by two points.
In the ladies race our U20 Olivia Meikle had a strong run to finish in 12th place. Next home was Claire Houston finishing in 30th place who was closely followed by team-mate Cathy Dickson in 34th place. I hadn’t seen Rachel Fagan since this race last year so it was good to see her back running and finishing in 72nd place. Alison Binns was our final athlete finishing just inside the top 100 in 95th place.
In the Men’s race Scott Dickson led the Lasswade team home in 140th place. He was followed by Oscar Gomez in 220th, Doug McDonald in 221st and Derrick Brydon in his first race since Bathgate last season completing the Lasswade runners in 240th.
Congratulations to all the runners on their own individual performances.
Hi Everyone, as some of you will know Christian Graham (pictured below) is studying at Boise State University, Idaho. His Dad, sent us a link to a 3000m race that Christian competed in last week in Seattle where he recorded a new personal best. I’ve attached a link of the race here
Its nice to see our athletes performing well overseas.
