The National Cross Country Championships once again took place at Callender Park in Falkirk on 18 February 2012. Lasswade Athletics Club had twenty athletes competing in various different age groups.
The weather looked promising when we left midlothian but no sooner had we arrived in Falkirk when the snow started. Thankfully it was not too heavy but there were snow flurry’s throughout the day. There had also been rain overnight which made the course quite muddy and heavy in parts.
The under 13 boys was the first race of the day with 99 boys taking part. Thomas Snodgrass was Lasswade’s first finisher coming in 38th with Ross Mackenzie 85th place. It was the turn of the under 13 girls next with Lauren Wilkie finishing 74th of the 111 starters. Lauren was the only Lasswade girl competing.
We had two boys in the under 15 race, Iain Lawson who finished 57th and Kyle Mackenzie who only recently got the cast off his broken wrist finishing 104th. Sophie Miller in the under 15 girls and finished 46th of the 71 starters.
The under 17 and under 20 women ran in the same race which was the next to start. We had two runners Amy Frankland who finished 13th and Amy Smith who was 28th. Ross Henderson and Callum Clark were our runners in the under 17 men. Callum Clark finished 60th but Ross unfortunately had to pull out injured.
It was the turn of the ladies next with Keira Murray finishing a fine 6th in a very close finish with Sarah Hood of Edinburgh. Next to finish for the ladies was one of our veterans Wilma Kerr in 159th followed by Karen McKinlay in 197th.
The penultimate race of the day was the under 20 men with Lasswade’s Ross Matheson looking for another National Cross Country title. Luke Traynor, Giffnock North opened a lead on the first lap with Ross in second place. Ross running one of his better cross country races this season looked like he may close the gap, however the Giffnock North runner rallied and the positions at the finish remained the same with Ross finishing a brilliant 2nd!
The last race of the day was the men’s race with 505 runners, which was one of the biggest fields assembled for a number of years. Lasswade had seven runners competing. Barney Phillips who has been in good form over the winter finished 27th with the fast finishing Martin Gore in 72nd, Ben Mitchell was our next runner in 172nd followed closely by Richard Connor in 184th. Our next finishers were David Ramage 285th, Alan Cummings 324th and Brian Wilson 460th.
Well done to everyone who took part and congratulations to Ross on his second place.
For full results please click here
