The weather forecasted rain, rain and more rain for the first leg of the East District cross country league in the grounds of Stirling University but this didn’t deter 17 junior and 14 senior Harmeny members from turning out to enjoy the fun.
There was a fantastic atmosphere in the tent where names were ticked, bibs handed out and nerves soothed.
The races started with the U11 girls – one of whom had to run full pelt from her mums car straight to the start line. The published results are incorrect and pending correction should have the team in 7th position, a great achievement.
The U11 boys mustered an impressive field of 8 runners and came third in their own team competition – our best result in the recent years.
Well done to Ruby in the U13 Girls race. It would be great if we can get a full U13 team together for the remaining events. (come on u13 girls for Alloa and Broxburn!)
And the final junior race saw 5 Harmeny boys running at U13. Again we placed a very respectable 15th against clubs fielding much larger teams.
By the time it came to the senior races the mud was waist deep, the hills were the largest ever encountered and a torrent of rain befell the 5 brave woman and 9 mad men who had set out on a personal challenge to beat the best the East of Scotland had to offer. The womans team came 8th out of 28 clubs and our very own mens team, AKA the Harmeny Hunks came 19th out of 38 teams. They were competing against a top field including Olympian Andrew Butchart who came first by nearly a full minute. It was great to see Andrew there signing autographs and being photographed. If cross country is good enough for an Olympian then it’s good enough for us.
See you all in Alloa on the 19th November.
(Apologies for the lack of photos – we were too busy cheering everyone over the finish line!)
