Harrier success at veteran championships
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Inverness Harriers took Saturday’s British Veterans’ cross country championships at Forres by storm with four gold medals plus one silver and one bronze.
Donnie MacDonald kept his entry an almost complete secret and, after winning gold in the men’s 35-39 age category, headed off to perform a night shift for the Fire and Rescue Service.
MacDonald led the 8k race, for all male competitors in the 35-64 age range, from start to finish and gradually increased his lead to just over 20 seconds. There was further gold success here when Tony Golabek and Dean Kane also finished well to complete the winning Inverness trio in the team contest for the 10 year age category from 35-44.
"I decided to keep my entry right below the radar which meant there was a lot less pressure," said MacDonald.
"I decided to set off at a fair rate and I did feel that I was getting away from the rest.
At one point with about a mile to go, somebody shouted that I had an 18 second advantage which told me where I was. I’m really pleased with the run and there were also great performances from Tony and Dean to win the team event as well."
There was also individual gold for Alex Sutherland (70) in the 70-74 category where former Olympic rowing cox Tim Kirk (72) won the bronze. Ian Thomson (74) became the Harriers’ oldest competitor when he completed the club’s trio which won silver in the extended 65-74 team category.
The fourth gold came from the women’s 45-54 team comprising Julie Wilson, Alison Wilson and Heather Gardiner, with Doreen Campbell also in close attendance. This came just six days after Julie Wilson’s medal double in the corresponding British indoor track championships in London, comprising 1500m silver in 5:21.87 and 800m bronze in 2:36.44.
At the other end of the age range, two Harriers have been selected for this Saturday’s British Schools cross country international in Nottingham after leading performances at the rearranged Scottish Schools championships at South Queensferry.
Lucas Cairns of Fortrose Academy won the silver medal in the under 15 boys’ event while Emily Andrew of Millburn Academy was eighth in the under 17 girls’. Cairns also led home the winning Fortrose team which also comprised another Harrier, Angus Rutter, and Hamish and Fergus Whiteside of the Ross County club.
The Scottish young athletes’ road relays were cancelled due to snow in Greenock after the entire Inverness squad had stayed overnight close to the venue.
However this cloud may have a silver lining for Cairns and Andrew since it also provides a solution to a major problem of fixtures congestion in advance of the international.
