Bellahouston stages National cross country

Sunday 30th April 2017

With thanks to Laurence Bissett for this photo

Scottish Disability Sport and scottishathletics returned to Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, for the 2017 National Cross-Country Championships.

Following a date switch, it was pleasing to welcome back the majority of runners entered for the original date, with a few more also able to compete thanks to the postponement.

The East and West series continue to grow apace with more entries and more races taking place each year. The National event featured races across three distances with competitors from primary age-groups to seniors with every secondary school stage also represented.

In the absence of the experienced GB athlete Owen Miller, fellow Fifer Sam Fernando secured the Open Senior 3k title with his stablemate Carter Taylor finishing second, followed by Forth Valley’s George Le Hardy.

Grampian’s Carl Furmann won the Senior title in the 1k race, finishing ahead of Forth Valley’s Liam Nolan, however the fastest 1k time of the day fell to Hamilton Grammar’s Alexander Thomson, who won the S4 boys category in a time of 4.20.

A large entry in the girls sections was pleasing to see with Kimberley Walker transitioning from Primary to Secondary seamlessly adding the S1 female title to the primary title she won here last year. Further female successes came from Lochgelly’s Louise Harley (2k Girls Gold), Merkland’s Sara Stevenson (1k S4 Girls Gold) and Amy McAllister (1k S5-6 Girls Gold) amongst others.

The future for Cross Country is bright with impressive performances in the Primary section from representatives of Drummore, Firpark, Merkland and Craigmarloch. This is such an accessible sport for primary age pupils with varying distances available and plenty events to choose from.

scottishathletics and Scottish Disability Sport would like to highlight the work done by all the many volunteers and officials that ensure the event runs smoothly on the day, especially Angus Cameron and Doleen Galbraith – significant supporters of disability athletics.

Cross-country is an excellent route into athletics for youngsters around Scotland and strong programmes exist in various areas of the country from Highland to the Lanarkshires, Perth & Kinross which supplement the very successful series in the West of Scotland and the East of Scotland.

SDS and scottishathletics would urge any youngsters interested in trying out Cross-Country to contact their local branch or the SDS office to find out how to access the sport.

If you are interested in finding out more about this event or any other Scottish Disability Sport event please contact Mark Gaffney on 013 625 4417 or at mark.gaffney@scottishdisabilitysport.com

With thanks to Mark Gaffney and Shona Malcolm

 

Tags: Bellahouston, Para Cross Country, SDS