Masters XC preview

Wednesday 25th January 2017

Masters event at Forres last year attracted 376 entries

2016 Masters XC review

Masters XC athletes will gather at Camperdown Park in Dundee on Saturday for their annual cross country championships.

And we can certainly say the fields for two races will assemble ‘ in their hundreds’ with a remarkable entry of 591 athletes the largest witnessed in 19 years of the event under the auspices of scottishathletics.

No fewer than 74 clubs are represented on the start-lists with this being the very first time the Masters XC has been staged in Dundee, either by scottishathletics or the SCCU.

We’ve become somewhat accustomed to mentioning ‘Record Entries’ in recent years but it’s a line we never tire of repeating and such a massive entry at Masters level merely confirms the impression that growth is happening at all ages and stages.

Whether you feel inclined to attach the ‘legacy’ word or otherwise, what seems undeniable in athletics in Scotland at the moment is that athletes really are being galvanised to compete more often.

That’s being reflected in events for Masters now, too, and indeed there was a big turnout for the SHVC LSK Road Relays last weekend.

At Dundee, there will be 431 Men and 160 Women on the start-lists – with that overall figure more than 200 up on last year at Forres and Kilmarnock the previous year and by far the best over 18 previous versions of this particular Masters XC event for men and women.

Check out the start-lists on our Events section:

There are two races on the day with the Men in the v65 and over age groups joining the Women in a race over 6K. This race starts at 1pm.

And the Men from V40 to V60 (and those in between in five-year age brackets) race over 8K – with that race starting at 1.45pm.

All the principal names to be expected are there including a host of past winners, with the women’s race to feature Glasgow 2014 marathon runner Joasia Zakrzewski, regular track record holder Fiona Matheson and Lesley Chisholm of Garscube Harriers.

The men’s race will feature many of those who represented Scotland in the British and Irish Masters International at Tollcross Park in November. Jethro Lennox, of Shettleston Harriers, is new to the V40s this year and could be among the contenders.

Many thanks in advance to all those volunteers helping out on Saturday and to host club Dundee Hawkhill Harriers for their assistance in the organisation.

With thanks to Alex Jackson