Junior hill runners savour Salisbury Crags

Monday 31st August 2020

Photos by Neil Renton

The inaugural Salisbury Crags Junior Hill Races, organised by Hunters Bog Trotters on Sunday, was a great success.

The conditions were excellent. A warm, dry, windless day. Four U18 races were held. The fields were excellent in all races.

U18 men (4.3km, 274m climb) was won by Struan Bennet (Fife AC), with Angus Wright (Team East Lothian) in second and Lewis Hannigan (Kilbarchan) taking third.

U18 women (4.3km, 274m climb). A strong win by Bridget Harley (Team East Lothian), followed by Anna Hedley (Fife AC) in second and Isla Hedley (Fife AC) third.

U15 boys (2.7km, 163m climb) was the largest field with 17 athletes. The first three finished within 10 seconds of each other: Andrew McWilliam (Laswade) first, Rowan Taylor (Lasswade) second and Dylan Daunt (Edinburgh AC) third.

U15 girls battled a close finish with one second between first and second place. Jessica Taylor (Edinburgh AC) first, Beth Urquhart (Moray Road Runners) second and Orlaith Shepherd (Edinburgh AC) third.

U13 boys and girls raced together (2.7km, 163m climb). U13 boys, Archie Suttie (Fife AC) beat Lucas Sonneville by two seconds to take first place, Finch Greary (Fife AC) taking third. U13 girls, Cerys Wright (Haddington) won the race by 25 seconds ahead of Emma Brander in second and Bethan Kitchin (Lasswade) in third.

Organiser Megan Mowbray said: ‘Special thanks to Jill Stephen for organising the courses and marshals, Dave Wright for the start/finish/results, and Dave for tail running all four races at pace.

‘It was a pleasure to organise races for a group of 60 juniors, all of whom were very ‘professional’ and respectful of each other and the many other park users.

‘The talent on show is exciting to see. I hope next year these juniors are able to participate in the full set of hill running league races that were planned and that they use these experiences to realise their goals.

‘Thanks to the race team for their hard work, and Holyrood park for allowing this event to take place, one of the first after a long period of coronavirus lockdown.’

With thanks to Megan Mowbray and Angela Mudge