A NUMBER of runners from Gala Harriers took part in the Scottish National Cross-Country Relays at Scone Palace on Saturday.
Kirsty Rankine (U13) got off to a great start over the fast 2.5k course to hand over to Erin Gray (U15) in 17th. Erin had an excellent run, pulling the girls back to 10th, leaving U17 Isla Paterson for the final leg. This brought the girls home in a very well-deserved 12th. In this event, Gala also fielded an incomplete team – with Kacie Brown (U13) and Poppy Lunn (U15) getting their first taste of national relays and running very well at this level of competition.
Next up were the boys. A total of 98 teams toed the starting line and Archie Dalgliesh set off for the U13s, fighting his way through the field and handing over to U15 Zico Field in 11th. Zico had a strong run and pulled back a few places to 8th, leaving Ewan Christie for what was possibly the Gala run of the day. He charged through the field and held on for a fantastic 4th overall/ The second Gala team – consisting of Charlie Dalgliesh, Ross Christie and Cameron Rankine – also ran strongly and finished 28th overall.
The Senior and Masters teams raced over a scenic 4km loop.
Three teams featured for Gala in the omen's race. The A team were given a great start by Sara Green with a strong opening leg of 14:37 minutes. Fantastic support was then provided by Lizzie Macleish (16:18), Lisa Dalgliesh (17:34) and Charlotte Hendry (19:36) for a 28th place finish overall.
On paper the W40 team looked to be well-balanced with strong runners in all positions and so it proved. Gill Lunn (16:32), Pamela Baillie (16:11) and Katy Barden (15:42) combined for 5th place overall – just over 10 seconds outside of the medal spots.
The highlight of the day for the Gala team was a bronze-medal winning performance from the W50 team. Terrific performances from Julie Johnstone (17:54), Lindsay Dun (17:28) and Carole Fortune (17:47) proved good enough for 3rd place.
The M40 team of Gary Trewartha (13:13), Brian Aitchison (13:49), Graeme Murdoch (13:41) and Wayne Mcintosh (13:28) gave their all and left the course happy and with a bronze medal around their necks. However, subsequent revisions to the results relegated the team to 4th place in the M40 category.
Darrell Hastie led the senior men's team out in typically fast fashion with a 12:22 minute leg. The baton was then passed to Fergus Johnston (14:57), Paul Henderson (15:41) and Iain Buckley (16:34), resulting in 70th place overall. club.
The forever-young Bob Johnson completed the team's efforts running a solid solo leg in 16:34.
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