North District Cross Country Relay - Inverbroom, Ullapool - Season 2006 - 2007

Family affair...
(more pictures below)

Caithness Amateur Athletic Club surpassed even its own expectations at the recent North District Cross Country Relay Championships. This is an event which the Club does not normally attend as it requires a depth of ability from athletes ranging from the Under13 to Under 17 age groups.

The Relay which was held at Inverbroom, near Ullapool consisted for junior athletes, of 3 runners completing 2.5kilometres in relay form. The first runner had to be in the Under 13 age group, the second runner in the Under 13 or Under 15 age group and the final runner either from the Under 15 or Under 17 age group.

Caithness had entered 2 teams for the event and given that it was the Club's first outing at this event, the athletes were participating to gain experience of this cross country format which is popular at more senior level in the south based clubs.

The junior female team consisted of family members; Emma running first followed by twin sister Oonagh and then older sister Sarah in the Relay against a total of 8 teams. Emma started off assertively and had built up a convincing lead as the athletes left the first field in what was a relatively flat course.

By the time Emma appeared at the finish, she had given Oonagh a 200m advantage on the next athlete from Stornoway. In the process she recorded the fastest time of any of the junior female athletes covering the distance in 10.43min.

Oonagh did not sit back and instead took on the athletes in her leg of the relay, some of whom were 2-3 years older than her. She finished the second leg of the relay still with a 200m advantage in a time of 10.59 which was the third fastest time of the day for the junior female athletes. Then it was up to big sister.

Sarah held on to the gap that had been built up until the second half of the race when the Stornoway runner seemed to be closing down on her. However after a short uphill section, Sarah regained her form and took the Caithness girls team home to a convincing win in 11.35min. This gave Caithness an overall team time of 33.17min, over Stornoway Running Club in 2nd place in 33.35min, with Inverness Harriers finishing 3rd in 34.05.

Charlie Forbes, who was convening the event on behalf of the North Districts, said that this was the first time in North District history that a single family team had placed in the Relay Championships.

Not to be outdone the Caithness junior male team took on a strong field of 10 teams from across the North. Rob Murdoch was first off for the boys and like Emma and Oonagh is the first year in the Under 13 age group. Rob showed a great deal of determination in finishing 4th just ahead of a Stornoway runner in an impressive time of 10.32min.

Next for Caithness was first year Under 15, Duncan Patterson who maintained the teams 4th position and in doing so finishing in a time of 11.07min and built up a lead on the 5th placed runner. Graeme Taylor is also a first year but this time in the Under 17 age group, showed good tactics in pacing the race well.

He reeled in the 3rd placed runner with a consistently paced run over what is a shorter distance than normal for Graeme. His finishing time of 9.07min was the second fastest time recorded for the junior male runners and was only 15 seconds behind Kenny Wilson, Moray Road Runners who finished some 1.40min ahead of Graeme at last weeks cross country at Strathpeffer. This performance bods well for future cross country fixtures within the North District league.

Moray Road Runners finished in 1st position with Stornoway 2nd and Caithness in 3rd place in a time of 30.44min. This will definitely be an event that the Club will be sending teams to in the future after its success this year.

Photos

End-of-Document