North District Cross Country - Strathpeffer - Season 2006 - 2007

Runners battle on the tough course (more pictures below)

Who knew a year could pass so quickly! Saturday 7 October was to be the day I learnt to conquer my fear of heights whilst running in Strathpeffer. Yet again the Caithness Amateur Athletics Club was setting off on their annual journeys south to the first of six North District Cross Country League fixtures.

On the morning of the race it was made evident to me that none of my pleading with the kids not to take part in cross country had had no effect as two minibuses full of excited kids set off to Strathpeffer. The air was one of optimism that it would be a good day, in terms of results and in part this optimism was due to a number of athletes who had joined us from Sutherland and Ross-shire and were competing in Caithness colours.

On arrival at the community centre where we were to get changed I noticed I was going to be in the same difficult situation as two years previously; the toilets that we got changed in were part of a nursery facility and so the doors only came to my waist. And I had the added problem that my waist was higher up than it had been two years previously.

Climbing back onto the minibuses, our drivers, Graeme and Davie (thanks guys!), drove us to the course. It was a relatively calm day and there was not even a hint of rain as we arrived at what looked like a quarry track in the hills. Despite the almost perfect conditions the course was to prove extremely challenging.

I had been looking forward to an easy introduction back into the season but was now being told 'don't worry this is the hardest course you'll face this season'; this may have had something to do with the hill I was facing which was twice as high as the monkey run at Thurso River and also twice as steep. Oh and did I mention I was scared of heights.

Needless to say this did not go down very well with me; I found the nearest tree and clung on to it as if my life depended on it. My Mum arrived on the scene and gave me a push up the hill and after what seemed like an age we reached the top. Now all I had to do was run up it twice during my race.

The Under 11 Boys were the first age group to run in which Caithness had five runners. Despite this being the first official Cross Country race for many of the boys, they all performed exceptionally well. Ross Gollan from Edderton, the first newcomer to Caithness Amateur Athletic Club coming home first with a time of 8.23 min, a minute clear of the nearest athletes which over a 1 mile course, is very impressive.

Ross was followed in by Rorie Stewart who was 2nd out of 16 runnners in a time 9.25 min. Liam MacAdie and Scott Mackay were the next two Caithness runners to cross the line in time of 9.43 min and 10.47 min respectively, placing them in 4th and 8th position. Dean Britton, in his first trip away to cross country finished in a time of 11.21 min putting in 12th position. After this first fixture the Under 11 Boys age group is lying in first place for the team placings as well as Ross and Rorie lying in 1st and 2nd place for the individual placings.

Next up were the Under 11 Girls and similarly to the boys' age group, most of these girls were making their debut in running. This did not seem to affect any of them as our girls were right among all the action in the race. After a few minutes the first runners started appearing and to our delight Erin Mackay from Dornoch was the first runner to cross the line in a time of 10.07 min.

Next to finish for Caithness was Shannon Eyers who finished 8th out of 16 runners in a time of 11.15 min. Ailidh Mackie and Lauren Lafferty followed next crossing the line in 11th and 12th positions in times of 11.24 min and 11.28 min respectively. After their performances the Under 11 Girls are now lying in first place for the team placing with Erin in first place for the individual positions.

Now it was the turn of the Under 13 Boys where the competition level starts to get more intense in part due to this being the first age group which is recognised at national level. Jake Anderson was first over the line for Caithness in 3rd overall position with an impressive time of 13.54 min. Hot on his heels was Rob Murdoch who came 4th out of 18 in 14.33 min. A new runner to the club, David Gardiner from Dornoch was next to complete the demanding course in 14.45 min putting him in 5th position.

Liam Davidson and Chris Riddell were the next two boys over the line for Caithness in 8th and 12th position with times of 16.03 min and 16.56 min respectively. Ian Black brought the Caithness boys performance to a terrific end crossing the line in 15th position in 18.06 min. Surprisingly enough after their performance the Under 13 Boys Team is now also lying in 1st place for the team competition with Jake Anderson lying in 3rd pole position for the individual placings.

In the Under 13 Girls race Jade Currie, Emma and Oonagh Dunnett were racing for Caithness in their first under 13 race. As such the coaches were keen to see how they would fare against athletes that could be up to one and a half years older than themselves. However everything seemed to go to plan and I was relieved to see Jade crossing the line in 1st overall position in a super time of 14.46 min. Emma was next over the line, 2nd out of 18 runners, in a time of 15.34 min.

This was an excellent result for Emma as she was very pessimistic about running the race; however I think I came off worse as she collapsed into me arms when crossing the line. Its nice to know I'm needed as a prop. Oonagh closely followed her twin sister crossing the line in 5th position in a time of 15.59 min following the same routine also by leaning against me; you'd think that I would learn!

Hannah Deighan and Leanne Eyers followed closely after crossing the line in 12th and 15th position respectively with times of 17.52 min and 18.15 min. Due to their performances on the day the girls placed 1st in the team rankings with Jade in 1st individual and Emma in 2nd individual placings.

All of the Under 15 Boys ran tremendously well, especially Alistair Black who was competing for the first time after being out with an injury for almost a year and Drew Raeburn who is the most unlikely cross country runner; sorry Drew. He is currently ranked 1st in Scotland for the 100m, 200m, 400m, long jump and triple jump. What a machine!!

Whether our boys had improved hugely from their summer training, or because I knew I would be racing next, but it seemed no time at all before the first runners were appearing. Duncan Patterson brought the Caithness team in placing 6th in a time of 24.34 min, a superb run as a first year Under 15. Drew Raeburn was next over the line completing the course in 24.47 min putting him in 8th place out of 19 runners. Alistair Black and Sam O'Kane had a close race crossing the line one after the other placing them in 14th an 15th positions with times of 25.39 min and 27.08 min. David Mitchell took the team home finishing 17th in a time of 29.34 min. After their performance the boys are now lying in 3rd medal position for the team placings.

This is now the time of the day when my breathing really goes haywire. I would be racing any minute and to make matters worse my team mate, Rebecca Manson only came up to my shoulders and was most likely faster than me! Remind me why I do this again?

So anyway after priming myself with my inhaler I lined up all ready to run along side Rebecca who was running in the Under 15 girls race whilst I was in the under 17 age group. Everything was going great; I was trundling along a farm track when I came to the foot of this hill. OK time for the inhaler to kick in now please!

What a climb it was and by the top I had only one reassuring thought, I'd only have to run up it one more time. We passed the Strathpeffer Golf Course and surprise surprise guess what greeted us. Another hill. And this one was steeper. It is ok though as my dad was standing at the top encouraging me to keep going and telling me that I would be fine. Ye, right!! Well you can only imagine what went through my head for that split second.

The trouble is you see, I am absolutely petrified of heights and every step up that hill was like taking me one step higher up. You can imagine my relief when I did eventually get to the top only to find I had dropped about five places in the race.

Now I had to make them up on the flat before I had to run up that hill again. On the second lap things went more to plan except for the lactic acid that was now building up in my thighs and calves. After reaching the top of the second hill it was downhill for about 400 metres until the finish line so I desperately picked up the pace trying to regain some of the places I had lost whilst I was crawling up the hills like a baby.

My efforts were not totally in vain as, I passed an Inverness runner within twenty metres of the finish line and as any runner knows this is the most demoralising thing that can occur other than being passed when running up a hill. After all that drama I was ready for a sleep but not without finding where I had placed. I finished 3rd in a time 23.55 min, not a result for the scrap book I do not think. Rebecca however had a brilliant run finishing 7th in 21.52 min; defiantly a result of some hard work since last winter.

During my race the Under 17 Men's race had started in which Graeme Taylor was competing for Caithness. This was Graeme's first real cross country season yet we were all confident he would perform well. Well he did more than that! Graeme finished a tremendous 2nd in a time of 27.26 min which is a super result considering he has only recently started running with the club.

Now it was the turn of the Senior Ladies or the oldies as they are more commonly known! Representing Caithness in this race was Sheila Gollan from Edderton, Franky Farquhar and Sophie Dunnett (that's my mummy!). I knew only too well that my mum was just as scared of heights as I was so decided to jog up to the hill to help her with some encouragement whilst amusing myself with some of the seniors techniques for running up a hill, my favourite was a women who jumped up it like a frog!

All in all the ladies did very well with Sheila placing 3rd in a time of 29.32 min and Franky not far behind her in 11th place with a time of 33.53 min. Not long after Sophie crossed the line in 17th position with a brilliant time of 34.58 min. Due to their performances the Senior Ladies team are in 4th place. Well done ladies!!

The final race of the day was the Senior Men's race. Austin Hughes and Davie Eyers were running for Caithness in this very competitive race. A felt so sorry for these two, they had to run twice the distance I did, and I thought I had a difficult race! Despite this both men finished the course in brilliant times, this being their debut for Caithness. Austin placed 19th in a time of 42.23 min. How can anyone run for that long is beyond me? Davie finished 36th in another great time of 56.14 min.

Overall we had a very successful day and I hope to see you all raring to go for the next race which is being held on 11th November in Thurso.

Photos

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