Date:- 17/05/2008
Time:- 20:56:48
Time:- 20:56:48
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 North District Cross Country Relay Championships, Inverness - 13/10/07 Following on from Caithness Amateur Athletic Club's success at last year's North District Cross Country Relay Championships, the Club expanded its team entry this year and took 5 teams down to Inverness to compete in this year's event. The three girls and two boy's teams included four athletes who live in Sutherland but compete for CAAC and it was an ideal opportunity for them to work along with the athletes from Caithness. This annual Championship was hosted by Inverness Harriers and the 2.5k course used the river and canal areas near to the Queen's running track which made for a fast flat course. The three members of each team run in relay form with the placing of the last team member home giving the team it's overall placing.
The membership of the teams is made up of an Under 13, followed by an Under 13 or 15, followed by an Under 15 or 17. In the case of CAAC, seven of the 15 runners were Under 13's which demonstrates the strength that the Club has in this age group for cross country. Some of the team members were trying out the relays for the first time but five of the runners were returning from their success last year to defend medal winning positions. In the Junior Girls relays, there were thirteen teams competing and in the end just four seconds split the first four teams such was the level of the competition. In the CAAC A team, Emma Dunnett, hot on the heels of her North District victory last weekend, set up a 45second lead from the second runner in who was Jade Currie in the CAAC B team. In doing so Emma recorded the second fastest female time of the day only beaten by Gemma Cormack from Moray Road Runners. Nikki MacDonald for CAAC C team came home in the first leg in 4th position beating some strong opposition and demonstrating a great aptitude for the discipline of cross country. Oonagh Dunnett for the CAAC A team extended the team's lead to 1.14min over the second team which was then Inverness Harriers with CAAC B dropping back to 4th position. As Rebecca Manson for CAAC A left the starting area, CAAC A had a 2.18min lead over the eventual winners, Moray Road Runners. Unfortunately for Rebecca despite an extremely impressive run, she came up against International athlete, Gemma Cormack who as Under 17 Scottish Champion in 800m, 1500m and 3000m was not about to let such a sizeable gap deter her. By the half way mark on the course, Gemma had narrowed the gap down to 1.10min and as the two runners entered the final 100m, there was no holding Gemma back from snatching victory for Moray Road Runners. Rebecca held on strongly to keep the CAAC A team in silver medal position with Inverness Harriers A taking third place over Stornoway B.
The CAAC B team's second runner, Erin Mackay handed over to Hannah Paterson in 4th place with Hannah holding off some strong Under 17 runners to take the team home in 6th place. CAAC C team was taken out on the second leg by Leanne Eyers who put in a fast time to hand over in 7th place. Unfortunately the third team member for this team was unable to get time off work so Emma Dunnett run again to allow the team to complete the race in 9th place although the team was unable to officially count. After the emotion of the Junior Girls relays, it was with much relief that the Junior Boys relay was a much more decisive victory for the boys with none of the other eight teams looking as if they were going to stand in the way of a Caithness victory. The CAAC A team of Rob Murdoch, Duncan Patterson and Graeme who had won bronze last year, were out to better that and made it look extremely easy in doing so. Rob Murdoch had a sprint finish at the end of the first lag to take the boy's home in first equal along with Stornoway A. Duncan Patterson who has grown in strength and confidence over the summer, showed true determination and a calm head to pull a 3 second lead on Stornoway A by the end of his run. The last runner out was Graeme Taylor who played with the second team in allowing the Stornoway athlete to narrow the gap. He then eased the pace up and by the time he crossed the line there was a clear gap of 53 seconds between Graeme and the second team's runner Robbie Gammock, Moray Road Runners. In doing so Graeme recorded the second fastest time of the Junior boys but given the fact that he was unchallenged throughout the relay this was not a true reflection of his potential at present. CAAC A showed a level of confidence in pacing each leg of the relay which demonstrated a great deal of competitive maturity and impressed watching coaches and senior athletes alike. CAAC B team comprising of Rorie Stewart, David Gardner and Alistair Black are all first year athletes in their respective age groups. Their outing at the Relay Championships was to allow for them to learn from this type of competition which differs greatly from running as an individual. Rorie misjudged the pace of the shortened course by going out hard at the start of the race but held it together well to take the team into the changeover in 6th place. David Gardner ran the fastest leg of the three relay members in the CAAC B team, making up one place in the overall positions and Alistair Black held onto the fifth place and closed the gap on the front runners in doing so. The overall times for all CAAC runners and teams were as follows:-
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