SOUL’s with mugs

Seems a long time since the first round of the Urban League in January but finally the winners were crowned on Saturday immediately after round 7 in Edinburgh.  Kirstin Maxwell had a clear win in the Womens Open while Robin Sloan had a closer result in M65+ needing to win on Saturday to make sure of victory, which he did.  Kirstin also took 1st place in the University Champs which were run as part of Saturday’s race.

Pauline McAdam took 3rd place in W55+ and Lindsey Knox was 3rd equal in the W40+ class.

The top 3 in each urban class received a special mug, and the winners also received a t-shirt.

The second-best small club in Britain has now become the best small club in Scotland after the Inter-Club Championships (SIC) at Balkello, near Dundee on Sunday.

With low entry numbers this year the rules were amended so that only 2 counters were needed for a small club team and with 3 RR’s entered we were at least sure to be in the hunt.  I was extremely surprised though when RR were announced as the winners !  I received a very nice trophy – but I’m biased as it was made in Hawick several years ago by silversmith Hamish Smith and I designed the top.

SIC trophy – 2013

In the Scottish Score Championships, which was really the main event of the day, I managed to retain my W50 title against very little opposition, Pauline finished 2nd on W55 and Bill was 5th on M60.  Balkello consists of 3 hills plus a lower section of community woodland but the hills are a bit too heathery for my liking and it was almost impossible to run apart from on the paths.

Results are HERE

What a result on Sunday – 2nd overall in the CompassSport Trophy final, our best ever result.

We kicked off the weekend with a group meal in Dr Foster’s Restaurant in Gloucester followed by a leisurely walk back to the Travelodge and an early night.

Doug flew in from Gothenberg on Saturday evening, Karen conversely had flu’ and stayed at home.

The Forest of Dean isn’t really an autumn area and there were acres of bracken and brambles, so there was quite a bit of path running as well as a few bits of nice forest to run through.  Saying that, there are hundred of paths so getting the correct one was vital.

Poor Sam had a scary experience with a wild boar in the forest and didn’t finish his course.  Bridget also saw some boar, and Amjad came across a couple of stags.

With start times spread over a long period it took until early afternoon for the scores to start looking hopeful for us but, with most clubs putting their better runners off late, it took until the last starters had finished for us to realise that we had actually, definitely, absolutely, taken 2nd place.  Brilliant.   Beaten by FVO who were winning for the 7th time in succession, but beating local club North Gloucestershire into 3rd place despite their 60 runners.

We managed to take maximum points on 5 of the 10 courses with wins for Kirstin, Lindsey, Faisal, Doug and Robin.  John was just pipped near the end and finished 2nd.

Results are HERE

The forecasted heavy rain during Sunday held off until just before prizegiving which was a shame, and we had to pack up a sodden tent.

CST prizegiving (2nd and 3rd)