Dawson in the running after strong hill finish

In the last hill race of the club championship, four Harriers made the trip to Killin for the Meall nan Tarmachan hill race, in glorious Scottish autumn conditions.

The route starts at a height of about 450m up the Lawers Road and climbs the south-west ridge of Meall nan Tarmachan, with a brief jaunt along the ridge before hurtling down from Meall Garbh to finish along the quarry tracks.

The race was won by Sam Alexander of Westerlands CCC in 51.33.

The first Harrier home was Aaron Dawson, in fifth position overall in 57.52. This moves him into third place in the men’s championship, a little over four points behind Wattie Mackay and Andy Gallagher.

Andy Gallagher continued to show his strength on the hills with a 1.08.46, in 23rd position, and Mark Dillon finished in 1.21.43.

The women’s race was won by Jennifer Gane in a time of 1.12.07.

Rowan Dillon was the sole Harriers’ representative, finishing in 1.42.20.

The following day was the penultimate championship race for 2016, at the Neil McCover Half marathon.

The race produced two excellent personal best times, with Wendy Taylor leading the way in style with a 1.32.38. It earned her fourth position in the women’s race, and first in the FV40 category.

Lauren Fairweather broke the two-hour mark with 1.57.44. She crossed the line to great acclaim, beating her half marathon best time by three minutes.

The first male Harrier home was Tony Wayte, in a season’s best of 1.34.07, fourth in the MV55 category.

Next in was Nicola Watson, training hard for the Glen Ogle 33 in November, finishing in 1.45.17, also fourth in her age category.

Mark Dillon, after running the previous day, finished in 1.54.07. He continued his outstanding 100% record racing all the championship races, plus his two wildcard races, and is in fifth position overall in the standings.

Colin Tipping proved there’s life after 70 with a fine 2.17.08.

Unfortunately, Aaron Dawson had to withdraw early in the race with an injured knee.

The men’s race was won by Crieff 10k record holder Robert Gilroy in a time of 1.11.43.

In the women’s championship, Wendy Taylor is secure at the head of the table, with mother-and-daughter pairing of Nicola and Maddy Watson in second and third places.

Meanwhile, down on the Pentland Hills, Iain Thomson was taking on the Pentland Skyline race.

This is one of the classics of Scottish hill running, comprising a 16 mile circuit of the Pentland Hills just south of Edinburgh, with 6200 feet of ascent and some fairly brutal ups and downs.

This year’s race was won by Kris Jones of Dark Peak Fell Runners, in a new record time of 2.15.52.

Harriers were represented by Iain Thomson, who ran 4:12:16 – beating his pre-race target by nearly 10 minutes.