LRC women lead way in Nationals
Lothian Running Club fielded five teams at the Scottish National Cross Country Relay Championships in Cumbernauld.
They had two teams in the senior men’s race and one each in the senior women, junior female and master men’s events.
Not for the first time, it was the club’s senior women who were the highest-placed performers on the day.
Sarah Inglis was first off for the blue vests and came home in second place in a fast 13.39 before handing over to Lana Turnbull, who recorded a time of 16.37.
Mel Zobel did well on the third leg, considering that the conditions underfoot had deteriorated, and managed a respectable time of 16.53, handing over to anchor leg runner Mhairi Inglis who produced a gutsy run, finishing in 15.54 .
The quartet finished in 12th position in a time of 1:03.03.
68 teams completed the senior men’s race, with the LRC squad of Ryan Ferguson, Stig Walsh, Kenny Mearns and Martin Leadbetter finishing in 40th place.
The foursome of Andrew King, Owen Williams, Josh Dack and Malcolm Lang came home in 63rd place, while in the men’s masters race Scott Nelson, Alan Moffat,Alan Knowles and Kenton Jones finished 21st.
There was a big field of almost 300 runners in the junior female race, with the Lothian trio of Hannah Steel, Shannon Prevost and Erin Steel finishing 69th from 82 full teams.
Max McNeill, currently a student in the States, turned in another excellent performance with a second place finish as he led his Oklahoma City team to victory in the National Association collegiate athletics mid states classic cross country at Winfield in Kansas.
He covered the 8km course in an impressive time of 25.24.
The club were also represented in the Carmichael Challenge Trail races at Biggar over the weekend.
Mairi and Fiona Eades both finished in the top five in the women’s category of the junior 5km event.
Mairi came home sixth overall and second female, with Fiona just behind as fifth female and 12th overall.
Colin Eades led the way for the three LRC runners in the 10km senior event as his time of 51.24 saw him cross the line in fifth spot.
Jim Alexander came home in 20th place and Lorna Eades was fourth female and 28th overall in 1:03.19.