Exceptional old and new displays by Gala Harriers

Gala Harriers were represented this time round by the Maxwell family trio.

Kirstin Maxwell was first home with a season’s best in an excellent sixth female overall in a strong field (38:03 mins), followed closely by Ian Maxwell in a personal best (PB) time of 39:39 mins and Eileen Maxwell, also with a PB, in 48:51 min.

Portobello Promathon – The four-mile road race along Portobello promenade on New Year’s Day is a fixture in the racing calendar, attracting a strong field with some very fast times at the business end.

A contingent of eight Harriers made the trip this year.

A scorching time of 19:52 mins saw Darrell Hastie earn fifth position overall, followed swiftly by Marcus D’Agrosa in 20:10 mins for seventh. Two superb performances just either side of five minutes per mile pace.

Graeme Murdoch ran well for 18th overall in 21:12 mins, with the remaining Harriers all finishing well – Gary Trewartha (35th, 22:57), Grant Dilasser (116th, 27:16), David Nightingale (120th, 27:25), Kirsty Meldrum (253rd, 34:32) and Anne Purves (302nd, 38:22).

Kielder Winter 10-Mile Trail Run – Marcus D’Agrosa further demonstrated a start to 2020 in great form with an overall race victory in the Kielder Winter 10 Mile Trail Run, completing the course in 58:29 mins, which was a new course record.

Kirsty Meldrum also had an excellent run, finishing 101st overall in a time of 1:42:38.

Run-off the Christmas Pudding Race – Gala Harriers filled three of the top five spots, with Gary Trewartha first across the line (53:30 min), followed by Brian Aitchison (54:03) in second and Neil Christie in fifth (59:08). Other Harriers running strongly over the challenging course were Grant Dilasser (1:09:09), Garry Fraser (1:13:23), Eileen Nicol (1:14:41), Jacqui Antrobus (1:15:20) and Shelagh King (1:35:37).