Gala Harriers over-40s bring back three masters medals from Scottish east district cross-country championships

Hastie was first finisher in his age bracket, and 13th all told in a field of 250, in the day’s 8.6km senior race in a time of 29:19, just over two minutes behind the overall winning time of 27:12 clocked by Fife Athletic Club’s Logan Rees.

Hastie’s top-20 placing helped earned a bronze medal for his club’s masters team, with fellow counters Gary Trewartha and Tim Darlow, both over-45s, finishing 21st in 34:44 and 27th in 35:42 respectively in the masters’ race and 90th and 11th all together.

Three of their clubmates also took on the three-lap course – over-40 Francis McElroy placing 135th in 36:59, over-50 Rory Campbell 143rd in 37:21, over-55 Sinclair Hill 148th in 37:48 and over-50 James Dennison 160th in 38:35.

Gala’s six runners were accompanied by three Teviotdale Harriers – Rory Anderson, 55th in 32:32 a day ahead of winning round two of the current Borders Cross-Country Series at Peebles, and over-40s Greg Walker and Andrew Gibson, 60th in 33:03 and 137th in 37:01 respectively.

Green and Barden were second and third in their age bracket, and 14th and 18th overall out of a field of 111, in 35:37 and 36:24.

The pair, plus over-50 Pamela Baillie, were competing in both senior and masters teams for their club, helping earn the former a bronze medal and the latter a silver, with Katie Rourke joining them as a counter for the seniors.

Rourke clocked 35:45 for 12th place in the senior women’s 8.6km race, with Baillie finishing 40th all told, and as third in her age class, in 39:19.

Saturday’s 6.4km under-20s’ races saw three top-20 finishes for Borderers, Moorfoot Runners’ Thomas Hilton being the fastest, placing fourth in the men’s field of 35 in 23:28, with Gala’s Robbie Welsh following in 19th place in 25:10.

Gala’s Isla Paterson was sixth out of 26 in the women’s version in 28:30.

Two of the five Borderers competing in the under-17 boys’ 5.7km race managed top-half finishes, Gala’s Archie Dalgliesh and Oliver Hastie, placing 15th in 21:12 and 17th in 21:22 respectively.

Following them home were Gala’s Sam Robertson and Matty Fleming, 32nd in 23:17 and 35th in 23:45, and Teviotdale’s Craig Watson, 36th in 23:59.

Gala’s Kirsty Rankine hit the top ten in the girls’ version, placing ninth out of 32 in 24:17, with clubmates Poppy Lunn and Jaidyn Brown also competing, clocking 27:11 for 23rd place and 28:35 for 27th.

Fellow Gala runner Seb Darlow also made the top ten in his race, over 4.2km for boys under 15, placing eighth out of 52 in 15:52, followed by clubmate Bryn McAree, 33rd in 17:46, and Teviotdale’s Murray Learmond, 47th in 19:27.

The girls’ version of that race saw Moorfoot’s Isabella Moran finish eighth too, out of 50, in 17:52, with Gala’s Kacie Brown getting back 27th in 19:28.

Gala’s Angus McCarthy was the only Borderer among a field of 45 for the under-13 boys’ 3.2km race and he got home 22nd in 13:18.

The girls’ race for that age class proved more popular, attracting a field of 50, with three Borderers among them – Gala’s Molly Trewartha and Holly Craig, seventh in 13:42 and 39th in 16:05, and Teviotdale’s Freya Walker, 41st in 16:37.

Top-ten placings in the day’s six youth races earned guaranteed selection to run for the east versus teams from the north and west at January’s inter-district cross-country championships in Glasgow, with those places going to Trewartha, Darlow, Rankine and Moran.

Next month’s championships will be hosted by the city’s Alexandra Park Sports Hub on Saturday the 11th.