I really wish I could say the sun was out and everyone was excited to get stuck into the 2020 edition of the Scottish National cross-country championships. Sadly, it was freezing, blowing a gale and very rainy! The first challenge of the day was getting to Falkirk. Our first train was cancelled but luckily a few of us managed to jump on the next train and made it to Callendar Park. Sadly, for the later risers (the boys) there was a (classic) Scotrail power cut at Haymarket, meaning no trains were coming or going. The boys ended up getting a very expensive Uber to the race, whilst others chose to get a bus which arrived 15 minutes before the start of their race – something very similar happened last year when Central were worried we were going to win the East League title… hmm!

The next job was getting the tent up, which proved rather difficult in Storm Dennis. Thankfully, a tent-erection expert from another club could see we were struggling and quickly stepped in and helped us. That was us, good to go, ready to race!

First up were the senior women, who ran in, potentially, the worst conditions of the day, putting up with strong hail and sleet into their faces for the majority of the race. Ex-Harie Mhairi MacLennan, running for Inverness Harriers (I’ve heard that’s the place to join now ;)) took the win, covering the 10km course in just under 40 minutes, and another ex-Harie Steph Pennycook wasn’t far behind, finishing in 4^th place. The first green vest over the line was Cat Graves, who continued her great run of form, she finished in 9^th place in 42.49. Katie Lowery was next home in 18^th place, it was a remarkable performance over 10k from the 1500m, track runner! Polly Edwards had a great day out and didn’t let the weather dampen her spirits as she “really enjoyed it” and finished in 27^th place, which was just the 58 places better than last year!! Rhiannon Kirk was next over the line, just 20 seconds behind Polly. Laura King finished in 42^nd place in a just over 46 minutes flat. Captain Lydia rounded off the counting team of 6, finishing in 63^rd place, resulting in the girls winning the bronze team medal, massive well done! 

Helen Ockenden finished in 111^th place in 50.39 and Sally Stewart continued her fine form finishing just over 30 seconds behind. Louise Adams, who was sporting some very cool orienteering shoes, finished in 147^th place in 53.10.

The U20 boys were up next, the race was pretty slow from the start. Despite the sun now being out, the conditions under foot were unfavourable, with a 3ft deep muddy puddle halfway round the course and thick mud throughout the rest. Much loved Freddie Carcas outkicked Hamish Hickey and blew him a kiss on the home straight, making it back to back wins at Nationals. First Harie home was Rob Sparks, who put in a big shift and for one of the first times this winter, finished a cross country race! He finished 15^th in just over 25 minutes. Max Bloor was next home, sneaking into the top twenty with a 19^th place finish. Fraser Roach continued his injury comeback with a great run, finishing in 24^th position, improving upon his 26^th place finish in 2017. Josh Liddle rounded off the team, finishing in 28^th place, helping the boys to a 3^rd place finish, getting beat by strong Central and Dundee Uni sides. Alex Bell transferred his indoor track success onto the mud, finishing in 31^st position, bettering his 53^rd place finish last year. Ifan Oldfield had a great run, finishing in 38^th place and Aiden Horner forgot to wear his timing chip so sadly didn’t make it onto the results.

On the girls U20 side, Inverness Harrier Megan Keith won the race in 25.52, a time only 20 out of 73 boys bettered, running just 7 seconds slower than Max Bloor… Holly Page finished in 3^rd place in 27.30 – although she sadly came up 15 seconds short of beating Ifan’s time. Harie, but not Harie Holly Little finished 5^th in 28.39, managing to run half the race with only one shoe on! Zoe Pflug wasn’t far behind and finished in 6^th place, exactly the same spot as last year. Carly Cameron had a great run, finishing in 20^th place, 5 places better than last year and rounded off the girls’ team, helping them to the gold medal. Roanne Lilley enjoyed her run, finishing in 31^st place.

Now for the one we were all waiting for. A winter of grind, grass, mud, mileage, Twitter spats and rivalries all came to this day. The day where we tried to stop Central winning their 10^th National XC in a row. Jack Leitch lead the Haries contingent and finished in 9^th place in 36.37, improving upon his 24^th place from last year. Eddie Narbett was next home in 16^th place in 37.01 and Alex Muir was next over the line just 11 seconds later, followed by Elisha De Mello who was another 11 seconds behind. A further 13 seconds back Alex Carcas and Max Milarvie crossed the line together – packing at its finest. Sadly, we came up slightly short and Central took the win. In the words of Gregor: “2^nd maybe wasn’t what we came for today but keep your heads held high! If someone told me 4 years ago [in first year] that the Haries would be on the podium at the National XC, I’d have laughed at them – it shows how strong we’ve been! 1968 was the last time the Haries medalled at the National and the last time they were runners up (1965) they went on to win 3 in a row…”. It really was special to watch, and the support the boys received from all the other Haries round the course was second to none and likewise the grit and determination every single runner showed was huge. This really is not the end and we’ll definitely be back next year, 11 in a row? We don’t think so.

Tam Wilson was 7^th Harie home, he finished in 31^st place and ran the race very well, picking up places as the race went on. Dan Stansfield was next over the line, finishing in 44^th place in 38.51. Triathlete Nick Allencontinued his fine form, finishing in 47^th place in just over 39 minutes. Gregor Malcolm wasn’t far behind, finishing in 57^th place in his senior Nationals debut. Cameron Young ran his last cross-country in a Haries vest, finishing in 64th place, a great return to form after an injury-strucken start to the year. Captain AJ finished in 76^th place, finally finishing his first National XC as a Harie, as well as taking fellow North boy James Wilson on the line. Dan Smith had a cracker of a run, finishing in 122^nd place, despite wearing a funny looking PH Racing vest. Nick Bennet continued his return from injury taking 171^st place and Alasdair Bisset struggled on the mud but finished in 186^th place in 43.21. Andrew Carrick finished in 238^th place and Jackson Woodruff wasn’t far behind in 261^stplace.

The day we had been waiting for. It was finally here. 8000m worth of tape, countless course recces, many BUCs prep runs on a Wednesday, many a wristband sold and many a stressed Gregor! 

The sun was out, and the runners started to arrive. The Men’s B-race got the day off to a hot start, particularly for Dan Ashwood who, sporting Tartan leggings, did a ‘banter start’ and led the race for the first 500m, much to the delight of the fans. Hundreds of Haries, new and old, took on the 8km course round Holyrood Park, and the first man home was Harie Alumni Ben Cole, who finished in 8^th place in 26.58. Mike Crawley finished 28^th overall in 27.42 – placing Ben and Mike first and second in the alumni race. Ex-captain Alex Leutchford was 114^th in just over 29 minutes.

Callum Tharme was first current Harie home, he finished in 42^nd place in exactly 28 minutes, but was slightly disappointed with his run. The brains behind this whole escapade, Gregor Malcolm, finished in 58^th place, just 17 seconds back from Callum – this was pretty impressive considering Gregor was at the course till 8pm the night before and there again at 7am the morning of the race – massive kudos and thanks to Gregor for all his hard work over the past year! Triathlete Nick Allen was next home, finishing in 65^th position in 28.34. Next up we had three orienteers all finish within 15 seconds of each other, with Max Bloor, David Bunn and Boyan Ivandjikov in 66^th, 71^st and 75^th place. Joe Battershill was next over the line in 79^th place, 3 places lower than last year, he surprised not only himself but lots of the other haries with his run! Joe and his course-mate, Lewis Khan had a good battle, with Lewis finishing just behind in 84^th place just four seconds back. Ali Thomas was next home, cracking the top 100, finishing in 96^th place. Dan Stansfield, despite a slight banter start also, finished in 103^rd place. Captain AJ was next up in 105^th place, with Fraser Roach making a solid return from injury with a 119^th place finish. Josh Liddle was next Harie home, finishing one second behind Fraser in 29.23. Alex Bell showed fine shape finishing in 145^th position in just under 30 minutes, managing to hold it together well after a fast start! The boys team finished in 13^th place.

Noah Howlett made his Haries debut but struggled with DOMS after doing a big gym session the day before but finished in 167^th place. Alasdair Bisset was next up, finishing in 171^st place, running the 8km course in 30.13. Pedley swapped maps for cross country once again, finishing in 183^rd place. Triathlete Ollie Teenan was next up, finishing in 186^th place. Robbie Peal made a return to running, after only running twice in January, and ran well finishing in 187^th spot. Tom Bonnor, Dan Smith and Tom Corlett all finished in close proximity to each other, with Ben Murphy, Ifan Oldfield and Jackson Woodruff not far behind. 

Alvaro Garrido Perez was the next Harie home, finishing in 31.29. John Macleod and Rian Cook were next home in 274^th and 299^th place. Andrew Carrick put in another solid performance, finishing in 307^th place, as his consistent cross-country season continues. Dan Ashwood slowed slightly after his 500m of fame at the start, finishing in 324^th place. Aiden Horner was next up finishing in 33.10 for 349^th place. Tucker Owens had another fancy dress costume on the go today, thankfully for everyone it was duck pyjama bottoms, which covered a lot more than his Isle of Man outfit did – he broke the top 400, finishing in 397^th place. Orienteer Matthew Fellbaum finished in 401^st place, just one second back from Tucker. Harry McCaughey, Ben Orton and Ben Dorin battled all the way round the course, finishing in 411^th, 412^th and 414^th place. Samy Zebda was next up, finishing in 422^nd place. Calum McLeod finished in 35.27 and in 458^th place and made another batch of cracking chocolate brownies for after the race! Angus Pope, Billy Franks and Matthew Pender rounded it off for the Haries in the B race. 

Next up was the women’s B-race, first home was Amy Frankland finishing in 8^th position overall and first place in the Alumni race – green still suits you best Franko! Cat Graves finished in 19^th place in 23.45, which is great to see after a long struggle with injury. Katie Lowery took the mud and water jumps in her stride, finishing in 26^th place in just over 24 minutes. Niamh Carr was next over the line, just 15 seconds behind Katie, covering the 6.4km course in 24.23, helping the girls to a 7^th place finish overall. Polly Edwards was next home and finished in 36^th place, in her last BUCS as a Harie. Rhiannon Kirk continued her fine form, finishing in 48^th place. Captain Lydia was next home, finishing in 74^th place, smiling her way round the course in just over 25 and a half minutes. EUOC Captain Laura King was next home in 91^st place and was followed closely by Katie Rourke and Carly Cameron. Rosina Graham was next across the line, in 102^nd place. Alex Kiltie wasn’t far behind, she finished in 110^th place, which is very impressive, especially considering she ran with bronchitis! Abi Plowman swapped mountains for cross country, finishing in 132^nd place in just under 27 minutes. Alexia Preston, who is here from America for the semester, got to experience BUCs, and finished in 137^th place. Sally Stewart wasn’t far behind finishing in 139^th place, and Niamh Hunter finished in 141^st place. 

Georgia Freeman-Mills finished in 149^th place in 27.16 and orienteer Mairi Eades finished just two places and one second back. Josephine Edmunds made the trip back from her year abroad to run and finished in 157^th place. Eliza Cottington was next up in 159^th place. Arianne Holland finished in 165^th place and Helen Ockenden was following closly in 185^th place. Tara Chintapatla cracked the top 200 nicely, finishing in 197^th place. Meera Al Omrani, Roanne Lilley and Marine Soudais finished in 223^rd, 235^th and 244^th place, and were all within 21 seconds of each other. Louise Adams was next to cross the line in 282^nd place and Freya Shepherd made her Haries debut finishing in 326^th place! Sophie Jacobs was next up finishing in 332^nd place, in just over 30 minutes. Edinburgh local girl, Caitlin Beagan, was next up in 343rd place and Marina Abello was just 12 seconds behind her. Tara Kursinsky, Naomi Duran, Andrea Fehrman and Lucy Haines rounded it off in the B race for the Women.

The next race was the Woman’s A race, who were racing the same course as the Men’s B – 8km. The race got off to a quick start, with Danish runner Anna Moller taking a commanding lead, making it fast from the start. The course was getting very muddy now, so that certainly added another element of challenge for the girls. Quick shout out the Edinburgh AC athlete Eloise Walker, who, running for Glasgow Uni, finished in 8^thplace, in her first ever BUCs and qualified for the GB team at World Universities cross country! Holly Page was first Harie home, finishing in 18^th place, almost matching her 17^th place last year, but arguably in a stronger field this year – as well as outkicking her clubmate from back home! Harie but not Harie Holly Little finished in 27^th place, covering the course in 31.52. Zoe Pflug was left disappointed after a tough run, but still finished in 34^th place, again almost matching her placing from last year. Rebecca Johnson finished in 51^st place in just under 33 minutes. Ella Revitt rounded off the girls A team, after a last-minute call up due to Constance Nankivell sadly picking up an illness. Ella did great finishing in 80^th spot, after an injury-stricken winter. These performances gave the girls a 10^th place finish overall! 

The last race of the day was the Men’s A race, which was set up to be a cracker. It was now ridiculously muddy, but the boys were ready for battle. Sasha Chepelin took the race on from the start, putting in a 20m gap to the rest of the field after about 500m, which got the fans going. Sadly, Elisha de Mello wasn’t quite fully healthy after struggling with illness, and dropped out. 

Jack Leitch continued his unreal cross country form this season, finishing in 12^th place, covering the 10k course in just over 33 minutes. This performance has put him first reserve for the GB team at World Universities cross country. Sasha didn’t quite manage to hold onto his lead but he did run well, finishing in 24^th place just over 30 seconds behind Jack. Mudskipper Alex Muir continued his fine form, finishing in 37^th place in 34.20, another class and consistent performance from the PHD student. Eddie Narbett struggled from 2k to 8k, but managed to get a second wind, which helped him catch Alex Carcas, setting up for a delightful sprint finish. The results say Eddie came out on top, but Alex, Eddie and all of the spectators beg to differ! They finished in 59^th and 60^th place in 35.01. This helped the guys to a 5^th place team finish, improving upon their 8^th place finish in 2019. 

Livingston was the place to be for the third instalment of the East District League cross country, incorporating our very own BUCS A team trials. The girls set off first, on a two lapped 6.4km course through a bit of grassy trails and then through a wooded trail – where Scotland’s most famous UFO sighting occurred!

The gun went and they were off – a Metro Aberdeen runner set off flying, putting time into the field right away, leaving the pack of haries behind. After some thumbs up and smiling for the camera Zoe Pflug went to the front of the race along with Holly Page and Becca Johnson. It was neck and neck the whole way, with Becca falling behind towards the end of the first lap. Zoe and Holly battled it out, both knowing BUCS A team selection was secured and Zoe powered on to victory, with the help of all her little Gala Harriers cheerleaders, in 23.41. Holly was just 4 seconds behind – I hope Holly enjoys her forfeit of eating a banana! Becca rounded off a Haries 1, 2, 3, finishing just over 20 seconds behind Holly. The BUCS A team was rounded off byConstance Nankivell, who covered the 6.4km course in 23.45, finishing in 6^th place on the day. Despite eating 5 packets of strepsils pre-race, Ella Rivett made her return to cross country – first time in 2 years – finishing 11^th in 25.14, well done Ella! 

Orienteer Helen Ockenden finished in 33^rd spot in just over 28 minutes. Eliza Cottington finished in 39^th and Mairi Eades wasn’t far behind in 41^st. New Zealander Alexia Preston made her haries debut, finishing in 50^thplace in 29.14 and I’m sure the highlight of her day was trying Telfer’s battered Sausage. Louise Adams was next across the line in 63^rd place and in 30.05, taking over two minutes off her time from last year! She was followed closely by Roanne Lilley, who was three places and 13 seconds behind. And rounding off a great day for the girls was Laura Chiron who finished in 74^th position and in 30.49. The girls won first team on the day by a wide margin, over Fife and Gala Harriers.

As for the boys… well we needed a miracle – to finish 1st-6th – if we had any chance of retaining our league title. Sadly, that wasn’t to be today, but 2021 – it’s coming home, along with club of the year ;). 

Sasha Cheplin lead the boy’s home, despite wearing a Carnethy vest. He covered the 3 lap, 9.6km course in 31.22 and was followed very closely by our much loved Elisha De Mello – he managed to not tie his laces correctly and then ran into a cone but other than that he was well chuffed with his run and podium finish. Alex Carcas was next up, finishing in 7^th place in 31.50, Alex had a look behind him with 100m to go and it was great to see how much securing his spot on the A team, for the fourth year in a row, meant to him! After much pre-race stress about spike length for the race, Eddie Narbett was next home in 9^th position, sneaking under the 32-minute mark. Mudskipper Alex Muir was next home, one spot and 11 seconds back from Eddie. Next in was Callum Tharme, finishing in 32.38 and 14^th position; finishing 4 places better than last year. Boyan Ivandjikov was next up and he actually stopped for a poo during the race, so major kudos to Boyan for keeping going and finishing in 20^th place! Gregor Malcolm, sporting a stunning headband, was next home in 33.44, running nearly exactly the same time as last year – 3 seconds out! David Bunn had a great run, finishing in 34^th place in just over 34 minutes. He was closely followed by Josh Liddle, who was 9 seconds behind in 34.18. Fresh from his big performance at EUOC Xmas Weekend, Kai Hugtenburg was next across the line in 41^st place. Captain AJ was next home in 46^th place and 34.56. American Jackson Woodruff had more suitable footwear for this visit to Livingston this time around and finished in 84^th position in just under 37 and a half minutes. Tom Corlett produced a magnificent sprint finish, outkicking everyone, to finish in 90^thplace in 37.58 and was followed closely by Andrew Carrick, who finished in 97^th spot. This resulted in a second-place finish for the boys on the day, and a second place finish for the boys in the league. Don’t worry, its coming home in 2021.

The Haries headed to Piperdam, which was hosting its first ever cross-country event. After a bit of a struggle finding the registration, we finally got our numbers and were all set for the first race of the day, the U20 men. The course looked good, a few zig zags around the driving range, then up and down the edge of the fairways of Piperdam golf course and repeat. The boys were ready to go, Boyan Ivandijkov and Finn Lydon were looking sharp in their one arm sleeve each outfit combo, and the race soon got underway. Fans favourite Craig Morris, fell at the first hurdle, decking it on the first corner. Callum Tharme went out hard and took the race on from the start, he struggled towards the end but came home in a very respectable 6^th place, in just over 22 minutes. Edinburgh boys really did pack out this race with 6 of the next 7 finishers being Harie’s, Boyan finished in 11^th place in 22.32, he was followed by Rob Sparks (wearing the correct vest this time!) in 22.48. Adopted Harie Craig Morris did a spectacular sliding tackle on Alex Bell with 20 meters to go, resulting in Craig finishing in 23.01 and Alex finishing 3 seconds behind. I crossed the line next just behind Alex, in 15^thplace. Josh Liddle was next home, in 17^th and David Bunn, finished 21^st – a respectable finish after a week of illness. Ifan Oldfield managed to get round pain free finishing in 29^th position. Aiden Horner finished just one spot behind Ifan, despite hurting his leg on the way round.

Next up was the U20 girls’ race. @flatchestedflat were going for a flat podium, but Holly Page ended their chances of this, dropping out after the first lap. Zoe Pflug had another solid performance, breaking away from Constance Nankivell with around 2km to go and pushing on to win by 36 seconds. Hannah Morrisonfinished in 6^th position in just over 26 minutes, resulting in Edinburgh Uni winning the team prize. Hannah was followed closely by Sarah Calvert, who made her haries debut in her first race back from injury. Katie Rourke continued her 2019/20 cross country season with an 11^th place finish and Niamh Hunter improved on her Braids placing, finishing in 13^th.

On the senior’s woman side, Rhiannon Kirk lead the Haries home, covering the 8.6km course in 35.39. Captain Lydia had another brilliant performance, finishing in 39^th place, in 39 minutes! Helen Ockendenwasn’t far behind, finishing 30 seconds later. Eilza Cottington finished in 49^th place in just over 40 minutes. Louise Adams was next home, covering the now muddy course in 41.48, finishing in 61^st place.

On the men’s’ side, Eddie Narbett went off rather rapidly, but sadly illness got the better off him and he dropped out… Alex Muir produced potentially the performance of the day, coming home in 11^th place, in 29.01 in a stacked field – Alex is certainly one to watch at BUCS and National cross next year! Alex Carcas was next home in 22^nd position, whilst also winning outfit of the day, with his green Ireland shorts. @marchmontmandem had created some more pre-race hype, this time for the race between Pedley and Paul Morrison, with Paul getting the better of Pedley by 18 seconds. Dan Ashwood was once again in the mix, hunting Pedley down over the last lap, but finishing four seconds shy of him. Andrew Carrick rounded off another great day of cross country with another solid performance, finishing in 110^th position.

The stage was set for another epic edition of our very own race, Braid Hills Cross Country. Massive shout out to Abi Plowman, race organiser, who did a fantastic job, and thanks also to the marshals and committee members who helped out on the day.

It was a nice, crisp day, the classic route was slightly muddy and slippy underfoot, but nothing a good pair of trail shoes couldn’t handle. The 5k got underway, with 233 runners finishing the race. It was lead home by George Grassly, of Durham University, in sixteen minutes and ten seconds. It was an extremely tight battle for medals, with Tom Berry (Dundee Uni) and Sam Sommerville (Sheffield Uni) both crossing the line at the exact same time, just two seconds behind the Grassly. On the female side, Helen Thornhill, of Leeds University, lead the way finishing in just under eighteen and a half minutes. She was followed closely by ex-harie Amy Frankland and Juliet Downs (Sheffield Uni) was third in just over nineteen minutes.

On the haries side, there was a tasty battle for first fresher boy home, Robert Sparks (he may have had a funny coloured vest on) came out on top, finishing 5^th in 16.36, beating Josh Liddle who finished 3 seconds later. Fourth year Ruaridh Mon-Williams made his injury comeback, finishing in 17.19 and 16^th place. Andrew Lawler, of De Mello AAC, finished 18^th in just under seventeen and a half minutes. Ifan Oldfield finished just two seconds behind Lawler. Matt Leitch finished in 23^rd place in 17.54. Matthew Scholescrossed the line in 33^rd position. Robert, Josh, Ruaridh and Ifan contributed to the haries finishing 2^nd team.

Rona Tytler was first Harie girl home, finishing 49^th overall and 5^th female in 19.16. Ella Rivett made her injury comeback, finishing just over 20 seconds behind Rona. Polly Edwards came home just three seconds behind Ella. Carly Cameron was fourth Harie’s counter, helping the girls to victory in the team compeition.

Orienteer Niamh Hunter completed the 5k course in just over 20 minutes finishing in 63^rd place. Captain Lydia had a big battle with her Dad, Colin, getting the better of him by 5 seconds! Josephine Edmunds made the trip back from France (or Spain… not sure cuz she blocked me on insta lol) to race Braids, finishing in 21.22. Mairi Eades and Helen Ockenden weren’t far behind, squeezing in the top 100. Elizia Cottington crossed the line in 114^th place. Mhairi Wallace finished in 124^th spot and was followed closely by Emma Hield and Caitlin Beagan. Joy Archer was next up finishing in 170^th position, breaking the 25-minute barrier. Tara Kursinsky’s Wednesday Haries Gym sessions are clearly paying off, helping her to a 178^th place finish. Yasmin Hitchin broke the 30-minute barrier finishing in 225^thplace.

The 10k had one of the most stacked fields ever, with defending champion, GB International runner and orienteer Kris Jones, completing the course in 29.58, sliding under the 30-minute barrier for the second year in a row. National XC Medallist and St Andrews Uni student Kevin Wood finished second, just over 90 seconds behind. Ewan Brown of Corstrophine rounded off the podium finishing in just over 32 minutes. On the female side, Jemima Elgood (Leeds Uni) took the gold medal in the female race, finishing in just over 36 minutes. Jill Stephen (HBT) – a regular on the Scottish running scene – was second female just over a minute back. The podium was completed by Hannah Stroud (Manchester Uni).

Finn Lydon (Harie but not really a Harie) finished in 5^th place. Elisha de Mello crossed the line just seven seconds behind Finn. Eddie Narbett finished in 9^th, with Ali Masson and Max Bloor not far behind. Tam Wilson was next harie home in 21^st spot, just a second ahead of Cameron Young. Fresher orienteer David Bunn had a great run, completing the course in less than 35 minutes. Thomas Otton was next back missing out on sub 35 by just 5 seconds. Elisha, Eddie, Max and Tam were the four counters helping the lads take home the team prize.

There was some more Instagram @marchmontmandem hype for the battle between Pedley and Dan Smith.Pedley took the win… just like the fans predicted, beating Dan by 23 seconds. Dan Ashwood also wasn’t far behind, running 35.59. Nick Bennet finished in 54^th spot in 36.16. Joe Battershill shins held up, and he “jogged” round in 37.22. Jackson Woodruff combined the 10k with his long run for the week and finished in 102^nd place.

Catriona Graves was next Harie home, finishing in 105^th position and an agonising one spot off the female podium. Andrew Carrick was next home, with Calum McLeod not far behind. Ben Orton finished in 134^thplace, in 41.23 and was followed closely by popular fantasy league pick Aiden Horner.

Rosie Wright finished in 154^th and 14^th female and last year’s race director Arianne Holland finished in just over 45 minutes and in 176^th place. Joshua Fogg was next home in 189^th and was closely followed by Louise Adams and Nicholas Canny. Catriona, Rosie, Arianne and Louise finished second team on the day.

Thanks again to everyone who made the visit to Edinburgh to race, see you all next year!

The cross-country season is well underway, and the Haries headed to the Lang Toun, (Kirkcaldy, #fifeforlyfe) for the National Short Course cross country. The 4k course was walked and everyone was super happy to see an insane amount of mud, spikes were lengthened, and the girls were ready to go.

In a stacked field, Holly Page ran the 4k mud fest in 14.15, finishing 5^th overall and in the bronze U20 medal position. Zoe Pflug finished 13 seconds later, in 8^th place and 5^th U20. Constance Nankivell continued her good form finishing in 13^th position in 14.43. Katie Lowery had another class run, with a top 20 finish, resulting in the girls winning yet another national gold team medal.

Laura Stark continued her racing comeback covering the 4k course in 15.25. She was followed closely by Polly Edwards finishing 4 places and 2 seconds behind, which shows how packed the race was. Eilidh Jaffary had another solid run, finishing in 42^nd and 11^th U20. Carly Cameron enjoyed the 4k course and finished in 52^nd place, in just under 16 minutes. Katie Rourke was next over the line, finishing just 10 seconds behind Carly. Braids Race Director Abi Plowman put planning Braids on hold for just over 16 and a half minutes with a solid first xc race of the season. Captain Lydia had another great run, completing the course in 16.42 finishing in 80th place. Elodie Chatel wasn’t far behind, finishing in just under 17 minutes. Orienteer Lucy Haines was up next finishing in 171^st position. Hannah Pettigrew rounded off a great day for the girls finishing in 229^th position. 

On the boys side, the race was hot with Max Milarvie taking the race on from the start, heading off in front of Olympian Andy Butchart. Jack Leitch was first Harie home, covering the 4k course in 12.22, finishing in 13^thplace, just 30 seconds behind the leader, earning a well-deserved Scotland call up for Liverpool next week. Elisha De Mello remembered to register for this one and had a good run, finishing in 29^th position in 12.47. Just over 10 seconds behind Alex ‘cross train’ Carcas put his cross training to good use, outkicking Callum Tharme. Callum finished 11^th U20. Dan Stansfield, rocking the SIAB shorts, finished in 45^th position in 13.10. Orienteer Boyan Ivandjikov finished in 58^th place and was 19^th U20. Ali Thomas produced another good performance finishing 13.41 and 29^th U20. Adopted Harie Craig Morris had a great run, finishing in 13.48. 

Nick Allen continued his good form, squeezing in the top 100, in 98^th spot. Nick Bennet made his injury comeback finishing in 14.13. Alex Bell had a great run, crossing the line with Nick. Dan Smith backed up his big chat and won the battle against Matt Dailey. Jackson Woodruff put in a Harie of the Week Worthy performance finishing in 14.28 and Andrew Carrick completed the course in just over 14 minutes, breaking the top 200 and finishing in 198^th position.

The Haries headed to Stirling for the first episode of our defence of the East Cross-Country league. We made history last year, winning the trophy back for the first time in over 50 years. Despite a certain Andrew Butchart swapping Doha for Stirling, the boys got off to a good start, with Callum Symmons as first counter, in ninth place, just under two minutes behind the Olympian. Our second counter was Callum Tharme, covering the nearly 9km course in 30.17, finishing in tenth place and second Junior. He was followed closely by Eddie Narbett, who ran a ‘well paced solid race’ for 11^th spot. Next up, Alex Muir was stepping down in distance from his recent half-marathon exploits and got his 2019-20 cross country season off to a good start finishing in 17^th position. Orienteerer Boyan Ivandsikov finished in 21^st place/8^th junior and he was followed closely by Telfer Gray, who had a funny coloured vest on. Both of the above held off Cameron Young, as he settled for 23^rd place. David Bunn made his Haries debut finishing in 40^th position and he was followed closely by Josh Liddle, in 32.46. Just under a minute later, triathlete Lewis Khan got his cross-country season underway, running 33.41, and finishing with the exact same time as Alistair Pedley. The strong Haries contingent continued, as Murphy Hand finished in 65^th place, with Jackson Woodruff crossing the line just seconds after. Our very own Isle of Man Alex, Alex Bell, got his big weekend of racing underway, going off hard with Butchy (for the insta?), and finished in 74^th place. Alex went on to compete in his first aquathon, the next day in Stirling – well done Alex! Next up, Matthew Scholes finished in 36.38 and he was followed by an unknown Junior Harie in 241^st position. The above finishing positions resulted in the Haries finishing second team on the day, behind Central. But it’s fine, it’s early days. 10 in a row? Don’t think so.

On the girl’s side, we may have lacked numbers, but our three competitors certainly produced the goods on the day. Emma Gill (@fruitsandroutes) made her racing comeback in fine fashion. She led the race for the majority of the race but got outkicked around the last bend. Despite this Emma was very happy with her 2^ndplace finish and looks forward to the rest of the season. Ellen Crombie (@teenrunnerblog) not only made her racing comeback from injury, she also made her Haries debut, finishing just over 30 seconds from the podium in what was a very successful first race back! Rounding off the girl’s side was Lauren Chiron, who ran 29.22 for 48^th spot.