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.