LASSWADE

Three senior runners joined a large field on Sunday last, to compete in the Lasswade 10 mile race.

Good weather and excellent conditions meant that all three enjoyed the circuit that takes in some of the country roads and lanes around the village.

Karen was the first Dunbar runner home in a time of 1:20:19 followed by Sheila M in a time of 1:31:27 and Theresa in 1:38:05 (competing at this distance for the first time).

They next plan to represent the club at the forthcoming “Round the Houses 10k” at Grangemouth.

5KM RACE - MARCH

Lauren Peffers faced competition even tougher than that faced recently
at Melbourne last night, to narrowly snatch the monthly "Coaches
Challenge" 5km handicap.

Waiting until the final few hundred meters Lauren sprinted away from
Anne and Karen leaving them to battle it out for second and third
place.

Leading the men home, Stuart (only slightly older than
"still-under-40" Ian Sills) ran a steady pace, but still managed a
sprint finish to see off Grant. Dougie and Tam completed the field.

On being awarded the trophy Lauren said "this prestigious award will
take pride of place in my collection."

Note: some of the details of the above item may have been exaggerated.

CROSS COUNTRY - END

The final two weeks of the 2004/05 cross country season has been a busy period for adult and junior athletes from the club. The last two rounds of the Borders and District Cross Country Series have taken place as well as the Scottish National Cross County Championship at Irvine.

The penultimate round of the Borders and District series was held, for the first time, at Wooler. Severe winter conditions with driving snow, hail and freezing temperatures made this a race that many will not forget. A full contingent of senior and junior Dunbar runners braved the weather conditions to compete and try to secure vital points before the final race to be held two weeks later at Dunbar. A number of athletes recorded good finishing positions. Ian Rowland achieved his season’s ambition by being the first male vet (40-45yrs) runner and was placed 2nd overall behind in form Brian Marshall, a senior runner from H.E.L.P. This result secured a podium position for Ian regardless of the results from the final round. This was the first Borders and District race Brian had competed in and even though he finished an impressive second place by just 10 seconds in the previous days Carnethy Five Hill race he showed his class by winner the Wooler round by a significant margin.

Dunbar Running Club hosted the final round of the Borders and District series on Sunday 27th February. The route, set by the club, took athletes from the beach at White Sands, around the Barns Ness Light House then along the beach for a mile. Runners then turned back through the dunes to finish in the White Sands car park. The conditions were favorable making this one of the fastest races in the series. Many of the senior runners where on marshalling duties however Dunbar still managed to take the seniors team price with Colin Menzies placed 2nd, 35 seconds behind Brian Marshall, Grant Noble 5th overall and Subhar Anwar in 23rd place. A number of junior runners took part with notable finishes by Lauren Smedley making it seven wins out of seven races, Lauren Peffers recording her 4th win in the four races she took part in. Megan Gaffney was 3rd in her age group 12/13 year olds, Anna Dobson was also 3rd in the under 11 category.

After the race all runners were invited back to HallHill Healthy Living Centre for soup and sandwiches and the series prize giving ceremony. Dunbar athletes of all ages took a significant number of the podium places but all runners who ran in at least four races of the seven received a momento for their efforts. In the adult categories Colin Menzies not only won the senior under 40 age group but also took the overall winning prize for the series. Ian Sills was 4th and Ross Combe 10th in the senior age group. Ian Rowland was 2nd in the 40-45 age group with Stuart Hay 6th and Kevin Smith 10th. Grant Noble only managed to run in three races however he was placed in 12th place in the same age group. In the 60 – 65 age group John Landells was placed 2nd and in the 60 and over category Joe Bourhill was 1st and Bob Wilson 3rd. For H.E.L.P. Sandy Wallace was placed in 2nd position in the 50 –55 age group and Paddy McDonald 4th. In the ladies age groups Karen Page was 3rd under 35 year old runner with Clarissa Berry in 4th place in the 35-40 group. Ann Hay took 2nd prize in the 40-45 age group and Amanda Thorntonsmith was placed in 4th position in the same category. Dunbar Running Club, with a total score of 78 points, won the senior team prize for the second year almost 100 points ahead of second place club Moorfoot.

In the Junior Categories Anna Dobson was second in the under 11 year old with Abigail Twist 4th in the same age group. Lauren Smedley was 1st in the 12/13 age group and Megan Gaffney 2nd and Nicola Craig 4th. Eve Baillie only managed to run three races but was placed 7th in this age group. In the 14/15 age group Lauren Peffers was placed 1st with Lisa Menzies from H.E.L.P. 3rd and Abigail Dobson of Dunbar 4th. Daisy Sherwood only took part in three races and was placed 6th. For the boys James Thortonsmith was 5th 14/15 year old, Liam Barclay 8th and Toby Sherwood, only having completed three races, 11th. The team 1st price for the juniors went to Eyemouth with Dunbar taking 3rd position.

All athletes thanked the clubs for their hard work in organising the series. Dunbar Running Club was thanked for hosting the prize giving with particular thanks to Abigail Dobson for providing a cake sale with all proceeds going to Comic Relief.

Four Dunbar Senior Runners traveled to Irvine to compete in the Scottish National Cross Country Championship on Saturday 19 February. A three lap, 12km course for the senior men and a two lap, 8km route for the ladies was set out to test athletes from all over Scotland. Over 100 lady runners finished the race with Anne Hay being placed in 70th position. In the senior men’s race 375 athletes completed the testing course. Ian Rowland led the Dunbar runners finishing inside the top 100 by taking 92nd position; Ian Sills was 123rd and Stuart Hay in 229th place.

The next race, and the start of the road running season, for Dunbar Runners is the Inverness Half Marathon on Sunday 13 March with a number of club members making the long trip to compete.

BORDERS CROSS COUNTRY - DUNBAR

Hot off the press - results are HERE.

Well done to everyone who ran and thanks to all who helped out.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

Wooler are more like a drinking club with a running problem. Harry
Porteous, 27 February 2005.

Classic.

WOOLER CROSS COUNTRY

The results for Sundays race at Wooler can be found HERE.

Well done to Anne Hay for finishing twice!!

LETTER FROM AMERICA.

Hi Guys,

This is Keith Mills writing you from America. We will be here until July
and then it will be back to Sunny Dunbar. We have had some fun weather,
at one point we were in 24 inches of snow!
Enjoyed the website will keep checking it for updates!
Keep running,
Keith & Mariella

It’s a triple for Menzies

Round five of the Borders District Cross Country series was held at Norham on Sunday 30 January 2005. With two races to go Colin Menzies all but sealed the series victory, by winning his third race in a row. The Norham course lived up to everyone’s expectations with a challenging route requiring runners to not only negotiate the numerous stream crossings but to be sure of foot when it came to the tricky down hill sections. A number of athletes came to grieve, including Stuart Hay the Dunbar Running Club President, on one particularly difficult decent, however Stuart picked himself up and kept going to the end to take 24th overall place and 8th male vet. Iain Rowland continues to record some impressive results by finishing in 3rd place overall but was again thwarted in his age group by taking 2nd place in the male 40+ category. With just two races to go Iain needs to work hard to score that elusive age group win. Ian Sills ran a steady race to take 9th overall and 5th senior male. Competition in this age group is hoting up with a number of athletes in a position to take a podium place in the overall competition. Grant Noble was three places behind Sills in the race and took 6th place in the male vet category. Ross Comb, on study leave from University, ran a strong race to be placed 21st with Stuart Hay, despite his fall finishing just 3 places behind. Anne Hay continues to be the quickest Dunbar Lady runner finishing in 40th place and 2nd in her age group female over 40 years. John Landells was 46th overall with Joe Bourhill 51st and leading his 65 + age group both in Sundays race and for the series. Karen Page finished in 55th place overall and was 2nd senior lady runner. Two more good results should see Karen move up the leader board. Clarissa Berry was 60th and 4th female vet with Amanda Thorntonsmith 64th. Other Dunbar runners included Mark James who finished in 5th place and Kevin Thorntonsmith in 70th position. HELP runners again enjoyed the experience of competing in this series. Sandy Wallace was 15th overall and Paddy McDonald 42nd.

In the junior race the star of the team is Lauren Smedley who has not only won all five races in her 12/13 age group but has secured an overall victory for the series. In Sundays race Liam Barcley was the first Dunbar runner to finish in 9th place. Lauren Peffers hot from the Deaf Olympics found the conditions a total contrast from the track in Australia but maintained her domination of the 14/15 age group by finishing in 12th place overall and 1st in her age group. One more win in her age group should secure overall first position. Megan Gaffney was 28th at Norham and 3rd 12/13 year old. Anna Dobson finished in 30th place and was 1st female under 11 year old and leads her age group for the series. Nicola Craig was 35th overall and 4th 12/13 year old and is currently lying in 2nd overall position in her age group. Abigail Twist was 37th on Sunday and 4th under 11 year old. Eve Baillie was placed in 39th position and 5th in her age group, 12/13 year olds. HELP`s Lisa Menzies continues to be her clubs sole junior representative and finished 31st and 4th 14/15 year old

HANDICAP

Last night saw the running of February's 5km handicap race.

Another large field proved that this is a popular event.

Dougie Denholm in his first appearance at the event walked away with
the trophy for first over the line. At least he will walk away with
the trophy when last month's winner, Ian S brings it back.

Stuart's start to the race was slightly held up by the arrival of
Sandy Wallace from HELP running towards the runners and starter on the
Hallhill track, running past them and saying "I wont stop Im just out
a run". Cynics may think that this was a spying trip to try and check
out the competition.

Everybody's times were (in no particular order)

Clarissa 23.13
Karen 22.13
Anne 21.41
Lauren 21.02
Stuart 18.51
Grant 17.48
Ian S 17.25
Dougie J 26.22
Derek 26.35
Dougie D 22.43

NORHAM

The results of Sundays 5th round of the Winter Cross Country Series, held at Norham, can be found HERE (you will need Adobe to read this file). The results also show the standings after the fifth round.

Well done to everyone who stayed upright during the race.