Ahead of the summer Track and Field season we will be holding a virtual members/parents night on Tuesday 26th March at 7pm. The topics will cover how the various competitions run and go over some volunteering roles. To register please complete this form and details will be sent nearer the time. If you have any questions in particular just mention them in the form.
This seasons National Cross Country Championships took place at Callendar Park, Falkirk on Saturday. The conditions were perfect for February it was a beautiful sunny and mild day with little or no wind. Conditions underfoot were generally good with only a few muddy sections.
The first race of the day was the under 13 girls and we had six girls running. One of our newer members Isla Madhra got the day off to a flying start, finishing 3rd and winning the bronze medal. A great performance after only a few races for the club. Next home was another one of our newer members Rosa Gomez Candy in 50th place. Team mates Laura Kitchin, Olivia Spark and Eilidh Mowbray were next in 74th, 78th and 86th respectively. Our final athlete home was Darcy Esson in 128th place.
In the under 13 boys Francis Ovani- Finnegan had another good run to finish inside the top 15 in 13th place with team mate Fraser Houston continuing to improve with a strong finish in 83rd place.
The next race was the under 15 girls and we knew we had a strong team so had high hopes of picking up medals. The girls performed well on the day with Freya Brown our first counter in 2nd place with team mate Cerys Wright not too far behind in 5th place. Our next counter was Lucy Ward in 23rd followed by Beth McWilliam 36th and Emma Thomson 43rd. There was some confusion over the team results due to an issue with the technology but after some manual intervention it was announced that the girls had won team gold by the narrowest of margins with one point separating the first three teams.
Our under 15 boys team was incomplete as one of our athletes had a stomach bug. Aaden Robertson was our first athlete home in 38th place. Only a few places separated our next two athletes with Finlay Troup in 76th place and Struan Milne in 79th.
In the under 17 women’s race Bethan Kitchin was our only athlete. In probably her best race of the season Bethan had a great run to finish in 24th place.
The under 17 men was another race where we had a strong team, but unfortunately one of our athletes was injured so was unable to race on the day. The remainder of our team performed well with our first counter Rowan Taylor in 7th place followed by Innes Wright in 11th place. Third counter was Laurence Ward in 36th place.
In the under 20 women, Olivia Meikle had her best run of the season to finish inside the top 10 in 8th place.
Club member Harry Henriksen finished 5th in the u20 men’s race representing Edinburgh University.
Claire Houston was first home for Lasswade in the senior ladies race finishing in 120th with team mate Alison Binns in 239th place.
The final race of the day with the biggest field was the senior men and we had four athletes racing. First home for us was Martin Gore in 255th place with the fast finishing Ken McWilliam in 265th place well ahead of his target. Euan Hood was next to finish in 413th with Doug MacDonald completing our runners in 568th. Lasswade athlete Magnus Tait finished in 78th place running for Glasgow University.
A great days athletics that I hope all athletes, parents and supporters enjoyed.
Congratulations to all the athletes on their performances.
For full results please click here
Thanks to Linden Nicholson for consistently representing Lasswade as an official throughout the season and to all the other volunteers who helped marshal on the day.
BIG thanks to Kate Kitchin for the chocolate cake !!
Our VMH Solicitors Lasswade 10 Mile Road Race is just under a week away. Entries close midday on Friday 1st March, 2024 but don’t wait until the last minute!
Entry via EntryCentral: https://www.entrycentral.com/Lasswade-Road-Race
Just three weeks to go until the VMH Solicitors Lasswade 10 Mile Road Race.
Check out the route profile: Yes, there’s a few hills but who likes boring courses?
Entries: https://www.entrycentral.com/Lasswade-Road-Race
An amazing achievement from one of younger members… 9 year old Sadie took on the “Run the Month: Marathon Edition” challenge for Prostate Cancer UK. We all know January has probably been one of the windiest on record, but that didn’t stop Sadie going out almost every day to clock up over 27 miles over the course of the month. With an original target to raise £100 for Prostate Cancer UK, Sadie managed to smash that with ease and raised over £1000. Her last run of the month was also 3 minutes faster than her first.
Well done Sadie (and mum).
The final league match of this winters East District Cross Country League took place in Bathgate on Saturday. It was fairly windy but otherwise a beautiful mild day. It was a largely flat course with good conditions underfoot for the most part, although there were a couple of muddier sections.
On the whole Lasswade had good numbers competing, but the number of boys competing was disappointing. The split for each age group was as follows:
U11 Boys – 0/U11 Girls – 6
U13 Boys – 1/U13 Girls – 7
U15 Boys – 1/U15 Girls – 4
U17 Men – 3/U17 Women – 1
Senior Men – 4/Senior Women – 5
The first race of the day was the U11 Girls and first home for Lasswade was Lara Winters in 35th followed by Isla Houston in 41st. Joella Esson was just a few places behind in 44th, closely followed by Orla Connor 45th and Shauni Devlin in 47th. Sadie Wilson was our final U11 girl in 52nd.
In the third race our U13 girls ran very well with Isla Madhra in her first race for the club having a strong run to finish in 3rd place. Team mate Rosa Gomez-Candy also in her first race for the club was not too far behind in 21st. Our next three runners together with four athletes from other clubs were in a very close finish all being given the same time, Laura Kitchin 31st, Esme Scott 32nd and Olivia Spark in 35th. Our final runners were Eilidh Mowbray 58th and Darcy Esson 60th.
In the U13 boys we only had one runner, Fraser Houston who has been improving all season had his best race to date finishing in 47th.
In the U15 boys again we only had one runner, Struan Milne who had a solid run in 36th place
The U15/U17 girls are all in the same race and we had five athletes in this race. Cerys Wright has been running very well all season and continued that trend with a win on Saturday. Team mate Freya Brown also running very well this winter had another great run to finish in 3rd place. Our third counter was Bethan Kitchin who had a solid run to finish in 24th. Emma Thomson was next Lasswade athlete to finish with a strong run in 36th. Beth McWilliam having been ill and missed training for a few weeks made a great effort to race and was next to finish in 44th.
In the U17 men hopes had been high of winning the league as we went into the final match with a twelve point lead. Our first counter was Andrew McWilliam with a comfortable win and his traditional salute coming through the finish. Next home was Innes Wright with a solid race and fighting all the way to the finish placed 7th. We were missing a couple of our regular U17 men but Kieran Glass stepped up to complete the team and have a strong run to finish in 25th place. We narrowly missed winning the league by two points.
In the ladies race our U20 Olivia Meikle had a strong run to finish in 12th place. Next home was Claire Houston finishing in 30th place who was closely followed by team-mate Cathy Dickson in 34th place. I hadn’t seen Rachel Fagan since this race last year so it was good to see her back running and finishing in 72nd place. Alison Binns was our final athlete finishing just inside the top 100 in 95th place.
In the Men’s race Scott Dickson led the Lasswade team home in 140th place. He was followed by Oscar Gomez in 220th, Doug McDonald in 221st and Derrick Brydon in his first race since Bathgate last season completing the Lasswade runners in 240th.
Congratulations to all the runners on their own individual performances.
For full results please click here
Still haven’t entered the VMH Solicitors Lasswade 10 Mile Road Race? Maybe this flyby will change your mind!
Entries via Entry Central: https://www.entrycentral.com/Lasswade-Road-Race
Hi Everyone, as some of you will know Christian Graham (pictured below) is studying at Boise State University, Idaho. His Dad, sent us a link to a 3000m race that Christian competed in last week in Seattle where he recorded a new personal best. I’ve attached a link of the race here
Its nice to see our athletes performing well overseas.
[Update 2nd March 2024. We’ve updated our competitor instructions and all runners have been emailed with these changes. They’re also available here]
Check out our new page for more details of our road race being held on Sunday 3rd March.
http://www.lasswade-ac.org.uk/club/vmh-solicitors-lasswade-ten-mile-road-race/
We’re still looking for volunteers both on the day and in the lead up so get in touch if you can help. This is one of the major fundraisers for the club which helps us to keep our costs down. The money raised goes towards the cost of entering teams into leagues and competitions, equipment costs, coaching courses, jackets to keep our coaches warm on those cold winter nights to name but a few.
The Inter District Cross Country Championships incorporating the Celtic Nations and UKA Cross Challenge took place at King George V playing fields on Saturday 13 January. The course itself was very flat around the playing fields with conditions underfoot good on a cold but beautiful day.
Lasswade AC had a number of athletes competing for both Scotland in the Celtic Nations and for the east of Scotland in the inter district championships. All of our athletes performed well and I’m sure will have enjoyed and benefitted from the experience. A number of our athletes picked up both individual and team medals.
First Lasswade AC athlete competing was Francis Ovanni-Finnegan who was in the under 13 Boys and ran very well to finish inside the top 20 in 18th place.
The next race was the under 15 Girls and Freya Brown had a great run to finish 4th overall and win gold in the inter district race whilst also leading the east of Scotland girls to team gold.
Another Lasswade athlete, Howie Allison also had a great race to finish 5th in the under 15 boys race and win the bronze medal for finishing 3rd in the inter district race also leading the east of Scotland team to gold.
In the under 17/under 20 women Cerys Wright, still an under 15 but running as an under 17 finished 14th overall and 3rd in the inter district race winning the bronze medal. Cerys also helped the East of Scotland u17 ladies and u17 Scotland to team golds. Cerys also won an individual medal as part of the UKA cross challenge. Club teammate Bethan Kitchin had a strong race to finish in 54th place overall and 34th under 17.
In the under 17/under 20 men Lasswade AC had a few athletes competing Andrew McWilliam still an under 17 in the u20 Scotland team and Rowan Taylor and Innes Wright running for the under 17 east of Scotland team. All boys ran very well with Andrew finishing 7th overall and 5th in the Celtic nations helping Scotland to team silver. Andrew also won an individual medal as part of the UKA cross challenge. Rowan finished 11th overall and 4th in the inter district race helping the east of Scotland boys to team silver. Innes finished 50th overall and 32nd in the district race.
In the Womens race Lauren Dickson ran very well to finish 5th overall and 3rd in the inter district race winning the bronze medal. Lauren also helped the east of Scotland to another team gold.
Unfortunately three of our athletes had to withdraw due to illness or injury. Beth McWilliam under 15 girls, Amy Frankland Senior Women and Harry Henriksen under 23 men. Hope you guys are all feeling better and running again soon.
Congratulations to all our athletes on being selected and for their performances on the day.
For full results please click here.
Photos courtesy of Neil Renton
