Edinburgh AC celebrate fine winter cross-country season

Edinburgh Athletic Club’s senior athletes had a successful winter 2019-2020 cross-country season. The club’s annual Cross-Country Grand Prix, rewarding consistent high performance throughout the ten-race season, was hotly-contested.

Elaine Eadie finished as top female, while clubmates Lauren Wilson, Rebecca Frake, Hannah Cameron, Chloe Cox, Jenny MacLean, Nikki Gibson, Sue Ridley and Isla Scott-Pearce were in close contention.

Iain Macdonald pipped Iain Whitaker, Florent Tournay, Leon Johnson, Mike Christoforou and Myles Bax to the men’s title.

Jenny MacLean and Leon Johnson won the V40 prizes, while Sue Ridley and Dani Rivera won the V50 spoils. Eric Stevenson clocked an impressive nine races to win the V60 category.

V50 female Sue Ridley led her clubmates Sharyn Ramage, Jill Morrow, Karen Dobbie and Shona Adam to win team golds in both the National Relays and National Masters fixtures. Ridley was elated to become National V50 champion, enthusing: “I was shocked but delighted to cross the finish line in first place. My team-mates produced fantastic runs to earn team golds, and this felt extra special.”

Further success came at the National Relays as senior females Lauren Wilson, Lauren Stoddart, Hannah Cameron and Rebecca Frake won silver, pipping Giffnock North and Inverness Harriers by a handful of seconds. Iain Craven, Richard Meade, Stuart Johnston and Leon Johnson secured bronze in the V40 category.

The fast and furious National Short Course Championships saw senior females Lauren Wilson, Hannah Cameron, Zoe Bates and Rebecca Burns take bronze, one point behind Fife AC. The senior men repeated this achievement, with Freddie Carcas, Mike Christoforou, Joe Ewing and Iain Whitaker narrowly beating Cambuslang to bronze by a single point. Leon Johnson landed a superb individual V40 silver.

Chloe Cox and Iain Whitaker had super runs at the highly-competitive East District Championships, and both deservedly qualified for Scotland East vests as a result. The UK Challenge in Stirling saw Cox, Whitaker and their Edinburgh AC clubmates Lauren Wilson, Elaine Eadie and Mike Christoforou compete for Scotland East in the Inter-District races.

Eadie, clubmate Isla Scott-Pearce, and Gala Harrier Sara Green travelled to Loughborough for the UK Inter-County Championships, representing Scotland East. Promising junior athlete Pippa Carcas and her Scotland East team-mates Anna Hedley, Rosie Davidson and Georgia Ledingham achieved gold in the Under-17 race. Scotland West took silver.

Carcas, a GB mountain runner, said: “These results show the depth we have in the Scottish cross-country scene. Our experience from earlier in the season meant we knew how to attack the race. It paid off and we were able to secure gold!” Meanwhile, Edinburgh-based Ulsterwoman Lauren Wilson had a fantastic run in the Ulster Championships, with third place putting her amongst the best athletes in the province.

The final race on the 2019-2020 cross-country calendar was the ever-popular National Championships. Despite stormy conditions, thousands of runners took to the Falkirk course. Marathon specialist and club Grand Prix winner Iain Macdonald reflected: “I’m not really suited to cross-country but when I crossed the line I knew I had done enough to win the Grand Prix. It was a bit of a shock but on the other hand it was a big accomplishment, and I was very satisfied with a consistent season!”

The club’s ladies showed great team spirit to lift the Pat Spence Memorial Trophy, awarded to the season’s top-performing Scottish club.

Female Grand Prix winner Elaine Eadie paid tribute to her clubmates, saying: “I was really surprised to win the Grand Prix with such a strong group of women in the club.

“There’s great camaraderie amongst us and I definitely made the right choice in joining Edinburgh AC!”