Cumbernauld has been our regular venue for the Lindsays National XC Relay for all but the first year of the current century.

And why not? The undulating grounds of Cumbernauld House deliver the required hills and mud for competitive cross country against a stunning autumn backdrop.

The North Lanarkshire location is well-situated to motorway links and is within reasonable reach for a sizeable percentage of our clubs.

Fantastic depth

Hundreds will thus converge of Cumbernauld again this Saturday for the eagerly-awaited Lindsays National XC Relays with a remarkable 2534 names on start-lists.

We have had around 2600 entries in the past but, this year, with a new online system we believe this is the largest number of paid-up scottishathletics members entered (as in the past there were always a few lapsed members among the names submitted).

At scottishathletics, we should never be blasé about those numbers and it is likely there will be around 3000-4000 people in the park on Saturday. When the event first moved to Cumbernauld in October 2001, there were 192 finished teams. Last year, it was 399.

Thank You to athletes, coaches, clubs and parents for this on-going support for national championships and commitment to competition.

Thanks in advance, too, to host clubs Cumbernauld AAC and Kirkintilloch Olympians for their efforts in course set-up, to the Road Running and Cross Country Commission volunteers and to North Lanarkshire Council.

The yellow train tough to beat

If it is competition which fuels rising standards then the Senior Men’s race could be one to savour once again.

Central AC, despite a number of absentees, were imperious in victory once again last year and indeed had three teams placed in the top 17.

Remarkably, it was a seventh set of team golds in eight years for the squad led by coach Derek Easton.

Can anyone stop the yellow train? Edinburgh Uni Hare and Hounds did so at the East Districts but have a couple of athletes racing in Leeds this weekend; Cambuslang Harriers are the West champions and Moray Road Runners led home the North field.

Inverclyde AC, winners two years ago, should be stronger on Saturday with Andy Douglas and Jonny Glen available after missing Kilmarnock.

And what about Kilbarchan AAC? Could Callum Hawkins augment a team which already boasts Connor Maclean and Cammy Wright? Or will Shettleston benefit from the presence of Scottish half marathon champion Weynay Ghebreselassie as well as Lachlan Oates?

Glasgow Uni, Aberdeen AAC and Edinburgh Uni Hare and Hounds have all made the podium in the past three years.

The battles will no doubt continue right through the field to Masters and V50 level. There were 26 teams involved in the latter age-group contest last year.

Edinburgh Uni Hare & Hounds women’s favourites

In the Senior Women’s race, victory has been savoured in recent years by Edinburgh Uni Hare and Hounds for in 2016, 2017 and 2018 for three-in-a-row but others to top the podium include Edinburgh AC (2015) and Central AC (2014).

Could 2019 East champions Fife AC break the mould only a few weeks after Ron Morrison became President? As well as those clubs mentioned, VP-Glasgow have been regular medallists in recent years.

Shettleston Harriers won the West XC Relays and Inverness Harriers took the golds at Gordonstoun in the North event.

Credit: Bobby Gavin

Exciting junior races

Giffnock North AC will shoot for a hat-trick in the Young Males race – and few would bet against them after their teams went 1-2-3 at Kilmarnock in the West XC Relays. Central Ac were silver medallist last year while Garscube Harriers collected bronze for the second year in a row.

Fife AC broke the mould when they won the Young Females race last year for the very first time (ending a sequence of Edinburgh AC success).

Giffnock girls took second last year with Inverness Harriers taking the bronzes to give North a slice of team podium glory.

Anna Hedley leads Fife AC home to win the Young Females race for the first tie. Credit: Bobby Gavin

Provisional timings:

Young Females and Young Males declarations open at 10am; Women’s and Men’s declarations open at 11.15am

Timetable

12.00: Young Females (Declarations Close 11.30)

12.40: Young Males (Declarations Close 12.10)

13.20: Sen/Jun Females (Declarations Close 12.50)

14.45: Sen/Jun Males (Declarations Close 14.15)

Senior/Junior and Master Men will run four Laps – Masters M50 will run three laps only.

Senior/Junior Women will run four Laps – Masters Women and W50+ will run three laps as in previous years.

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The agreement with the legal firm will run until the end of the 2022-23 season and will conclude with the Lindsays National XC in February 2023 and the presentation of the Lindsays Trophy thereafter.

It’s five years now since scottishathletics entered into partnership with Lindsays for the Lindsays Cross Country Season and it has been a mutually beneficial link-up which will now run to just short of a decade and become one of the longest-running sponsorships in Scottish sport.

The original plan was for three seasons from 2014-15 but that was quickly extended and now, following more discussions, the new four-year agreement to 2023 gives the governing body significant certainty around our XC event-planning and promotion.

Raising the profile of events like the Lindsays National XC and growing participation were clear goals and there’s little doubt those have been achieved.

Photo: Bobby Gavin/scottishathletics

25-year record high for entries

Event entries have been at a 25-year high for the past couple of years and the most recent Lindsays Trophy featured exactly 100 clubs with at least one representative across the three main National XC events in Scotland during the winter programme.

The Lindsays Masters XC Champs in January will now be added to the Lindsays portfolio for each of the next four years to create the following schedule:

October – Lindsays National XC Relays

November – Lindsays Short Course XC Champs

December – Lindsays District XC Champs

January – Lindsays Masters XC Champs

February – Lindsays National XC Champs

May – Presentation of the Lindsays Trophy to winning club

Another four years of support

Ian Beattie, Chief Operating Officer of Lindsays and chair of scottishathletics, said: ‘We’re delighted to be supporting the scottishathletics Cross Country Season for another four years.

‘This is an important sponsorship for Lindsays and we value the opportunity to continue our very successful partnership with scottishathletics.

‘Cross country continues to have a positive impact in local communities across Scotland thanks to the commitment of the clubs, their supporters and members.

‘We’re delighted to continue to play a part in that.’

Helping build a brighter future for Scottish XC runners

Mark Munro, chief executive of scottishathletics, is pleased and feels the partnership over the past few years has helped us as a governing body and the sport itself to advance our Cross Country Season in various ways.

‘We’re really excited to announce this new agreement with Lindsays as our Cross Country Season sponsors,’ said Mark.

‘Sponsorship support is vital for a governing body like ourselves and this new deal means our partnership with Lindsays will run to a minimum of nine years.

‘If you look at recent years, the growth in participation and exposure for events like the National XC Relays at Cumbernauld and the National itself at Falkirk has happened in tandem with the sponsorship from Lindsays. I think the Short Course XC has been a huge success in that time, too.

‘It’s helping us create bigger and better events for our members and grow areas like video coverage, delayed stream and drone footage, which we have had in the past couple of years at Falkirk.

‘The Lindsays Trophy itself challenges clubs to invite athletes to commit to competition and that’s exactly what we want to see.’

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Edinburgh Uni Hare and Hounds completed a superb Cumbernauld hat-trick as they won the senior women’s golds at the Lindsays National XC Relays for the third successive year on Saturday (October 27).

Conditions were excellent for cross country, with the course firm underfoot and bright sunshine which spread across the course from mid-morning. With a record entry of 604 complete teams, big crowds cheered on the athletes throughout.

GB international Anna Macfadyen opened up a gap for Edinburgh Uni in the senior women’s race and established a lead that was never relinquished as Holly Page and Rebecca Johnstone gave anchor runner, Scotland international Steph Pennycook, the perfect platform for success.

“I was delighted to bring it home for the Hare and Hounds and that’s a really special three in a row,” said Pennycook, as the green vests came home in 55.33 to win by 90 91 seconds.

“We’ve so many good athletes around the Uni scene now (EU Hare and Hounds B team were seventh) that we felt we would have a very strong team. It is good for Uni sport at Edinburgh to see the cross country team winning golds at a National Championship.”

VP-Glasgow took the silver medals in that race with GB international Josephine Moultrie among the fastest women on the day – although that individual honour went to Morag Millar of Central AC.

Kilbarchan AAC made it back to national status, too, in terms of a podium, with a fine effort for third place with Elspeth Curran on the last leg.

In the men’s senior race, Central AC returned to their familiar position on top of the podium as they won the race for the fourth time in seven years – with silver medals secured in the intervening seasons.

Photo: Bobby Gavin

Alastair Hay took over after the efforts of Matthew Stirling, Cameron Milne and Scott Green and ensured there would be no slip-up en route to glory for Central AC.

Derek Easton’s team was significantly changed from their latest East District XC Relays success at Glamis Castle – with the likes of Milne having a successful influence on the outcome after coming home to Scotland from Holland (where he is currently working).

“It was pretty much a B team at the Districts plus Ali Hay,” said Easton, a long-time outstanding coach at Central AC who helped guided Andy Butchart to Olympic level.

“I like to have someone with a sprint finish on the last leg on these occasions, just in case that is needed, but Ali had a bit of an advantage on Euan Gillham of Kilbarchan and Sol Sweeney of Glasgow Uni and was never going to relinquish that.

“Ali is running really well at the moment and has had a good spell of training. Scott Green is a great athlete and another bonus for us today. I thought I’d lost him when he was out of the sport for a year or more not so long ago but he has come back with a completely different attitude.

“He was Scottish steeplechase champion a few years ago and I really believe he has British-class talent.”

Fife AC won the junior females race for the first time in their history, with sisters Isla and Anna Hedley in the team, while Giffnock North AC took the junior males race with a successful defence of the title they won 12 months ago.

It was a great day for Cambuslang Harriers on the men’s side of things in the Masters and V50 races. The Glasgow south side club took the golds in both categories, while Shettleston Harriers also made the podium in both events.

In the women’s division, there were Masters golds for Hunters Bog Trotters. The Edinburgh-based club won that race from Garscube Harriers and Bellahouston Road Runners. In the Women’s V50 race, the golds went to Springburn Harriers.

Race highlights of the action at Cumbernauld can be watched below.

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Competition looks to be intense once again as a record number of teams head to Cumbernauld for the Lindsays National XC Relays on Saturday (October 27).

The huge entry list features 604 complete teams, summing up a growing commitment to competition by clubs in Scotland.

Over the past eight years, only two clubs have shared the gold medals in the senior and junior men’s race – with Central AC winners on five occasions and Inverclyde AC three times.

In fact, if Shettleston’s victory in 2009, then those three clubs share the glory right back to 14 seasons ago when Hunters Bog Trotters took first place.

East champions (perennially) Central and West champions Shettleston, who edged out Inverclyde AC at Irvine Beach, will expect to contend as well as holders Inverclyde.

Photo: Bobby Gavin

Aberdeen AAC have been on the podium for the past two years – taking bronze in 2016 and silvers last year – while Kilbarchan AAC could mount a challenge if Euan Gillham and/or Derek Hawkins is added to their Irvine lineup. Sol Sweeney will race for Glasgow Uni Hare and Hounds.

It is a similar story in the senior and junior women’s race with Edinburgh Uni Hare and Hounds, Edinburgh AC and Central AC the dominant forces – sharing the golds over the past eight years since a success for Dundee Hawkhill Harriers in 2010.

Central, after three wins in a row, have been silver medallists for the past three years but may benefit from the move to four per team while West hopes will lie with Kilbarchan, VP-Glasgow and Shettleston as the 1-2-3 from Irvine Beach.

Inverness Harriers carry the hopes of the North as champions in both the men’s and women’s races.

Edinburgh AC won the Young Females race last year, as they successfully defended their title, while Giffnock North AC won the 2017 Young Males race.

Freya Ross, who competed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, helped Edinburgh AC to team gold medals on her last visit to the National XC Relays.

Photo: Neil Renton

Her last appearance at Cumbernauld was back in 2015 and the six-times former National XC champion returns again this weekend in the colours of Falkirk Victoria Harriers – six months after becoming a mum.

With a huge entry of 604 full teams, the Olympian firmly believes a larger number of teams results in better competition.

“It’s brilliant to hear there are 604 full teams entered for Cumbernauld and the Lindsays National XC Relays,” said the 35 year-old. “I think it proves emphatically that clubs are being galvanised to compete and athletes want to get out there more and race.

“I’ve not been there since 2015 but even then, three years ago, you could feel the event growing and the depth of competition improving.

“We need people to lose any fear to compete – because that will really help our sport. I think we’ve seen that a few years when maybe numbers weren’t the same and it becomes very obvious on the track if you only have a handful of entries in whatever the event.

“It’s not difficult to see that if the depth grows, then the competition improves and standards get better for our sport.”

The senior and junior women’s race have also changed to four athletes counting, a change since last time Ross raced the event.

“It’s now four to count in the women’s race and, again, I think that brings about better depth of competition,” she said. “The medallists hopefully won’t just be the teams with the best individual or two of the best athletes, as has maybe been the case in the past.

“It makes a little bit more about the team and as long as it does not deter clubs a bit further down the ladder as they try to raise the right numbers, then I think it will be a good thing.

“Cumbernauld is a course I like and it is good for spectators, too. There’s a great club atmosphere builds up and I am certain hundreds of athletes and club folk will right now be really looking forward to Saturday.”

Full entry lists can be found here, while Vinco Sport will be in Cumbernauld to film the action and highlights will be available on Scottish Athletics’ YouTube channel.

Race timetable

12 noon: Young females
12.40pm: Young males
1.20pm: Senior and junior females
2.45pm: Senior and junior males

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