Results of recent competitons involving our athletes.
TWEEDBANK RESULTS ON THE NEWS PAGE JUST NOW
PEEBLES
Too upset to write about this. We had 14 sprinters in this, our home event, and not a single one progressed through the heats. Our sprinters included 2 international athletes, another Scottish schools finalist, a district medalist and the new Tweeddale 100m and 300m champion. Not as though we had no talent.
SCOTTISH SCHOOLS CHAMPS
We have 2 great athletes in Faye and James who were outstanding in the Scottish Schools. James (aged 13) was second in the LJ boys U-14 (4m 62) and reached the final of the 100m (13.20). Faye (aged 14) reached the semi-final of the U-17 100m (13.32) and got a massive PB to take bronze in the U-17 Long jump (5m 35. Well done to both.
SELKIRK 2008
Someone else needs to write this as I wasnt there!
HAWICK 2008
Cant really remember what happened in the Youths. Faye, Caille and Charlie ran strongly in the 90m and 200m but didn't get through the heats. Isla and Sophie ran in the 800m - with Sophie particular storming it for her first run in the Games. Neither was placed though.
Linda just won her 110m heat on a photo but got knocked out in the cross-ties. Gregor had a great run to pick up 3rd place in the 400m.
MARKINCH 2008
Moorfoot Juniors got their first finalist at Markinch at the weekend with James getting 4th place in the Youths 90m. Jessica also won prize money in the 10 - 14 year olds fun race. Her dad fell in the dads race as dads tend to do. Johnnie Mullins also fell over - pushing a bike. Oh - almost forgot - Linda won 3rd place in the old people's race and didn't fall over.
DOUBLE CHAMPIONSHIP SILVER FOR MJs
Well done to Scout and Faye who both got Championship silver medals on the weekend of 10/11 May.
In her first serious hill race - straight in at the deep end in the U16 Scottish Championship at Ben Lomond - Scout actually led at the top only to be passed on the descent by an older and more experienced hill runner frae Aberdeen. She still came home clear second though for the silver medal. Well done Scout. With a bit of specialist training on her descending technique (you've either got to be very experienced or just a plain nutter!), she would seem to have a bright future in hill running.
Same goes for Faye in the long jump. In only her second competition of the season on Sunday 11th May she leaped to a PB of 5.18m to take clear second and another silver medal in the East District U17 Championships at Meadowbank. Still 14, this distance also meets the Scottish "Power of 10" performance for U17 long jump which means she automatically qualifies for the Scotland U17 traing squad. Well done Faye. Her long jump followed a good run in the 100m the previous day when she reached the final with a near PB into the wind in her first race of the season.
THREE BRIDGES RACES
A fine day weather-wise and a fine day results-wise for the MJs too.
First off it was the Girls P7 race, Isla, Sophie and Eilidh dominating the race from start to finish. Isla used her speed down the finishing straight to come home just ahead of Sophie, with Eilidh, who ran bravely to stay in touch for a long way, not too far behind in third. These three finished miles ahead of the rest.
The Youths' handicap was next with a big entry of 30. Scout ran hard early on to pull back the front runners and to lead on the way back to Tweed Bridge. As she came through the railway tunnel back into view of the sizeable crowd on Tweed Green she had a healthy advantage, but the back markers were closing in at speed and despite still leading off Priorsford Bridge she was hauled in by the two big lads from Lasswade down the finishing straight. A great effort though to come 3rd.
The P7 Boys were next and what a speed they set off at! Having won the Primary Schools Cross Country Champs a week earlier, the West Linton lad was hot favourite but Lucas ran a fantastic race to push him all the way to the line. Jacob (aka "The Black Shadow") ran well too to come home 4th.
Having only just turned 17 the week before, Alex had to run in the senior handicap over 3 miles (2 laps). Still to get her fitness back she did well to finish mid-field against some really strong opposition and within minutes of finishing she was off again for another lap in the Team race as part of the Reckless Runners team. What a brave and loyal effort! Team mates Scout and Jacob led the field home for an Adkin 1-2 and with Robbie and Alex backing them up, the RRs took the team race for the 5th year in a row! Well done too to the Moorfoot Minis - Lucas, Isla, Sophie, and late sub Stuart Mullins - who were 2nd.
All received their medals and trophies from a familiar face - "local sports personality" Linda!
Well done all.
EAST DISTRICTS INDOORS
U-17 Long Jump
Faye Nicholson 2nd with 5m 07
U-17 60m
Faye Nicholson 4th with 8.36 (new club record)
FALKIRK OPEN GRADED INDOORS
James Innes 60m 8.64 (new club record beating Blair's record from last year)
Faye Nicholson 60m 8.54
LJ 5m 09 (new club record and heads the Scottish rankings for U-16 girls)
26TH ANNUAL LASSWADE AC OPEN CROSS-COUNTRY MEETING - SUNDAY 4 NOV
A cross-country journey (with diversions) for cross-country races turned out to be well worth it for four Moorfoots - Alex, Scout, Jacob and Megan - who travelled to Gorebridge for Lasswade's Open meeting.
On a fair day with good underfoot conditions the only excuse available might have been lack of prior knowledge of the course, but no excuses were needed as all four put up excellent performances.
First up was Jacob in the U13 Boys' race. Still only 11, Jacob judged his pace well over the 2-mile course against older and more experienced opposition, finishing strongly to come home 11th out of 31.
Older sis Scout was next along with newcomer Megan in the U15 Girls race over the same course. After being held back slightly on one of the narrower parts of the course, Scout soon pushed on into clear 2nd place which she held to the line. Megan wasn't far behind and despite battling hard, just failed to hold on to 6th place on the final approach. If only we'd had a 3rd U15 girl and wee Moorfoots could have pushed the mighty Pitreavie for the team prize!
Alex was next in the U17/U20 Women's 3 mile race. With 3 athletes having broken clear by half-way, Alex moved into 4th and soon stretched away from the rest of the field to consolidate that position. Despite pulling back 10 seconds on the 3rd placed athlete over the last mile, the gap was too much and Alex crossed the line 4th overall and 3rd U17.
Well done to all. An excellent showing and positive signs for the Borders Cross-Country Series which gets underway at Norham in 2 weeks time.
EAST DISTRICT CROSS-COUNTRY RELAYS - SAT 14 OCT, DUNFERMLINE
Well done to the Moorfoot Juniors team of Isla (U13 leg), Scout (U15 leg) and Alex (U17 leg) who finished a very respectable 13th out of 34 at the East District Cross-Country Relays.
Each had to run the 2.5km over an undulating rough grass course. This was Isla's first proper cross-country race and she was very brave to give it a go after only 2 weeks' longer distance training! Running against more experienced and older girls (Isla will be in the same U13 age group next year) she judged her pace well to hand over to Scout 26th of 34. Scout then ran a storming leg, picking off runner after runner to improve 10 places. Alex then took over and soon ignored Gregor's advice to take it easy to begin with. With the runners ahead of her well spread out, they took some catching but Alex picked up another 3 places despite a tumble in the woods (out of sight to save her embarrassment!). She brought the team home 13th, 2 places and 44 seconds ahead of local rivals Gala Harriers.
Well done girls. Beating clubs like Falkirk Victoria Harriers, Gala Harriers, Lasswade, Lothian, Corstorphine and Perth Strathtay Harriers in your first Championship team race was a great effort.
GRANGEMOUTH OPEN GRADED
Eight Moorfoot Juniors competed and 6 new club records were set.
Results were:
100m
Faye 13.33 (new club record for 14 year old)
Sam 13.76 (new club record for 17 year old)
Caillie 14.50 (PB)
Stuart 15.50 (PB)
Ryan 15.58 (first time he has been timed)
200m
Ryan 31.99 (new club record for 11 year old)
Stuart 32.47
Shot
Stuart 7m22 (new club record for 12 year old)
Megan 6m31
Long Jump
Faye 4m94 (new club record for 14 year old)
Caillie 4m02
1500m
Scout 5.10.66
Megan 5.27.07
Jacob 5.35.24 (new club record for 11 year old)
SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIPS
Excellent performances at the Scottish Championships saw our 3 Moorfoot Juniors reach 4 finals! Alex got to the final of the U-17 1500 on Saturday, followed by Scout picking up 7th place in Scotland in a new PB in the U-15 1500. Faye stormed to a PB in the U-15 girls 100m heat in 13.30, followed by a semi-final new PB of 13.22, before getting 8th in the final. At the same time she competed in the long jump at managed a great PB of 4m 94 taking her to a Bronze medal!! A picture of her on the rostrum is posted in the gallery.
MOREBATTLE
Best bit was dipping our feet in the disinfectant and hearing Barsky shouting "Free kebabs!". Enough said.
BRIDGE OF ALLAN
Well what can I say? What a nightmare. Yet you all were shown smiling with brown envelopes in the Peebleshire. Lets go again next year! Faye won the 90m and 200m, Isla and Stewart also made it to their 90m sprint final. Caillie made her first sprint final in the 200m. Caillie and Blair ran the 400m too with Caillie picking up 3rd place. Isla won the 400m for 10 - 12 yr olds. Blair got 2nd in the Consolation race. This is all out of order I know - but what do I care? As for Big G - well you all know what happened - it involved being senile, a pipe band and a bottle of whisky. Oh and £30 prize money for doing
bugger all.
TWEEDBANK GAMES
Great weather and great performances from Moorfoot Juniors. Sensational sprinting from you all saw Sam reach her first sprint final, Faye reach her second final of the season, and super running from Blair, Caillie and Isla. Blair did a very strong 300m too - Isla gave it her all but needs a little more training behind her yet. PBs all round in the long jump and a tussle between Caillie (who hung on for 2 rounds) and Faye for that first place. In the end Faye got it with a superb 4m87 (new club record) with Caillie holding off Demi Yorke with an outstanding 4m38. Isla also notched up a PB with several jumps over 3m50.
LANGHOLM GAMES
These really belonged to Scout and Jacob who performed really well to pick up places in their 800m and mile(?) races. Jacob apparently did not perform quite so well in his post-race interview - one word answers to Knoxy's questions will just not do!
Alex had an attack of the dizzy spells which she has suffered with quite a lot this season and did well to get through her race without pulling out.
Faye and Mhairi didn't get through their heats of their 90m and 200m but had a good go.
Faye then won the high jump competition for the second year in a row - equalling the boys winning height of 1m30 but yet again being given only half the boy's winnings. Once again we made a complaint on the day, but this time we will need to make a formal complaint in writing or have all our athletes boycott Langholm next year.
AMBLESIDE GAMES (or they could be referred to as - THE MUD BATHS)
Three Moorfooters competed at these games and all deserve medals. On the good side - Sam, Faye and Linda will all now have wonderful complexions having had the equivalent of a mud face pack for most of the day. I have posted in the gallery the picture of Faye covered in mud from head to toe after competing in the 200m.
Another good thing was that Faye reached her first sprint final of 2007 - winning her 90m heat and picking up 3rd place in the final. Linda also pipped the Peebleshire News by reaching her 4th sprint final in Ambleside (also coming 3rd) before the newspaper went to press predicting her 4th final at Langholm. Faye was also given a second brown envelope at Ambleside when she slipped across the mud into 4th place in the 200m. The reason for Faye's very fast running on the day could be that there were also hound trails and races going on and she was terrified that a wild dog would chase whoever came last in her race.
As for poor Sam - she had one of her best runs in the 90m and just missed a place in the final. The weather was so poor (non-stop rain) that after this she decided to call it a day and make the long trip back home.
Gregor was meant to run and had quite a good mark but his man injury is still troubling him and unfortunately he had to pull out.
Not sure if I would recommend Ambleside to anyone - the sprint track is uphill, very bumpy and on a slope. With the wind in our faces and the cyclists having churned up the ground you can imagine how hard it was.......
ST RONAN'S GAMES
Everyone who competed at St Ronan's did really well. At last the youngsters were the stars whilst your coaches moaned and groaned about their various injuries.
First the dilemma - should young Ryan compete in everything or almost everything? We went for everything in the end (give or take a few events like the hill race) and he seemed to survive OK. Not that his granny did - she was in floods at the sight of his wee arms lifting up that NZ trophy after his runaway victory in the closed 200m which left poor Fuzzy trailing in 2nd. (Photo will be in the gallery shortly.) Add this to his 3rd place in the closed 800m and he had a pretty good outing for a "debut boy" as the PN called him (taking over from Blair). Mind you - my heart was in my mouth as I spotted Ryan's dad shouting for him from the INSIDE of the arena just under the judges' noses - a sure way to get an athlete disqualified!!
Whilst all this was happening, Scout and Jacob were running up a hill - not for fun I hasten to add - but they were competing in the official Junior Hill race. A little while later they slipped quietly back into the arena in FIRST AND SECOND places. I could hardly see Scout behind her winner's silverware. See what you all missed if you were away on holiday? And there's more...............
There was a fabby 90m youths' event which saw Faye, Mhairi and Stuart in particular have great runs which built on the super training they put in over the last week or so. Ryan ran too off 21m but needed a bit more of a handicap to get him through. Stuart won his heat and Faye and Mhairi were in the same heat which also featured Fuzzy. Faye started 0.5m in front of Fuzzy but finished a good 1.5 metres in front of her. Mhairi just won the heat on a dip. Stuart and Mhairi both went in the same semi-final with Mhairi just getting through to the final where I think she came 5th or 6th.
Faye ran a good 200m off a back mark as usual and didn't get through the heat - but used it as a really good training run.
Gregor tried his first 200m and had trained hard for this. It was really sad that he pulled a muscle at the start - easily done - but Linda got suspicious when she saw several young ladies attending to him, all wanting to apply the ice to his groin. Hmmmmm.
I meanwhile did not think I was running until about 10 minutes before my race. As many of you who have put up with my moaning have realised - I have an achilles problem. However, MY MIRACLE WORKER IS BACK from his hols!!!!!! Hip hip hooray. He has done wonders with me last week and I suddenly decided I would go for it. Running off my worst mark I have ever had in the 110m I actually got through to the cross-ties before being put out by an Australian. I then used my feminine tactic which is to shed a tear in front of the judges. It worked as usual and before I knew it I had been invited to run in the special Invitation 110m at the end of the day. RESULT! Warning to all the girls out there - do not use this tactic too much - I dont think it will work all the time. Anyway, a little brown envelope came my way at the end.
As I warned a week or so ago, Sean Grant has now been booted out of our virtual club for being absent too many times. I feel that this may be the end of Knoxy too who has missed so many competitions with his man injury (aka groin strain). However, I have decided to adopt my favourite athlete at the games (and my main competitor) - Ikram Barskanmay. He is a very sweet Turk who works in a kebab restaurant in Hawick. He is now an official member of the Moorfoot virtual club. Yes I have finally flipped.
GRANGEMOUTH TRIATHLON (100m, long jump and shot)
Faye 100m: 13.7 LJ: 4m48 (PB - since broken) SP: 6m64 (PB and new club record)
Caillie 100m: 14.8 (PB) LJ: 4m07 SP: 6m39 (PB)
Isla 100m: 15.8 (PB) LJ: 3m52 (PB) SP: 4m48 (PB)
Mary 100m: 17.3 LJ: 2.90 (PB) SP: 3m50
Rachel 100m: 16.9 (PB) LJ: 1.88 SP: 3m25 (PB and new club record)
JEDBURGH BORDER GAMES
Someone else should really write about the results at Jed because I spent most of the time too terrified to even speak never mind notice what anyone else was doing. From what I remember, Alex was at Jed, along with Faye, Caillie and Cut Throat. Best result I think was Faye's 2nd place in her 200m heat. Gregor picked up 6th in the 400m. Slightly better handicaps in the sprint gave Caillie and Cut Throat more of a chance.
I was meanwhile in my "zone" scraping through each round of the 110 Jed-Forest Sprint before ending up in the final against all the odds. In between racing, Faye our new club physio did a grand job keeping my injured achilles from tightening too much. She is now charging me £2.50 for 15 minutes of physio work - her new holiday job! (Well I'm desperate with my miracle worker still up north hiding in his Fisherman's cottage.) Came 5th in the final. Big controversy as there was a dead heat for first place with talk of a re-run - did they want to kill me off altogether??? Luckily it did not come to this with the first 2 sharing the prize money, and the sash (which would have looked lovely on me) and the trophy.
TWEEDBANK BORDER GAMES
I heard Radio Borders this morning at 8am describe the Tweedbank Games as "Ladies Day". Why? BECAUSE I WON THE TWEEDBANK SPRINT AND THE LONG JUMP AND FAYE WON THE YOUTHS' LONG JUMP!! Oh I suppose there was also a female winner of the youths' sprint and the adults 1000m. I understand that lots of old men were delighted with their winnings too as there was heavy betting on the adults sprint and the odds on a female winner were quite good. I seemed to get lots of old men kissing me at the end too. Not nice.
Now what else happened? Lots of drama actually. Started with Jamie (who has never failed to get to the cross-ties) injuring himself in warm up. Such a pity especially as our miracle worker (aka Ivor the physio) is on holiday for 10 days. Next up was the youths' sprint and great excitement as Cut Throat won his heat and got through to his first final. Rumours then went around the ground that Charlie was not actually 10 years old. He now has to produce his birth certificate at the next meeting and I have offered him one of my forgeries. Faye, Mhairi and Jenny running from a shocking handicap for an 11 year old did not get through.
Next up was the 200m featuring Cut Throat who came 2nd in his heat and Mhairi. Why oh why did Mhairi faff about at the start and miss the gun? She ran quite well after that but frankly had only herself to blame for her start.
Wise people were focusing on the long jump. Pleased to say the standard of Moorfoot Juniors long jump was great with PBs from Faye, Jenny and Charlie and Caillie jumping very close to her best ever. Faye's jump takes her to amongst the top few in Scotland for her age group. Faye won with a jump of 4m65 (new club record) with Caillie picking up 3rd place with 4m18 (I think - not exactly sure).
Strangely Faye's jump was exactly the same as her mother's (aka me) which was 1cm off the Scottish record for over 40 year olds (which Linda set last year in Poland). This goes to show that forty-something women are the same as 13 year old girls. More worrying - 13 year old girls are just the same as forty-something women!
You may have spotted Knoxy who is now back from his hols interviewing Linda after her race. He was back doing his journalist job but don't let that fool you - he is out to beat Gregor at Jed next week. I have also heard that our adopted athlete Sean Grant was competing at another event last week and that's why he was not at Kelso. He will have to watch it - if we dont see him soon we may have to throw him out of this virtual club.
Linda is very depressed as she has an achilles injury picked up at Tweedbank. Her miracle worker is on holiday - anyone got any ideas on how to recover for the big race at Jed at the weekend?
KELSO BORDER GAMES
Eight Moorfoots braved the rain to compete at Kelso. It felt like we had many more competing - but that was just Blair taking part in lots of events.
I'm sorry folks but star of the day was again one of your coaches - this time GREGOR who looked like a young laddy dashing around that track to pick up 3rd place in the 400m. Gregor and Linda are now rolling in prize money from last our last 2 outings.
However, back to you lot. Blair, Charlie, Mhairi, Faye and Malcolm (making his debut at the sprint) competed in the 100m, but no one reached the cross-ties. Faye and Mhairi had both been pulled from last week despite the race being longer - not sure of the logic here - and both had no hope of getting through. Really liked Faye's aggressive sprint start and Malcolm gave us a thrill as he seemed to be in contention for much of his race. Mhairi's chips had to be prised from her before her race - perhaps this accounts for her slightly slow run.
Faye, Mhairi, Charlie and Blair ran the 200m. Blair was the closest to qualifying, just pipped at the end for first place in his heat. Cut-throat also picked up 2nd in his race. Faye and Mhairi were well run out of it.
Alex did the 800m (she normally runs much, much longer races) and did OK but felt a bit dizzy. She then ran the youths' mile and felt a lot dizzy, running quite a bit below par. I missed Malcolm in his other race (400m) so someone will have to tell me how he did. Burger Blair decided to go off on holiday with a bang (or knackered legs) and appeared in the youths' 400m and youth's mile (after the 100m and 200m).
As for me - I won my 100m heat and came 4th in the cross-tie, just missing out on a place in the final as the first 3 went through. It was great fun.
As for our adopted athletes - Knoxy (aka PN reporter) is away on holiday (well that is what he says - I suspect he is just frightened of competing against Speedy Gregs). Sean Grant was rumoured to be injured - do we believe this or is it a cunning trick?
BELTANE PROFESSIONAL GAMES
Sorry it has taken me a while to report the results - I have been out celebrating my 3rd place since last Saturday!
Forget the rest of you - come on - I was the STAR!
Yes - Faye, Mhairi and Jamie got to the cross-ties. Blair and Charlie had no chance from their marks.
Jamie also ran a pretty good 400m. Scout and Malcolm survived to see the end of their long, long race (how far was it??). Gregor hardly survived to see the end of his shorter race.
BUT LETS TALK ABOUT ME! Lane 6 was bad - lots of holes at the end - and lane 6 I was given in the heat and the final. I scraped through the heat as a fastest loser. Got a great lane in the cross-ties - lane 4 - and won it. I knew I could win the final until I was given lane 6 again - picked up 3rd place in a very close finish. Didn't know I could run 3 times in one day. Dont know how my miracle worker (aka my physio) gets me on the track each week.
I will try to write more about other people after the next event. I have been too full of myself, and pride comes before a fall (probably at Kelso!).
BORDER SCHOOLS RESULTS
The Border Schools championships were held at Tweedbank on Thursday 21 June. I dont have have the full results yet, but was delighted to see Peebles High School girls take all of the long jump titles with 2 records broken. Caillie won the Borders Championship for S1 girls in a new record of 4m22; Faye won the S2 championship in a new record of 4m46; Heather Hall won the S3 title and Rachel Nicholson with no training behind her won the senior girls title (not sure of the exact distances for them). Club records were set by Caillie and Faye. (NB latest news from Peebles High School is that they are not improving their atrocious long jump pit because they have only "beginners" at the school.)
Faye also won the S2 girls High Jump with a PB that equalled the Border Schools record of 1m 45, showing that all of those Monday nights after school at Tweedbank have been worthwhile.
I missed some of the 100 and 200m so not quite sure of the final results. Think that Sam got second in the 100m and 3rd in the 200m. Mhairi picked up 3rd in the 100m and Faye was second in the 100m. All got PBs hand timed but these are notorious for being a little out and not reliable.
Beth Trip Williamson went for another dramatic fall, this time in the relay, which meant that she couldn't run in the 800m, leaving Caillie to do the honours (and very well she did too - came about 6th I think). Caillie has now corrected me - she just missed 3rd place. She should consider swapping events with Trip Williamson and training for the 800m (whilst learning how to trip).
After overhearing (in the ladies toilets) Scout and Alex psyching each other out, Linda studied their runs in great detail to see if this had affected their performance. Scout picked up 2nd place in the 800m but looked the best athlete by far with the first place there for the taking. Alex hung back in the 800m until she realised that she just had to win it - and so she did by quite a way.
Malcolm had a good run in his 800m and threatened for the title the whole way - getting a well deserved 2nd.
Dont know what Kayleigh did in the discus - sorry.
Seeing as we have adopted Sean Grant I will report on his result. He ran the S1 200m and was run well out of it, coming in jogging. Why didn't I advise all of you do that then your handicaps could have gone up to Seans level??! (I know - I am getting a little bitter here.)
SELKIRK GAMES
Biggest thrill of these games was seeing Kerry (Primary 5, aged 10) almost qualify for the cross-ties. She had one of the best starts too. Most of you ran well enough though we will have to go over starts again and again until you all produce a good one.
Isla got through to the cross-ties as a fastest loser before getting knocked out.
Beth still has a lot of strength/conditioning training to do to get her back to full shape and she had to hand back her 800m trophy which she won last year.
Running her first 400m, Isla made a superb effort from the back mark to storm around the track and catch up most of the other runners.
Sam and Linda seem to run a little bit better each time they race with Sam almost creating a huge upset by being a woman qualifer for a cross-tie!
Now for the big match - Gregor versus Knoxy. Knoxy started 10 metres in front of Gregor and there was frankly no stopping him. Gregor could only watch from behind as his rival sprinted to victory in the 400m open. But Knoxy does not know that Big G has not yet started his "sharpening" training yet! What is it with men.........
PENTATHLON CHAMPIONS!
Well done to Caillie and Faye for winning the High School pentathlon championships for S1 and S2 respectively. Moorfoot Juniors are multi-talented!
HAWICK GAMES
The Moorfoots were back at Hawick for the full-blown games on Sunday. Again, strangely, dark clouds seemed to amass over the track (or perhaps this was Blair blocking out the sun after several visits to the picnic box and ice cream van).
All handicaps except Faye's were up in the 90m, with great hopes that we might get a couple of runners through to the cross-ties. Faye went first off 12 metres but, as predicted, with 2 days of competing at the Scottish Schools behind her, could not quite find the legs to catch the front marker running off 24m. Caillie had a strong run off 20m (with an outdoor PB in the Scottish Schools long jump the day before), coming in 3rd in her heat. Charlie Cut-Throat Griggs ran off 24m (enjoy it Cut-Throat, you'll never get it again) and gave us a thrill with a 3rd place. With Darren off ill, all eyes were on Blair and Jamie to get the cross-ties places - and so they did!! In fact, Blair's Dad's cheers were heard back in Peebles when they announced the result of the photo-finish from his heat. Linda, meanwhile, does not wait for the photo finish, she merely inspects necks to see if there are any more cut-throats.
Blair and Jamie gave it a good go in the cross-ties but didn't quite make it to the final of the 90m.
Sam and Linda were 2 of the 3 very brave females who dared to enter the men's world of 110m professional sprinting. One day they may even be given a handicap to help them compete on the same terms. However, lets not get ahead of ourselves. Both ran well and both had the audacity to finish 3rd in their respective heats. Linda noticed that she was the only one in her heat who didn't feature on the bookies betting boards. Was that because she was such a hot favourite??
Linda had upped the life insurance on Gregor when she heard he intended to compete in both the half and quarter mile races in one afternoon. Egged on by a challenge issued through the week by Peebleshire News reporter David Knox, Gregor was determined to compete, only to find that on the day Knoxy had a cold and had pulled out. However, this did not stop Gregs running for his life (literally) and, I think may have come last in both races, BUT FINISHED THEM!!
Beth ran very stylishly in the 800m and was given an envelope at the end - not sure if she got 5th or 6th.
Youths 200m - cant remember what happened, I was too busy watching young Shaun from Innerleithen out so far in front you wondered if he was in the same race as the others. A big mix-up with the entries meant that despite paying for his entry last week, Jamie was not allowed to run so lost out on a chance to challenge Shaun for the title.
Most of the Moorfoot contingent went home at this point - but those that stayed had to witness an awful fall by Beth who was tripped up in the Youths 400m and lay in agony and tears across the track before Linda and Faye arrived with ice. The fall had made her pull a leg muscle which had been troubling her earlier in the day. The culprit (from Earlston) who had caused this dramatic fall came to apologise and Linda and Faye had to restrain themselves from giving her a doing. Beth was helped off the track and was sent off home with more ice to pack onto her torn muscle and instructions to get to the physio pronto. Hopefully things won't be too bad and she'll be back in action soon. Beth - if you want to analyse your fall in more detail you can do so - the official video-man told me gleefully that he had got it all on camera!
HAWICK YOUTH GAMES
6 brave Moorfoot Juniors left the hot sun of Peebles to face the big freeze in Hawick on Wednesday 6 June.
All went in the 90m. Once again, handicaps seemed strange with Isla (aka Ducker) off 19.5 yet Jenny off 18.5. Faye was not too pleased with her 11m. Jenny and Kerry, running in their first ever professional games were confident enough to try sprint starts and performed incredibly well. Ducker won her heat, and Mhairi just missed out on a place in the final.
Isla got a very slow start in the final - more work to be done there - but picked up a great 5th place overall against the big boys.
Then came the 200m races. Again Isla (starting 3 metres ahead of poor Jenny) won her heat to get a place in the final. Kerry led her heat for most of the way before being caught in the home straight.
Blair provided entertainment by popping out for a quick (?) 400m in between the 200m heats and finals, after which we cheered on Isla who was just pipped in the 200m, finishing 2nd and picking up yet more prize money.
Isla and Claire had to be followed by a red security van all the way back to Peebles to make sure they weren't robbed of Isla's massive prize money.
EARLSTON
A day of high drama in high temperatures, with some of the best results achieved by Moorfoot Juniors in the professional games. A few tears were shed and some nerves got in the way, but we all seemed to survive and turned up for training the next morning.
Youths 1600m - an amazing 2nd place for Scout who led for the last few laps and was just pipped on the line.
Youths 200m - 3rd for Isla in her first 200m final (would have been 2nd if only she'd dipped for the line). Darren, running his first 200m ever (and on an 11 year olds handicap although he is 10), was inches from getting a place in the final with his heat ending in a photo finish.
90m Youths - No fewer than 3 of our 7 youth sprint athletes got through to the cross-ties - Faye, Jamie and Darren. This is a fantastic result.
Jamie chose chips over the 200m and was obviously saving himself for the boys 11 - 12 yrs race where he picked up 2nd place and £3 prize money - (presumably to buy more chips).
Charlie Griggs is in the lead for the strangest name in the programme award, appearing as C Crigg.
Alex appeared as Al Campbell leading us to think that she was given a boys handicap in her races, and explaining why she seemed to start so far back from everyone else.
Blair and Caillie received their usual harsh marks from the handicapper and as usual didn't moan.
Linda on the other hand, came last as usual, and did moan.
BLACKFORD
Faye ran in the 90m Youths off a harsh handicap of 9metres (considering she is just 13!). Needless to say that despite a great run she was overtaken by Isiah Symonds quite quickly and she did not get into the final.
Linda, running in the Open 90m handicap, managed to get to the cross-ties for the first time, before getting knocked out. Two races within one hour was a little difficult.
Gregor ran a brave 800m for a person of his age. He almost finished.
Where were the rest of you???
OPEN GRADED MEET AT MEADOWBANK
24 MAY 2007
U-11 Girls
Flora Gillies 100m: 16.68 LJ: 2.72 Shot Putt: 3.09m
U-13 Girls
Mhairi Imlah 100m: 14.23 LJ: 3.73 Shot Putt: 5.20m
Mary Coll 100m: 18.00 LJ: 2.39 Shot Putt: 4.12m
Jenny Hudson 100m: 15.96 LJ: 3.22
U-15 Girls
Faye Nicholson 100m: 13.42
Caillie Douce LJ: 3.68
U-11 Boys
Darren Weir 100m: 15.11 LJ 3.60m Shot Putt: 5.27m
U-13 Boys
Charlie Griggs 100m: 16.39 LJ: 2.87 Shot Putt: 4.62
Jamie McGill 100m: 14.87 LJ: 3.28 Shot Putt: 3.74
Ollie Freeman 100m: 17.81 LJ: 2.41 Shot Putt: 3.55
Stuart Mullins 100m: 15.20 Shot Putt: 5.85
U-15 Boys
Blair Davidson LJ: 3.58
PEEBLES
Too upset to write about this. We had 14 sprinters in this, our home event, and not a single one progressed through the heats. Our sprinters included 2 international athletes, another Scottish schools finalist, a district medalist and the new Tweeddale 100m and 300m champion. Not as though we had no talent.
SCOTTISH SCHOOLS CHAMPS
We have 2 great athletes in Faye and James who were outstanding in the Scottish Schools. James (aged 13) was second in the LJ boys U-14 (4m 62) and reached the final of the 100m (13.20). Faye (aged 14) reached the semi-final of the U-17 100m (13.32) and got a massive PB to take bronze in the U-17 Long jump (5m 35. Well done to both.
SELKIRK 2008
Someone else needs to write this as I wasnt there!
HAWICK 2008
Cant really remember what happened in the Youths. Faye, Caille and Charlie ran strongly in the 90m and 200m but didn't get through the heats. Isla and Sophie ran in the 800m - with Sophie particular storming it for her first run in the Games. Neither was placed though.
Linda just won her 110m heat on a photo but got knocked out in the cross-ties. Gregor had a great run to pick up 3rd place in the 400m.
MARKINCH 2008
Moorfoot Juniors got their first finalist at Markinch at the weekend with James getting 4th place in the Youths 90m. Jessica also won prize money in the 10 - 14 year olds fun race. Her dad fell in the dads race as dads tend to do. Johnnie Mullins also fell over - pushing a bike. Oh - almost forgot - Linda won 3rd place in the old people's race and didn't fall over.
DOUBLE CHAMPIONSHIP SILVER FOR MJs
Well done to Scout and Faye who both got Championship silver medals on the weekend of 10/11 May.
In her first serious hill race - straight in at the deep end in the U16 Scottish Championship at Ben Lomond - Scout actually led at the top only to be passed on the descent by an older and more experienced hill runner frae Aberdeen. She still came home clear second though for the silver medal. Well done Scout. With a bit of specialist training on her descending technique (you've either got to be very experienced or just a plain nutter!), she would seem to have a bright future in hill running.
Same goes for Faye in the long jump. In only her second competition of the season on Sunday 11th May she leaped to a PB of 5.18m to take clear second and another silver medal in the East District U17 Championships at Meadowbank. Still 14, this distance also meets the Scottish "Power of 10" performance for U17 long jump which means she automatically qualifies for the Scotland U17 traing squad. Well done Faye. Her long jump followed a good run in the 100m the previous day when she reached the final with a near PB into the wind in her first race of the season.
THREE BRIDGES RACES
A fine day weather-wise and a fine day results-wise for the MJs too.
First off it was the Girls P7 race, Isla, Sophie and Eilidh dominating the race from start to finish. Isla used her speed down the finishing straight to come home just ahead of Sophie, with Eilidh, who ran bravely to stay in touch for a long way, not too far behind in third. These three finished miles ahead of the rest.
The Youths' handicap was next with a big entry of 30. Scout ran hard early on to pull back the front runners and to lead on the way back to Tweed Bridge. As she came through the railway tunnel back into view of the sizeable crowd on Tweed Green she had a healthy advantage, but the back markers were closing in at speed and despite still leading off Priorsford Bridge she was hauled in by the two big lads from Lasswade down the finishing straight. A great effort though to come 3rd.
The P7 Boys were next and what a speed they set off at! Having won the Primary Schools Cross Country Champs a week earlier, the West Linton lad was hot favourite but Lucas ran a fantastic race to push him all the way to the line. Jacob (aka "The Black Shadow") ran well too to come home 4th.
Having only just turned 17 the week before, Alex had to run in the senior handicap over 3 miles (2 laps). Still to get her fitness back she did well to finish mid-field against some really strong opposition and within minutes of finishing she was off again for another lap in the Team race as part of the Reckless Runners team. What a brave and loyal effort! Team mates Scout and Jacob led the field home for an Adkin 1-2 and with Robbie and Alex backing them up, the RRs took the team race for the 5th year in a row! Well done too to the Moorfoot Minis - Lucas, Isla, Sophie, and late sub Stuart Mullins - who were 2nd.
All received their medals and trophies from a familiar face - "local sports personality" Linda!
Well done all.
EAST DISTRICTS INDOORS
U-17 Long Jump
Faye Nicholson 2nd with 5m 07
U-17 60m
Faye Nicholson 4th with 8.36 (new club record)
FALKIRK OPEN GRADED INDOORS
James Innes 60m 8.64 (new club record beating Blair's record from last year)
Faye Nicholson 60m 8.54
LJ 5m 09 (new club record and heads the Scottish rankings for U-16 girls)
26TH ANNUAL LASSWADE AC OPEN CROSS-COUNTRY MEETING - SUNDAY 4 NOV
A cross-country journey (with diversions) for cross-country races turned out to be well worth it for four Moorfoots - Alex, Scout, Jacob and Megan - who travelled to Gorebridge for Lasswade's Open meeting.
On a fair day with good underfoot conditions the only excuse available might have been lack of prior knowledge of the course, but no excuses were needed as all four put up excellent performances.
First up was Jacob in the U13 Boys' race. Still only 11, Jacob judged his pace well over the 2-mile course against older and more experienced opposition, finishing strongly to come home 11th out of 31.
Older sis Scout was next along with newcomer Megan in the U15 Girls race over the same course. After being held back slightly on one of the narrower parts of the course, Scout soon pushed on into clear 2nd place which she held to the line. Megan wasn't far behind and despite battling hard, just failed to hold on to 6th place on the final approach. If only we'd had a 3rd U15 girl and wee Moorfoots could have pushed the mighty Pitreavie for the team prize!
Alex was next in the U17/U20 Women's 3 mile race. With 3 athletes having broken clear by half-way, Alex moved into 4th and soon stretched away from the rest of the field to consolidate that position. Despite pulling back 10 seconds on the 3rd placed athlete over the last mile, the gap was too much and Alex crossed the line 4th overall and 3rd U17.
Well done to all. An excellent showing and positive signs for the Borders Cross-Country Series which gets underway at Norham in 2 weeks time.
EAST DISTRICT CROSS-COUNTRY RELAYS - SAT 14 OCT, DUNFERMLINE
Well done to the Moorfoot Juniors team of Isla (U13 leg), Scout (U15 leg) and Alex (U17 leg) who finished a very respectable 13th out of 34 at the East District Cross-Country Relays.
Each had to run the 2.5km over an undulating rough grass course. This was Isla's first proper cross-country race and she was very brave to give it a go after only 2 weeks' longer distance training! Running against more experienced and older girls (Isla will be in the same U13 age group next year) she judged her pace well to hand over to Scout 26th of 34. Scout then ran a storming leg, picking off runner after runner to improve 10 places. Alex then took over and soon ignored Gregor's advice to take it easy to begin with. With the runners ahead of her well spread out, they took some catching but Alex picked up another 3 places despite a tumble in the woods (out of sight to save her embarrassment!). She brought the team home 13th, 2 places and 44 seconds ahead of local rivals Gala Harriers.
Well done girls. Beating clubs like Falkirk Victoria Harriers, Gala Harriers, Lasswade, Lothian, Corstorphine and Perth Strathtay Harriers in your first Championship team race was a great effort.
GRANGEMOUTH OPEN GRADED
Eight Moorfoot Juniors competed and 6 new club records were set.
Results were:
100m
Faye 13.33 (new club record for 14 year old)
Sam 13.76 (new club record for 17 year old)
Caillie 14.50 (PB)
Stuart 15.50 (PB)
Ryan 15.58 (first time he has been timed)
200m
Ryan 31.99 (new club record for 11 year old)
Stuart 32.47
Shot
Stuart 7m22 (new club record for 12 year old)
Megan 6m31
Long Jump
Faye 4m94 (new club record for 14 year old)
Caillie 4m02
1500m
Scout 5.10.66
Megan 5.27.07
Jacob 5.35.24 (new club record for 11 year old)
SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIPS
Excellent performances at the Scottish Championships saw our 3 Moorfoot Juniors reach 4 finals! Alex got to the final of the U-17 1500 on Saturday, followed by Scout picking up 7th place in Scotland in a new PB in the U-15 1500. Faye stormed to a PB in the U-15 girls 100m heat in 13.30, followed by a semi-final new PB of 13.22, before getting 8th in the final. At the same time she competed in the long jump at managed a great PB of 4m 94 taking her to a Bronze medal!! A picture of her on the rostrum is posted in the gallery.
MOREBATTLE
Best bit was dipping our feet in the disinfectant and hearing Barsky shouting "Free kebabs!". Enough said.
BRIDGE OF ALLAN
Well what can I say? What a nightmare. Yet you all were shown smiling with brown envelopes in the Peebleshire. Lets go again next year! Faye won the 90m and 200m, Isla and Stewart also made it to their 90m sprint final. Caillie made her first sprint final in the 200m. Caillie and Blair ran the 400m too with Caillie picking up 3rd place. Isla won the 400m for 10 - 12 yr olds. Blair got 2nd in the Consolation race. This is all out of order I know - but what do I care? As for Big G - well you all know what happened - it involved being senile, a pipe band and a bottle of whisky. Oh and £30 prize money for doing
bugger all.
TWEEDBANK GAMES
Great weather and great performances from Moorfoot Juniors. Sensational sprinting from you all saw Sam reach her first sprint final, Faye reach her second final of the season, and super running from Blair, Caillie and Isla. Blair did a very strong 300m too - Isla gave it her all but needs a little more training behind her yet. PBs all round in the long jump and a tussle between Caillie (who hung on for 2 rounds) and Faye for that first place. In the end Faye got it with a superb 4m87 (new club record) with Caillie holding off Demi Yorke with an outstanding 4m38. Isla also notched up a PB with several jumps over 3m50.
LANGHOLM GAMES
These really belonged to Scout and Jacob who performed really well to pick up places in their 800m and mile(?) races. Jacob apparently did not perform quite so well in his post-race interview - one word answers to Knoxy's questions will just not do!
Alex had an attack of the dizzy spells which she has suffered with quite a lot this season and did well to get through her race without pulling out.
Faye and Mhairi didn't get through their heats of their 90m and 200m but had a good go.
Faye then won the high jump competition for the second year in a row - equalling the boys winning height of 1m30 but yet again being given only half the boy's winnings. Once again we made a complaint on the day, but this time we will need to make a formal complaint in writing or have all our athletes boycott Langholm next year.
AMBLESIDE GAMES (or they could be referred to as - THE MUD BATHS)
Three Moorfooters competed at these games and all deserve medals. On the good side - Sam, Faye and Linda will all now have wonderful complexions having had the equivalent of a mud face pack for most of the day. I have posted in the gallery the picture of Faye covered in mud from head to toe after competing in the 200m.
Another good thing was that Faye reached her first sprint final of 2007 - winning her 90m heat and picking up 3rd place in the final. Linda also pipped the Peebleshire News by reaching her 4th sprint final in Ambleside (also coming 3rd) before the newspaper went to press predicting her 4th final at Langholm. Faye was also given a second brown envelope at Ambleside when she slipped across the mud into 4th place in the 200m. The reason for Faye's very fast running on the day could be that there were also hound trails and races going on and she was terrified that a wild dog would chase whoever came last in her race.
As for poor Sam - she had one of her best runs in the 90m and just missed a place in the final. The weather was so poor (non-stop rain) that after this she decided to call it a day and make the long trip back home.
Gregor was meant to run and had quite a good mark but his man injury is still troubling him and unfortunately he had to pull out.
Not sure if I would recommend Ambleside to anyone - the sprint track is uphill, very bumpy and on a slope. With the wind in our faces and the cyclists having churned up the ground you can imagine how hard it was.......
ST RONAN'S GAMES
Everyone who competed at St Ronan's did really well. At last the youngsters were the stars whilst your coaches moaned and groaned about their various injuries.
First the dilemma - should young Ryan compete in everything or almost everything? We went for everything in the end (give or take a few events like the hill race) and he seemed to survive OK. Not that his granny did - she was in floods at the sight of his wee arms lifting up that NZ trophy after his runaway victory in the closed 200m which left poor Fuzzy trailing in 2nd. (Photo will be in the gallery shortly.) Add this to his 3rd place in the closed 800m and he had a pretty good outing for a "debut boy" as the PN called him (taking over from Blair). Mind you - my heart was in my mouth as I spotted Ryan's dad shouting for him from the INSIDE of the arena just under the judges' noses - a sure way to get an athlete disqualified!!
Whilst all this was happening, Scout and Jacob were running up a hill - not for fun I hasten to add - but they were competing in the official Junior Hill race. A little while later they slipped quietly back into the arena in FIRST AND SECOND places. I could hardly see Scout behind her winner's silverware. See what you all missed if you were away on holiday? And there's more...............
There was a fabby 90m youths' event which saw Faye, Mhairi and Stuart in particular have great runs which built on the super training they put in over the last week or so. Ryan ran too off 21m but needed a bit more of a handicap to get him through. Stuart won his heat and Faye and Mhairi were in the same heat which also featured Fuzzy. Faye started 0.5m in front of Fuzzy but finished a good 1.5 metres in front of her. Mhairi just won the heat on a dip. Stuart and Mhairi both went in the same semi-final with Mhairi just getting through to the final where I think she came 5th or 6th.
Faye ran a good 200m off a back mark as usual and didn't get through the heat - but used it as a really good training run.
Gregor tried his first 200m and had trained hard for this. It was really sad that he pulled a muscle at the start - easily done - but Linda got suspicious when she saw several young ladies attending to him, all wanting to apply the ice to his groin. Hmmmmm.
I meanwhile did not think I was running until about 10 minutes before my race. As many of you who have put up with my moaning have realised - I have an achilles problem. However, MY MIRACLE WORKER IS BACK from his hols!!!!!! Hip hip hooray. He has done wonders with me last week and I suddenly decided I would go for it. Running off my worst mark I have ever had in the 110m I actually got through to the cross-ties before being put out by an Australian. I then used my feminine tactic which is to shed a tear in front of the judges. It worked as usual and before I knew it I had been invited to run in the special Invitation 110m at the end of the day. RESULT! Warning to all the girls out there - do not use this tactic too much - I dont think it will work all the time. Anyway, a little brown envelope came my way at the end.
As I warned a week or so ago, Sean Grant has now been booted out of our virtual club for being absent too many times. I feel that this may be the end of Knoxy too who has missed so many competitions with his man injury (aka groin strain). However, I have decided to adopt my favourite athlete at the games (and my main competitor) - Ikram Barskanmay. He is a very sweet Turk who works in a kebab restaurant in Hawick. He is now an official member of the Moorfoot virtual club. Yes I have finally flipped.
GRANGEMOUTH TRIATHLON (100m, long jump and shot)
Faye 100m: 13.7 LJ: 4m48 (PB - since broken) SP: 6m64 (PB and new club record)
Caillie 100m: 14.8 (PB) LJ: 4m07 SP: 6m39 (PB)
Isla 100m: 15.8 (PB) LJ: 3m52 (PB) SP: 4m48 (PB)
Mary 100m: 17.3 LJ: 2.90 (PB) SP: 3m50
Rachel 100m: 16.9 (PB) LJ: 1.88 SP: 3m25 (PB and new club record)
JEDBURGH BORDER GAMES
Someone else should really write about the results at Jed because I spent most of the time too terrified to even speak never mind notice what anyone else was doing. From what I remember, Alex was at Jed, along with Faye, Caillie and Cut Throat. Best result I think was Faye's 2nd place in her 200m heat. Gregor picked up 6th in the 400m. Slightly better handicaps in the sprint gave Caillie and Cut Throat more of a chance.
I was meanwhile in my "zone" scraping through each round of the 110 Jed-Forest Sprint before ending up in the final against all the odds. In between racing, Faye our new club physio did a grand job keeping my injured achilles from tightening too much. She is now charging me £2.50 for 15 minutes of physio work - her new holiday job! (Well I'm desperate with my miracle worker still up north hiding in his Fisherman's cottage.) Came 5th in the final. Big controversy as there was a dead heat for first place with talk of a re-run - did they want to kill me off altogether??? Luckily it did not come to this with the first 2 sharing the prize money, and the sash (which would have looked lovely on me) and the trophy.
TWEEDBANK BORDER GAMES
I heard Radio Borders this morning at 8am describe the Tweedbank Games as "Ladies Day". Why? BECAUSE I WON THE TWEEDBANK SPRINT AND THE LONG JUMP AND FAYE WON THE YOUTHS' LONG JUMP!! Oh I suppose there was also a female winner of the youths' sprint and the adults 1000m. I understand that lots of old men were delighted with their winnings too as there was heavy betting on the adults sprint and the odds on a female winner were quite good. I seemed to get lots of old men kissing me at the end too. Not nice.
Now what else happened? Lots of drama actually. Started with Jamie (who has never failed to get to the cross-ties) injuring himself in warm up. Such a pity especially as our miracle worker (aka Ivor the physio) is on holiday for 10 days. Next up was the youths' sprint and great excitement as Cut Throat won his heat and got through to his first final. Rumours then went around the ground that Charlie was not actually 10 years old. He now has to produce his birth certificate at the next meeting and I have offered him one of my forgeries. Faye, Mhairi and Jenny running from a shocking handicap for an 11 year old did not get through.
Next up was the 200m featuring Cut Throat who came 2nd in his heat and Mhairi. Why oh why did Mhairi faff about at the start and miss the gun? She ran quite well after that but frankly had only herself to blame for her start.
Wise people were focusing on the long jump. Pleased to say the standard of Moorfoot Juniors long jump was great with PBs from Faye, Jenny and Charlie and Caillie jumping very close to her best ever. Faye's jump takes her to amongst the top few in Scotland for her age group. Faye won with a jump of 4m65 (new club record) with Caillie picking up 3rd place with 4m18 (I think - not exactly sure).
Strangely Faye's jump was exactly the same as her mother's (aka me) which was 1cm off the Scottish record for over 40 year olds (which Linda set last year in Poland). This goes to show that forty-something women are the same as 13 year old girls. More worrying - 13 year old girls are just the same as forty-something women!
You may have spotted Knoxy who is now back from his hols interviewing Linda after her race. He was back doing his journalist job but don't let that fool you - he is out to beat Gregor at Jed next week. I have also heard that our adopted athlete Sean Grant was competing at another event last week and that's why he was not at Kelso. He will have to watch it - if we dont see him soon we may have to throw him out of this virtual club.
Linda is very depressed as she has an achilles injury picked up at Tweedbank. Her miracle worker is on holiday - anyone got any ideas on how to recover for the big race at Jed at the weekend?
KELSO BORDER GAMES
Eight Moorfoots braved the rain to compete at Kelso. It felt like we had many more competing - but that was just Blair taking part in lots of events.
I'm sorry folks but star of the day was again one of your coaches - this time GREGOR who looked like a young laddy dashing around that track to pick up 3rd place in the 400m. Gregor and Linda are now rolling in prize money from last our last 2 outings.
However, back to you lot. Blair, Charlie, Mhairi, Faye and Malcolm (making his debut at the sprint) competed in the 100m, but no one reached the cross-ties. Faye and Mhairi had both been pulled from last week despite the race being longer - not sure of the logic here - and both had no hope of getting through. Really liked Faye's aggressive sprint start and Malcolm gave us a thrill as he seemed to be in contention for much of his race. Mhairi's chips had to be prised from her before her race - perhaps this accounts for her slightly slow run.
Faye, Mhairi, Charlie and Blair ran the 200m. Blair was the closest to qualifying, just pipped at the end for first place in his heat. Cut-throat also picked up 2nd in his race. Faye and Mhairi were well run out of it.
Alex did the 800m (she normally runs much, much longer races) and did OK but felt a bit dizzy. She then ran the youths' mile and felt a lot dizzy, running quite a bit below par. I missed Malcolm in his other race (400m) so someone will have to tell me how he did. Burger Blair decided to go off on holiday with a bang (or knackered legs) and appeared in the youths' 400m and youth's mile (after the 100m and 200m).
As for me - I won my 100m heat and came 4th in the cross-tie, just missing out on a place in the final as the first 3 went through. It was great fun.
As for our adopted athletes - Knoxy (aka PN reporter) is away on holiday (well that is what he says - I suspect he is just frightened of competing against Speedy Gregs). Sean Grant was rumoured to be injured - do we believe this or is it a cunning trick?
BELTANE PROFESSIONAL GAMES
Sorry it has taken me a while to report the results - I have been out celebrating my 3rd place since last Saturday!
Forget the rest of you - come on - I was the STAR!
Yes - Faye, Mhairi and Jamie got to the cross-ties. Blair and Charlie had no chance from their marks.
Jamie also ran a pretty good 400m. Scout and Malcolm survived to see the end of their long, long race (how far was it??). Gregor hardly survived to see the end of his shorter race.
BUT LETS TALK ABOUT ME! Lane 6 was bad - lots of holes at the end - and lane 6 I was given in the heat and the final. I scraped through the heat as a fastest loser. Got a great lane in the cross-ties - lane 4 - and won it. I knew I could win the final until I was given lane 6 again - picked up 3rd place in a very close finish. Didn't know I could run 3 times in one day. Dont know how my miracle worker (aka my physio) gets me on the track each week.
I will try to write more about other people after the next event. I have been too full of myself, and pride comes before a fall (probably at Kelso!).
BORDER SCHOOLS RESULTS
The Border Schools championships were held at Tweedbank on Thursday 21 June. I dont have have the full results yet, but was delighted to see Peebles High School girls take all of the long jump titles with 2 records broken. Caillie won the Borders Championship for S1 girls in a new record of 4m22; Faye won the S2 championship in a new record of 4m46; Heather Hall won the S3 title and Rachel Nicholson with no training behind her won the senior girls title (not sure of the exact distances for them). Club records were set by Caillie and Faye. (NB latest news from Peebles High School is that they are not improving their atrocious long jump pit because they have only "beginners" at the school.)
Faye also won the S2 girls High Jump with a PB that equalled the Border Schools record of 1m 45, showing that all of those Monday nights after school at Tweedbank have been worthwhile.
I missed some of the 100 and 200m so not quite sure of the final results. Think that Sam got second in the 100m and 3rd in the 200m. Mhairi picked up 3rd in the 100m and Faye was second in the 100m. All got PBs hand timed but these are notorious for being a little out and not reliable.
Beth Trip Williamson went for another dramatic fall, this time in the relay, which meant that she couldn't run in the 800m, leaving Caillie to do the honours (and very well she did too - came about 6th I think). Caillie has now corrected me - she just missed 3rd place. She should consider swapping events with Trip Williamson and training for the 800m (whilst learning how to trip).
After overhearing (in the ladies toilets) Scout and Alex psyching each other out, Linda studied their runs in great detail to see if this had affected their performance. Scout picked up 2nd place in the 800m but looked the best athlete by far with the first place there for the taking. Alex hung back in the 800m until she realised that she just had to win it - and so she did by quite a way.
Malcolm had a good run in his 800m and threatened for the title the whole way - getting a well deserved 2nd.
Dont know what Kayleigh did in the discus - sorry.
Seeing as we have adopted Sean Grant I will report on his result. He ran the S1 200m and was run well out of it, coming in jogging. Why didn't I advise all of you do that then your handicaps could have gone up to Seans level??! (I know - I am getting a little bitter here.)
SELKIRK GAMES
Biggest thrill of these games was seeing Kerry (Primary 5, aged 10) almost qualify for the cross-ties. She had one of the best starts too. Most of you ran well enough though we will have to go over starts again and again until you all produce a good one.
Isla got through to the cross-ties as a fastest loser before getting knocked out.
Beth still has a lot of strength/conditioning training to do to get her back to full shape and she had to hand back her 800m trophy which she won last year.
Running her first 400m, Isla made a superb effort from the back mark to storm around the track and catch up most of the other runners.
Sam and Linda seem to run a little bit better each time they race with Sam almost creating a huge upset by being a woman qualifer for a cross-tie!
Now for the big match - Gregor versus Knoxy. Knoxy started 10 metres in front of Gregor and there was frankly no stopping him. Gregor could only watch from behind as his rival sprinted to victory in the 400m open. But Knoxy does not know that Big G has not yet started his "sharpening" training yet! What is it with men.........
PENTATHLON CHAMPIONS!
Well done to Caillie and Faye for winning the High School pentathlon championships for S1 and S2 respectively. Moorfoot Juniors are multi-talented!
HAWICK GAMES
The Moorfoots were back at Hawick for the full-blown games on Sunday. Again, strangely, dark clouds seemed to amass over the track (or perhaps this was Blair blocking out the sun after several visits to the picnic box and ice cream van).
All handicaps except Faye's were up in the 90m, with great hopes that we might get a couple of runners through to the cross-ties. Faye went first off 12 metres but, as predicted, with 2 days of competing at the Scottish Schools behind her, could not quite find the legs to catch the front marker running off 24m. Caillie had a strong run off 20m (with an outdoor PB in the Scottish Schools long jump the day before), coming in 3rd in her heat. Charlie Cut-Throat Griggs ran off 24m (enjoy it Cut-Throat, you'll never get it again) and gave us a thrill with a 3rd place. With Darren off ill, all eyes were on Blair and Jamie to get the cross-ties places - and so they did!! In fact, Blair's Dad's cheers were heard back in Peebles when they announced the result of the photo-finish from his heat. Linda, meanwhile, does not wait for the photo finish, she merely inspects necks to see if there are any more cut-throats.
Blair and Jamie gave it a good go in the cross-ties but didn't quite make it to the final of the 90m.
Sam and Linda were 2 of the 3 very brave females who dared to enter the men's world of 110m professional sprinting. One day they may even be given a handicap to help them compete on the same terms. However, lets not get ahead of ourselves. Both ran well and both had the audacity to finish 3rd in their respective heats. Linda noticed that she was the only one in her heat who didn't feature on the bookies betting boards. Was that because she was such a hot favourite??
Linda had upped the life insurance on Gregor when she heard he intended to compete in both the half and quarter mile races in one afternoon. Egged on by a challenge issued through the week by Peebleshire News reporter David Knox, Gregor was determined to compete, only to find that on the day Knoxy had a cold and had pulled out. However, this did not stop Gregs running for his life (literally) and, I think may have come last in both races, BUT FINISHED THEM!!
Beth ran very stylishly in the 800m and was given an envelope at the end - not sure if she got 5th or 6th.
Youths 200m - cant remember what happened, I was too busy watching young Shaun from Innerleithen out so far in front you wondered if he was in the same race as the others. A big mix-up with the entries meant that despite paying for his entry last week, Jamie was not allowed to run so lost out on a chance to challenge Shaun for the title.
Most of the Moorfoot contingent went home at this point - but those that stayed had to witness an awful fall by Beth who was tripped up in the Youths 400m and lay in agony and tears across the track before Linda and Faye arrived with ice. The fall had made her pull a leg muscle which had been troubling her earlier in the day. The culprit (from Earlston) who had caused this dramatic fall came to apologise and Linda and Faye had to restrain themselves from giving her a doing. Beth was helped off the track and was sent off home with more ice to pack onto her torn muscle and instructions to get to the physio pronto. Hopefully things won't be too bad and she'll be back in action soon. Beth - if you want to analyse your fall in more detail you can do so - the official video-man told me gleefully that he had got it all on camera!
HAWICK YOUTH GAMES
6 brave Moorfoot Juniors left the hot sun of Peebles to face the big freeze in Hawick on Wednesday 6 June.
All went in the 90m. Once again, handicaps seemed strange with Isla (aka Ducker) off 19.5 yet Jenny off 18.5. Faye was not too pleased with her 11m. Jenny and Kerry, running in their first ever professional games were confident enough to try sprint starts and performed incredibly well. Ducker won her heat, and Mhairi just missed out on a place in the final.
Isla got a very slow start in the final - more work to be done there - but picked up a great 5th place overall against the big boys.
Then came the 200m races. Again Isla (starting 3 metres ahead of poor Jenny) won her heat to get a place in the final. Kerry led her heat for most of the way before being caught in the home straight.
Blair provided entertainment by popping out for a quick (?) 400m in between the 200m heats and finals, after which we cheered on Isla who was just pipped in the 200m, finishing 2nd and picking up yet more prize money.
Isla and Claire had to be followed by a red security van all the way back to Peebles to make sure they weren't robbed of Isla's massive prize money.
EARLSTON
A day of high drama in high temperatures, with some of the best results achieved by Moorfoot Juniors in the professional games. A few tears were shed and some nerves got in the way, but we all seemed to survive and turned up for training the next morning.
Youths 1600m - an amazing 2nd place for Scout who led for the last few laps and was just pipped on the line.
Youths 200m - 3rd for Isla in her first 200m final (would have been 2nd if only she'd dipped for the line). Darren, running his first 200m ever (and on an 11 year olds handicap although he is 10), was inches from getting a place in the final with his heat ending in a photo finish.
90m Youths - No fewer than 3 of our 7 youth sprint athletes got through to the cross-ties - Faye, Jamie and Darren. This is a fantastic result.
Jamie chose chips over the 200m and was obviously saving himself for the boys 11 - 12 yrs race where he picked up 2nd place and £3 prize money - (presumably to buy more chips).
Charlie Griggs is in the lead for the strangest name in the programme award, appearing as C Crigg.
Alex appeared as Al Campbell leading us to think that she was given a boys handicap in her races, and explaining why she seemed to start so far back from everyone else.
Blair and Caillie received their usual harsh marks from the handicapper and as usual didn't moan.
Linda on the other hand, came last as usual, and did moan.
BLACKFORD
Faye ran in the 90m Youths off a harsh handicap of 9metres (considering she is just 13!). Needless to say that despite a great run she was overtaken by Isiah Symonds quite quickly and she did not get into the final.
Linda, running in the Open 90m handicap, managed to get to the cross-ties for the first time, before getting knocked out. Two races within one hour was a little difficult.
Gregor ran a brave 800m for a person of his age. He almost finished.
Where were the rest of you???
OPEN GRADED MEET AT MEADOWBANK
24 MAY 2007
U-11 Girls
Flora Gillies 100m: 16.68 LJ: 2.72 Shot Putt: 3.09m
U-13 Girls
Mhairi Imlah 100m: 14.23 LJ: 3.73 Shot Putt: 5.20m
Mary Coll 100m: 18.00 LJ: 2.39 Shot Putt: 4.12m
Jenny Hudson 100m: 15.96 LJ: 3.22
U-15 Girls
Faye Nicholson 100m: 13.42
Caillie Douce LJ: 3.68
U-11 Boys
Darren Weir 100m: 15.11 LJ 3.60m Shot Putt: 5.27m
U-13 Boys
Charlie Griggs 100m: 16.39 LJ: 2.87 Shot Putt: 4.62
Jamie McGill 100m: 14.87 LJ: 3.28 Shot Putt: 3.74
Ollie Freeman 100m: 17.81 LJ: 2.41 Shot Putt: 3.55
Stuart Mullins 100m: 15.20 Shot Putt: 5.85
U-15 Boys
Blair Davidson LJ: 3.58