Junior Kilmarnock Harrier is on top form

Jul 18 2008 by Clair Fullarton, Kilmarnock Standard

JUNIOR Kilmarnock Harrier Hannah Bartl is in the form of her life just now.

Hannah has had a great winning streak and just a week before her 10th birthday, she threw the best shot putt for an under-11 girl in Scotland this season.

She gave a good account of herself in the 1.3K fun run held on Glasgow Green, where she came fourth overall and first girl, finishing in 5.05 minutes.

Her younger sister Evie had also a fine race, finishing strongly in 7.20. Making it a family affair, their dad, Harald, ran in the 5K race, crossing the line in 19.35, finishing in 71st place.

Hannah then went on to compete at the open meeting at Inverness the following Saturday, where she proudly represented Kilmarnock Harriers in the shot putt and 800m event. Her excellent results meant that she has achieved the standard for inclusion in the Power of 10 ranking list for the higher age group of under-13.

She smashed her previous PB of 5.20m in the shot putt four times at Inverness Stadium before finishing with a massive throw of 6.13m. With this throw she is now firmly placed in the top half of the under-13 ranking in Scotland in joint 30th place.

This also means that the Harriers have two athletes among the top 30, as she is just 11 places behind her older team mate Gemma McCutcheon (6.41m).

Being on a high after her successful shot putt event, she ran a relaxed and tactical race in the 800m. Running in the middle of the field for the first 500m, she then out-kicked her opponents in the remaining 300m, which not only earned her a round of applause from the crowd but produced a fine PB of 2.50.49. This result places her 67th in the ranking for under-13 and among the top 800m runners for under-11.

A hot day and a tough hilly course was what lay ahead for the Half Marathoners from the club last Sunday as they journeyed south to sunny Girvan.

In an inspired attempt to re-energise their race, the organisers had moved this event to a mid-summer date, but the weather made this challenging of courses even more so.

Times reflected this tougher than normal test. Only three Harriers ran, Connell Drummond (84:13), Les McDerment (87.15) and Alasdair Murray (90:53) but the trio managed some great medals by taking the Gold in the Open Team event and Silver and Bronze in the Ayrshire Half Marathon Championships (Con and Les respectively).

The Isle of Arran will witness a double header over the next two weekends as this Sunday it’s the Urie Loch Hill Race, followed by the Around Island relay on Saturday, July 26.

Club captain Scott is currently finalising the teams for the relays and all runners should note that they should be at the Ardrossan Ferry for 9am at the latest.

On Sunday, the Urie Loch Hill Race starts from the village of Lamlash on the south of the island. The race starts at 2pm from the village green.

The Harriers popular Five Mile Trail race will take place on Wednesday, August 13, at the Dean Castle Country Park.

Declarations for the race will be taken from 6pm at St. Josephs Academy, with the start in front of the Castle at 7.30pm.

The race grows in strength every year and the magnificent backdrop of the castle and country park makes for a great running experience. The race is open to runners of all abilities and experience.

A new event in the calendar will be held on Thursday, July 31, in the village of Kilmaurs. As part of the gala week programme of community events, a 5K fun run will be held within the trails around Morton Park.

There is also a 5K fun walk and junior children’s races as well. Entry is on the night with the children’s races due to start at 6.15pm, the walk at 6.45pm and the 5k run off at 7pm.

The long Sunday run this weekend starts as usual from Scott Ellis at 9am. The scheduled route will take the athletes 14 miles to Laigh Milton Mill, Springside and on to Rowallan Castle before returning via the Glasgow Road.

Kilmarnock Harrier and Athletic Club continues to grow in strength and treasurer Alasdair Murray has just announced that senior membership has now exceeded 100 for the first time in recent history.

This is a great reflection on the range of opportunities there is throughout the club for runners of all abilities to join. Special thanks in particular go to Anne Anderson and Ian McAughtrie for leading their groups.

For more details and contacts, as well as links to all result services and running sites log on to www.kilmarnockharriers.com