TEVIOTDALE HARRIERS staged their inaugural inter-schools primary cross-country event at Wilton Lodge Park with 250 children from the local catchment area taking part.
The event was the culmination of taster sessions in all of the nine Hawick cluster schools when members of the Teviotdale club visited and instructed all P6 and P7 boys and girls with a programme of different types of training in preparation for the big race. This included sprint sessions, hill reps, farklek sessions and a fun relay race.
On the day, the children ran a course covering a distance of 2km in almost perfect conditions.
First off were the girls, all 111 of them. It was a fantastic sight to see as the line of children snaked its way round the course, which started and ended at the putting green. Leading from start to finish was Trinity P7 girl Ishbel Inglis (9 minutes and 43 seconds), closely followed by Drumlanrig P7 pupils Emma Suddon (9.45) and Phillipa Robertson (9.50) in second and third.
Shortly afterwards, the 139 boys lined up for their turn. Taking a strong lead was Wilton Primary School’s P6 pupil Fraser Clyne.
He continued this lead all the way round the course, closely followed by P7 Newcastleton pupil Aiden Armstrong.
Then, when coming down the hill at the Boer War Memorial, Aiden made a sprint attempt for the line and took first place in a time of 8.29, beating Fraser by just one second.
Third place was taken by Mark Gallagher of Denholm Primary School in 8.52.
Once all the runners were in and had caught their breath, there was a short presentation by Teviotdale Harriers club president Rob Halliday.
There were also team trophies for the first school to have five pupils over the line, with Drumlanrig, in this inaugural year, taking the double.
Winning teams – Drumlanrig girls: Emma Suddon, Phillipa Robertson, Rachel Shiel, Mairead Cottrell and Eilidh Jaffray.
Drumlanrig boys: Hamish Murray, Barrie MacLean, Lewis Robertson, Greg Johnston and Aidan Murphy.
The event was deemed a great success by all and will now be an annual event.