NEWSLETTER OF HARMENY ATHLETIC CLUB, BALERNO, EDINBURGH

Club News.....Club News.....Club News.....Club News.....Club News.....

Training at Balerno High School

Training at Balerno High School will continue for the first week of the Easter Holidays (10 and 12 April), but will be outside in Malleny Park, so come suitably prepared. There will be no training at BHS in the second week of the holidays (17 & 19 April), or on Easter Monday (24 April). Training at BHS will resume on Wednesday 26th April, again be prepared for going outside. Other groups should check with their coaches for training arrangements during the holiday period.

Track and Field Season Fixture list

The first Track and Field meeting of the summer is in the Scottish & North-West League, at Grangemouth on Sunday 16th April. The committee and coaches will be getting the team organised and will start the phone-around to check on everyone's availability very soon. We would like to get going with a good start to the season, so please check on your availability, and check if your parents or guardians are also available. We would strongly encourage parents etc of younger participants to come along a few times to give them encouragement, and to help out with the smooth running of the club. For everyone who is still relatively new to the club we have included a guide to how the Track and Field leagues are organised.

McDonald's incentive

We have re-entered this league for this coming year, and have recently received a bundle of information and some other goodies. Everyone who competes in this league qualifies for a McDonald's Privilege card that qualifies the cardholder for a free drink on every visit (when buying some other food...).

Water of Leith and Rigg Races, 2000

A reminder that these traditional races held during Balerno Gala week will take place on Monday 29th May. There will be no training at Balerno High School that evening as most of our younger members should be running in the Water of Leith race (starts 6.30pm). The Rigg Race (7.30pm) is again open to all (15 and over), and as we are again helping the Gala Committee with the organisation of these races we would like to see any older members or parents (who aren't running!) helping out on the night. If you, or your parents can help out, please contact Bob Douglas or Will Kerr.

Prize Draw

The prize draw winner for March is D Pearson.

Best Performances 1999.. and Club Champions 2000

Results from some of last year's track meetings are still filtering through, so we've included an updated table of best performances for last summer. We'd also like to remind everyone that club champions in Track & Field for the coming year will be based on performances achieved whilst competing for the club in league meetings and SAF Championships. To qualify, members must have competed at least three times for the club, and have competed in a range of disciplines.

Results.....Results......Results......Results.....Results......

Indoor Champions

Congratulations to two of the club's younger members who won national titles at the Scottish Indoor Championships. Tommy Ashby won gold in the under 13 boys age group in both the 60m and 800m, whilst Amy Clancy won gold in the under 13 girls 60m.

Bronze for Marbeth at East District Championships

The above event was held at Alloa on Saturday 22nd January. Central Region had set their usual tough courses. In the U15 boys race over 4000m course with 29 runners, Philip Purves was 17th in 17m 29s. In the U15 girls race over the same course, Marbeth Shiell was 3rd in 17m 15s and recent recruit from Penicuik, Sarah Blake 7^th in 18m 18s. There were 20 runners.

Following her excellent performances at Cumbernauld and Alloa, Marbeth Shiell was selected to represent the East District at the Inter Counties Championships at Nottingham on Saturday 12th February. These races are the best and largest held in Britain with the senior races being used as trials to select the teams for the World cross-country championships.

Marbeth was 5^th finisher for the East team crossing the line in 58^th position in a time of 16m 37s for the 4000m course. There were 272 runners and the East team were 4^th overall.

National Cross-Country Championships

The above races were held at Irvine on Saturday 26th February. U13 Amy-Jo Shiell was an excellent 17^th out of 82 runners in 14m 24s over a 4000m course and in the U15s over a 4800m course with 57 finishers, Marbeth Shiell was 8^th in 19m 14s and Sarah Blake 22nd in 20m 54s. U15 Philip Purves was 40th in 18m 50s with 92 runners over a 4800m course and Ian Purves was 33rd in 34m 54s in the U20 race over 7200m with 46 runners.

East District League

The final league meeting of the season was held at Gorebridge on Saturday 15^th January. Our only competitor was Philip Purves who finished 14th in 14m 18s in the U15 race over 3200m with 27 runners.

Dunfermline & West Fife Open Races

School Run

Stephanie Lyall ran her first cross-country of the year on 27th March and came second out of 225 runners from 45 primary schools.

Fixtures.....Fixtures......Fixtures......Fixtures.....Fixtures......

Summer Outdoor Fixtures - Track and Field Leagues