Just under 200 athletes registered for round 3 of the East Series Cross Country scheduled for the Beveridge Park in Kirkcaldy on Thursday 6th February. Hopes and expectations were high in schools throughout the East of Scotland because rounds 1 and 2 were cancelled in late 2019 due to severe weather conditions. On the day we could not have asked for better Kirkcaldy weather and all races and “walks in the park” went ahead as planned.
Disability Sport Fife and Fife Athletic Club as usual organised round three on behalf of Scottish Disability Sport and Scottish Athletics. On the day 130 athletes lined up for one of nine races from 500m to 3K and another 60 plus participated in one of two “walks in the park” inspired by GOGA with support from Spirit of 2012. Kirkcaldy Rugby Club was the hub for the event and as always Fife Council provided pavilion and park space. Fife AC officials turned out in significant numbers and families and school staff cheered on participants throughout the 90 minutes of the event.
Lothian Schools were represented Pilrig Park, Cedarbank and Royal Blind School. Cedarbank had an amazing entry this year as clearly indicated in the headline photo. Fife schools were represented by Balwearie HS, Glenrothes HS, Bell Baxter HS, Levenmouth Academy, Kirkcaldy HS, Lochgelly HS, Woodmill HS and Auchmuty HS. Some schools had to withdraw at the eleventh hour because of transport and staffing challenges. The final round on Tuesday 25th Feb in Lothian will determine the overall year group winners of the East Series and a high turnout is guaranteed.
Some of the leading performances of round 3 were as follows:
- Wiktoria Kabaca (S1) from Pilrig Park recorded the fastest time for secondary girls over 500m – 2.46
- Sean Barnes (S5) from Glenrothes HS recorded the fastest time for male secondary pupils (2.08) and Codie Kane (S1) from Bell Baxter HS ran a magnificent 2.40 in the same event.
- One of the outstanding performances of the day was by Zoe MacNulty (S2) from Balwearie HS who completed the 1K course in 4.39 and finished well ahead of other athletes.
- Andrew Grist (S2) also from Balwearie HS ran the fastest S1/S2 1K time of the day of 4.35.
- Michael Brown (S6) from Pilrig Park completed the 1K course in 3.56 to record the fastest S3-S6 time.
- Ruby McDonald (S2) from Auchmuty HS (12.38) was first girl across the line in the 2K race
- Kieran McCulloch (S5) from Cedarbank was first boy in 2K (9.34) and the time of Keir Fisher (S2) in second (10.28) was particularly impressive.
- Stuart Stevenson (S6) from Cedarbank was the leading junior male athlete over 3K, finishing in a magnificent time of 11.13.
- Fife AC athletes Sam Fernando (9.47), Owen Miller (10.13) and Carter Taylor (10.13) finished in the top three adult male positions over 3K.
Norma Buchanan in the Disability Sport Fife office has circulated the full results to all participating schools and key partners. Entry forms for the Scottish Disability Sport national cross-country championships to be held in Glasgow later in the year are about to be circulated. It is worth noting that there are no 500m races in the national championships and those wishing to participate should consider their event entry carefully for round 4 of the East Series.
Richard Brickley OBE MBE Chairman Disability Sport Fife (SCIO) Board of Charity Trustees