Monday 2Nd January Was Again the Date for the Long Established Beith Harriers New Year

Monday 2nd January was again the date for the long established Beith Harriers New Year road races and as last year the event was organised by Irvine’s running and jogging club Rons Runners on behalf of Beith Harriers. This race at one time attracted some large fields and outstanding runners throughout the different decades made a special effort to compete for the Trophy . Even when the race was held on the 1st January large numbers lined up for the start but in recent times entries have persistently dwindled. Large crowds also watched then too, possibly as no other entertainment was on offer. First running of the event is thought to have been 1928, won by a J Suttie-Smith a well know top runner and an Olympian who travelled down from Dundee to enter, giving a good claim to being the second oldest Scottish race with results from 1929 showing it was going strong Over the years it has varied from road to country back to road at various venues and changed from men only to having ladies involved in 1984 then came the addition of popular children’s races. Olympians and internationalist of their day have all been attracted to compete. Beith Harriers who organised the race were founded in 1923 and were for many years one of the country’s top harriers clubs The trophy was donated by a Kilwinning company, McLuckie Crane engineers, and still bears the name. Past “Greats” such as Andy Forbes Lachie Stewart and Ian McCafferty, internationalist all, have proudly held the trophy with runners coming from near and far to enter. The first ever race prize winner received a 5ft. sideboard made by the renowned local craftsmen, many of whom were runners, and entry was free. Beith records show a loss of £1 5/6 (£1.275p) was made and although a considerable sum in 1928 the then committee considered their money well spent. Local runners have had their share of success over the years with P Allwell of Beith an early years’ winner winning twice in 1938 and 1939. Recently Billy Williamson and David Millar of Irvine were winners The last Beith harrier to win the race was Ian Harris in 1961 who over the then four miles took 21 mins and 3 seconds. Ayrshire Ladies have also done well in their race with Helen Morton (2) Liz McGarry (2) and Jackie Byng as well as a young Sharon Sinclair, all of Irvine, claiming the limelight. More recent years’ have seen Lara Tait of Kilmarnock win 3 times keeping the Trophy close to home. Today the route for all races followed the road around Lochshore Estate Kilbirnie with adults running 4.8 miles consisting of 4 complete laps under 17 have two laps under 15 and under 13 have 1 lap while the youngest have 800 yards approximately. Both male and female athletes run identical distances. All races share the same finish point though the shortest races have a different start point but all full lap races start and finish at the same point. Ran under Scottish Athletics’ rules the first race, for the youngest age group, started at 11:30 and Jamie Phillips of Kilmarnock was the winning male with a time of 02:55 and first female Emma McMillan of Ayr Seaforth recorded 3:19. Races then followed in close order until the over seventeens including adults’ races started at 12:00 as scheduled. Utilising the same start/finish area, near the bowling club, which proved so suitable last year, and running in an anti-clockwise direction gave the runners a slight downhill slope over the first hundred yards and also give the advantage of a short downhill finish. Winners of the Under 13 was, for the boys Muir Gillespie making his journey from Edinburgh well worth the effort timing 6.40 for the lap, while for the ladies Louise Hastie finished just behind with a tremendous 6:47. Under 15 age groups saw Corey Greenhaugh of Giffnock North take 06:21 and Libby Sutherland Kilbarchan record 06:58. Two Kilmarnock men were the sole under 17’ age runners with Jonny Hoson 13:32 just holding off Jamie Nix 13:41. With the weather being kindly, sparkling sunshine with a light but bitter wind, at 12 noon the adults and under 20’s lined up in near perfect conditions and spectators and runners alike looked forward to the “off”. With half of the first of 4 laps gone a group of some 10 runners had open up a slight gap from the main bunch but coming up the slight hill towards the lap point only 5 remained in contention but four different clubs were represented. With two miles almost gone, the five had been whittled down to 3 from which it was clear the winner would emerge. In the 3rd lap two had shown their superiority but soon into the final lap the eventual winner slowly opened up a small but telling gap being able to cross the finish line comfortably in front. Ross Gray from Inverclyde 25:12 not only won outright but also won the Under 20 age race. Second male home was Ayr’s Kenneth Neil 25:36 with Stephen Daye of Irvine 25:51. Winner of the ladies race recording 28:51 was Natalie Stevenson well clear of Kilmarnock’s Kirsty Alexander 30:45 with Bernie O’Neil hard on her heels timing 30:54. The ladies this year were well represented making up almost a quarter of the field in the seniors race. Encouraging for the organisers and Beith Harriers the numbers supporting the race saw a large increase from the last few years and the event hopefully can increase again in the coming years and bring the race back to the prominence it deserves. Encouraging as well for the club was the numbers of helpers they mustered and with the experience they gained both clubs hope that next year Beith Harriers can, with help from the organisers this year, reclaim their right to host such a historic event. Another factor which augers well, over 15 different Harriers clubs were involved in the senior section. First home for Rons Runners was Neil McMullen running to a virtual standstill with 30:40 followed by John Owens while for the ladies Fiona Wyper managed 37:30 and Jennifer Shaw 37:40 A touching gesture by the Beith club, and very much appreciated, saw a small presentation made to the organisers as a way of thanks for the work over the last couple of years.