This is a review of the performances and major events that affected our club in the past 12 months, starting in December 2023, just after last year’s AGM. Driven by the great efforts from our athletes, our Coaches and our Committee, East Kilbride AC has had a fantastic year, and this review hopefully reflects that.
December 2023
The month kicked off with the West District Cross Country championships on Saturday 2nd. EKAC hosted the event this year at Kirkland Park in Strathaven, over a slightly modified course, with a large inner loop, necessary to obtain a lap of around 2500m. A great team effort from club members, with a little help from the West Commission, Scottish Athletics and Officials, ensured the 10 races went off successfully. Despite some absentees, our 44 athletes again excelled, the highlights from a host of great performances being individual gold and bronze medals, as well as silver and bronze team medals. The gold came from Grant Baillie at M40 in the Senior race and the bronze from Matilda Frew at U15, after a typically gritty run. Matilda was backed up by Skye Christie and Eva Morrison for team silver. The U15 boys team of Rory Charters, Ben Baillie and Euan Thorpe packed well to take team bronze. Other top 15 performances were from Zoe Baillie at U13, Amy Andrew at U17, plus Millie Aitken, Calum Charters and Sam Hosie at U20.
The EKAC Tartan Army made their usual trip to the Euro Cross Championships in Brussels the following weekend, and arranged to meet up with former member Beth Duff, who now lives there. Beth still holds 12 age group records at EKAC, 3 of which were outright club records, so in recognition of her lasting contributions to the club, she was presented with an Honorary Life Membership.
With the absence of the Indoor League this season, due to the Emirates track being re-laid for the upcoming Wold Indoor Championships, we held another track competition night on the 14th for our younger athletes, in conjunction with Whitemoss AAC. All the athletes seemed to enjoy the event. For some it was their first ever competition on the track, and it was two of our younger athletes who stole the show. Under 11 Girl Ellie Taylor won both the 80m sprint and 600m quite convincingly, while Jack McMilllan did the same for our U11 boys.
We held our Junior Christmas Handicap at the track on the 16th, split into 2 races: 800m for the U11s and 1600m for the U13/U15s. The first Girl and Boy in the U11 race were Orla Gallagher and Jack McMillan, with the fastest times going to Jack and to Ellie Taylor. The other race was won by Brian Heslop in a dip finish from Josh Mitchell. Nina Clark was the first girl and fastest times per age group were registered by Brian, Zoe Baillie and Matthew Sweeney.
The Senior 4 mile handicap was held the following Saturday around the Auldhouse course, where 28 brave souls endured the wind and rain and made it the biggest field we’ve had this century. U17 woman Amy Andrew had a brilliant run to take the win and also register the fastest female time, while Aidan Gilbride had the fastest male time, in a close battle with Grant Baillie and John Fergusson.
January 2024
Our athletes started the New Year with Parkruns, most notably Aaron Thomson, who came home in the lead in the Victoria Parkrun in a new PB of 16.34.
Looking for high quality indoor events, both Hannah Anderson and Angus Wilkinson travelled south to Sheffield for the Miler Meet on the 9th January, resulting in a new club record of 9:30.43 for the ladies 3000m by Hannah, and the 9th fastest U17 Scottish indoor 1500m time of 4:03.57 by Angus.
The Inter Districts Cross Country followed at the weekend and we had a record for the club with 7 athletes selected. Angus Wilkinson made club history in the U15 boys race, winning both the Inter Districts and the British Cross Challenge titles and helping the west team to silver medals. Matilda Frew registered 7th in the U15 girls inter district race, also picking up a team silver. Our other West Team representatives were Zoe Baillie, Amy Andrew, Ben Baillie, Rory Charters, and Euan Thorpe, all of whom ran well on the day.
There were both indoor and outdoor competitions on 20 January. At the National Indoor Championships heats, we were represented by 7 athletes. Notable performances were PBs by Ava Jeffrey, Jay Buchanan and Baylie Hill at the 60m, and Christopher Paton at the 60m hurdles. Meanwhile, outdoors at the 2nd West XC League at Bellahouston Park we had 33 athletes. Our top 10 placers were Jack McMillan 3rd at U11, Brian Heslop 6th and Skye Christie 7th at U15, Millie Aitken and Emma Livingstone 1st and 3rd at U20, and finally Andrew Fortieth 1st and Chris Watters 9th at the Masters level.
The Scottish Masters Relays at Strathclyde Park closed off the month. The club had 12 athletes competing in 2 male and 1 female teams. Both our ‘A’ teams finished in 6th place, a solid result, with Grant Baillie registering the 2nd fastest male time of the day and Kelly Baillie the 6th fastest female time.
February 2024
Hannah Anderson made her debut in a senior Scottish vest on 8th February at the Armagh 3k international road race, finishing in 9:45, just shy of her PB.
Next up was the 3rd West XC League meeting at Erskine, which also incorporated our own EKAC Club XC Championships. We had 31 athletes competing overall and our Club Champions for season 2023-2024 were Ellie Taylor and Jack McMillan at U11, Zoe Baillie and Matthew Sweeney at U13, Matilda Frew and Ben Baillie at U15, Amy Andrew and Dylan Edwards at U17, Millie Aitken and Lewis Thorpe at U20 and Vivien Thorpe and Keith Charters at Masters. Standout performances on the day were from Matilda Frew, who won her race, a 2nd place from Jack McMillan and 3rd place finishes from Ellie Taylor and Amy Andrew.
Some of our Masters athletes missed the West League event to focus on the Scottish Masters XC Championships in Forres. The journey north did not go unrewarded as Grant Baillie won the Scottish Masters M45 category, beating all the M40, in the process. Our other representatives, Kelly Baillie and Chris Watters, finished 7th and 9th in their respective categories to conclude a great for EKAC over the cross-country.
The following weekend, at the British Indoor Championships, Hannah Anderson finished 9th in the senior women’s 1500 final, after setting a new PB in the heats.
Saturday 24th February saw 31 of our athletes travel to Falkirk for the National XC Champs. Top EKAC performances of the day went to Matilda Frew with 7th position in the U15 Girls race, and Grant Baillie with 34th place in the Senior Mens race (2nd M40) in a field of nearly 1000 runners. A special mention goes to Lottie Sim, who ran the whole U13 race with one shoe, having lost the other near the start.
Reverting to indoors again, Hannah Anderson set a new 1500m PB when winning the silver medal at the British Universities Championships at Sheffield.
We closed the month with a presentation ceremony at the Hub for the Club XC medals, the Sprint Handicap, the EKAC Athletes of the Year 2023 and our other special awards. The Sprint Handicap went to Alan Leitch, from Ryan Murphy and Samson Oluyole. From 16 nominations, Athletes of the Year winners were: Junior – Jack McMillan; Youth – Angus Wilkinson; Senior – Grant Baillie. The Scott Walsh Endeavour Award went to Olivia Baxter. The Sheila MacDougall Award was shared by Jenna McNab and Madeline Frew, while the Pat Russell Award went to Jack McMillan, and we presented a new award in honour of Bobby Gannon to Matthew Sweeney.
March 2024
March started with the Emirates Arena reopening to host the World Indoor Athletics Championships, where a number of our youth athletes got to work as kit-carriers and also took the chance to meet some of the big stars of our sport. Star-spotting also extended to the Allan Scally 4x5km Relays, where 800m world record holder David Rudisha was an interested spectator. We fielded 6 teams here, and our A team finished 24th out of over 230. Fastest EKAC time of the day came from Euan Rose with a 16:00 clocking, but we had some great performances from our U17 athletes who were running in senior teams for the first time. Of the latter, a 16:18 time from Aaron Thomson and a 19:47 from Amy Andrew are of special note.
Mid-week we had the Scottish Secondary Schools XC on a very tough course at Hopetoun House. Great runs from Ben Baillie, Rory Charters, Angus Wilkinson and Euan Thorpe saw the Duncanrig squad take the gold team medal at U17, while their schoolmates Aaron Thomson, Calum Charters and Lewis Thorpe picked up the silver at U20.
Sticking to the country, Matilda Frew, our sole representative at the UK Inter Counties event in Nottingham, progressed to 54th, a result which helped her gain selection for the SIAB International Schools competition towards the end of the month in Dublin, where she went on to finish in 27th place.
On the same day, Brian Heslop won the Junior 3km race at the Cambuslang Harriers Down by the River event.
Next we had the British Masters XC Championships at Corwen in north Wales, where we were represented by Kelly and Grant Baillie. Grant took the British M45 title, with 2nd place in the race behind an M35 athlete, while Kelly finished 19th.
This was a busy weekend with events indoors and outdoors, on grass and on the roads. Indoors we had the U12s Fun Day at the Emirates Arena, where 5 of our youngest athletes took on a multi-event test at the Emirates and all performed magnificently. On tarmac, it was the Scottish Young Athletes Road Races at Greenock. Highlights were an individual silver medal from Angus Wilkinson at U15, leading the team of Rory Charters and Ben Baillie to the team silver medals, a first for the club at this age group. Not to be outdone, the U15 girls team of Matilda Frew, Carrie Charters and Eva Morrison came away with the team bronze. These performances secured selection for Matilda and Angus for the Scotland team for the London Mini Marathon, and were inspirational to all 18 of our young athletes who competed in the 6 races.
During the following week we had a number of district schools XC races, where our youngsters distinguished themselves, as usual. The Primary Schools race was held in Strathaven, and this saw a 2nd place for Ellie Taylor at P6 girls, 1st place for Jack McMillan at P6 Boys, a close 4th for Lottie Sim at P7 Girls, after being send the wrong way by a marshall, and a 3rd place for Matthew Sweeney at P7 boys. There were a host of top 10 places for our other athletes and great runs by all. The Lanarkshire Secondary Schools XC event was held the next day in Biggar, and once again our athletes were on the podium in most races. Zoe Baillie started the ball rolling with 2nd at S1 girls, followed by a 3rd place from Brain Heslop at S2 Boys. Matilda Frew was victorious in the S3 Girls race and Aaron Thomson finished the day with 3rd place in the Senior Boys race.
The Seniors were back in action on the 23rd at the National 6 Stage Road Relays at Livingston. Despite missing many of our first team regulars, the men’s A team finished in 11th place, its second best placing in this event since it found its home in Livingston 26 years ago. Fastest EKAC times on the day came from Luke Kirwan on the short leg and Grant Baillie on the long leg. Our ladies team finished 13th, with fastest times coming from Millie Aitken and Kelly Baillie.
Chatelherault Park in Hamilton was a damp and muddy host for the South Lanarkshire Primary Schools XC championships towards the end of March, but our youngsters were not deterred by the conditions. On the contrary, they seemed to thrive, with Ellie Taylor a close 4th at P6 Girls, Jack McMillan winning the P6 Boys race, and Lottie Sim getting 2nd place at P7. These 3 also helped win team medals for the East Kilbride area.
The biennial World XC Championships took place in Belgrade this year, and, while we didn’t have any athletes running in the races, the EKAC Tartan Army were present, to support the event and raise our club profile, which they did in their usual style.
The month ended with the Tom Scott 10 mile road race which incorporated the Scottish Athletics 10 mile championships. Our 4 athletes ran well, with our top result being a 12th place for Grant Baillie, resulting in a bronze medal in the Masters M40 category.
April 2024
The beginning on April not only heralded the start of the 2024 track & field season, it also marked the start of our annual membership year. The Committee, in partnership with our Treasurer, confirmed no change in membership fees for 2024-2025 year. Also of note was the decision by SLLC to close the track gates and require all access to the track via the JWSC reception. This was a return to the situation prior to the Covid pandemic and appears to have been brought on by the perception of a loss in track revenues. This shouldn’t have been anything to do with EKAC, but we reiterated that all adults should pay fees at reception, as should young athletes when training outside normal training evenings.
The first open graded meeting of the new season was on the 9th and saw both Ben Baillie and Brian Heslop win their event heats and set PBs in the process. The first League match of the year was the Scottish National League at Grangemouth, where we had 15 athletes competing. Despite some squally weather, our sprinters Ryan Murphy, Baylie Hill, Samson Oluyole, Alan Leitch and Kara Lindsay registered great opening season times, while Greg Kelly travelled up from Manchester to win his 400m heat. In the long jump, Aidan Glennon prevailed over his EKAC competition, and both Eva Morrison and Rory Charters did the same in the 1500m.
The next weekend, 20/21 April, was especially busy. First off we had the London Mini Marathon (incorporating the British age group Road Running Championships) where we had both Angus Wilkinson and Matilda Frew competing in Scotland vests. Angus finished an outstanding 5th in the U15 boys race, leading Scotland to the team victory, easily the best result at this event by an athlete from the club. In her debut in the race, Matilda Frew finished a brilliant 34th.
Later that day we had 7 athletes at the Scottish Primary Schools XC championships in Kirkcaldy. They all ran well with a highest finish of 8th by Ellie Taylor in the P6 girls, while Ben Naismith won a Silver team medal with his school.
In the early evening we had 8 competitors at the Flat’N Fast races at Linlithgow, where multiple road PBs were registered. The EK Sports Personality of the Year Awards for 2023 took place that very same evening. Angus Wilkinson was named as joint under 18 Sports Personality, but more than that, he also took the overall EK Sports Personality of the Year Award. Congratulations to Angus, and to his Coach Niall Walker. The feeling was that the deciding factor may have been his World age 14 best in the mile set last August.
The following day was equally busy. We had 3 athletes at the London Marathon and 2 at the Manchester Marathon, all 5 running just over 3 hours. On the track we had 8 athletes in the South Lanarkshire team at the YDL at Grangemouth, in 12 events, and registering 8 PBs, while Hannah Anderson took the Scottish Universities 800m title. To finish, there was a bronze medal performance from John Fergusson in the West District 10 Mile Championships at Clydebank.
The final weekend of the month started with the Scottish 10,000m Track Championships, where our sole representative, Keith Charters, set a PB and took the M55 silver medal. On the Sunday, the CSSAL meeting at Grangemouth saw many of younger athletes get their first taste of competition. Event wins by Orla Gallagher, Evie Fraser, Colin Frew, Matilda Frew, Carrie Charters, Jay Sharp, and Alan Leitch, plus a host of other great performances, saw EKAC finish a close 5th on the day. Perhaps more importantly, our young athletes enjoyed the experience and had their appetites whetted for more.
May 2024
In a field of over 500, we had 15 athletes at the Scottish 5K Road Championships in Edinburgh at the beginning of May. First home was Grant Baillie, 4th at M40, but, just a few steps behind him was Angus Wilkinson, first U15 to finish. In an interesting coincidence, the two other Baillie family members competing, Ben at U15, and Kelly at F40, also finished 4th in their respective categories. Great performances from them all, and from quite a few of our other young athletes who made it through for this event.
The following day was ‘Star Wars’ day, May the 4th, and EKAC fielded 19 x U12 athletes at the U12 Superteams heat in Greenock. Considering many were at their first athletics competition, and most of the others were at their second of third, they gave their coaches loads to be proud of. The younger ones did especially well as they were up against athletes up to 3 years older. Individually, Ellie Taylor and Owen Palmer won bronze medals and, assisted by Rebecca Pew, Joseph Ogbu, Caoimhe Gallagher, Neve Lindsay, Rebecca Chapman and Evie Fraser, they managed to qualify 2 teams from EKAC for the Superteams final on 22 June.
On the Sunday, 5 of our Junior athletes travelled to Kirkintilloch for the Junior Jack road races. They all finished in top 10 places, with Brian Heslop winning his mixed S1/S2/S3 3k race.
We had 11 athletes in the 2nd SNAL meeting at Grangemouth on the Sunday, most of whom set PBs, with the highlight possibly being Baylie Hill’s win in the U17 200m.The same day saw Hannah Anderson pick up a silver medal at the British Universities 1500m, negotiating 3 rounds of heats in 3 days to get there.
The next weekend was the West District Championships, the first big championships of the season. A superb gold medal in the U17 800m from Matilda Frew and a silver from Angus Wilkinson in the U17 men’s 800m were impressive, but no less so were top 10 placings from Eva Morrison, Brian Heslop, Skye Christie, Rory Charters, Ben Baillie, Dylan Edwards, Carrie Charters, Ellie Taylor, Calum McCormick and Christopher Paton, plus multiple PBs from our other representatives.
Great early season form from Greg Kelly and Hannah Anderson saw both selected for the Scottish team for the prestigious Loughborough International Match, where Hannah possibly exceeded her own expectations in winning the women’s mile event.
The 2nd YDL event occupied the next Sunday, where we had 8 athletes selected for the South Lanarkshire team. 6 PBs in 8 events showed how well they performed. Next up, a trip to Manchester for the BMC grand Prix allowed Angus Wilkinson to set an U17 club record of 3.53.02 over the 1500m, beating our 36 year old record by 1.58 seconds. The time also puts him 7th on the all-time Scottish U17 list, half a second behind current world champion Josh Kerr. Another club record was smashed by Hannah Anderson, competing in an 800m in Brussels on the 25th. In a stadium which is no stranger to record breaking performances, Hannah recorded 2.08.59 and has the distinction of being the first female athlete from our ranks to break 2:10.
Towards the end of the month we had 2 athletes in the top 10 at the Helensburgh 10Km Road Race. Calum Johnson (2024 UK Inter Counties XC winner and 44th placer at the recent World XC Champs) was guesting for EKAC and took the race win, while Patrick Mochan had a strong debut run in 10th position.
11 EKAC athletes rounded May off at the Crownpoint Miler Meet, which incorporated the Scottish 3000m championships. A big well done to them as they registered 9 x PBs, including a Scottish Champs Silver medal and Club Record to Angus Wilkinson in the U17 men’s 3000m race with a blistering 8.29.69, taking 13 seconds off the previous club record. This time also places 5th on the U17 Scottish all-time list.
June 2024
Well done to all the EKAC athletes competing at the Scottish Schools Championships at the beginning of June. A silver medal from Angus Wilkinson at 1500m plus top 10 performances from Matilda Frew, Eva Morrison, Calum Charters, Ben Baillie, Rory Charters and Madeline Frew were particularly eye-catching here.
The 2nd CSSAL meeting of the year on 9th June saw us field a somewhat depleted team. Nevertheless, we finished 5th on the day, due to spirited performances from our athletes, keeping us above the relegation zone with only the final match to come. Event wins from Brian Heslop, Christopher Paton, and Baylie Hill, plus some great efforts from many of their younger teammates helped ensure a respectable team score.
The news from the Scottish Mid-Trail Running Championships on the same day was a win in the M45 category for Grant Baillie and a 3rd place at F40 for Kelly Baillie, on a challenging course at Birnam Woods.
To complete a busy weekend, we had 3 athletes in the Kilmarnock ‘Roun the Toun’ 10k race, where Keith Charters set a PB and took 2nd place in the M50 category.
The next YDL meeting at Grangemouth had 5 of our youngsters competing, and was notable for a new U13 club record for Jack McMillan in the 75m in a time of 11.16s.
Midweek we had the County Schools Track & Field Championships at East Kilbride track. Gold medals for our athletes went to Brian Heslop in the 1500m, Matilda Frew at 800m, Ava Hendry at the long jump, silvers to Cameron Fraser in the 800m and Madeline Frew in the long jump, plus a bronze to Anna Unnithan in the relay.
A few days later we got news of Angus Wilkinson improving his U17 1500m club record to 3.52.18 at the Loughborough British Milers Grand Prix, elevating him to 4th on the U17 Scottish all-time list, ahead of world champion Josh Kerr.
Our very youngest athletes were in action at the U12 Superteams final at Ayr. Our 8 athletes did us proud, with top our top scoring performances going to Owen Palmer and Rebecca Chapman. The Riverside Arena was a busy place this weekend, with the National Relay Championships being held there the next day. We had 6 EKAC teams competing on the day and it’s fair to say they all had a great experience. The U17 men’s 4x100m relay team of Alan Leitch, Samson Oluyole, Christopher Paton and Baylie Hill impressed with their 6th place in the final, as did the 3x800m team of Eva Morrison, Carrie Charters and Matilda Frew, who stormed to Scottish relay bronze medals. Well done to all.
The Calderglen trail races kicked off the final weekend in June. We have a great history of fine performances in these local races, and 2024 was no exception. Brooke Stuart and Jospeh Ogbu kicked things off with individual medals in the 1K race, while Zoe Baillie did the same in the U12 3k event. The girls team of Zoe, Lottie Sim, and Nina Clark won the team title, while our boys team of Jack McMillan, Calum McCormick and Cameron Lucchesi took team bronze. Brian Heslop had a fine race for 2nd place at U15, which led us on to the senior 5K and 10K races. At 5K, Kelly Baillie, Emma Livingstone, Katie Fielding, Vivien Thorpe and Lorna Edwards all took individual category medals, while Garry Craig, Ciaran Muir and Michael Carlin did the same. By virtue of these performances, EKAC won both male and female team prizes. The final race of the day at 10K saw Grant Baillie finish 3rd, leading the team which included John Fergusson (4th) and David Gorman, to team gold.
The next day we all had the chance to watch Hannah Anderson on TV, wearing her EKAC vest in the 1500m at the British Championship & Olympic trials. In a very competitive heat, Hannah didn’t make the final, but nevertheless gained some very valuable experience.
July 2024
The start of July was a bit of a lull in competition for our athletes, but they came back strongly mid-month at the Scottish Masters championships in Dundee. On the Saturday, Grant Baillie won gold at the 3000m steeplechase in a new Scottish record time of 10:07.94 for the M45 age group, then he lined up in the 5000m on Sunday and won that too, a remarkable performance. Kelly Baillie and Arthur Mulholland also contested the 5000m and won silver medals in their respective categories. This was great preparation for Grant for the World masters Championships in Gothenburg in August.
The Whitelees Windfarm was the venue for the annual ‘Run the Blades’ races on the 20th, where our U13 athlete Jessica Caskie took the girls title in the 1mile event, finishing 3rd overall.
Angus Wilkinson was in action for Scotland that day at the SIAB Championships in Carmarthen, Wales, effectively the British School Championships. This event, where the top 2 athletes from Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales are selected, saw Angus finish 3rd in the 1500m, a great performance.
August 2024
News from Finland arrived at the beginning of the month where a recently re-located Hannah Anderson won the Finnish U23 1500m title and took a bronze at 800m over the same weekend.
The Olympic athletics events were in full swing the first 11 days of August, so we took the opportunity, at the Clubhouse just after training, to watch the men’s 1500m final with Josh Kerr and Neil Gourlay. The current generation of Scottish international athletes have shown us all what’s possible, so let’s hope our crop of young athletes have been inspired and could go on to make an impact at the highest level.
The 10th August was the first day of the Scottish Age Group Championships, where we had 20 athletes competing in the U13, U15 and U20 events. Lots of PBs were set and we had 2 athletes in the top 10 in their finals – Marci Houston in 6th at the U13 70m hurdles, and Cameron Fraser in 7th at the U15 javelin.
The big news the following week was of Grant Baillie becoming World M45 3000m steeplechase champion at the World Masters in Gothenburg, Sweden. A storming finish over the last 2 barriers saw Grant take the lead and the title ahead of his German rival, who had been the pre-race favourite. Grant returned the very next day to compete in the 5000m, where he nearly won another medal, finishing just 2 seconds off 3rd place.
The Scottish Championships continued at the weekend, where it was the turn of the U17s and Seniors to perform. We had 3 seniors and 11 U17s out on the day, and it was once again Angus Wilkinson who turned in a medal-winning run, with silver in the U17 1500m. Greg Kelly was agonisingly close with 4th place in each of the senior 100m and 200m finals. Our other top 10 placings were registered by Calum Charters and Luke Kirwan, who came 7th and 8th respectively in the senior 800m final.
Back on the road, at the Paisley Road races, Brian Heslop gave EKAC a victory in the junior 3k race, and was backed up by great runs from another 7 of our youngsters.
17 of our athletes travelled to Stirling for the Monument Mile series of races, with the fastest time of 4:01.55 going, not surprisingly, to our international star Dage Minors. Angus Wilkinson was just 1 second off the World age group record he set last year, and we had some fantastic heat winners in Luke Kirwan, Grant Baillie, and Andrew Chapman.
The final CSSAL match of the season took place at Crownpoint the following day. EKAC finished 4th on the day, giving us a final league position of 5th in Division 2. This was a great team performance, led by our individual event winners Joseph Ogbu, Jay Buchanan, Chris Watters, the U17 4x100m mixed relay team, Orla Gallagher, Vivien Thorpe, Alan Leitch, Alan Baxter, and Kayleigh Pew.
Well done to Angus Wilkinson who finished 6th in the 1500m at the UK Schools Games in Loughborough, an event which sees the top 8 in each event in Britain invited to compete.
September 2024
There was another fantastic performance from World Champion Grant Baillie on 6 September at the Livingstone Open Graded meeting, where he set a PB and Scottish M45 Record for 1500m of 4:02.74. This also placed him 6th on the UK all-time list.
The Lanarkshire Track & Field Championships on the following Sunday at Crownpoint resulted in lots of great performances from our athletes. Gold medals went to Kelly Baillie and Gary Craig in the Senior 3000m, Aimee Anderson in the Senior 800m, Matilda Frew in the U17 800m, Amy Andrew in the Senior 1500m, Skye Christie in the U15 1500m and Neve Lindsay in the U11 long jump. Silvers went to David Gorman, Luke Kirwan and Madeline Frew, while bronze medals went to Alan Leitch, Cameron Fraser, Zak Lindsay and Olivia Baxter. On the same day, on holiday at Auchterarder, Reeve Stuart won the girls race at the Running Festival Junior Run.
Approaching the end of the track season, our EKAC Track & Field Championships were once again held in conjunction with Whitemoss AAC at our local track. Great efforts by our Organisers, Coaches and Parent Helpers were matched by a host of great performances from our athletes. Club champions for 2024, one of which was a tie, were Evie Fraser and Joseph Ogbu at U11, Nelly Samuel Ali and Harrison Brand at U13, Anna Unnithan and Cameron Fraser/Brian Heslop at U15, Kayleigh Pew and Alan Leitch at U17, Aimee Anderson and Jay Sharp at U20, Emma Livingstone and Daniel Walsh at Senior and finally Kelly and Grant Baillie at Masters level.
We had 10 athletes in the Flat’n Fast races at Linlithgow the next Friday. Our young athletes were led home by Ellie Taylor and Finlay Edwards in the 3K, while the family trio of Grant, Ben and Kelly Baillie led home our contingent in the 5K races, notable for a sub-16 minute clocking by Ben.
We held our annual ‘awayday’ on the 21st, as a reward for our young athletes’ efforts over the summer. As last year was so successful, we again went to Foxlake Adventure Waterpark near Dunbar, where around 65 of our youngsters and their Coaches enjoyed the aqua park and aerial assault course as well as organised games on the local beach. I was there so I can confirm that everyone had a great time. Thanks go to Club Secretary Anne Thomson for all the organisation involved.
October 2024
The Scottish Schools Road Races in Dunfermline heralded the beginning of the winter season of competition, and EKAC has 17 of our young athletes in attendance, running for their schools. Top placing of the day was a fantastic 7th from Millie Ashelby at S1, almost matched by 8th placings from Matilda Frew at S3/4 and Angus Wilkinson at S5/6. Angus led his school team of Ben Baillie, Dylan Edwards and Jonathan Hunter to the senior team title.
A fixture clash on the first weekend of the month saw our athletes having to choose between the Great Scottish Run events and the West District XC Relays. I’m sure Scottish Athletics could do more to prevent these kinds of clashes between major events for which they issue permits, and events they organise themselves. The Junior Great Scottish Run was first off on the Saturday, and we had 8 young athletes on the starting line. Great performances from them all were capped by 3rd place medals to both Ellie Taylor and Jack McMillan in the 9-11 year olds race.
The West District XC Relays at Kilmarnock followed, on what was turning out to be an unseasonably warm October day. The Young Females race started things off with our A team of Nina Clark, Skye Christie and Matilda Frew finishing in a fine 5th place by virtue of great runs by them all and a 2nd fastest U17 women’s time to Matilda. The Young Boys team of Max Tobin, Brian Heslop and Angus Wilkinson also ran well to finish in 13th. Next up were the Senior Ladies with Aimee Anderson, Amy Andrew and Kelly Baillie finishing in 11th place. Our senior men recorded an 8th position with Aaron Thomson, Sam Hosie, Grant Baillie and John Fergusson, and it was great to see half the team composed of U20 athletes, just like the Ladies team. Still, it was Grant who set the fastest EKAC senior time of the day, which also turned out to be the fastest M40 time in the field. Special mention to Aimee Anderson, returning from injury, who set the 3rd fastest U20 female time of the day.
Sunday was the senior Great Scottish Run and first EKAC athlete home in the 10K was Dylan Edwards, ahead of several seniors, and it was a similar story for Abbie Kirwan. In the half marathon a 23rd place 1:12 for Jack Kirwan was a big PB, while Millie Aitken was our first senior lady.
More cross country the next weekend saw Grant Baillie finish first M45 at the British and Irish Masters Cross Country Scottish Team Trial at Tollcross Park, to qualify for the Championships in Belfast on the 16th November. Later in the month we got notice that Andrew Forteath and Kelly Baillie had also been called up to represent Scotland at the same event, both in the V40 category. That’s 3 Scotland caps from EKAC, surpassing the 2 from 2022!
We had 41 athletes out at the Scottish XC Relays over the usual Cumbernauld Park course on the 19th. The young girls team of Millie Ashelby, Skye Christie and Matilda Frew finished a brilliant 10th, the joint best placing since 2006, with great runs also recorded by Zoe Baillie and Nina Clark in the B team. The boys team of Jack McMillan, Brian Heslop and Angus Wilkinson were an excellent 5th, our highest placing since 1999. Angus also ran the second fastest time on his leg. Our Senior Women were 42nd, with solid runs from Amy Andrew, Kelly Baillie, Erin Chapman and Lorna Edwards. The senior men were off last with our A team finishing 23rd. The team comprised a mix of masters, seniors and U20s with Grant Baillie, Andrew Forteath, Sam Hosie, and Jack Kirwan. This mix of ages was a theme running through our teams, and indicates we have a batch of great youngsters breaking through and progressing up the ranks.
At the end of the September we had learned that Grant Baillie had been nominated by Scottish Athletics for the Masters Athlete of the Year Award, based on his fantastic season of results culminating on his World Masters title. The winner was announced at the Scottish Athletics awards dinner at the end of October, which was attended by a number of our members in support of Grant. While Grant did not win the award, we can all take pride in his achievements and in the way he has conducted himself throughout.
Rounding off the month we had the first Scottish Athletics Indoor League (SAIL) match at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, which, incidentally, gave some of our youngest athletes their first taste of competitive athletics. Of our 37 athletes represented, 9 of them: Ella Whalin, Vincent Elliot, George James, Ben MacDonald, Edward Elliot, Eva Lochrie, Rudy Chung, Oscar Thomson and Emily Zhao, had their first outing in club colours, and they produced performances to be proud of. Among loads of PBs set, the performance of Harrison Brand in the U13 200m stands out, as he sped to an overall win in 27.3s, over a second ahead of the next fastest runner. Also impressive were how some of our athletes stepped up an age group to their summer age category, which meant competing at longer distances against older athletes. This was exemplified by 10 year old Dominic Fahey, running a well-judged effort in the 800 against some 12 year-olds, when he’s more used to running 600m as an U11. Thanks go to Vivien Thorpe as Team Manager, plus the Coaches and Parent helpers who made the event possible.
November 2024
Kirkcaldy was the venue for the National Short Course XC Championships this year, where 24 of our athletes lined up. Some of our more experienced runners sat this one out, as they were nursing minor injuries, so it was encouraging to see our younger members step up and perform really well. The first races were at U15, and in the girls event there were great performances from Skye Christie and Ellie Burke, the latter on her first official race. In the boys race we had solid performances from Brian Heslop and Neil Arthur. Moving up to U17, there was a fine 12th place for Matilda Frew, leading her team of Eva Morrison and Olivia Baxter to 7th position. The U17 mens team of Angus Wilkinson, Ben Baillie and Alan Leitch took 10th place. After finishing their races, our youngsters got the chance to watch a special on-field presentation by Scottish Athletics to Laura Muir, where she was re-allocated the 2015 European Indoor Champs 1500m bronze medal due to the doping violation and disqualification of a Russian athlete. Some of them got to meet Laura, took selfies and had their numbers signed by her. Meanwhile the senior races were starting, and the women’s event saw a race-long duel between Kelly Baillie and Amy Andrew, with Kelly eventually prevailing. There was a similar story in the men’s race with Patrick Mochan crossing the line just a couple of seconds ahead of Sam Hosie. Aaron Thomson and Jonathan Hunter (on his way back from injury) completed the EKAC team, and it was great to see three U20s in the counting four.
The very next day, the young athletes got their turn at the Springburn Harriers Junior XC races at Kirkintilloch. Nina Clark had an outstanding run, taking the medal for 2nd girl.
The following weekend at the Newton Road Races Junior 3K event, Nina also ran well, while Calum McCormick took 3rd in the boys event, chased home by his wee brother Luke McCormick in 7th.
On 12 November we had our first Parents Evening of the year, which was very well-attended. Hopefully the information exchange went well, and we may be able to benefit from the skills and expertise of our new cohort of parents and even recruit some to be Parent Helpers.
Our 3 athletes representing Scotland at the British & Irish Masters XC Championships in Belfast all came away with team bronze medals – Kelly and Grant Baillie at F45/M45 respectively, and Andrew Forteath at M40. A really good experience for them all, particularly the new Scotland caps, and hopefully the first of many more selections.
We got a couple of pieces of great news in the middle of the month. On 15 November UK Athletics announced that Greg Kelly has been included, in his capacity as a guide runner, in the Paralympic Futures Programme for 2024-25, which means we may see him helping visually impaired athletes at major events up to the next Olympic Games.
A couple of days later we heard that Hannah Anderson, now living and studying in Finland, has been selected for the Finnish Womens U23 team for the European XC Championships on 8 December in Antalya, Turkey. This is the first time a current EKAC member, who has come up through our ranks, has been selected for this International event and is a great achievement by Hannah. The icing on the cake is that a large contingent of the EKAC ‘tartan army’ have already booked a trip to Antalya, and will be there to cheer her on.
The Lanarkshire Road Relays were back on this year, for the first time since 2019, only to be postponed due to heavy snow-fall and treacherous travel conditions. Meanwhile, 9 of our athletes headed down to Liverpool’s Sefton Park for the UK Cross Challenge event. In wet and windy conditions, there were great performances from them all, with the highest position a 32nd place for Matilda Frew in the combined U17/U20 women’s race.
Yours, in sport,
Gordon Colvin
EKAC Club President
