Edinburgh AC land the Lindsays Trophy

Wednesday 23rd September 2015

Ian Beattie and Eilish McColgan present the trophy with Amanda Woodrow and Andrew Latham of Edinburgh AC (photos by Ryan McGoverne)

Enter NOW for the National XC Relays at Cumbernauld

As the Lindsays Scottish Cross Country Season 2015-16 launches, Eilish McColgan presented the Lindsays Trophy to last season’s club winners, Edinburgh AC, at Meadowbank Stadium.

The Lindsays Trophy forms part of the three-year partnership between award winning law firm, Lindsays and scottishathletics which takes in a series of regional and Scottish National events.

The agreement also includes Lindsays offering scottishathletics members and clubs an exclusive package of legal services which will result in further investment in the club network.

Edinburgh AC was presented with the Lindsays Trophy having achieved the highest number of finishers at the National XC final at Callender Park earlier this year.

The club had 84 runners crossing the finish line including athletes across all the age groups, male and female races. Giffnock North AAC from Glasgow and Central AC were also in the top three for clubs with the most athletes finishing the race.

Nigel Holl, chief executive of scottishathletics said: ‘A remarkable 87 clubs were represented at Falkirk that day which reflects the rising numbers of entries and finishers across all the races throughout the Scottish Cross Country Season.

‘The significant increases year on year highlight the growing popularity of endurance racing and is very encouraging for the development of the sport.’

Lindsays Chief Operating Officer, Ian Beattie added: ‘We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with scottishathletics to support the Scottish Cross Country Season which reinforces our commitment to the sport.

‘I look forward to witnessing the on-going success of these events over the season and recognise the importance of the Season for athletes and clubs throughout Scotland.’

Lindsays offer support to Eilish McColgan, three-times British champion and GB international, who is hoping to overcome her recent injury to compete at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

The first event of the new season is the National XC Relay event which will be held at Cumbernauld on Saturday 24 October 2015. The closing date for entries is Tuesday 6 October.

Finishers per club National XC 2015

The top ten for the Lindsays Trophy (number of finishers at Falkirk 2015)

1 Edinburgh Ac 84

2 Giffnock North AAC 79

3 Central AC 74

4 Ronhill Cambuslang Harriers 62

5 Hunters Bog Trotters 58

6 Kilbarchan AAC 56

7 Inverness Harriers 52

8 Corstorphine AAC 51

9 Falkirk Victoria Harriers 47

10 Gala Harriers 46

10 Victoria Park-City of Glasgow 46

Eilish McColgan believes that cross country is a fundamental part of athletics.

‘My first experience of running and the reason I decided to go along to an athletics club was my involvement in the local primary school race – I absolutely loved it,’ she said.

‘It is not always the ideal day for most people – cold and wet while running miles over muddy hills – but weirdly enough I absolutely loved it. It was the first time I had competed at an individual sport and I was in control. I loved the feeling of being completely exhausted at the end and knowing I couldn’t have given an ounce more of effort.

‘My first ever British Title actually came from cross country as an U13.’

Enter NOW for the National XC Relays at Cumbernauld

The National XC Relays are looming next month and the event will return to Cumbernauld for a 15^th year.

It has been a hugely popular venue over that period with numbers rising year-on-year to the extent that entry figures for 2014 were the best in the 20-year history of the relays as combined championships for males and females.

And we are absolutely delighted to confirm, in partnership with North Lanarkshire Leisure, that VincoSport will again provide video footage of the National XC Relays – which mark the start of the Lindsays Cross Country Season.

The event takes place on Saturday 24 October and clubs, coaches and team managers should note the closing date for entries (which are by post) will be Tuesday 6 October.