The Mini Tour 2010

With the sun out and a stiff breeze blowing the conditions were good for the final night of this years Mini Tour. With the added complication of two different start points for different age groups we were relying on mobile phone technology to get both races off at the same time.... which almost failed as my phone said “network unavailable” on my first two attempts to make the call.... uh oh! However the 3rd time brought success and the race was underway.

The Under 11s seemed to be round their 1 mile route in a flash and came over the line 4 and 5 at a time which made the timekeeping interesting to say the least. All of them were putting in huge efforts knowing that “this was it”, they could rest up tomorrow. Adam Scott continued his winning week and was first over the line, with the ever competitive George Rees taking 2nd spot. The next 3 spots were filled by Harvey Kennedy, Alistair Primmer and Jamie Scobie who have spent the whole week switching their finishing positions with each other – clearly a competitive bunch. Maddie Owen claimed her 5th victory of the week, but only just as Rachael Hamilton was hot on her heels crossing the line just 5 seconds behind. Nico Van Rensburg has been steadily improving his positions all week and finished in 11th place and looked strong and determined to the end. I also spotted Rhys Owen from Dairsie who really went for it crossing the sand – looking at his results for the week he obviously enjoyed the hill race posting his best result on Tuesday finishing in 8th place – well done Rhys!

All the other age groups had to battle with the head wind coming all the way along the beach to the finish. In the under 13s Tristan Rees reclaimed his top spot crossing the line more than a minute in front of Oskar Fraser-Krauss. Euan Rose who had won 2 of this weeks races finished in 3rd. Ana Brocklebank had a storming run tonight to take the honours in the girls race, and Ailsa Cruickshanks never gave up chasing her all the way to finish in 2nd place. Recent member to Fife AC Joe Forrester has shown real determination through the whole week finishing in 13th place tonight, I know he’ll get stronger and stronger over the coming year and will be one to watch next year.

In the under 15s Regan Dryden was first over the line with Katey Turner taking 2nd place overall and 1st girl. Some new entrants on the night in the under 18s category also gave these pair a run for their money tonight which I’m sure would have pushed them on. Fergus Ingledew had another great run finishing 2nd boy, Corryn Maree Christie rounded her tour off with a 2nd place in the girls race and Nicola Howat was 3rd girl.

The under 18s saw Scottish Internationalist Adam Harris finish 1st in a great time of 18:19, 2nd place was taken by Thomas Knox who was also a fresh legged entrant on the night. Euan Paton completed his Tour in 3rd place – as our only under 18 boy, thanks for coming Euan and not letting that minor issue of a broken arm stop you! The girls race saw Jennifer Cruickshanks post her 5th win of the series, followed by Elaine Cairns in 2nd place. Lucy Duff and Fiona Cruickshanks had a close battle with just 2 seconds separating them. Rachael Grieve finished in 5th place for the girls.

Final Series Winners

		Boys	Girls
Under 11s	1st	Adam Scott	Maddie Owen
	2nd	George Rees	Jessie Barnett
	3rd	Jamie Scobie	Isla Browne
Under 13s	1st	Tristan Rees	Ana Brocklebank
	2nd	Oskar Fraser-Krauss	Ailsa Cruickshanks
	3rd	Euan Rose	Eve Primmer
Under 15s	1st	Regan Dryden	Katey Turner
	2nd		Corryn Maree Christie
	3rd		Nicola Howat
Under 18s	1st	Euan Paton	Jennifer Cruickshanks
	2nd		Lucy Duff
	3rd		Elaine Cairns

Well done to all the runners – it was a fantastic week. Thanks to all their parents for bringing them along every night (I know it’s not easy!). And of course thanks to all the people who helped with organisation, marshalling, reporting, photographing, tea and cake making, cheering. And thanks to our sponsors : The Grill House, Tesco, Janettas, Luvians, Cairnie Fruit Farm, Carrie Ruxton Nutrition and Imagin Badges.

See you all next year!

Thursday - Tarvit Time Trial

The sun shone on us tonight (well a little bit anyway) and the Tarvit Estate was looking resplendent. The buzz at the time trial is always amazing with everyone having to line up in their groups waiting with baited breath for their own start to be called. It’s also a funny old race as you have no idea who is in the lead and it often throws up a few surprises.... which makes doing the results quite interesting!

Mixing things up a bit tonight were the girls and boys from Craigclowan school – 12 came along to race in the under 11s category – and some of them were incredibly fast with 2 of them finishing in the top 6. I hope you all enjoyed it.

Poor wee George Rees was sporting a major chin injury, but couldn’t possibly miss the Tour! And it didn’t seem to slow him down as he finished 2nd to Adam Scott. I also spotted Peter Scott tonight showing excellent form as he made his huge sprint finish to the line.... team Scott will be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years.

Euan Rose claimed his 2nd victory of the week just beating Tristan by 1 second, however Tristan still has a big lead in the overall standings due to his amazing performance at the hill race. The top 4 girls in the under 13s all did brilliantly tonight finishing within 11 seconds of each other – great running girls.

Regan Dryden kept up his brilliant form once again with Katey Turner finishing 1st girl just 18 seconds behind him. Leah Mortimer who found the beach race a real tough one has continued to battle on showing good potential and great determination.

In the under 18s Euan Paton kept ahead of Jennifer Cruickshanks.... but only just. It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow night.... can Jennifer pull out all the stops to claim another win?

1 more night to go guys, I know your legs must be getting tired but just one more wee race and you can rest up – give it your all!! Don’t forget to come to the prize giving whether you’re in the lead or not – we have some special prizes to award that are well worth waiting for.... not to mention the tea and cake.

Wedensday - Tentsmuir

I don’t know about the runners but I preferred the weather tonight.... we had time to spot the runners coming from afar, and there were some fantastic performances on display tonight.

In the under 11s Harvey Kennedy and Alastair Primmer were officially doing battle tonight – their sprint for the line was just brilliant, we couldn’t separate them, and with only a minute separating the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th positions in the Tour there’s everything to run for... keep it going guys. Equally in the under 11 girls race Isla Brown and Jessie Barnett had a brilliant sprint for the finish line and again we couldn’t separate them; as they are 2nd and 3rd in the Tour and with only just over a minute between them it’s making it an exciting competition to watch. Golly, these under 11s are so competitive... either that or they just like making it hard for us time keepers! Adam Scott and Maddie Owen maintained their unbroken wins, making it 3 out of 3 wins, but what makes it even more special is that they don’t sit back and rest, you see the effort going in every night – top marks guys.

We have quite a few really, really mini’s this year (do we have to put in an under 7 category next year??). I dare anyone to watch Laura Brierley and try not to smile – her grin is simply infectious. At 4 years old Mark Scott is following in brother Adams footstep – watch out Adam, he will be challenging you in the next few years. And what can we say about twins Polly and Rae Geddes, it really is great to see them out taking part – it shows you’re never too young to take on the tour.

Euan Rose had his best run of the Tour so far and finished 1st place in the under 13s with Tristan just a few seconds adrift. Oskar Fraser-Krauss finished in 3rd place and looked a little tired tonight – keep it going Oskar.... the gap between 2nd and 3rd has closed so you need to hang in there – you know you can do it. Ana Brocklebank and Ailsa Cruikshanks came in 1st and 2nd girls with just a few seconds separating them, their Tour battle is a close one and could go either way at the moment.

Regan Dryden once again stormed over the line in 1st position but Katey Turner really did give him a run for his money tonight chasing him all the way along the finishing straight. Corryn Maree Christie also had a great run tonight, just edging back into 2nd place in the overall tour after being equal 2nd with Nicola Howat following the hill race.

In the under 18s Euan Paton is not letting his broken arm stop him and put in another fine performance tonight in his bid to regain his fitness (remember Euan, biking is clearly not for you!) and Jennifer Cruickshanks made the run look effortless (although I know it’s not) as she crossed the line in 1st place.

Welcome to Anna Malcolmson, Morgan Middleton, Ross Davidson, Fergus Ingledew and George and Archie Yarr who all joined in the fun tonight – I hope you took advantage of your fresh legs tonight!

Tomorrow brings the time trial where it’s a battle against the clock as you all go off at individual start times. These start times will be published on the website shortly – please do come along at the normal time as it means we can get all the cars into the car park before the race starts. Good luck to all..... remember when you’re feeling tired and feeling like you just can’t do it “think bag”!

Tuesday - East Lomond

Well amazingly enough 80 young runners took to the hills tonight - frankly I think your all mad, no amazing, no mad, well, whatever you are, well done to you all.

I was really worried that the wet underfoot conditions and the thick clag would be a safety nightmare and we should consider changing the course, but Dave F was confident that all would be well and we should run the courses as normal. For once I'm delighted that I was wrong!!

It was brilliant to watch the smiling faces appear out of the mist.... and they appeared so quickly! With visibility so low the finishers were appearing so suddenly it barely gave us time to catch their numbers.... but hopefully we got you all. There were lots of reports about good humour and adventurous spirits while out on the hill.

The naughty dog from the beach was confined to the house tonight and left the rain to do it's job of wiping the runners off their feet on the slippy grass. There were one or two war wounds on display... but seemed to be proudly on display, with not a tear in sight.

All the leaders from the beach race have held on to their top spots, but some of the 2nds, 3rds and 4ths have now switched as the terrain and conditions provided a completely different challenge to the flat, calms of the beach.

Currently there are 74 full tour competitors who are going for “the bag”.... I hope you all make it through the week. We also had 4 newcomers tonight - Ethan McFarlane, Craig Brown and Steiner Sanderson travelled up from Hillside School in Aberdour, and Chloe Hazel from St Andrews. Hopefully you enjoyed your tour experience and that you’ll be back again tomorrow.

Finally a big thank you for the support from the parents tonight, who helped line the route and all the extra marshals who came along to give their support – without this we may not have been able to run the normal hill route.

Right, I’m now off to do the sun dance so tomorrow will be a fine night for both runnning spectating.... bring it on!

Monday - St Andrews Beach

The Tour is now underway with 90 runners completing the 1st race in the series. The overcast and occasionally showery weather didn't seem to dampen the spirits of the runners with some top performances on display. I have to confess that half the runners arrived even before I did and were patiently waiting for their numbers! What a fantastic sight to see all the young runners line up on the beach, creating a real buzz amongst both the runners and spectators alike.

Last years under 11s winner Adam Scott was first over the line again this year, closely followed by George Rees and Harvey Kennedy, with only a few seconds separating them it will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow when they tackle the hill race. Maddie Owen took the top honours in the Under 11 girls race, closely followed by the increasingly speedy Jessie Barnett - good going girls! It was great to see the wide grins of the runners as they crossed the line, and top marks to Tom Logan who was wiped out by naughty dog Brandy just yards from the finish line got back on his feet and crossed the line.... that dog cost you at least 3 seconds Tom!

In the under 13s the top spot was taken by Tristan Rees, with Oscar Fraser-Krauss and Euan Rose in 2nd and 3rd, and the girls race was really close with just 3 seconds separating Ailsa Cruickshanks and Ana Brocklebank, with Eve Primmer just behind in 3rd spot.

The two older categories ran the same longer course and it seemed quite long this year... probably not helped by the ever present head wind. It was a tough race with Regan Dryden coming in 1st U15 male, Katey Turner 1st U15 female, Jennifer Cruickshanks 1st U18 female and Ewan Paton 1st U18 boy (even with a broken arm!).

Well done to everyone who ran.... I just hope you haven't tried too hard, there's still 4 more days to go!

Apologies go to Leah Mortimer - we hope it hasn't put you off and look forward to seeing you on the hill side tomorrow

2009 Results & Photos

Photos