Champions Crowned before Dinner
The FVO club championships at Kippendavie, near Dunblane, featured a record attendance at a local event of 164 competitors, in an event that doubled as the Scottish Student Championship, and there was a mix of familiar and new faces on the champion's roster.
Traditionally, the outgoing Open champion plans the next year's event, in order to ensure that title dynasties aren't formed, but we didn't count on two juniors winning last year. "No problem" said Scarlett Kelly, who laid down a brilliant set of courses that have won wide praise on social media from the athletes, and who is our youngest-ever (and probably the youngest of all time) championship planner.
The Men's Open class featured no fewer than four former or current GB athletes who were eligible to be champion, and James Hammond headed the star-studded field to take the win in 48,12 and defend his title. Chris Smithard finished strongly for 2nd place (48.36) with Peter Molloy 3rd in 50.47.
There are not one but two Women's Open champions, with a tie for the quickest time. Alison O'Neil looked to have done enough with a time of 58.25 to take the spoils, before Laura Brown sensationally matched it to the second in the student races. Lizzie Stansfield was 3rd, just over a minute down in 59.27.
There's a mix of old and new in the Veteran classes, as Dave Godfree won Men's Vet for the 4th time, in 49.50. Paul Hammond had his best run in a club championship with 2nd in 57.15, ahead of Jason Inman (58.34). In Women's Vet, Natasha Conway was on form to take the title in 56.37, leaving Cathy Tilbrook (57.31) and Alice McDaid (61.01) trailing in her wake.
John Owen won the Mens SuperVet class in 82.16, as Geoffrey Hensman was nine seconds back, and Dave Coustick was 3rd (91.45). Women's SuperVet featured a slightly younger cohort in the leading positions, and Vicky Thornton claimed back the title she won three years ago, in 49.10, with Heather Fellbaum (57.16) well ahead of Liz Godfree (88.12) for 2nd. There are plans in place to add an additional class for UltraVets (70+) from 2025, due to the growing number of older competitors in the club.
The junior classes were no less competitive, with one defending champion, two stepping up from younger classes and three new names on the board. Peter Owen defended his Senior Boys title in 34.25, opening up a sizeable gap on Matthew Inman (43.57) and Alexander Hunt (44.05). Eilidh Connor stepped up from the Orange class and took a fantastic win in Senior Girls (50.31), five minutes ahead of GB Talent squad athlete Rebecca Hammond (55.34) with Isla Cheyne (60.51) 3rd in her first championship run.
It's a first-time title for Fraser Cheyne in Junior Boys (25.12) but he was worked hard by both Lucas Baikie (29.53) and Lachlan Carruthers (31.17) for large stages of the race, while in Junior Girls, Hannah Inman had a nine minute (29.24) gap over Esme Finch (38.48) for the title, with Sophie Edward (65.25) 3rd.
There was a large entry in the under 10 classes, and Leo Lockyer (22.48) beat Ethan Baikie (24.16) for the Young Junior Boys title, while the Young Junior Girls crown was won by Emma Cheyne (24.22) ahead of Lucy Finch (33.30) and Catriona Downie (35.42).
| Club Champions | |
|---|---|
| Men's Open | James Hammond |
| Women's Open | Laura Brown & Alison O'Neil |
| Men's Vet | Dave Godfree |
| Women's Vet | Natasha Conway |
| Men's SuperVet | John Owen |
| Women's SuperVet | Vicky Thornton |
| Senior Boys | Peter Owen |
| Senior Girls | Eilidh Connor |
| Junior Boys | Fraser Cheyne |
| Junior Girls | Hannah Inman |
| Young Junior Boys | Leo Lockyer |
| Young Junior Girls | Emma Cheyne |
That evening, the champions were presented with their trophies at an Awards Dinner in the Victoria Halls, along with the winners of the three FVO event series in 2024.
| Night Series | |
|---|---|
| Men Long | James Hammond |
| Women Long | Scarlett Kelly |
| Men Short | Matthew Inman |
| Women Short | Heather Thomson |
| Novice | Hanna Brindley |
| Urban Series | |
|---|---|
| Men Long | Chris Kelly |
| Women Long | Scarlett Kelly |
| Men Short | Matthew Inman |
| Women Short | Hanna Brindley |
| Novice | Hannah Inman |
| WEE Series | |
|---|---|
| Green Men | Dominic Edward |
| Green Women | Scarlett Kelly |
| Junior Men | Peter Owen |
| Junior Women | Scarlett Kelly |
| Short Green Men | James Edward |
| Short Green Women | Hanna Brindley |
| Orange Boys | Sean Truswell |
| Orange Girls | Esme Finch |
| Yellow Boys | Leo Lockyer |
| Yellow Girls | Aurora Lockyer |
The evening culminated with the announcement of the Athlete of the Year and Most Improved Junior awards. The Most Improved Junior is Fraser Cheyne, who has come on leaps and bounds this year, which saw him take medals in all three Scottish championships, and make his Scotland debut in the Junior Home International.
The Athlete of the Year award was made to Alison Cunningham, who, as well as gold medals in three Scottish championships (and missing the 4th due to injury) also won the Urban League and there's the small matter of her being World W60 Sprint champion to boot!
One special award on the night was a framed picture presented to each of the all-conquering under 12 relay team of Esme Finch, Hannah Inman and Matthew Owen in recognition of their "triple crown" of relay wins in 2024.