Christmas Capers Usher in a New Year
FVO and its athletes were prominent right across the series at the 2024 Christmas Cup in the Trossachs, with a string of top 10 finishes
New areas were provided at Milton, near Loch Ard, and on the banks of Loch Katrine, and the competition finished with the traditional Resolution Sprint in South Queensferry, and there were more than a dozen FVO athletes in top 10 placings ot the opening day.
Peter Molloy had a good swing at taking the win on the Long course, but ended 81 seconds off the front, 2nd in 37.24. Andy Llewellyn was 8th (40.44) on the same course, and the Grace Molloy world tour made a rare home appearance as she was the leading lady on the course (47.23).
Janine Inman was 3rd (45.08) on the Medium course behind two Interlopers athletes, and there was a local mix of youth and experience further down, with World Masters champion Alison Cunningham 8th in 49.40, one place above junior athlete Lucas Baikie (51.04).
Fully half of the Short course top 10 was from FVO, as Martin Dean was 3rd in 38.35, one place above Matthew Owen (44.06). Heather Fellbaum was 6th (49.11) with Katie Hensman, in her first TD5 trip in two injury-ravaged years 8th (59.36) and Rona Molloy 10th in 56.25.
And on Orange, Hannah Inman suffered a rare reversal at the hands of another W12, as she was 2nd in 36.14, while Bryony McLeod squeezed in another "final" event before she has to stop for motherhood reasons, 4th in 38.03.
Despite pre-race speculation that flooding would cut off Aberfoyle from the rest of the world, the way was clear for day 2 which saw a return to Loch Ard, but on a different area. Matthew Inman stepped up to the mark, as he was 2nd on the day on the Medium course, a time of 58.23 good enough for his first Gold standard run at Blue level. There was a local logjam further down, with Janine Inman 6th (68.43), Alexander Hunt 7th (69.45) and James Edward 8th (70.31).
Peter Molloy was 3rd on the Long course (47.24) but remained in overall silver medal position, and Andy Llewellyn (4th in 48.09) and Roger Goddard (10th in 53.33) were also in top 10 placings.
Once again, half of the top 10 on the Short course was from FVO, but there were some new names atop the leaderboard. Rona Molloy moved up from 10th on the first day to take the win in 50.21, while Lucy Hensman had her first run of the meet, for 3rd in 50.32. Dave Coustick (6th in 54.31) and Dawn Goddard (9th in 63.48) were also well placed for the first time, as was Heather Fellbaum., who was 8th (61.17).
The final forest stage was on the banks of Loch Katrine, where Graham Gristwood checked in for the first time and was 3rd (36.23) on the Long course, ahead of Andy Llewellyn (36.43) and Peter Molloy (36.48) who were 4th and 5th. Scarlett Kelly was 2nd woman on the course (50.32) for a fine end to the season.
There was hardly room to move in the Medium course top 10 for FVO athletes; Matthew Inman showed that yesterday wasn't a flash in the pan as he was 2nd again, in 239.25. Lucas Baikie was 4th (47.45), well out of course, and the procession continued, with James Edward 6th (49.44) ahead of Alison Cunningham (51.26) and Vicky Thornton (52.21) and Scott Baikie made it six from FVO in the top 10 in a time of 53.54.
The club's dominance on the Short course went on, with five more, including even more new names in the top 10. Rona Molloy was best placed of the quintet, 3rd in 45.30, and Heather Fellbaum was 5th (53.06). There was an Owen family hat-trick too, with Matthew 4th in 50.07, and only four seconds separating Liz (57.31) and John (57.35) in 9th and 10th.
Having had the final event of 2024, Masterplan Adventure kept the ball rolling with the first one of the new year and the Resolution Sprint at Queensferry, which brought the Christmas Cup to an end.
Fiona Hendrie topped the Short course in 25.47, with three more from FVO in top 10 places, with Mike Godfree 5th (3022), Lucy Hensman 7th (32.06) and Liz Godfree 9th (38.38).
Fraser Cheyne celebrated a change in age class with a fine performance on the Medium course, as he was 2nd today in 23.02. Hanna Brindley was 6th (23.02) ahead of Scott Baikie (23.59) and Lucas Baikie made it four from FVO in the top 10 again, 10th in 26.56.
Ethan Baikie worked hard for 5th on the Junior course (54.50) while Chris Smithard (4th in 20.23) and Will Hensman (7th in 22.15), both on Long, concluded the top 10 showings for the day.