Fast Action and 16 Medals
The championship season came to a spectacular end in Cumbernauld, where FVO athletes collected 16 medals in the Scottish Sprint Championship, with a mix of new and familiar faces in the winners' enclosure.
Thie year's format was a two race series arounsd the streets of Condorrat and Westfield, with both races counting to the overall result, and froemr GB international Chris Smithard was too hot to handle for the Men's Open field, as he posted an aggregage time of 30.42 for the two races to take the trophy by more than two minutes.
The Women's SuperVet podium was dominated by local athletes, as Rachel Kirkland collected the title in her first year of class eligibility (24.47) to deny Alison Cunningham (26.26) a sixth title and Heather Fellbaum completed an all-FVO podium in 27.16.
Men's Vet saw a changing of the guard, with Will Hensman, who didn't race, surrendering the title for the first time since 2019, and Roger Goddard came out of the pack to claim the bronze medal (31.39).
Mark Wood was just four seconds off the Mens SuperVet front in the afternoon, as he improved his morning result by one place, but had too much to do to challenge the overall lead, and ended with the silver medal (27.14), while Gary Longhurst led Mens UltraVet by a narrow margin after the first race, but came up short in the end , as he was 3rd in the class (26.30).
The club's junior athletes made a significant mark on proceedings, as they departed with nine medals including four titles. M16 had another FVO podium-fill, where Lucas Baikie clung onto the lead in 30.25, despite an afternoon win for Fraser Cheyne, who was done in 32.13, with James Edward (33.23) in bronze.
W14 saw Esme Finch (30.21) defend her title from last year's W12 champ Sophie Edward (37.41) and the positions from the morning were reversed in W12, where Emma Cheyne (71.30) came through late to deny Lucy Finch (79.23) the win. Ethan Baikie (58.33) claimed the M12 crown, and younger brother Oscar struck late to get into M10 bronze (23.38), the first medal of his career.
The weekend was rounded off by a Scottish Urban League race on the second day, and 14 athletes were on the podiums, including cfour class wins. Dominic Edward's age-defying tilt at the Men's Open title continues, and although he was 3rd on this occasion (40.49), he retains control of the class going into June.
In Men's Vet, there are two locals on the podium, where Rob Truswell was 2nd (3753) and Chris Kelly 3rd, five seconds back. Women's SuperVet also has two of our finest on the stage, as Rachel Kirkland picked up the class win in 25.14, and Heather Fellbaum was 3rd (29.54). Liz Godfree was 2nd in Women's HyperVet (31.03).
Major dominance in the Junior classes, with five of the six under 16 placings going to FVO athletes. Junor Men was once again an FVO show, where Fraser Cheyne (18.04) was top, ahead of Lucas Baikie (18.34) and James Edward was 3rd (23.15), and Junior Women sees 2nd and 3rd for our athletes, where Esme Finch (26.15) overcame Sophie Edward (32.09).
And in the Young Junior classes, Ethan Baikie won the boys race in 24.59 and Lucy Finch was in ahead of Freya McDaid for another 1-2.