Weekend Warriors to the Fore
There were rich pickings for local athletes in the first big race of the year, as FVO scored six podium finishes at the EUOC Big Weekend in Holyrood Park, where half of the club contingent finished in the top 10 in their race field.
There was even local interest behind the scenes, as, having starred in the event for several years as a competitor, James Hammond took on the organiser's mantle for the first time, and with the assistance of his student colleagues, delivered a quality event to open the season.
The most emphatic victory of the day went to Sean Truswell on the Light Green course, where he was nearly 15 minutes ahead of the nearest challenger, coming home in 45.51 for the win. Sophie Edward (69.50) was 3rd and Ethan Harrison was 10th (87.15).
No medals on the Blue course, but several athletes well in contention, where Chad Harrison was 22 seconds off the podium in 4th place. Next up were a pair of juniors, and Lucas Baikie (56.21) was nine seconds quicker than Fraser Cheyne for 5th, and Paul Hammond notched 8th place in 59.55.
Despite being in the eighth month of her pregnancy, Alison Smithard is still getting it done at the sharp end, and claimed the Green course silver in 40.29. Joey Inch and Rona Molloy's friendly rivalry goes back more than 40 years, and there were only seven seconds separating them on this occasion, with Joey 9th on Green (44.31) and Rona close behind in 10th. Laura Hendrie rounded off a very successful weekend as she took the bronze medal on Short Green, in 35.22.
There was another FVO bloc on the Orange course just outside the medals, where Ethan Baikie was 4th (40.29) ahead of Sara Harrison (44.36) and Emma Cheyne (64.20) outpaced Fiona Cheyne (64.27) into the finish in the battle for 6th and 7th. Iona Harrison (20.36) took the silver on the Yellow course, and Oscar Baikie (18.14) matched this on White, with Zach Harrison (31.53) 7th.
There were also two bonus Sprint courses, which were used by some as a warmup and others as their main race of the day, and Tommy Rollins was 4th (14.08) on the Long course, one place and three seconds up on Chris Smithard, while Laura Hendrie made it a double for the day, as she was 8th (16.06) on the Short course, four seconds ahead of Esme Finch.