On Saturday 13^th January 9 athletes from Team East Lothian travelled to Renfrew to take part in the Scottish Athletics Inter District Cross Country Championships which also double up as the 3^rd race in the UK wide Cross Country Challenge series of events.  The Scottish Inter District Championships is a team event where up to 15 male and female athletes are selected from under 13 to senior age groups to represent the West, North and East of Scotland.  With athletes travelling from all over the UK to take part in the UK Cross Challenge event, the races were of very high standard.  The weather was cold, but calm with clear blue skies, the underfoot conditions were firm. Not a typical Scottish cross country with the lack of mud!

First race of the day was the under 13 girls race.  Team East Lothian had 4 girls, from a total of 15, selected to represent the Scotland East team, the most from any east district athletics club.  Imogen Turner ran an excellent race against stiff English competition to finish in second place overall in a time of  9:47, winning a silver medal for the UK Cross Challenge event and taking the win and gold medal in the individual Scottish Inter District Championships.  Imogen also collected a team gold as Scotland East won the team event.

Next across the line from the Team East Lothian quartet was Morven Kenny in a time of 10:44 for 23^rd place, followed closely by Ava Rose Curtis in 10:52 in 29^th place and Tessa Russel in 10:54 in 32^nd place.

Next race of the day was the under 13 boys race.  Tom Ibbs from Team East Lothian was selected for the Scotland East team and ran a fantastic race to finish in 13^th place in a time of 9:37.  The team competition scores the first 6 counters from the overall team of up to 15 and Tom was the 6^th counter for the Scotland East team, picking up a team silver medal.

Next race with TEL representation was the super competitive under 15 boys.  Team East Lothian had 3 members representing Scotland East.  Joe Smith, in 14^th place overall in a time of 13:26 was the first of the trio over the line.  Closely following Joe was Jake Page in 22^nd place in a time of 13:32 and Thomas Gornall in 36^th place in a time of 14:31.

In the combined under 20 and under 17 men’s race Team East Lothian were represented by Ronnie Brown in the Scotland East team.  In this super competitive race, which included international teams from Scotland and Ireland, Ronnie finished a very credible 18^th place overall and 10^th in the under 17 competition.  With Ronnie being the 4^th counter for the Scotland East team, a team silver medal was awarded.