The highest number of entrants in 21 years took part in what is the blue riband event in the Scottish cross country calendar.

Amongst the 2200 entrants, a team of 11 Helensburgh athletes braved the cold and wet weather to tackle a course which started muddy and continued to deteriorate further as the day went on.

First up for Helensburgh was Katie Flett, running in the under-13 girls age group. She made the most of what turned out to be the best conditions of the day and ran a steady race and put in a strong sprint finish to complete the 3.2km course in 16.38.

The under-15 girls was the next race with Helensburgh interest. Chloe Murphy and Kara Bruce were having a close battle before Kara was forced to pull out through injury, leaving Chloe to finish the 4km course in 18.31.

As conditions continued to deteriorate, the combined under 17 and under 20 women’s race provided probably the most interesting battle of the day as far as the Helensburgh contingent was concerned.

Melissa Robinson was competing in the under-17 category, going head to head with her older sister Madeline who was competing in the under-20s. Both girls seemed to spur each other on and for almost the entire race there was little more than a couple of yards between them.

In the end it was Melissa who just held on through the finishing straight although both were credited with the same time of 19:24 for the 4.8km course. This also gave Melissa an excellent finishing position of 10th in the under-17 category.

Helensburgh’s only junior male competitor was Joe Barton who took part in the 6.4km under-17 race. With conditions underfoot getting ever more slippery, he did well to get round the course in a time of 26.37.

With the junior races completed, it was on to the seniors with both the male and female races containing many of the finest endurance runners competing in Scotland.

In the women’s race, the first home for Helensburgh was Natalie Stevenson who managed to navigate the 8km course in 33.11. She was followed in by Michelle Hetherington who completed the course in 36.14.

The final race of the day saw 800 men compete through 12km on a course which was now thick mud. Michael Sweeney quickest of the Helensburgh athletes and managed to complete the course in 48.07. He was followed in by Damien Theaker in 52.07, Joe Palmer in 54.45 and Derek Blount in 55.24.

The highest number of entrants in 21 years took part in what is the blue riband event in the Scottish cross country calendar.

Amongst the 2200 entrants, a team of 11 Helensburgh athletes braved the cold and wet weather to tackle a course which started muddy and continued to deteriorate further as the day went on.

First up for Helensburgh was Katie Flett, running in the under-13 girls age group. She made the most of what turned out to be the best conditions of the day and ran a steady race and put in a strong sprint finish to complete the 3.2km course in 16.38.

The under-15 girls was the next race with Helensburgh interest. Chloe Murphy and Kara Bruce were having a close battle before Kara was forced to pull out through injury, leaving Chloe to finish the 4km course in 18.31.

As conditions continued to deteriorate, the combined under 17 and under 20 women’s race provided probably the most interesting battle of the day as far as the Helensburgh contingent was concerned.

Melissa Robinson was competing in the under-17 category, going head to head with her older sister Madeline who was competing in the under-20s. Both girls seemed to spur each other on and for almost the entire race there was little more than a couple of yards between them.

In the end it was Melissa who just held on through the finishing straight although both were credited with the same time of 19:24 for the 4.8km course. This also gave Melissa an excellent finishing position of 10th in the under-17 category.

Helensburgh’s only junior male competitor was Joe Barton who took part in the 6.4km under-17 race. With conditions underfoot getting ever more slippery, he did well to get round the course in a time of 26.37.

With the junior races completed, it was on to the seniors with both the male and female races containing many of the finest endurance runners competing in Scotland.

In the women’s race, the first home for Helensburgh was Natalie Stevenson who managed to navigate the 8km course in 33.11. She was followed in by Michelle Hetherington who completed the course in 36.14.

The final race of the day saw 800 men compete through 12km on a course which was now thick mud. Michael Sweeney quickest of the Helensburgh athletes and managed to complete the course in 48.07. He was followed in by Damien Theaker in 52.07, Joe Palmer in 54.45 and Derek Blount in 55.24.