A WEST FIFE athletics club are celebrating after picking up a one-two at a Scotland-wide event last Saturday.

Dunfermline-based PH Racing Club were in action at the Lindsays National XC (cross-country) Relays, which is hosted by scottishathletics, and returned home with a men’s masters gold medal, and a silver in the women’s event.

Held in Cumbernauld for the first time in three years, athletes took on an undulating 4k course, with the men’s senior and masters teams completing four legs, and the women’s masters and over-50s taking on three.

Roger Clark, who earlier this year claimed a World Masters Athletics Championships 4x400 metres relay gold medal, and was also eligible for the over-50s team, led the men’s side off and his time of 14 minutes and 25 seconds was bettered by only one athlete in the over-50 race.

Placed in sixth position, he then handed the reins over to team-mate Mark Ryan, who ran a second quicker to move PH up a further two places.

Andy Davis, the sole member of the team that had collected a bronze medal 12 months ago, ran the third leg and, after a fine lap of 14:09, had hauled them into a silver medal position before anchor runner, Ben Hukins, took on the final leg.

After a tremendous battle with athletes from Gala Harriers and Shettleston Harriers, who finished second and third respectively, Hukins brought PH home with a lap of 14:03 to clinch top spot and gold.

Earlier, the women’s masters team of Kristin Lownie, Anne Hartmann and Julie Menzies had posted PH’s first gong of the weekend with a hard-fought silver.

Running the opening leg, Lownie posted a time of 16:43 – despite almost losing her footwear in the mud that had developed across the course – and handed over to Hartmann in sixth position.

She bettered her team-mate’s time by 14 seconds to put the team into medal contention before captain Menzies embarked on the anchor leg.

An even quicker time of 16:06 saw her push the team into second place behind race winners, Garscube Harriers, and ahead of West End Road Runners, who won the bronze medal.

PH also fielded teams in the men’s senior and over-50 categories, and a masters ‘B’ team, with the seniors – Robert Sellar (15:08), Colin Somerville (16:05), Aaron Bennet (15:11) and Phil Waring (15:04) – finishing 56th out of 122 finishers.

The over-50s trio of Mark McLean, Johnny Cassells and Wright Beveridge finished 11th; the masters ‘B’ team of Stuart Meiklejohn, Michael Lindsay, Andrew Kinninmonth and Stuart Love placed 17th; while Louise Lessels and Clare Graham ran in the senior female race.