Young athletes from both ends of the Western Isles converged on Benbecula this weekend for a “fantastic day” at the annual Western Isles Track and Field Championships.
More than 100 competitors aged between eight and 17 took part in the championships, being held outwith Stornoway and hosted by North Uist Amateur Athletics Club for the first time.
The North Uist athletes were joined by their peers from Stornoway Running and Athletics Club and Barra Running Club and all the clubs have thanked their volunteers and officials who were willing to travel with their squads and make the event happen.
CalMac have also been thanked for the part they played, by amending the timetable for the MV Glen Sannox ferry to allow the Stornoway squad to travel in time to participate.
There was an additional surprise in store for the squad on the Glen Sannox, as they bumped into television star Graham Norton on the ferry. The Irish comedian and talk show host was on holiday in Lewis and Harris and then Uist before heading back to Glasgow.
Some of the girls in the SRAC squad spoke with him and coach Willie MacRury told welovestornoway the comedian was “a lovely guy” and actually “very shy”.
In their post about the event on social media, Stornoway Running and Athletics Club said: “What a fantastic trip to Benbecula for the Western Isles Track & Field Championship hosted by our great friends North Uist Amateur Athletics Club.
“The team were lucky enough to sail on the brilliant new MV Glen Sannox from Tarbert to Lochmaddy thanks to the amazing CalMac staff.
“We were even lucky enough to bump into Graham Norton who very kindly took a group photo with the squad.
“We were also delighted to be joined by Barra Running Club making it a fantastic fun, friendly day of athletics for everyone.”
Custom gold, silver and bronze pin badges were awarded to the top three in each age group, event and gender from under 10 to under 18, with participation badges presented to everyone who took part “with such energy and enthusiasm”.
The club added: “A huge thank you to our coaches Annabel, Maureen, Caroline, Fiona, Gordon and Willie for taking the team down and supporting the athletes throughout the day.
“And a special mention to Dougie who, despite not travelling with the team, worked behind the scenes to organise all of our travel arrangements and bookings.
“Another brilliant athletics day – thank you to everyone who helped make it happen.”
Posting on their socials, North Uist AAC agreed it had been “a fantastic day of friendly competition” at the Lionacleit track.
North Uist noted the day had been “surprisingly sunny” with loads of great field performances and exciting races held throughout the day.
They said it was “great to see so many people coming along to watch the event” and gave a huge thanks to all the officials, volunteers, North Uist club sponsors Macaulay Askernish Ltd and photographer Chris MacLullich for capturing the action.
Barra Running Club noted it was a “brilliant day” with “lots of fantastic performances and plenty of placings for our Barra squad”, adding: “Very well done to everyone who competed”.
They thanked their volunteers for travelling with and accompanying the squad, North Uist AAC for hosting and ClubSport Uist and Barra for the travel grant.
