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Gary Grieve was the star performer at the BANK OF SCOTLAND U13/U15 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, winning the bronze medal in the Under 15 Boys 800m. Having already won his heat in a time of 2mins 10.80secs, he qualified comfortably for the final where he ran a time of 2mins 09.98secs, improving his personal best by over 7secs.

In the Under 13 age group, Kyle Nicholson had a busy day, finishing 6th in the heat of the 100m in a time of 14.49secs, only narrowly missing out in a place in the final. He then moved onto the 200m, finishing 5th in his heat with a time of 29.59secs, and then in the final he finished in 8th place in a time of 29.96secs.

In the Girls Under 13 age group, Laurie-Anne McKenna finished 4th in her 100m heat in a time of 14.59secs, narrowly missing a place in the final. She then went on to finish 9th in the Long Jump with a jump of 3m78cm.

The first night of the SUNDAY MAIL NATIONAL SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS saw two of the clubs athletes travel through to Scotstoun to take part in the premier competition of the season. First up was Tony Cunningham who finished 3rd in his heat of the 100m in a time of 11.31, qualifying for the semi-final in the process. However, in the semi-final Tony could only manage 8th place in a time of 11.33secs, thus failing to make the final. The 5000m saw Alaister Russell, a past winner of the event, compete however it was not to be his night. Alaister struggled badly after the first couple of laps and held on to finish in 14th place with a time of 15mins 54.55secs.

The second day of the SUNDAY MAIL NATIONAL SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS saw a Gold medal being won by Ian Murdoch in the 1500m with a time of 3mins50.07secs. This has to be a remarkable achievement given that it was only a short time ago that he broke a bone in his foot. Although not winning a medal, Graeme Ferguson broke his five year old club record in the Shot Putt, with a throw of 12m 53cm to finish in 5th place. Finally, Stephen Backer finished 6th in the 400m Hurdles with a new personal best of 59.27secs

Three athletes travelled through to Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow to compete in the GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL OPEN GRADED. The best placed on the night was Alaister Russell who finished 2nd in the 3,000m in a time of 9mins 06:47secs. In the middle distance events Lesley Haig finished in 5th place in her race with a time of 2mins 25:34secs, narrowly missing out on another club record. Finally Tony Cunningham finished 6th in the 200m with a time of 23.15secs.

Ian Murdoch travelled down to Birmingham to compete in the NORWICH UNION WORLD TRIALS & AAAs CHAMPIONSHIPS. Competing in the heats of the 1500m, Ian narrowly failed to make the final, finishing in 3rd place in a time of 3mins 50.89secs, missing out by a mere 7/10ths of a second.

Alaister Russell finished in 5th place at the SCOTTISH ATHLETICS NATIONAL 10,000m CHAMPIONSHIPS, running a time of 34mins 06.6secs.

Three athletes headed westwards to compete in the BARR BRADY HELENSBURGH HALF MARATHON. Gordon Douglas was the first from the club to finish in 40th position with a time of 1hr 25mins 57secs with Jim Rowley finishing just over 3 mins behind in a time of 1hr 28mins 59secs in 59th position. David McLeary brought the trio home in 77th position with a time of 1hr 32mins 32secs.

Ian Murdoch made the trip across the water to compete in the 4th DUBLIN INTERNATIONAL GAMES at the Santry Stadium in Dublin. Competing in a high class field in the MORTON MILE, Ian narrowly missed the magical 4 minute barrier, finishing in 4mins 03:19secs in 6th position.

The last match of the CENTRAL & SOUTH SCOTLAND ATHLETIC LEAGUE saw the club travel through to Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow. The team once again performed consistently well finishing third on the day and third overall. As a result the club will remain in Division 2 for next season. Final placings were as follows

	3rd Match				After 3 Matches
1st	Falkirk Victoria	1246	8	1st	Falkirk Victoria	23
2nd	City of Edinburgh	1104.5	7	2nd	City of Edinburgh	21
3rd	Law & District	1066	6	3rd	Law & District	17
4th	Victoria Park	1029.5	5	4th	Kirkintilloch	14
5th	Kirkintilloch	1004	4	5th	Lasswade	11
6th	Livingston & Dist	915	3	6th	Livingston	9
7th	Dunfermline & W F	783	2	7th	Victoria Park	8
8^th	Lasswade	670	1	8^th	Dunfermline & W F	5

The final championship event of the season saw four of the youngsters travel through to Grangemouth to compete in the BANK OF SCOTLAND UNDER 17 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Graham Martin was the busiest on the day, competing in both the 400m hurdles and the High Jump, where he finished 8th with a time of 72.09secs and a 10th with a clearance of 1m 50cm respectively. In the 800m Craig Struthers narrowly missed out on a place in the final, finishing 5th in his heat with a time of 2mins 04.32secs. The women's event saw Nikki Christie finish in 8th place with a time of 2mins 44.09secs. Finally, David Martin jumped a distance of 11m 50cm to finish in 6th place in the Triple Jump.

Steven Lawley changed events and took part in the CRAIGENGOWER HILL RACE at Straiton in Ayrshire. Competing over a 3 mile course and climbing 3000ft, Steven adapted well to the terrain finishing in 2nd place with a time of 18mins 50secs.

The SHETTLESTON HARRIERS OPEN GRADED MEETING saw three of the club's athletes make the short journey through to Coatbridge. Alaister Russell got back to winning ways, winning the 5000m in a time of 15mins 16.4secs. The Senior Men's 100m saw Alan Milroy finish in 2nd place with a time of 12.0secs. Finally Craig Strachan finished in 9th place in the first heat of the 800m just missing his PB with a time of 2mins 04.6secs.

The summer evening road race season drew two of the club athletes to Kilmarnock to compete in the JOHNNIE WALKER KILMARNOCK HARRIERS 10k ROAD RACE. David McLeary finished in 24th place with a time of 38mins 23secs with Willie Drysdale finishing 112th in a time of 54mins 28secs.

Alaister Russell made the trip through to Scotstoun Stadium to compete in the BRITISH MILERS GRAND PRIX. Running in the 3,000m Alaister finished 7th with a time of 8mins 55.78secs.

In what was a busy weekend for Law athletes, David McLeary finished 49th in the PAISLEY VISION 10k ROAD RACE with a time of 37mins 19secs.

The GLASGOW GREAT SCOTTISH RUN saw Gordon Douglas and David McLeary travel through to Glasgow to take part in Scotland's biggest half marathon. Gordon got the better of David on this occasion finishing in 137th place with a time of 1hr 24mins 31secs, with David in 153rd place with a time of 1hr 25mins 19secs.

With the track season drawing to a close the annual CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS took place at a breezy Wishaw Sports Centre. There was fierce competition throughout the day in all age groups with the eventual winners receiving certificates for their efforts. Trophies for the championships will be presented to members at the annual Presentation/Disco night on Saturday 8th November. A special thanks to the L&L Track Club athletes who accepted the invitation to compete and also to all the parents who helped out during the afternoon.

Four of the clubs athletes made the short trip to Strathclyde Park in Motherwell to take part in the ST ANDREWS HOSPICE 10k ROAD RACE. Steven Lawley finished in 13th place with a time of 34mins 54secs with David McLeary next to finish in 34th place with a time of 37mins 41. Finishing exactly a minute later was Gordon Douglas in 46th place with Jim Rowley, suffering from a chest infection finishing in 73rd place with a time of 40mins 08secs.

Two of the club's athletes made the trip to the Royal Burgh of Linlithgow to compete in the BP LINLITHGOW 10k ROAD RACE. Still recovering fro injury, Alan Ramage completed the course in 37mins 32secs to take 31st place with Gordon Douglas not far behind in 48th with a time of 38mins 13secs.

The first championship of the Winter season saw the SCOTTISH ATHLETICS JUNIOR ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIPS take place at Rouken Glen. The club only had representatives in the Under 17 age group, with Lorna Gray and Nikki Christie having a close race in the women's race. Lorna finally got the better of Nikki, finishing 17secs and one place ahead of Nikki in a time of 22mins 32secs. In the Men's event Ross Penny finished in 32nd place with a time of 18mins 22secs with Craig Strachan finishing in 38th place with a time of 18mins 58secs.

The first cross country event of the season saw only one team compete in the WEST DISTRICT CROSS COUNTRY RELAYS at Strathclyde University Playing Fields in Stepps. The team which included an Under 13, an Under 15 and Under 17 finished in 16th place overall. The first leg saw Ross McDonald finish in 14th position with a time of 9mins 30secs, with second leg runner, Gary Grieve, dropping back to 18th place with a time of 9mins 45secs. It was then left to Craig Strachan to bring the team home in 16th place with a lap time of 8mins 54secs.

An enthusiastic turnout of athletes at Drumpellier Park for the LANARKSHIRE ROAD RELAYS produced several medals for the Club.

The Under 13 boys team of Billy Clarkson, Ross McDonald and Kyle Nicholson put up a good performance but narrowly missed out on a medal with fourth place. However, the superb performance on the day of the Under 17 boys team of Ross Penny, Graham Martin and Craig Strachan brought their team home in first place.

Meanwhile, the huge interest shown by the Club’s junior girls allowed the Club to put forward two teams in the under 13,15 and 17 combined age group race. Both teams did well for the club and gained second and fourth place. Brave individual performances on the day were made by L Nicholson and C Habblet in the Under 11 age group and G Brown in the Under 17 group.

Willie Drysdale was the sole athlete to travel through to Glasgow to take part in the GLASGOW UNIVERSITY 5m ROAD RACE. Willie finished 317th with a time of 45mins 00secs.

The main event of the social calendar saw over 100 club members gather in Carluke for the 35th Annual Presentation and Disco night. Long serving coach, Dougie Forrest, was on hand to present the championship winners with their well deserved trophies. Following on was the special awards which went to

Jim Thomson Cup (fastest 1500m by an Under 15 boy) - GARY GRIEVE
David Fairweather Trophy (Best Sprinter in Scottish Champs) - STEPHEN BACKER
David Fairweather Trophy (Best Distance Runner in Scottish Champs) - IAN MURDOCH
Field Event Trophy (Best Field Eventer in Scottish Champs) - LAURIE-ANNE MCKENNA
West Norfolk Trophy (Best Performance in Scottish Cross Country) - NIKKI CHRISTIE

Ian returned from a broken foot at the beginning of 2003 to win the 1500m at both the West District and National Championships. He represented Scotland on several occasions and only narrowly missed the magical 4min mile barrier at the Dublin International Games.

Laurie was of over 250 kids who came along to the club's highly successful "Come & Try" in the spring of 2002. Immediately, the coaches saw the potential in Laurie and she was one of a bunch who continued after the event had finished. Throughout the remainder of 2002 she competed in all the leagues and some cross country events. In 2003 she attended her first Championship event at the West District Indoors where she finished 5th in the Under 13s 60m. In the outdoors she finished 7th in the Under 13s 100m with a PB of 14.42secs and then narrowly missed a medal in the Long Jump by a mere 2cm, again with a PB of 4.06cm.

With the first round of the Club Championships taking place a large contingent of athletes travelled through to the East to compete in the LASSWADE CROSS COUNTRY RACES. The highlight of the day was in the Senior Men's race where Alaister Russell romped home to record a fine victory winning in 31mins 08secs, 10secs ahead of second place. The win brought back many memories for Alaister who has had many fine victories over the Lasswade course since he joined the club over 20 years ago.

This was the first cross country event for many of the youngsters and there were a number of encouraging performances throughout the day. In the Under 11 boys 1 mile race D Hassan finished in 31st place with a time of 7mins 14secs, a couple of places ahead of C McKeown in 7mins 43secs. The Under 13s 2 mile race saw another two athletes from the club represented with Ross McDonald finishing in 15th place with a time of 13mins 08secs and Billy Clarkson finishing in 24th place with a time of 13mins 57secs. The Under 17 event only saw Ross Penny compete, finishing 10th with a time of 22mins 30secs for the 3.75mile course.

Once again, the young girls came out in numbers with five taking part in the Under 11s 1mile race. First to finish was Megan Gray in 15th place with a time of 7mins 24ecs. Gwen Morris was next to finish in 26th place with a time of 8mins 39secs, just ahead of Courtney Gunn in 27th place in a time of 8mins 43secs. It was also a close battle for the remaining two athletes with Cherise McGarrein just getting the better of Alison Logue to finish 32nd and 33rd respectively. The Under 13s 2mile race saw seven athletes from the club represented with K Appleton coming home in 26th place with a time of 15mins 34secs. Again there was a close battle to follow with Fiona Parkin finishing in 30th place with a time of 15mins 55secs, only 1 sec and one position ahead of Emma Clarkson. M Cunningham was next home in 38th place with a time of 17mins 29secs with N McGuigan finishing in 40th place with a time of 17mins 59secs. Bringing home the team were A Gordon in 42nd place with a time of 18mins 27secs and M Kain in 43rd place in a time of 18mins 41secs. The Under 17 Women's event saw Lesley Haig finish in 20th place in a time of 21mins 42secs for the 3mile course and Nikki Christie finish in 21st place in a time of 21mins 58secs. The Senior Women's event saw Karen Stevenson and Heather Russell make a return to Cross Country running, with Heather finishing in 41st place, one place and 1 sec ahead of Karen.

Two of the veteran athletes travelled through to East Kilbride to compete in the HUGH WILSON MEMORIAL 10k ROAD RACE. Jackie Gourlay was fist to finish in 55th place with a time of 39mins 08secs with Ian Donnelly finishing in 62nd place in a time of 39mins 44secs.

The second round of the Club Cross Country Championships for the youngsters saw them make the short journey to Drumpellier Park in Coatbridge to take part in the KIRKINTILLOCH OLYMPIANS CROSS COUNTRY RACES.

Pride of place went to Gary Grieve, who competing in the Under 15s race, finished in 3rd place with a time of 11mins 03secs, narrowly missing out on first by a mere 9secs. Stewart Livingston finished in 19th place with a time of 12mins 54secs. The Under 13 boys race only saw one club athlete involved, Ross McDonald finishing in 19th place with a time of 13mins 08secs. The Under 17 race saw Ross Penny and Craig Strachan finish 10th and 11th respectively, with Ross finishing in a time of 25mins 34secs, 35secs ahead of Craig.

The girls races also had a poorer turnout than the last race with the Under 11 age group only having two athletes represented. Gwen Morris was first to finish in 25th place with a time of 8mins 52secs with Alison Logue next in 32nd place with a time of 9mins 54secs. Again the Under 15s had two representatives with Ashley McReadie finishing a very creditable 8th with a time of 13mins 39secs and Rachel Paterson finishing in 20th in a time of 15mins 22secs. The Under 17 Women's race saw Lorna Gray get the better of Nikki Christie, with Lorna finishing in 5th place with a time of 22mins 29secs and Nikki finishing in 6th place with a time of 23mins 39secs.

Finally, although not counting as a championship race, the Senior Men also came out to compete over the 6 mile course. Steven Lawley was the first to finish in 12th place with a time of 36mins 33secs with Gordon Douglas next in 16th place with a time of 38mins 47secs. A close battle was had between David McLeary and Jim Rowley with David just getting the better of Jim by 7 secs, finishing in 20th place with a time of 39mins 38secs. Finally, Willie Drysdale finished 31st in a time of 57mins 20secs.

The Club Championships returned to Coatbridge again, this time for the LANARKSHIRE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS. On a day when the rain poured down continuously there were many fine performances. The girls took centre stage with four individual medals being won on the day. The Under 11 girls saw Megan Gray pick up the first medal for the club, finishing in 3rd place with a time of 4mins 15secs. The Under 13 girls, although no individual medals, all packed well together to gain the silver medal in the team competition. Fiona Parkin was 7th with a time of 11mins 17secs, R Flynn was 9th in 11mins 47secs and bringing the team home was Emma Clarkson in 11th place with a time of 11mins 52secs. The Under 15s saw another bronze medal being won, this time by Ashleigh McCreadie in a time of 15mins 05secs. Claire Stewart finished in 4th place with a time of 15mins 35secs. Finally the Under 17s brought two medals back with Lorna Gray finishing in 2nd place with a time of 21mins 18secs and Nikki Christie finished in 3rd place with a time of 22mins 20secs. Suzanne Chalmers finished just outside the medals in 4th place with a time of 23mins 28secs.

The top performance in the men's races came from Steven Lawley who finished 3rd in the Senior race with a time of 34mins 59secs. The remainder of the team all packed well enough to earn them the silver medal in the team competition. Jimmy McDonald finished in 12th place with a time of 38mins 22secs, exactly 30 secs and one place ahead of Gordon Douglas. J McGregor was next to finish in 16th place with a time of 39mins 42secs with Jim Rowley finishing a minute later in 18th place. Pat Kelly brought the team home in 21st place with a time of 44mins 15secs. The Under 11 boys race saw A McAllister finish in 11th place with a time of 4mins 36secs. The Under 13 race also saw some good packing with Ross McDonald finishing in 11th place with a time of 14mins 14secs, Billy Clarkson in 14th place with a time of 14mins 41secs and finally A Collins in 19th place with a time of 15mins 34secs. Graham Martin was the only club athlete to compete in the Under 17s, finishing in 6th place with a time of 25mins 36secs.

With the Winter weather making training difficult a handful of male athletes travelled in to the Kelvin Hall Indoor Arena to take part in the GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL OPEN GRADED MEETING. Craig Strachan competed in two events during the evening, running a time of 26.15secs in the second heat of the 200m before clearing a height of 1m 55cm in the High Jump. The High Jump competition also saw Graham Martin clear the same height. The Triple Jump saw David Martin jump 11m 29cm and the 1500m saw Ross Penny run 4mins 47.05secs.

With the festive season in full swing the athletes took part in the club's annual CHRISTMAS PUDDING RELAYS at Loch Park Stadium. After a very competitive and fun filled race the final placings were as follows

Laurie-Anne McKenna ran her last race of 2003 when she took part in the second GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL OPEN GRADED MEETING. Competing over two rounds of the 60m, Laurie-Anne recorded a 9.25secs, a time which was just outside her PB, in the first round and a 9.30 in the second round.



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