Perth runners are hailed on big night
Championship winners with Sonjia Crow and Michael McConnell pictured centre Perth Road Runners hailed the achievements of members this week at the annual awards presentation night.
The event, held at the Royal George hotel and rounded off with a ceilidh led by local band Can You Reel It, witnessed Sonjia Crow and Michael McConnell pick up the prizes for overall Club Championship winners.
A record 28 runners completed the championship, which involved completing seven from a series of ten races, varying in length from five miles to half marathon.
Elsewhere at the awards, Julie Ramsay and Stuart Robertson triumphed in the summer series. The challenging“hills are alive series”was won by Crow and Stewart Reid.
Also presented on the night were T-shirts to the 46 club members who completed the marcothon event, which involved running at least 5km or 25 minutes every day in December.
The group ran an incredible combined total of 5999 miles during the challenge.
There was no rest for the club, however, as seven hardy runners travelled to Angus to take on the tough Forfar half marathon.
The route comprised a variety of running surfaces including roads, trail and a boggy section with icy water as much as knee deep. Stuart Robertson was first green vest home in fourth place overall with a time of 1:23:48.
Kevin Rogers was ninth in 1:28:20, Richard Ward recorded 1:37:43, followed by Ewan Jelly in 1:58:35. Bob Brown finished in a time of 2:02:11 and was first in the over 70 category. Peter Ritchie completed the men’s line up in 2:07:00.
Gillian Smith was the sole female club representative and she completed the course in 2:07:42. It was a successful outing for the club with the men’s team being awarded second prize overall.
The running action had begun with pacer day at Perth Parkrun. Nine road runners took on pacing duties covering times from 19 to 31 minutes to assist other park runners in chasing new personal best times.
Another 27 green vests took part in the run, with David Knight first home in a field of 249 runners in 17:33, while Caroline Jones was second female overall in 20:07.
Kevin Riddell finished third in a field of 280 runners at Livingston in a time of 18:25.
The usual club meet is Tuesday at Bells Sports Centre for a 6.30pm start. All new runners welcome.