The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Strachan and clubmates in fine form over Elsick estate course
Athletics:
Cameron Strachan’s successful recent tour of north-east road races continued when he scored an emphatic victory in the inaugural Chapelton of Elsick 10km which attracted a field of more than 200 runners to the expanding new community on the southern outskirts of Aberdeen.
The Metro Aberdeen athlete set a course record time in the Peterhead 5km last month before going on to notch a clear-cut win in the Westhill 10km.
He completed his hattrick of local victories by completing the undulating route around the magnificent Elsick estate and surrounding countryside in 34min 35sec.
It’s well outside his best of 33:03 set when finishing second behind Myles Edwards in the Aberdeen Beach 10km earlier in the season, but Strachan was happy with the outcome.
He said: “It’s a very tough course but it’s really nice and I’d definitely come back and do it again. I’m pleased with the result although it’s obviously not close to my best time.
“I was on my own after the first 1.5km but that was fine. There’s a long hill at about 8km which was a bit of a slog but after that it was fine.
“My focus for the next couple of months will be to try to get faster times. I really like local events like this one at Elsick, but I need to get into faster races where I can try to get under 33 minutes.
“So I’ve entered the Paisley 10km and the Great Aberdeen Run 10km, both in August, and the Scottish championship 10km at Stirling in September.”
Strachan led his Metro clubmates to domination of the podium positions, with Phil Edgely taking second position in 36:32 while Jim Tole picked up the over-40s title when taking third spot in 37:08.
Richard Horne won the over-50s prize when finishing seventh overall in 39:20, with another Metro runner, George McPherson, the first over-60 and 13th overall in 42:20.
Sarah Milne was delighted to achieve the first open race victory of her running career when leading home the women’s field in 43:14.
She said: “Although it’s not my fastest time I am very happy given the nature of the course. It’s a lovely route, but very tough because of the hills. I had been round it twice before but this is the fastest I have run it, so that’s good.
“It was great to see such a good turnout for the race and hopefully it will grow in the future.”
Milne’s Metro clubmate Hazel Wyness, who included the 10km as part of an 18-mile training run, collected the over-40s prize when finishing second in 45:27, while Aberdeenbased Laura Sorrie was third in 47:37.
Rosey Leiper (Metro Aberdeen) was the first over-60, in 53:54, and Karen Stephen (Stonehaven) was top in the over-50s in 54:05.
“It’s a very tough course but it’s really nice and I’d definitely do it again”
Stroma Fraser (Inverness Harriers) recorded personal best performances in the 70m hurdles (11.61sec) and shot (7.80m) on her way to winning the under-13 girls’ pentathlon title in the Scottish combined events championships at Grangemouth.
She also produced strong results in the high jump (1.45m),long jump (4.85m) and 800m (2:27.40) when putting together a total score of 2,805, which is a championship record.
Aberdeen AAC’s Angela Kelly picked up bronze with 2,434 after setting personal bests in the shot (10.37) and 800 (2:47.66).
Daniel McFarlane collected bronze in the men’s decathlon, scoring 5,165 despite being unable to finish the final
“Personalbests onthewayto under-13girls’ pentathlontitle”
event, the 1,500m. There was also disappointment for north athletes in the under-20 men’s decathlon when medal contenders Robbie Farquhar (Aberdeen AAC) and Andre McFarlane (Ross County) both failed to complete the competition.
William Hodi (Nairn) and Alister Mackay (Ross County) hit top form to take silver and bronze respectively in the under-15 boys’ pentathlon won by Aiden Brindley (North Ayrshire) with a score of 2,627 points.
Hodi achieved personal bests in all five events when finishing second with 2,300. He completed the 80m hurdles in 12.61sec, the 800 in 2:27.48, threw 8.85m in the shot, and cleared 1.57m in high jump and 5.33m in long jump. Mackay set his best points tally of 2,211 and scored a personal best of 12.98 in the 80m hurdles. His other results were shot (9.65m), high jump (1.54m), long jump (4.96), and 800m (2:27.88).