The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Strachan is looking to keep form for Falkirk
● Metro Aberdeen man aims for first championship medal
Cameron Strachan hopes to add to his growing list of achievements when he competes in the Lindsays Scottish crosscountry championships senior men’s race at Falkirk on Saturday.
The Metro Aberdeen runner showed outstanding form when becoming the first north-east athlete to crack the 14-minute barrier for 5km eight days ago, clocking 13:58 at the Armagh international road races on an evening when he also helped Scotland win the team competition.
Now he is aiming to pick up his first Scottish championship medal after a few near-misses on the road and track over the past year.
He said: “My Armagh run has given me a lot of confidence but there will be a lot of good guys at Falkirk. However, I need to start getting championship medals. That’s the next thing I need to achieve.
If I feel as good as I did at Armagh, I’ll be ready for it. I just need to run as hard as I can and we’ll see what happens.”
Caithness athlete Andy Douglas, who represents Inverclyde AC, has struck silver twice and bronze once in this competition over eight seasons, but is playing down his chances of adding to that tally.
The 2019 World Cup mountain-running race series champion said: “I’m looking forward to it after missing out last year through injury. Hopefully I’m in good enough shape to be competitive and help Inverclyde challenge for a team medal, but I need to temper my expectations.
“I just haven’t really had the consistency with training that I would have liked since January as I’ve picked up the odd viral or chest infection. It’ll be nice, though, just to be on that start line and soak up the great atmosphere again.”
S e a n C h a l m e r s (Inverness Harriers), who won the Scottish interdistrict title ahead of Strachan and Douglas in January, misses out as he is recovering from an ankle injury.
Mhairi Maclennan’s hopes of winning the senior women’s title for the second time in three years have been dented by a bout of bronchitis.
The Inverness Harriers runner said: “I’ve had bronchitis on and off for a long time and it returned about three weeks ago, so I’ve had antibiotics again.
“I’m getting tests to see if there’s any underlying problem. My immune system has certainly taken a knock.
“I’m going into it knowing my preparation has been far from ideal, but I still want to give it a shot as it’s a race that means a lot to me.”
Fiona Brian (Metro Aberdeen) will hope for another strong performance as will North District league champion Gemma Cormack (Inverness Harriers).