Lost in France: Route error agony for Robbie

Great Britain mountain running international Robbie Simpson refused to blame a navigational error for costing him victory in the Orsières-Champex-Chamonix 55km race at the prestigious Ultra Trail Mont Blanc running festival.

The Banchory athlete had to settle for second position after a thrilling Alpine battle with Norwaybased fellow Brit Jonathan Albon.

Albon, the 2019 world trail running champion, completed the high altitude route, which includes 3,500 metres of climbing, in a record time of 5hr 2min 57sec.

Simpson was also inside the old mark when clocking 5:05:35, while Sweden’s Petter Engdhal took third position in 5:08:31.

The Deeside athlete was some 90sec ahead of the eventual winner after 35km, but then had to make up lost ground after taking an unfortunate detour.

He said: “I went the wrong way on the second long downhill section when I was leading by around 90 seconds. I got to a point where there was a very sharp right turn. I was pretty sure it was the way to go, but there wasn’t a marker there so I kept heading straight on.

“After a while, I realised I was on the wrong course and I could hear people cheering for Jon lower down the track, so by then I realised he was quite a bit ahead.

“I tried to find my way back on to the course, but went straight over the edge of a steep slope, slid down and cut my arm.

“By now I was 90 seconds behind him and I had to work pretty hard and dig deep to make up the time, but I caught up after a few kilometres.”

The effort in closing the gap combined with the fatigue expected in the closing stages of such a long and demanding race, then began to take a toll on Simpson and Albon was able to edge away to claim victory.

Simpson said: “I ran out of energy gels during the final hour and there were none available at any of the aid stations.

“My legs buckled and at one point I didn’t think I’d make it to the end. But I knew there was a podium place at stake, so I managed to keep it going.

“I don’t think taking the wrong turn affected the outcome. The only difference was that I would have been ahead for longer than I was.

“I think he would still have caught me on the final descent as I was really struggling.”

Also at the UTMB festival, Oldmeldrum’s Meryl Cooper finished sixth in the women’s division of the 101km race between Courmayeur and Chamonix.

The Great Britain trail running international recorded 14:18:49 for a route which includes 6,100m of climbing.

Spain’s Marta Molist Codina won in 12:50:48.

Nairn’s Will Hodi struck double gold when competing in the 4J Studios Scottish under-20 championships at Aberdeen Sports Village.

The 17-year-old national decathlon champion won the 400m hurdles in a personal best 56.52sec, before going on to take the triple jump with a clearance of 13.23m. Aaron Kerr (Inverness Harriers) was third in the triple jump (10.66).

Rachel MacLennan (Inverness Harriers) topped off a successful summer by winning her first Scottish hammer title.

The Robert Gordon University student threw 49.46 in her final competition of a season in which she has broken the Inverness club record six times and won her first Scotland vest.

There was also gold for Aberdeen AAC’s Jane Davidson, who clocked 14.62 in the 100m hurdles.

Scottish under-17 champion Kai Crawford (Aberdeen AAC) stepped up an age group to earn 800m silver with a time of 1:54.21, while Elgin’s Kyle Wilkinson achieved a PB of 6.82 for second position in the long jump.

There was double silver for Alister Mackay (Inverness Harriers), who threw a PB 42.10 in the javelin and cleared 12.04 in the shot.

He was fourth in the discus (37.26).

BETTER BY A DISTANCE: Simpson takes silver in the Sierre Zinal but it could have been gold in the prestigious Chamonix 55km.