The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Marathon effort in prospect for Mackay
Athletics: Aberdeen runner eyes best time in Manchester
Two-time Scottish 10,000 metres track champion Will Mackay hopes to post the fastest time of his career when he competes in Sunday’s Manchester marathon.
The Aberdeen AAC runner’s best marathon performance came last October when he recorded 2hr 24min 51sec at Frankfurt.
Mackay, who won the Aberdeen Baker Hug hes and Balmoral 10km races last year, hopes to improve significantly on that time this weekend.
Mackay set a personal best half marathon time of 68:08 when winning the Kinloss to Losie mouth race in February and he has put in some solid crosscountry performances over the winter.
Aberdeen AAC’s opening track and field meeting of the outdoor season takes place on Sunday.
Athletes will take part in a wide range of events catering for all ages from under-11s to seniors at the Aberdeen Sports Village’s Chris Anderson track.
The competition opens at 1pm with a series of hurdles races and javelin and long jump competitions.
Places in the Aberdeen teams for the opening league matches of the summer will be up for grabs but the meeting is also open to members of any other club.
Entries will be taken on the day up to 60min before the start of each event.
The first Scottish Women’s League match of the summer is at Grangemouth on April 16 while there will be a Scottish Youth Development League fixture at Aberdeen Sports Village on April 23.
The Sports Village also hosts the first Scottish men’s league match of the campaign, with Aberdeen defending the title they have won for the past two years.
Caroline Marwick, of Inverness Harriers, bids for a fourth win in a row in the women’s division of the runners versus horses 27km race at Dores, near Inverness, on Sunday.
The Highland Cross duathlon champion is among the pre-entries but last year’s men’s champion, her clubmate Michael O’Donnell, has not confirmed whether he will run or not.
O’Donnell was one of four men to complete the course ahead of the first horse to pick up the Jacobite Warrior perpetual Quaich and a £100 prize.
Entries are still being taken for the Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland Glenlivet 10km which takes place on April 9 and is expected to attract a field of more than 500 competitors. Full details at www.theglenlivet10k.com
“Places in the Aberdeen teams will be up for grabs”