Last-gasp sprint seals schools title

There was a thrilling finish to the FOS Group secondary schools 2.5km at Balmoral on Saturday.

Josh Benton (Deeside Runners) outsprinted Ross Macmillan (Aberdeen AAC) to win by one second in 7min 31sec, while Calum Dempster was third in 7:40.

Emma Swanson (Banchory Stonehaven AC) won the girls’ title for the second year in a row when recording 8:24. Shannon Brown (Mearns Academy) was second in 8:51 and Caitlyn Christie finished third in 8:53.

Thomas Reynolds (Moray Road Runners) won the MPH primary schools boys’ race when completing the 1.5km course in 5:39.

Matthew Brown pipped his Banchory Stonehaven AC clubmate Adam Mckeown for second position by one second in 5:56.

Beth Collins (Dundee Hawkhill Harriers) was a clear winner of the girls’ contest when clocking 6:09 to finish 10 seconds ahead of Anna McNeill (Aberdeen AAC), while Hope Thomson was third in 6:34.

Braemar’s Fergus Wood retained his title in the TRAC three mile trail race in 20:24 while Mora Mcgovern won the women’s award in 23:23.

Aberdeen’s Alan Semple

Winning runs for Josh Benton and Emma Swanson

retained the men’s title in the Devil of Deeside Challenge in which competitors tackled all four adult races over the weekend. His cumulative time after 50km of running and 16km of cycling was 3hr 50min 49sec.

Portobello’s Johnny Lawson was runner-up in 3:54:02, while Harry Smith took third spot in 3:57:39.

Molly Ralphson (Trawden AC) won the women’s title in 4:53:51 after title-holder Kerry Prise dropped out nine miles into the 15-mile trail run.

Nicolle Hamilton was second in 5:05:33 and Sam Rendall (Deeside Runners) was third in 5:08:48.