Eilidh is aiming to take race in her stride

Western Isles athlete Eilidh Mackenzie hopes to add to her impressive record of five wins in the past eight years when she competes tomorrow.

Mackenzie takes part in the senior women’s race in the Scottish North District crosscountry championships at Gordonstoun.

The Stornoway Running Club member has raced only once since lifting her most recent title 12 months ago, and that was in last month’s Scottish 4km championships at Lanark racecourse where she finished 28th.

But her rivals should not expect the Invernessbased athlete to be rusty; she has shown in the past she can hit peak form just when it matters.

Mackenzie said: “I’m making something of a comeback. I’ve actually been training since the summer, steadily trying to build up some consistent running.

“I’ve been working on my strength and conditioning and I feel I’m heading in the right direction.

“I decided to run at Lanark because I needed to get into a race. There’s no substitute for competition and it brought me on a lot more than any training session would.

“It wasn’t pretty and I lost about eight places over the final couple of minutes, but it was just great to be back racing.

“Until Lanark I hadn’t competed since winning the North championship last November. For a while afterwards I wasn’t happy with my running but I’m back enjoying it.”

Other contenders for the title include Moray’s Kirstie Rogan who won the most recent North league race at Thurso; two-time former champion Mora Davie (Forres Harriers), Aviemore 10km winner Tammy Wilson (SJ Kintore Racing Club) and North 10km champion Gemma Cormack (Inverness Harriers).