Putting name in frame for national selection

Jason Kelly’s impressive victory in the Dee 33-mile ultra race has given the Metro Aberdeen runner the belief that a first Scotland international appearance is a realistic target over the next 12 months.

The 24-year-old finished well ahead of Edinburgh’s Neil Renault and Carnethy’s John Hammond, both of whom are scheduled to represent Scotland in May’s Anglo-Celtic Plate 100km at Boddington.

Kelly said: “I am looking at being competitive in ultras this year with a view to maybe getting a Scotland selection the following year. I’ve beaten two guys who are running for Scotland so that’s encouraging.

“There’s an open race at Boddington along with the international, so I’d like to do it if it’s still going to be on.

“I like that race a lot and it’s still one of my big targets”

“I feel a 100km road course would suit me as I definitely feel I’m stronger on the roads. I think today I proved to myself that I still have speed in my legs for races beyond the marathon distance.

“This performance today has certainly given me the motivation to go there and do my best. I’ll try to pip one or two of the international runners there to put my name in the frame for the future.”

Kelly also has ambitions to make his mark closer to home when he competes in the Lairig Ghru mountain marathon at the end of June.

He said: “I like that race a lot and it’s still one of my big targets for the year. It’s one I want to win at some point.

“In the meantime I’ll have an easy week to recover from the Dee 33 then get back into a solid block of training.”