Fife Runners Excel In Berlin And Loch Ness Marathons

Three Fife AC runners competed in the BMW Berlin Marathon, one of the six Abbott World Major Marathons. Closer to home, four Fife runners completed the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon. In addition to this, seven Fife AC runners raced the Loch Ness Marathon sister event, the River Ness 10k.

Elsewhere, eight runners took part in the annual Linlithgow 10k, hosted by Linlithgow Athletic Club. Showing that Wizards are not just strong runners, club athlete Flora Louden competed in the Craggy Island Triathlon. Finally, the first event of the Fife AC and Kirkcaldy Wizards Winter Grand Prix took place. An astonishing eighty one runners, representing either Fife AC or the Kirkcaldy Wizards, ran the Kirkcaldy Parkrun in an effort to earn valuable Grand Prix points.

Fife AC's Iain Gourlay achieved a superb time of 3:44:52 in the Berlin Marathon. Fife AC athlete and coach Michaela McLean earned her fourth star in the Abbotts World Major series, by crossing the famous Straße des 17. Juni finish line, in a time of 4:01:04. In an effort to raise funds for Young Lives Versus Cancer, Kellyanne Muir completed the Berlin Marathon in a time of 4:02:37.

In the Scottish Highlands, Fife AC's Liam Hutson enjoyed a triumphant marathon run, as he conquered the event in 2:37:12. Club mate Daniel Hale was also in fine form, as he achieved a fantastic time of 3:00:54. There was also a strong run by Roger Rees, who crossed the finish line in 3:24:29. Kirkcaldy Wizard Jillian Stevenson competed in the Loch Ness Marathon for the second year in a row, showing grit and determination, to finish with a flourish in a majestic 4:36:56 time.

In the Loch Ness sister event, Fife AC's Logan Rees broke the course record in the River Ness 10k, with a blistering 28:52 finishing time. Club mate Rory Scott completed the race in a powerful 33:15 time. There were also sensational personal bests achieved by Fife AC pair Ben Kinninmonth (33:42) and Scott McClung (34:42). Additionally, there were impressuve race times achieved by Yulian Vasilev (36:29) and Halina Rees (39:57). Silviya Dimova-Vasileva showed grit and determination to complete the course in 1:10:53.

A highly anticipated event took place in the picturesque and historic town of Linlithgow, as the eponymous 10k road race was hosted by Linlithgow AC. The race has garnered a reputation as a testing and undulating course. Fife AC athlete Ruan Van Rensburg produced an excellent performance to complete the race in a blistering 36:07 time. Rising star Shannon Brown completed the race in 41:23, finishing as sixth female overall. There was also a strong performance by Fife AC runner Graeme Barker (47:24). Additionally, there was a successful day out for the Wizards quintet of Susan Young (56:27), Laura Roy (1:00:16), Ainsley Dryburgh (1:01:39), Jill ' Lady J' Watson (1:02:45) and Claire Jurecki (1:09:45).

Kirkcaldy Wizard Flora Louden competed in the Craggy Island Triathlon, which took place on the Hebridean island of Kerrera. The first stage of the event saw participants swimming 600m point to point around the Kerrera Marina. For the next stage, triathletes headed off to Gylen Castle, at the South end of the Island and completed a 16km cycle. The final stage of the event was a 8.5km trail run around the North End peninsula, which overlooks Dunollie Castle.

Louden completed her swim in 14:49 before transitioning from wetsuit to cycle gear in 5:27. She accomplished her cycle in 1:19:21, before a snappy transition of 1:52, saw her conclude the run in 1:02:35. This gave Louden an overall finishing time of 2:44:04 and saw her ranked in 217th position, a truly impressive performance.

Kirkcaldy Parkrun played host to the first event of the Winter Grand Prix. The top three males claiming maximum points, were Andrew Thomson (16:30), Thomas Gambino (16:50) and Ryan Gray (18:03), the latter two earning course PBs in the process. The three top ranked female runners were Fife AC youngster Katie Sandilands (19:00), course PB achieving Janet Dickson (19:13) and Hilary Ritchie (22:34). The top three male juniors were Marcas MacFarlane (18:42), Matthew Fisher (18:57) and Murray Kinnaird (24:35), while Isla Kinnaird (23:34) was the sole female junior competing.

In the male 40 age category ; Ryan Dunning (18:27), James Hall (18:46) and Andy Harley (19:39) were the top three men. Kasia Szafarz (23:00), Vikki Laing (23:10) and Michelle Johnstone (24:46) were the fastest three V40 females. In another competitive age category, the top three male 50 runners were Graeme McDowall (19:20), Stephen Dickson (19:35) and Hendrik van Rensburg (20:00). The top three female 50 runners were course PB achieving Sue Armstrong (24:57) and Karen Richards (26:09) in first and second and Shona Turner (26:11) in third.

In the male 60 category, Bryce Aitken was victorious with a superb 20:09 time, which saw Aitken claim a stupendous 83.21% age grade. Keith Bonthrone finished as second male 60, in a time of 24:54. Chris Murphy was the third male 60 in 25:48. Margaret Martin (23:40) was first in the female 60 age category, with Sandra Aitken (26:01) and Carol Batey (26:47), finishing second and third. It was a particularly noteworthy run for Batey, who set a new PB as well in the process.

The first male 70 runner was Tony Martin, who with an astonishing time of 21:03, claimed the highest age grade at Kirkcaldy Parkrun, with a score of 85.91%. Paul Sutherland (25:39) was the second male 70 runner and Keith Traill (29:13) finished as third male 70. Jocelyn Scott (30:31) was crowned first female 70. Margaret Cavanagh (37:06) finished as second female 70.

In addition to those earning podium rankings in the Grand Prix, a plethora of Fife AC and Kirkcaldy Wizards achieved new Kirkcaldy Parkrun personal bests. The following runners achieved course PBs ; Sam Fernando (18:04), Ryan Campbell-Hodge (19:33), Paul Harkins (20:11), Simon Jeynes (20:27), Alan Wise (24:24), Val Symon (25:33), junior Lewis Thomson (25:41), Mollie Turner (27:12), Gillian McDowall (27:33), Marie Godson (27:53), Lauren Bennett (27:59) and Ian Watters (29:23).

It proved to be a richly successful weekend for Fife runners, across a variety of events and distances.