Glenrothes athlete Thomson awarded veteran athlete prize

Glenrothes athlete John Thomson receiving his veteran athlete of the year prize from the Scottish Highland Games Association, from sports journalist Sandy Sutherland who was the guest speaker for the evening.

Glenrothes veteran athlete John Thomson was among the main award winners when the Scottish Highland Games Association in conjunction with the Fife Highland Games Association held their annual Awards Dinner in the Gilvenbank Hotel, Glenrothes.

Thomson was the recipient of the Veteran Athlete of the Year award.

No one currently competing on the Games circuit has won more races than John, who has been doing it consistently for over 40 years.

However, if you had told him at the start of the season he would win this award he would have given you good odds.

Any success for the Fife AC athlete has been a bonus. For a couple of years it was in doubt if he would ever compete again with injury keeping him off the tracks. He doggedly battled back and, on the opening day of the season, he ran a satisfactory race finishing in third place in the 1600 metres at Blackford.

He filled similar positions at both Ceres and Thornton before going on to win at Burntisland. He ended the campaign in style with wins at Birnam and Braemar and also performed with credit in the World Masters Championships in Malaga.

Over the years he has been a frequent visitor to compete Down Under in Australia and plans to return at the end of the year.

Amongst the other winners, Ewen Bradley won the Scottish Highland Games athlete of the year, gaining 180 top three finishes in 200 different events.

Heavy event athlete of the year went to Polish athlete Lukasz Wenta from East Kilbride, while Kyle Randalls from Falkirk enjoyed his best ever season finishing in fourth place and top Scot in the heavies league.