Great Britain junior international Anna Macfadyen showed she is heading back towards full fitness by finishing third in the senior women’s race at the final East of Scotland Cross-Country League match of the season at Broxburn.
The Forres Harriers club member, who comes from Kinloss, completed the snow-covered 5.4km route in 22min 18sec, while Lothian’s Jo Williams won in 21:39 and Central AC’s Catriona Buchanan was second in 21:59.
Macfadyen, who is a student at Edinburgh University, was first in the under-20 age group and she helped her student club win the team competition on the day but Central AC lifted the title for the season.
It was a gutsy performance from the 18-year-old, who only recently returned to training after a long lay-off.
She said: “I was off running for about eight weeks with a glute and hamstring problem. I was able to do some cycling, aqua jogging and swimming but I’ve only been back running for a week and a half.
“I wanted to get a race done just to see how I’d get on, so I started slowly as I wanted to be careful. It was difficult to push yourself in the snow but once I got going I was fine.
“I’m happy with the result and I’ll now start gradually building up my training again as I have some big races with the British universities and Scottish championships both in February.”
Metro Aberdeen’s Ginie Barrand also ran well to take fifth position in 22:50, while Anisha Badial led the way for Aberdeen AAC by finishing 15th, fifth under-20, in 23:31.
Will Mackay played a key role in helping Aberdeen AAC clinch second for the season in the men’s division of the league.
The two-time Scottish 10,000m track champion finished ninth from a field of 262, completing the 8.1km route in 28:53, while Fife AC’s Logan Rees won in 27:34.
Aberdeen AAC’s other scorers were Callum Symmons (11th,28:59), Myles Edwards (19th, 29:58), Aaron Odentz (38th, 30:58), Fraser Cruickshank (46th, 31:18) and Fearghas Thomson (47th, 31:21).
Aboyne Illuminator head torch race champion Sam Milton led Metro Aberdeen to sixth on the day and eighth for the season when finishing 25th in 30:14. The other counters were Tom Brian (40th, 31:00), Ben Ward (56th, 31:55), Nick Milovsorov (59th, 32:05), Steve Buchan (64th, 32:27) and Chris Richardson (79th, 33:16).
Aberdeen AAC’s Michael Watt (eighth), Jack Gillespie (ninth) and Adam Brown (12th) gave their club third in the under-17 boys’ race, while Finn Bryce (third), Rhys Crawford (eighth) and Finlay Mckay (24th) earned second position in the under-11 boys’ race.
