Scotland cross country international Sean Chalmers hopes his impressive victory in the Baxters River Ness 10k will set him up for a successful winter season.
The Aberdeen-based PE teacher is targeting a good performance in the Great Britain European cross country championship trials at Liverpool in November before making his marathon debut early in the New Year.
Chalmers overcame testing conditions to win the Inverness race ahead of a field of 1230 runners in 30min 15secs.
He said: “I realised it was very windy in the first 2k and thought about tucking in, but felt the pace might be too slow. So, I decided to push on hard enough so that no-one would be able to sit in behind me.
“I opened up a 10m gap right away and from that point it was a solo run, which made it a hard graft. It was fine in the middle stages with the wind behind and I was able to push on, but when I turned back into the wind for the final stretch I realised I was spent. So, it was a case of settling for the win rather than chasing a fast time.
“I’m now going to take a short break before building up again. I might do the Scottish short course cross country championships before going to Liverpool in November. After that I’ll be into a block of marathon training with the possibility of making my debut at Seville in February.”
Fraserburgh’s Max Abernethy was also in fine form at Inverness, finishing second in a personal best time of 30:58.
It was a big improvement from two years ago when, in better weather conditions, he was sixth in 32:02.
He said: “Overall, the wind wasn’t as bad as I expected, although it was really tough towards the end as I was on my own virtually the whole way. But I’m very happy with second position and chuffed with the time as it’s a big PB.”
There were also PBs for Ewan Davidson (Moray Road Runners), who finished third in 31:24, and Scotland 100k international Jason Kelly (Metro Aberdeen), who was fourth in 31:29.
Donnie Macdonald (Inverness Harriers) was first over-40, 11th overall, in 33:02, while Gareth Jenkins (Moray Road Runners) lifted the over-50s prize in 34:33 and Alex Sutherland (Inverness Harriers) was the leading over-70 in 45:59.
Meanwhile, the top north performance in the Baxters Loch Ness marathon came from Skye and Lochalsh runner Mark MacDonald, who finished eighth in 2:43:04, while Corstorphine’s Stuart Livingstone won in a PB 2:32:21.
There was also success in the age group divisions for David Morrison (Metro Aberdeen), who led home the over-60s in 3:23:03 and Highland-based Timothy Kirk (Kidderminster), who was first over-70 in 3:51:59.
Keith looking for more success after River Ness 10k win
Great Britain junior international Megan Keith (Inverness Harriers) is, along with clubmate Sean Chalmers, aiming for a strong cross country campaign after an impressive winning performance in the Baxters River Ness 10k.
The Edinburgh University sports science student recorded 34min 22secs, a time bettered by only 15 men. The windy conditions meant she was unable to take the course record of 33:46 set by Kenya’s Cathy Mutwa in 2006, but her time is still the second quickest in the 17-year history of the 10k.
She said: “It was a tough one. I went through 5k at a decent clip, but struggled towards the end when I was on my own again. I think I was on track for sub-34min until the final kilometre, but I just couldn’t keep the momentum going into the wind.
“Now I’m concentrating on the cross country season with the British Challenge match in Cardiff then the European championship trials at Liverpool.”
Three-time previous winner Jenny Bannerman (Inverness Harriers) was runner-up in 36:27 with Michelle Slater (Moray Road Runners) taking third position, and first in the over-40 age group, in 40:18.
Jennifer Robertson (Peterhead AC) was fourth, second over-40, in 41:48 and Nicole Murray fifth in 43:11. Rachel McCuaig (Nairn Road Runners) was first over-50 in 43:28.
Meanwhile Nicola MacDonald (Metro Aberdeen) set a PB 2:56:15 when finishing fourth in the women’s division of the Baxters Loch Ness marathon won by Fife AC’s Megan Crawford in 2:48:15.
Ailsa Webster (Jogscotland Westhill) excelled to win the over-50s age division prize in 3:21:54, while Susan Linklater (Shetland AAC) was the quickest over-60 in 3:50:40.
Wilson hopes there is more to come after marathon effort
Moray’s Kenny Wilson is confident there’s more to come after he finished 20th overall in the men’s division of the Virgin London marathon.
The Scotland international recorded 2hr 18min 42sec, an improvement of 10secs on his previous best set at Pulford, Cheshire in April.
Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma won in 2:04:01, while the Craigellachie runner was first in the non-elite division of the race. He was also second Scot behind Glasgow’s Weynay Ghebreselassie who was 12th in 2:16:27.
Wilson said: “I got into a good group and went through halfway in around 1:07:30. I stayed with them until about 16 or 17 miles when I started to cramp and that forced me to reduce the pace.
“It was quite tough over the final six miles as there was also a bit of a headwind and I was on my own at that point. But, although I was hurting, I was still overtaking people and that gave me some motivation to keep working.
“I feel it was the right decision to go with the group running at that faster pace and I do feel that I can go a lot quicker if I can get it right.
“I need to figure out what’s causing the cramps as I’ve had a similar problem in the other two marathons I’ve done, although I never suffer from it in training.”
Central AC’s Jamie Crowe, who got the better of Wilson in the Inverness Campus 5k earlier in the year, recorded 2:22:48 on his debut at the distance.
Scotland ultra distance international Chris Richardson (Metro Aberdeen), winner of the Anglo Celtic Plate 100k six weeks ago, recorded 2:34:34 for 129th position.