Rhys Crawford has broken an Aberdeen AAC middle distance running record previously held by his brother Kai.
The 140year-old Albyn school student travelled to Chester-le-Street in County Durham to compete in British Milers Club 1500m race.
And he was rewarded for making the 530-mile round trip to the north east of England by winning in an Aberdeen under-15 age group record time of 4min 14.20sec.
He slashed 10secs off his previous best time, but, more importantly, shaved 0.43sec off the club record which Kai set two years ago.
It’s the second Aberdeen record Rhys has claimed this month, having produced an U15 3,000m best of 9:32.27 in a RAM league meeting at Aberdeen Sports Village. That cut just over two secs from the previous mark set by Alex Thoirs in 2003.
Kai lost one record, but – not to be outdone by his younger brother – he gained another when competing in the Scottish combined league 1500m race at Grangemouth.
The 16-year-old stopped the clock at 3:57.86 at the end of an exciting race in which 0.78sec separated the top three finishers. Andrew McGill (Forth Valley) won in 3:57.08, followed by Calum Young (Giffnock North), 3:57.46.
Kai’s time swept away the previous Aberdeen U17 best of 4:01.10 set by Ross Arbuckle at Meadowbank stadium 43 years ago.
He had broken another long-standing Aberdeen record in June when setting a new U17 800m mark of 1min 53.93sec in a British Milers Club meeting at Linwood. That performance broke the previous club best of 1:54.80 set by Colin Donald in 1984.
So the Crawford brothers have two records apiece, but more could be in the offing as the summer track and field season has some way to go with Scottish and English age group championships still to come.
There were a number of other fine performances from north-east athletes at the Scottish league meeting.
Scottish women’s 200m champion Roisin Harrison (Aberdeen AAC) stepped up to the 400m and achieved a PB of 55.04secs when getting the better of Jill Cherry (VP Glasgow), 55.24.
Stewart Clark (Banchory Stonehaven AC) set a PB 50.22 when pipped for first position in the 400m won by Ewan Purves (Edinburgh AC) in 50.20.
Aberdeen AAC’s Jane Davidson showed she is edging back to peak fitness by finishing second in the women’s 100m hurdles in a season’s best 14.59secs, while her clubmate Briagha Cook was third in 15.54.
Davidson also finished second in the javelin with a throw of 26.54m.
Elgin’s Tamsin Fowlie was second in the women’s 300m, recording 41.38secs behind Pitreavie’s Rebecca Grieve, who won in 39.79.
Kirsty Purcell (Aberdeen AAC) was fifth in the women’s 1500m in 4:39.73, a little over one second outside her best. Her twin sister Caitlin squeezed inside her previous best time when finishing eighth in 4:43.80.
Hamish holds on to Mither Tap title
Hamish Wolfe retained the men’s title at the Mither Tap hill race in Aberdeenshire.
The Carnethy club runner won the last time it was held, in 2019, and came out on top again when completing the four-mile circuit, including a climb of 1200ft, in 30min 8secs.
That’s the second quickest time recorded for the route, surpassed only by the record 29:11 set by Banchory’s Great Britain mountain running international Robbie Simpson in 2018.
Sam Fisher (Howgill Harriers) was runner-up in 30:26, with Joe Wright (Deeside Runners) third in 31:29.
David Barclay (Garioch Road Runners) was first over-40, ninth overall, in 36:49, John Urquhart (Moray Road Runners) was the leading over-50 in 37:32 and the over-60’s prize went to Greig Cruickshank (JS Kintore), 42:26.
Kirsty Campbell (Deeside Runners) lifted the top women’s prize with a time of 39:55, followed by Metro Aberdeen duo Elaine Omand, 40:29, and Chloe Sangster, 40:50.
In the age groups, Rachel Little (Insch Trail Running Club) was first over-40 in 42:48, with her clubmate Caroline Ipsen first over-50, in 52:28.
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