Emma Watt blew away her road racing cobwebs with an emphatic victory in the women’s division of the Glen Clova half marathon.
And now the JS Kintore club member has her sights firmly fixed on a good performance in next year’s Manchester marathon.
Watt set off for Clova not having raced since setting a personal best time of 1:23:59 in the 2019 Inverness half marathon.
She could be excused for being slightly anxious after such a long spell away from any form of competition, but any doubts as to the outcome were swiftly cast aside as the north-east athlete took the race by the scruff of the neck from the outset.
Watt went on to complete the undulating circuit of the Angus glen in 1hr 27min 15secs to finish 89secs ahead of her closest challenger, Skye’s Sarah Attwood.
She said: “I wasn’t sure what to expect. I didn’t tell many people I was doing Clova as I wanted to take the pressure off myself.
“A win is always good. I knew I wasn’t likely to get a personal best time, but I was happy with the result as I was aiming for anything under 1:30.
“The course is lovely, but it is very undulating. I definitely pushed much faster in the early stages and I was still feeling fine at halfway. But by mile nine I was hanging on.
“There were quite a few hills over the final miles and my legs were seizing up a bit. I felt cramp coming on, but I made it.
“People on the course kept telling me I was well ahead of the next woman, so that was good to know.”
Watt has no short-term racing plans, but is already looking ahead to next April’s Manchester marathon.
She said: “There’s a big group from JS Kintore planning to do Manchester, so it should be fun.
“It will be my first proper marathon, although I did one in Melbourne eight years ago, when I was living in Australia. I was pregnant at the time, although I never knew it, and I ended up doing about 4:10.
“But I wasn’t the runner I am now, so I should be much faster. I’ve no specific target time in mind, although I guess I’d hope to be somewhere between 3hr and 3:15, but we’ll see. I’m excited about it.
“I’m enjoying doing the longer training runs at the moment, although I know I’ll have to do some shorter stuff as well.
“I’ve no other race plans at the moment. Ideally, I’d like a half marathon in February, but I’m not sure if there will be any happening at that time.”
Edwards looks to need just one more win to secure Metro Proms title
Myles Edwards (Aberdeen AAC) tightened his grip at the head of the men’s leaderboard with an impressive victory over Max Abernethy (Fraserburgh Running Club) in the second round of the Metro Winter Proms 3k road race series at Aberdeen beach.
A strong southerly wind made conditions difficult for the competitors on the outward half of the course before Edwards used his track speed to good effect on the return journey, breaking clear of Abernethy and going on to win by 13secs in 8min 39secs.
Edwards, who also won the opening round of the series when setting a course record 8:35 last month, probably now needs just one further win from the four remaining races to be sure of the title which he last won in season 2014-2015.
He said: “Max and I decided to share the work running into the wind before racing it out when the wind was at our backs. I tried to get away from him a few times before finally getting the gap.
“I’ll probably do next month’s race in the series, after which I’ll be focusing on the indoor season, starting with the Scottish 3,000m championships at the beginning of January.”
Edwards has now recorded the three quickest times in the history of the Proms competition, which stretches back over 134 races since 1998.
Abernethy’s time of 8:52 is the joint ninth-fastest over that period and marks a massive improvement on the 20-year-old Aberdeen University student’s previous best set on the same course in 2019.
Martin Mueller was third in 9:36, while his Metro Aberdeen clubmate Paul Knight was first in the 40-44 age group, fourth overall, in 9:44.
Jenny Bannerman (Inverness Harriers), who is preparing for next month’s Telford 10k in Shropshire, won the women’s division of the race in 10:16. It was her 15th race series victory since 2012.
Ellon athlete Hannah Taylor was second in 10:44, while Julie Hoyle (JS Kintore) was first over-40 and third overall in 11:07. Aimee Tawse took fourth spot in 11:17.
George McPherson scored a fine win in the over-60 age group, clocking 11:14, while his clubmate Keith Dunnett was first over-50 in 11:43.
Metro veterans John MacPherson, 14:41, and Les Nicol, 17:25 led the way at over-70 and over-80 levels respectively.
Louise Kelly (Stonehaven) was first woman over-50 in 13:02, while, in the over-60s category, Sheila Gauld (JogScotland) took the honours in 15:02.