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Athletics: Jane Davidson relishing tussle against role model Zoey Clark

Jane Davidson, left, in action.
Jane Davidson, left, in action.

Aberdeen AAC sprinter Jane Davidson is excited by the prospect of competing for the first time against Olympian Zoey Clark in the Scottish indoor open meeting at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena on Saturday.

The Aberdeen clubmates are listed to run in the same 60m heat in which Clark is seeded number one with a best time of 7.48secs while Davidson is ranked sixth with her best of 7.68 which she set when winning the Scottish under-20 title two years ago.

Clark, who represented Great Britain in the women’s and mixed 4x400m relays at last summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games, is stepping down from her favoured distance to test her speed. She also plans to compete in the 200m in which all her rivals will be men.

Davidson, 19, said: “I’m excited to be racing Zoey for the first time. She is such an inspiration for us as she has shown you can get to that level while based in Aberdeen.

“She’s down at the track on club nights so everyone can see her training. It makes it more realistic for all the younger athletes and it motivates us to believe we can achieve similar goals.”

Although Davidson is hoping for a strong performance in the 60m, her main event is the 60m hurdles in which she is ranked second behind Edinburgh AC’s Holly McArthur.

Davidson won the Scottish under-20 title in this event with a club record time of 8.69 in 2020.

She said: “The hurdles is my main event but I enjoy doing the flat races as well. I’m not sure what to expect this weekend. The aim is simply to find out where I’m at, as I haven’t raced for so long.

“I also have the Scottish championships later in the month when I’ll do only the 60m hurdles. Then in February I’m going to Sheffield to do the hurdles and long jump at the British Universities championships.

“And hopefully I can finish off the indoor season by getting a place at the British championships at Birmingham in March.”

Jane Davidson will be competing against Olympian Zoey Clark for the first time. 

Elgin’s Holly Whittaker, 13, is to compete in the under-15 girls’ 60m hurdles in Glasgow tomorrow with the aim of improving on her best time of 9.39secs.

The Moray teenager recently celebrated official confirmation of her national under-13’s 70m hurdles outdoor record set when winning the Scottish age group title at Aberdeen Sports Village in August.

Whittaker broke the record twice, clocking 11.17 in her heat before improving to 11.04 in the final. The previous mark of 11.30 had stood since 2006.

Just 24 hours later,at Stretford, she ran even quicker, 10.88, which is the fastest of all-time by a British athlete in this age group.

But the lack of a wind gauge meant the time could not be considered for record purposes.

Simpson signs up for Dee 33

Great Britain mountain running international Robbie Simpson is one of the early sign-ups for Scotland’s first ultra distance race of 2022.

The Dee 33 mile run, to be held on March 12, starts and finishes in Aberdeen’s Duthie Park and follows a route out to Banchory and back via the Deeside Way.

Entries opened a few days ago and already close to 50% of the available 300 places have been taken up.

Simpson has never previously tackled this event but has been broadening his experience of ultra distance races over the past couple of years.

He is considering taking part in the Scottish ultra distance trail running championship Highland Fling 53 mile race between Milngavie and Tyndrum in April, and sees the Dee 33 as a good warm-up event.

Simpson will undoubtedly be keen to test the course record of 3hr 10min 40secs set by Scotland marathon and ultra distance international Ross Houston (Central AC) in 2015.

Jason Kelly (Metro Aberdeen), who won the race when it was last held, in 2020, won’t be defending his title as he is preparing for the following month’s Anglo Celtic Plate 100k in Perth.

Elgin’s Grant Jeans has confirmed he’ll be taking part. The Glasgow-based runner won the inaugural Dee 33 in 2010 and won again the following year.

Entries can be made on www.entrycentral.com

Meanwhile,the Elbrimmick hill race scheduled to take place at Aberdeen’s Tyrebagger Woods on Saturday, has been postponed because of safety concerns in the aftermath of Storm Arwen.

Forestry and Land Scotland are not in a position to issue permits for events until the area has been fully surveyed.

No new date has been proposed yet.

Late call for Myles

Myles Edwards will make a late decision over whether or not to compete in the fourth of this season’s six races in the  Metro Aberdeen Proms 3k road race series today.

The Aberdeen AAC runner has already secured the men’s title as each runner’s three best times from the series counts towards determining the prize winners.

Edwards has put himself in an uncatchable position by winning the first three runs and has twice broken his own course record.

He clocked 8min 35secs in October, 8:39 in November and 8:31 last month for an overall series record of 25:45. That’s a 42secs improvement on the previous record he established in 2014-2015.

Edwards said:”I had hoped to run in the Scottish indoor 3,000m championships scheduled to have been held on Monday, but it was cancelled because of the current Covid restrictions.

“I was also meant to be doing an indoor 1500m this weekend, but that’s not happening either.

“I’m not sure if I’ll do the Proms race as it depends on other commitments.”

Scotland international Stephen Mackay (Inverness Harriers) has also expressed an interest in taking part as he too was left disappointed when this week’s two indoor racing opportunities were cancelled.

Teenager Aimee Tawse (Aberdeen AAC) is currently in pole position in the women’s series but still has work to do if she is to hold onto that position.

Second-placed Elaine Wilson has improved her time in every round so far, but it’s unlikely she can make up the ground on Tawse.

But others who could still make a bid for top spot include Hannah Taylor (Ellon AAC), Kayeligh Jarrett (Shettleston), Julie Hoyle (JS Kintore) and Rosie Hislop (Metro Aberdeen).

Shetland’s Layla Todd could also feature prominently today.