Aberdeen AAC’s men claimed a bronze medal at the Scottish National 10k championships at the weekend, leading one member of the team to suggest the club could be on the cusp of producing one of its strongest cohort of middle and long-distance runners in recent times.
Over the past five years or so, Michael Ferguson, Kai Crawford, and Naomi Lang are the names most associated with the club’s conveyor belt of distance running talent.
Going further back, Nicola Gauld, Ewan Calvert, and Alan Wales have all featured as some of the club’s best homegrown runners over the 800m and 1500m distances.
But Myles Edwards, now 34 and a well-known name on the Scottish distance running circuit, has plenty of optimism given the club’s podium position at Sunday’s 10k championships.
The long-standing distance runner finished in fifth position himself, running a time of 30:58. Combined with Steven Murray and Eoghan MacNamara’s placings of 23rd and 31st, Aberdeen went on to finish third nationally.
Such success has not happened by accident.
Aberdeen AAC was awarded the track and field club of the year award in December, the prize a culmination of volunteers, coaches, and administrators’ efforts behind the scenes.
The knock-on effect is the number and quality of athletes coming through the ranks, and one assumes Edwards’s positivity is shared across the club. It is far from misplaced optimism.
OFF AND RUNNING#SALbelong
Wee look back to last Sunday and Scottish 10K Champs @ShettlestonHarr Babcock race via @Bobby_ThatOneMo GIFS
This is start . . .@CambuslangH @rungarscube @inverclyde_ac @kilbarchanaac @Central_AC @alisonthewliss @TaritTweets @MylesEdwards @MileClassic pic.twitter.com/SPbJwMn0OE— scottishathletics (@scotathletics) May 18, 2023
He said: “I think in the latter part of this year, we will see some really strong team performances from the Aberdeen team. We’ve got a really good group who work together really well and link in for running sessions now and again.
“I do think over the next couple of years we could have some good performances in the national relays and cross-country relay championships. You’ve got Michael Ferguson who narrowly missed out on gold in the Scottish 10k track championships a few weeks ago, and would have had a real chance of winning the race in Glasgow on Sunday. It’s a really good group and it just breeds success.”
Such talented intakes are not necessarily new, of course – Edwards has been around long enough to see plenty of other distance runners come and go – but there is a sense that the current crop of runners could contribute to a longer term success.
“There have been some spells in the past with Adam Whales and Adam Watt and Mark Kennedy – there have definitely spells across a range of age-groups (where there has been success),” Edwards said.
“Not all of them kept at it at senior level, but I do think over the next couple of years it’s a really exciting time for us and there are some really good youngsters coming through as well.”
As for Edwards’s performance, it was one which was in large part down to a prolonged spell of uninterrupted training as well as a level of experience which allows him to approach his career in a measured and diligent way.
He said: “Decent physio and coaching are factors, but I think it’s taken me a lot of years to realise that you’re better just to tick off week after week of 80 per cent training.
“In the past, if I was injured, I was probably too determined to come back and get really pumped.
“The Covid lockdown in 2020 probably helped because there was such a long spell with no races – there was nothing for me to rush back and be super motivated to get fit for.
“Also, I’m 34 now. There’s definitely a feeling that I just have to get it right now because there are only so many years left to run PBs over certain distances.
“I think there was a realisation that this was the time now for me to get it right and this was the time to do it. It’s about calming down a bit, not absolutely hammering sessions when I’d end up injured for two to three weeks.
“Now, I’ve managed to string together a few years of no major injuries – it’s just come together quite nicely.”
All eyes on Loughborough
On the track, one of the first major meets of the season will take place on Sunday in the form of the Loughborough International, with a string of athletes from the north and north-east featuring in international vests.
Scottish champion Jane Davidson will make her senior international debut in the 100m hurdles, whilst hammer thrower Angela Kelly will pull on the GB kit for the first time. Inverness’ Kirsty Law represents Scotland in the discus.
Sprinters Alisha Rees and Rebecca Matheson have been selected to run for Scotland in the 4x100m relay, whilst Hannah Cameron will run in the 800m and could also be called on in the 4x400m if needed.
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