Senior Races…….From Kirkcudbright to London !

KIRKUDBRIGHT HALF MARATHON

Saturday 24th May saw Connell Drummond and Stewart White take part in the 31st annual Kirkudbright Academy Half Marathon.

The race starts at the academy with a short loop around the town before heading out to a more rural route,crossing the river Dee and heading towards Twynholm, passing the David Coulthard museum and exiting the town to be faced with the steepest climb of the race. Connell had used his course knowledge of one of his favourite races to pace himself ready to try and push on at this point,perfect tactics as he gained places with his strong climbing skills moving into 10th place at this point. After a strong run in the final few miles back to the finish Connell was delighted to end with a new personal best of 1hr 20mins 46sec edging closer to his target of sub 80mins. With an overall 11th place and 3rd veteran male it was a great day out and a welcome return to form.

The second member of the duo Stewart White proved once more he was coming back to fitness. Despite being a bit away from yesteryear when he clocked Half Marathons in the low 70 minutes, Stewart finished well inside his target time. Clocking just over 90 minutes, there is definitely more to come and the future looks bright for the 2 athletes.

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Killie Harriers in the British 10k Champs

On Sunday 25th May 2014, a group of Kilmarnock athletes took part in the Bupa London 10k, a massive event which doubles up as the UK Championships.

Gaining these club places by virtue of the Club supporting the National Road Relays at Livingston each year, and despite numbers being reduced due to recent injuries, 5 Killie runners lined up in the 12,000 strong field for the race start in front of Buckingham Palace.

From the gun, both Roger Naughton and James Wales ditched their usual kamikaze tactics by starting steadily and working through the field in the early stages of the race which took in practically all the sights in the centre of the Capital. In hot pursuit were Lindsay McMahon and the McDerment’s as the race hit the halfway point and turned back up the Embankment towards Houses of Parliament and the latter stages.

Running up Birdcage Walk towards the finish, Roger and James had a bit of a ding dong battle for bragging rights, with Edinburgh based athlete Roger gaining the edge on this occasion with both men loving the experience of their first big city race.

Lindsay was next home in not too far outside her target, while Les and Liz McDerment completed the quintet from Ayrshire.

Times and positions were –

Roger Naughton 36.41 (277th), James Wales 36.55 (296th), Lindsay McMahon 42.20 (879th), Leslie McDerment 46.37 (1786th), Liz McDerment 51.42 (3393rd).