On Friday night it was ‘the fast one’ at Silverknowes Prom in Edinburgh. The Sri Chinmoy Scottish 5k Championships always attracts a fast field and this year was no different with over 100 finishers dipping under 16 minutes.
Two from PH were very close to achieving this for the first time with Paul Kieran and Aaron Bennet both clocking chip times of 16:07, though this was initially published as one second faster. This equalled Kieran’s previous best time, and secured him 50 precious club championship points by virtue of a faster gun time, while it was a substantial new PB for Bennet.
Also setting new personal bests were Andy Jannetta, who was 3rd home for PH in 17:42, and Alan McGowan, who took 27 seconds off his, recording 17:53. Both athletes have clearly recovered well from their recent runs at the Manchester Marathon. Between the two was Gary Pirie who finished in 17:43.
Michael Lindsay once again managed a fast finish to overtake a number of club mates in the last half mile or so and take two seconds off his previous best, timing at 18:37, just ahead of Iain Wallace in 18:42. John Crookston had an excellent run of 18:55 and the fact this was ‘only’ good enough for sixth place in the V60 category just goes to show the depth of talent in the masters events nowadays.
Onto our two medalists now and it was no surprise at all to see Julie Menzies on the podium collecting a V50 silver medal for her run of 19:08, which also bagged her 50 club championship points. Even less surprising was Ed Norton taking home a gold medal in the V70 age band, and of course the traditional winner’s pineapple. What was perhaps surprising was that his time of 19:37 was an overall PB, even more impressive given the conditions were less than ideal.
Sarah Paterson was second female finisher for PH with 20:32 and the top three PH ladies was completed by Susan Allan who can be very happy with her new personal best of 23:33.
Earlier in the week, Ben Hukins took overall first place in the Strathkinnes to Blebocraigs Race which was the second race in the Fife AC Midweek Series, over about 4.5 miles. After a hard fought race Hukins triumphed in 25:27, just two seconds ahead of the host club’s Tom Harris. Iain Wallace warmed up for Friday’s race by finishing just outside the top 10 in 29:40.
On Saturday Judy Turner was back in the hills, finishing as 1st V50 in the Ben Lomond Hill Race in a time of 1:54:27. Then on Sunday, Mark Ryan placed second overall at the Dick Wedlock Memorial Fire 5 Mile Race along the River Clyde, finishing in 26:58.
Well done to all and thanks to the various race organisers and photographers Bobby Gavin, Graeme Baxter and Pete Bracegirdle.
PH Racing Club 