April tends to be the big month for spring marathons and there were a number of excellent ones by PH athletes, as well as some superb longer and shorter races.

Last weekend, Andy Davis took on the Devil O’ The Highlands Footrace, a 42 mile ultramarathon which covers the upper part of the West Highland Way, from Tyndrum to Fort William. Andy was in 11th place at the first checkpoint at Bridge of Orchy but made up a few spots to finish in 6th position overall and 3rd V40 in a time of 5:56:06. Finishing the race for the third time was Michael Stewart who did so in 9:46:16, 12th V60.

Andy Davis – photo by Monument Photos
Michael Stewart – photo by Monument Photos

Mark Western ran another in what he terms his ‘tour of minor marathons’, this time at the Boston UK Marathon in Lincolnshire. Once again he posted an excellent time, with a run of 3:16:24 to finish 2nd V60. A few days later, Bryan Innes ran the other Boston Marathon in Massachusetts, USA. He found the hills tough going but still came away with a creditable time of 3:13:08. Bryan’s run has already been covered here by the Dunfermline Press. Having enjoyed last year’s inaugural Moray Marathon, Ivor McIvor was back to do it again, in his first marathon since joining PH, and improved on last year’s time, covering the 26.2 miles in 4:14:01 to place as 4th V60.

Andy Jannetta the lucky recipient of the club’s London Marathon place, giving him the chance to do the race with his brother, who also had a spot from his own club! It turned out to be a roasting hot day so his PB attempt was not to be but he still lead home a PH trio in 3:05:30, with Mark McLean just over five minutes back in 3:10:31. Malcolm Hammond was the third PH athlete taking part in what was both the British and Scottish Marathon Championships. Having won gold in 2023 and 2024, Malcolm had to settle for Scottish V70 silver this year for his run of 4:02:56.

While most were either running or watching London, 13 from PH were competing more locally in the Dalgety Bay 10k. Leading the way as usual was former PH man Andrew Thomson, but first home for the club, in 2nd place overall, was another local resident, Luke McNeil who continues to go from strength to strength. Luke’s time of 35:45 over an undulating, mixed surface course completed a full set of 10k podium finishes during the month. At the Malaga 10k run at the beginning of the month he finished 3rd in 34:50, despite a couple of wrong turns, then the next week he was the winner of the Bellahouston 10k in 34:04!

Luke McNeil – photo by William Poncelet/Hillend Camera Club

There were a number of other prize winners and high placings for PH athletes at Dalgety Bay. Roger Clark finished overall 6th and 1st V50, just five seconds ahead of Scott Cassidy who picked up the V40 prize. Last year’s V40 winner, Stuart Meiklejohn was 2nd V40 on this occasion, timing at 38:49, with Peter Gibson not far back in 39:30. Fastest PH female and 3rd overall in 41:50 was Kristin Lownie, who also recently ran the Fast n Flat 5k in Linlithgow, finishing there in 19:02. Julie Menzies was only another 40 seconds behind and scooped the V50 prize.

Kristin Lownie – photo by William Poncelet/Hillend Camera Club
Stuart Meiklejohn – photo by William Poncelet/Hillend Camera Club

Well done to those above and everyone else who has been racing. It should be another interesting vote for April’s Run of the Month. May also promises to be exciting with no less than four Club Championship races, starting with the Tay Ten on Sunday.

Thanks to Monument Photos for the Devil O’ The Highlands photos and William Poncelet from Hillend Camera Club for the Dalgety Bay 10k ones.