Mengisteab & Ross Crowned 10 Mile Champions at Tom Scott Road Races
Also success for local athletes from Law & District & Clyderunners
Sunday the 10th April 2016
The 54th Tom Scott Memorial Road Races, sponsored by Hydracrat, celebrated another successful edition on Sunday with athletes from Dumfries to the Highlands travelling to compete in the historic 10 Mile race and Round the Loch 6k.
With pre-entry records set again this year it came as no surprise that a new high of 300 athletes completed the 10 Mile course with a record 87 also competing in the Round the Loch 6k.
The 10 Mile race is host to the Scottish 10 Mile and West District 10 Mile Championships, meaning individual and team medals were on offer to the top finishers in both the Men’s and Women’s categories.
This year the 10 Mile race saw 2012 champion Tewolde Mengisteab and Fionnuala Ross - both of Shettleston Harriers – champions. In becoming champion Ross also set a new women’s course record of 55:50 minutes, some 30 seconds faster than the previous time.
Mengisteab – completing the course in 50:49 minutes - lifted the historic Tom Scott Memorial Trophy after a close battle with Neil Renault of Edinburgh AC, who finished just 5 seconds adrift. In third place was Dougie Selman of Corstorphine AAC in a time of 51:10 minutes, ensuring the Edinburgh club were represented in the top 3 for the second successive year.
Mengisteab now boasts an impressive record of finishing in the top three in 7 of the last 8 occasions at the 10 Mile race.
The Granville Trophy was presented to Fionnuala Ross after a terrific run in which she crossed the line just under 3 minutes before the second placed woman, Jenny Bannerman of Inverness Harriers. Bannerman - completing the course in 58:42 minutes - was a further 89 seconds ahead of Sheena Logan of Fife AC, who crossed the line in 60:11 minutes.
Other 10 Mile Age Category Winners were:
Turnbowl Rose Bowl for 1st Male 40+: Kerry-Liam Wilson (Ronhill Cambuslang) in 52:29 mins
1st Female 35+: Lisa Finlay (Dumfries Running Club) in 61:06 mins
Jackie Gourlay Shield for 1st Male 50+: Stan MacKenzie in 58:18 mins
1st Female 50+: Erica Christie (Bellahouston Harriers) in 67:35 mins
1st Male 60+: Craig Ross (Dundee Hawkhill Harriers) in 64:52 mins
1st Female 60+: Morna Fleming (Carnegie Harriers) in 78:04 mins
1st Male 70+: Robin Scott (Kilbarchan AAC) in 70:54 mins
Titles are also awarded to the 1st teams in the 10 Mile race, with teams being crowned as Scottish and West District Team 10 Mile champions as well as champions of the Tom Scott 10 Mile team awards.
The Motherwell YMCA Trophy for the 1st male team and Anna Poulton Ladies Trophy for 1st female team both went to Shettleston Harriers, rounding off a successful day for the Glasgow club.
The men’s winning team consisted of Tewolde Mengisteab, Paul Sorrie (14th) and Kevin Brydon (16th), whilst the winners of the female team prize were Fionnuala Ross, Jessica Oliver-Bell (4th female) and Avril Mason (8th female).
ROUND THE LOCH 6K
The 11th Round the Loch 6k was by far the most successful so far with a record of 87 competitors demonstrating that the race is becoming an increasingly popular fixture alongside the 10 Mile race.
Winners this year were Jozsef Farkas and Claire Thompson having tasted previous success around the shore of Strathclyde Park loch.
Farkas, who defended his title from 2015 and collected the Robin Barbour Trophy, bettered his winning time by 7 seconds this year to finish in 19:06 mins in another dominant display. 2nd place went to Under 20 athletes James Donald of Dundee Hawkhill Harriers in 19:59 mins, with John Sharp of Inverclyde AC in 3rd in a time of 21:00 minutes.
Thompson, representing Victoria Park City of Glasgow, won the 6k race for an impressive 5th time, this year in a time of 22:51 minutes. Lisa Doyla - runner up to Thompson some eight years ago in the same race – came home in 2nd place once more in 24:22 minutes with local athlete Joyce Allardice of Clyderunners in 3rd with a gap of exactly two minutes to 2nd place.
As host club Law & District enjoy a strong presence at the event and the club tasted junior and team success with a range of prizes awarded to members of the club.
The junior prizes are awarded to the deserving athletes from the Under 15, 17 and 20 age categories, and winners were as follows:
1st Under 20 Male: Fraser Armstrong (Bellahouston Harriers) in 22:07 mins
1st Under 20 Female: Margaret Newell (Law & District) in 30:19 mins
1st Under 17 Male: James Gillon (Law & District) in 22:19 mins
1st Under 17 Female: Elle Henderson (Law & District) in 28:50 mins
1st Under 15 Male: Ryan Donald (Dundee Hawkhill) in 23:41 mins
1st Under 15 Female: Rachel Donnelly (Law & District) in 27:42 mins
The men’s prizes were awarded to Ross Hill (5th), James Gillon (8th) and Adam Kelly (9th) whilst the women’s prizes went to Rachel Donnelly (6th female), Elle Henderson (8th female) and Caitlin Thomson (9th female).
Fionnuala Ross wins the women's title and sets a new course record of 55:50 minutes
2012 champion Tewolde Mengisteab took the men's title for a second time after runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2015
Jozsef Farkas (24) earned his second victory in the Round the Loch 6k, ahead of James Donald (19) and John Sharp (77)
Claire Thompson (82) won her 5th title in the 6k, ahead of Lisa Doyle (22) and Joyce Allardice (1)
THANKS
The Tom Scott Memorial Road Races would like to pay thanks to all the competitors, volunteers, spectators and officials who attended the event and helped to make it such a special and enjoyable day. Without the enormous support shown yesterday it simply would not be possible to host such an event and the organisers wish to express their appreciation to all involved.
The Tom Scott Memorial Road Races would like to thank sponsor Hydracrat for their assistance in a range of capacities, helping to ensure the event runs smoothly, particularly with a range of materials distributed on race day.
The Road Races would also like to thank Co-Op Funeralcare and Tunnocks for the provision of supplies at the finish area in order to ensure athletes were adequately refreshed on completion of the races.
The continued support of all sponsors is much appreciated and we look forward to an even stronger partnership next year.
A final thanks to StuWeb for providing the chip timing once again this year, to Scottish Athletics for their partnership in ensuring the success of the race, to Strathclyde Police for helping with the stewarding, to St Andrews First Aid, and finally to the Strathclyde Park staff for providing the facilities for the event to be such a success.
The organisers thank the all the attendees and look forward to welcoming everyone back to Strathclyde Park in April 2017!