Ghebresilassie & White take 10 Mile Titles at Tom Scott Road Races
443 runners take part as new field record is set for 3rd successive year
Sunday the 2nd April 2017
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The 55th Tom Scott Memorial Road Races, sponsored by Hydracrat, enjoyed its highest ever field as athletes from throughout Scotland and in some cases further afield descended on Strathclyde Park.
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A new high of 377 athletes completed the 10 Mile race, an increase of just under 25% on last year. In just four years the size of the 10 Mile field has risen 75%, reinforcing both the event’s growing popularity and the ascending interest in Championship events.
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The 10 Mile race also hosts 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.
Read the 2016 Report here
Read the 2015 Report here
A new champion was crowned in 2017 as Wayney Ghebresilasie of Shettleston Harriers lifted the Tom Scott Memorial Trophy for the first time, stretching away from Kilbarchan’s Derek Hawkins in the final three miles to win by 17 seconds in a time of 49:40 mins.
Completing the top three in the men’s race was Craig Ruddy of Inverclyde, the champion from two years ago.
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Katie White of Garscube Harriers claimed the ladies title and the Granville Trophy in 58:20 to edge Nicola Gauld of Aberdeen AAC by 26 seconds, with Jill Smylie of Giffnock North in third place.
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White, coming off a 5th place finish at the scottishathletics Lindsays National Cross Country at Falkirk at the end of the winter season, secured a maiden Tom Scott and National 10 Mile title to start the summer season in the best possible fashion.
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Paralympian Derek Rae was in action, too, and came up with a PB of 53.38 which sets up the Fifer well for the IPC World Marathon Cup in London later this month.
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For a full list of awards click here
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Full National awards will be updated on the SAL Road Running and Cross Country archive in due course.
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.
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The Motherwell YMCA Trophy for the 1st male team was awarded to Inverclyde AC with Craig Ruddy, Mark Pollard (15th) and John Bell (16th) combining to take all three titles west to Greenock.
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The first female team and winners of the Anna Poulton Trophy was Cambuslang Harriers with Bernadette O’Neil (12th lady), Jennifer Reid (15th) and Erica Christie (18th), in doing so securing Scottish and West District gold.
Wayney Ghebresilassie lifted the Tom Scott Memorial Trophy for the first time in a new record field
Derek Hawkins, returning from injury, secured second place on his first visit to the Tom Scott Road Races
Katie White of Garscube Harriers also claimed a first Tom Scott 10 Mile title, taking a 26 second victory
Jozsef Farkas (centre) set a new course record to lead home Ross MacDonald (43) and Andrew Clark (8)
Jill Knowles (38) heading the ladies field, with Hilary McGrath (84) and Rachel Donnelly (14) 2nd and 3rd
ROUND THE LOCH 6K
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The 12th Round the Loch 6k saw a new course record being set in the men’s race as athletes and fun runners from locations as far as Ayr, Edinburgh, Greenock and Stirling travelled to join locals for the shorter distance race.
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Jozsef Farkas, fresh from exploits in Daegu, South Korea at the World Masters Championships bettered the previous course record by 14 seconds in 18:37 minutes, whilst Jill Knowles of the Scottish Prison Service was the winner of the ladies’ race in 22:32 mins.
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Law & District athlete and Motherwell local Ross MacDonald earned the second place award ahead of Andrew Clark of Giffnock, with MacDonald’s team mates James Gillon and Donald Gilchrist securing 1st placed Under 20 and Under 15 respectively. Luke McCaffrey of Kirkintilloch Olympians earned the Under 17 prize whilst Neil Mackay received the award for 1st Vet 40+.
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Law & District’s Ross Hill combined with MacDonald and Gillon to claim first male, after an 8th place finish overall.
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In the ladies' race Knowles was closely followed home by another Law & District athlete Hilary McGrath with another team mate, Rachel Donnelly, claiming a maiden position in the top three.
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The local cause was enhanced further when Motherwell AC athlete Joyce Allardice captured the first-place prize for first Lady Vet.
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The gold prize for first Under 20 lady was won by Emily McNicol, whose 6th place finish overall combined with team mates McGrath and Donnelly meant Law & District also took hold of the ladies’ team prize.
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Cara Wotherspoon of Bellahouston Harriers was awarded with the 1st place prize for the Under 15 category.
THANKS
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The Tom Scott Memorial Road Races would like to thank all the athletes, volunteers, spectators and officials who all played a vital role in making the day such an enjoyable and successful occasion. Year on year the event continues to go from strength to strength due to the support from everyone who attends.
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The Tom Scott Memorial Road Races would like to thank main sponsor Hydracrat for their continued support and assistance in the organisation of the event.
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The Road Races would also like to thank Co-Op Funeralcare and Tunnocks for the provision of supplies at the finish area, ensuring athletes were provided with race supplies on the day.
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A final thanks to StuWeb, scottishathletics, St Andrews First Aid, and finally to the Strathclyde Park staff for all working to benefit the running of the event.
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The organisers look forward to welcoming an even stronger field to Lanarkshire in April 2018!