Chilly weather fails to take shine of 10k race
THE weather was less than ideal for Sunday’s Castle of Mey 10k and children’s fun run with a decent morning giving way to showery conditions and a troublesome wind when the event got under way.
The 368 runners in the 10k, which for the first time doubled as the North of Scotland championship and the 94 youngsters who took part in the inaugural Mey Mile, were not too badly hit but it made for a chilly afternoon for organisers, North Highland Harriers’ and spectators.
NHH’s Sophie Dunnett said: "For the runners, the temperature was fine and we were delighted that all the runners in the 10K completed the course in under an hour-and-an-half, albeit the last home had just six seconds to spare.
"We were also delighted with the turnout and with the number of competitors we had from outwith Caithness – having the race count as a district championship certainly meant we attracted quite a few more men, particularly from the Forres and Inverness areas."
It was a visitor who was first over the line with Forres Harrier Gordon Lennox smashing the course record in his debut.
He finished in 34 minutes three seconds, clipping 50 seconds off the record set by NHH’s Jack Trevelyan, who finished third this time, in 35.32, just five seconds behind second placed Stan Mackenzie, of Forres Harriers.
There was Caithness success in the women’s race where Emma Dunnett retained the individual title she won in 2010 after coming home in 41.15.
Her twin sister Oonagh was second, and Lorna Stanger third to ensure NHH won the ladies team event.
The only problem of the day was that the electronic scoring system, provided by Aberdeenshire Council, suffered a technical glitch.
Mrs Dunnett said a malfunction in an electronic chip carried by one of the runners meant the system failed, meaning organisers had to revert to recording the results manually.
She said: "The problem was totally outwith our control. It is the first time in four years it has failed and the person from the council was very apologetic. It meant the results had to be done manually and we just got on with it."
A further report on the race and full results will appear in Friday’s
John O’Groat Journal.