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Runners win national honours


By SPP Reporter

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CAITHNESS athletes have been putting the county on the map when it comes to demonstrating their potential in endurance running.

Andrew Douglas and twin sisters Emma and Oonagh Dunnett took on two diverse terrains over two consecutive weekends in their respective bids for national titles.

The first weekend saw them taking to the boards in Kelvin Hall as they competed in their respective age groups in the 3000m national indoor championships. First up was the under-18 race which Emma and Oonagh were participating in with Emma hopeful of retaining the national title she gained last year.

Emma set off well-placed in the pack of senior, under-20 and under-18 women. She set an excellent pace for the first three of 15 laps but then struggled with an ongoing health issue. Despite this, she made good use of the more senior runners to pull her to another championship victory in retaining her indoor title.

Oonagh took a more conservative approach to the race and worked her way from the back to sit on the shoulders of the second-placed under-18 runner. With four laps to go she made her bid for silver.

However, as she approached with 100m to go, she was overtaken and then had to be patient until the banking on the bends at Kelvin Hall flattened off to allow her to retake the silver medal position with 0.18 sec separating her and the bronze medal runner.

Andrew had not competed indoors since 2008 and had entered the race as part of his preparation for the following week’s National Cross Country Championship. He was up against experienced indoor athletes and settled into the race in second place. The lead runner had gone out hard and Andrew used the midsection of the race to close down the gap.

With two laps to go Andrew was sitting on his shoulder and, as the bell went, Andrew tried to react to the injection of pace at the front but was unable to match the speed of the lead runner. Finishing in silver medal position, Andrew took 40 seconds off his previous personal best time.

The athletes moved to Falkirk’s Callendar Park the following Saturday for the National Cross Country Championships, the highlight of the season. With just under 2000 entered, the atmosphere is always one to be savoured and for young Rhiannon Kirk, another Caithness athlete, this was her first experience of this event.

Rhiannon was taking part in the under-13 girls’ race over the two-mile undulating course. She got a solid start in the pack of 120 runners and worked well over the whole of the course to finish in a commendable 33rd place in very windy conditions – a good position to build on.

Emma and Oonagh were next up in the combined under-17/under-20 women’s race. Emma found herself defending the title she had won the previous year but, again, with health issues, she found herself unable to match the pace of her Edinburgh AC team-mate, Rachel Dunn.

Halfway through the three-mile race, Emma had already given away about 200m on Rachel. However, with a strength of determination, Emma took back some of the lead over the final 1km to finish second with only seven seconds separating her from Rachel.

Oonagh worked her way up to bronze medal position and as Emma struggled in the midsection of the race Oonagh caught up with her and they worked together as they do during many training sessions. However, when Emma made her move for home, Oonagh was unable to react but in being pulled on by Emma, opened up a gap on the rest of the field and secured her third national medal of the year.

Emma and Oonagh, along with Rachel, took gold medals in the team event for Edinburgh AC. The youngsters from Reay have, as a result of their performances, gained selection for the UK Intercounties Championships in Birmingham but have turned this down to focus on a well-deserved break prior to preparation for the summer season.

Andrew had to wait until the last race of the day when, as well as the wind, he had to contend with the churned-up underfoot conditions.

For a road racer, this placed him at a disadvantage as the course was uneven and with over 400 runners in the race the three-lap course changed underfoot on every circuit.

Andrew set off with the lead pack and by the end of the first kilometre, there was daylight between Andrew, Derek Hawkins and the remainder of the pack. With a strong first lap this gap opened up and Andrew found himself going head-to-head with Derek, a GB international athlete.

As the runners set off on the second lap, Derek began to open up a lead which Andrew clawed back on the flatter paths around the pond area of the course. However, as they headed onto the uneven terrain, Derek used his love of

cross country to pull a sizeable gap

which continued to grow over the final lap.

Andrew finished comfortably in silver medal position and in doing so secured victory in the scottishathletics Cross Country Grandprix for 2011/12.

He also gained Scottish selection for the Home Countries International Cross Country fixture at Rouken Glen on March 18 – the week after his first road outing of the season in the Inverness half marathon.


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