4J Studios Scottish Athletics 129th Senior Championships

Central AC’s seniors were out in force and showed the club’s dominance in Scotland in the long distance events with 2 golds and a silver from the endurance squad plus an additional bronze in the Pole Vault.
Aidan Thompson has been posting some excellent times in the US improving his club 3,000 Metres Steeplechase record in April in Charlottesville, Virginia with an impressive run of 8:47.32 minutes. Aidan was returning for his first race in Scotland for two years as he took on the Scottish championship 3,000 Metres Steeplechase. He found himself in a race with Edinburgh athlete, Michael Cameron and stuck behind him for most of the race. With 600m to go Aidan made his move and quickly built up a lead which he extended all the way to the line, winning by a margin of 10 seconds in a time of 9:19.44 minutes for the gold medal. This was Aidan’s first Scottish title five years after taking silver.

Central’s other gold came from Tom Graham-Marr in the 5,000 Metres. Tom was one of several Central athletes in the field. Tom was patient and stuck with the leading group as it gradually whittled down as the race progressed. He stayed at the back of the lead group as it was reduced to four athletes then three, and by the time he reached the bell he found himself in a two way battle with Scott Stirling of Falkirk Victoria. Scott pushed in the final lap but couldn’t shake Tom. Then in the home straight Tom powered through to take the lead for the first time with just 50m to go and sped away to win in a time of 14:18.00 minutes, just off his personal best of 14:17.19 minutes. This was a surprise gold for Tom against athletes with much faster personal bests and was his first national title after winning bronze last year in the same event.

Central were well represented in this event as Hamish Hickey came home behind Tom in seventh with a season’s best 14:44.65 minutes and Luca Fannatoli placed 13th with 14:59.69. In the 5,000 Metres B final Dale Colley placed fifth in a season’s best 15:42.32 and Andrew Irvine set a new personal best 16:28.04 minutes for 10th place.

There was further success from Ben MacMillan who has been on superb form winning the Monument Mile at his home track at Stirling University in May with a track record time of 3:57.76 minutes, his first 4 minute mile. This time Ben was taking on the 1,500 Metres and hit the front as soon as the gun went, leading the field all the way to the bell. In the final lap a big tussle developed in the main group with Ben always in contention. In the home straight he managed to pull clear of his rivals but a fast finishing Ben Sandilands of Fife AC caught out the whole field as he ran past for gold. Ben came home clear of the rest of the field for silver in a time of 3:49.31 minutes.

In the men’s 800 Metres Central were represented by Kieran Reilly and Ewan Calder. Kieran finished fourth in a season best 1:54.36 minutes while Ewan placed sixth in his heat with 2:06.00 minutes.

The surprise medal of the day for Central came from club stalwart Ron Todd in the Pole Vault. Ron cleared a three year best of 3.25m to take the bronze medal. This was his first national medal for many years.

4J Studios Scottish Athletics Under-17 Championships

Aaliyah McCloud was on great form for Central AC at the Scottish Under-17 championships. The 15-year-old Queen Victoria School pupil burst onto the scene at the same venue last year when she won the Under-15 300 Metres title in a championship record. This time she was aiming to add the Under-17 300 Metres title to her collection.

She didn’t have it all her own way in the indoor season settling for bronze in the Under-17 indoor championships in January but then she bounced back to win the Scottish Schools Under-16 indoor title in February.

She came into this championships full of confidence and cruised through her heat winning comfortably in 41.72s but knew she would have a tougher race in the final. When the final came she paced herself well, keeping up with her rivals and not committing herself for the first 200m of the race. But when she hit the home straight she found another gear and pulled away from the field to open up a gap. By the time she got to the finish line she was well clear of the opposition and took the gold medal in an excellent season’s best time of 40.44 seconds, winning by a 1.6s margin.