WATCH: Aberdeen Metro’s Caiden Thom is ‘local’ winner of Aviemore Half Marathon
Aberdeen Metro running club’s Caiden Thom claimed the men’s Aviemore Half Marathon title in tough conditions on Saturday putting his local knowledge to good use.
However, fortunately for the entrants the forecast gales from Storm Amy did not turn-out to be as severe as was being forecast.
Thom crossed the finish line at Badaguish Outdoor Centre by Glenmore after negotiating the woodland trails in a time of 1 hour 14 minutes and 45 seconds - seven seconds ahead of runner-up Ross Marr.
Lochaber Athletic Club’s Amanda Blackhall was a comfortable winner in the ladies race in a time of 1:39:03 from Karla Angus (01:43:54).
Thom has travelled to Badaguish from his home city of Aberdeen the same morning with his family but they are no strangers to the Glenmore area - they generally visit every other weekend.
He said: “We are here as much as we possibly can be. We love this place.
“This is usually my training ground so it was great to finally race it properly and it was good fun.”
“My race went really well and it was much better than I expected. I'm currently in a marathon training blocking at the moment so I did a couple of miles at marathon training pace beforehand and then did the race so the legs felt really good.
“It was good confidence boost to see that my legs were able to push through at that pace even 17 miles later.”
As for the conditions, Thom said: “Uphill you were getting the wind in your face and downhill you got the wind at your back when really you would rather have it the other way out but it was a good challenge.
“I'm sure everyone will say the exact same thing. It's good to push your body to the max especially not knowing what to expect and a lot of folk turned up even in conditions like this and I think it makes you a better person and a better runner at the end of the day.”
“I'm in this marathon block at the moment but I don’t much like the roads which I find quite boring so I decided to add in this race to my training with some trails within it so it was good fun to do.
“My A race was the Salomon Ben Nevis Skyline which I did two weekends ago - that was the main one - so now it is just a case of seeing what races I can fit in until the end of the year and take into next year and see what I can do.”
Not surprisingly the starting field was impacted by Storm Amy.
Speyside Trust chief executive George Hobson said: “It was a very tough call (for the go-ahead).
“We had a sitdown yesterday at 9.30am with all of the team here to get everyone’s views and on balance we thought we would go-ahead and keep an eye on it and if we had to call it off late then unfortunately we would have to do that.
“But I'm glad that it worked out that way it did. It turned out not to be as wild as some of the forecasts and it certainly was not as wet as two years ago…
“Everyone I see around here after finishing the race has a smile on their face and all those I have spoken to have said they are really glad we put the race on.
“We had 108 people call off and these were mainly runners who were travelling large distances.”
Around another 300 people took part in yesterday’s 10K Race for All in much kinder conditions.
Jordan Stewart (Calderglen Harriers) was the winner in a time of 38 minutes and one second with the ladies title being claimed by Moorfoot Runners’ Isabelle Morano in 45 minutes and seven seconds.Speyside Trust spokesman Craig Sutherland said: “Yesterday was a fabulous day and we were blessed with great weather and conditions.
“There were lots of smiling faces and positive feedback from runners and supporters.”
The race weekend is the biggest mass participation sports event in the strath. It made its return after an absence last year due to a lack of volunteers to guarantee race safety.
Overall Aviemore Half Marathon leading results - winner: Caiden Thom (Metro Aberdeen) 01:14:45; r/up: Ross Marr 01:21:23; 3rd Fraser Mullen 01:22:49; 4th: Robbie Mackenzie 01:31:48; 5th Henry Clarkson 01:32:15; 6th Daniel Bain 01:32:46; 7th Steven Voy (Edinburgh Frontrunners) 01:34:03; 8th Calum Wright 01:34:31; 9th Dale Urquhart 01:34:35; 10th: Colin Beveridge 01:36:43.
11th Fraser Walker (Edinburgh Frontrunners) 01:36:57; 12th Mark Dalgarno 01:37:08; 13th Scott Bain 01:37:44; 14th: Ewan Ingram 01:37:55; 15th Cameron Bruce 01:38:05; 16th Stuart Paterson 01:38:07; 17th Cameron Warner (Pitreavie AAC) 01:38:54; 18th Keith Gray 01:39:01; 19th Amanda Blackhall (Lochaber Athletic Club) 01:39:03; 20th Callum Kirkaldy 01:39:07.
Leading ladies - winner Amanda Blackhall (Lochaber Athletic Club) 01:39:03; r/up: Karla Angus 01:43:54; 3rd: Libby Marshall 01:44:42; 4th Lucy Thomson 01:50:13; 5th: Pernille Frisvoll 01:51:23; 6th Rebecca Witkowski 01:51:47; 7th Katie Cunningham 01:54:35.
8th: Natisha Burnett 01:54:46; 9th Karli Hay 01:55:48; 10th Patricia Gruhala 01:57:49; 11th Victoria Goodwin 01:58:06; 12th Claire McDowall 01:58:09; 13th Iona Allan 01:58:12; 14th Caitlin Urquhart 01:58:13; 15th Rachel Cowper 01:58:30.
Aviemore 10K Race For All leading results - winner: Jordan Stewart (Calderglen Harriers) 00:38:01; r/up: Matt Brown 00:39:17; 3rd Iain Campbell (St Cyrus Solos) 00:41:02; 4th John Millett (Deveron Harriers) 00:42:33; 5th Ryan Bruce 00:44:21; 6th Isabella Moran (Moorfoot Runners) 00:45:07; 7th Alan McIntyre 00:45:23; 8th Paul Johnson 00:45:58; 9th Clare Scott 00:46:22; 10th Taylor Chu (Edinburgh Frontrunner) 00:46:24.