Annan & District Athletic Club    

           
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FESTIVAL OF RUNNING 2006

The fourth ADAC Running Festival was held in the region at the weekend.

The event is a real challenge for even the fittest of runners. With four races over three days the hardest thing is to judge how to run fast yet keep that little something

 back for the next run. The results as in previous years were age graded which enabled all competitors to be on a level footing as they were racing their own age group

 world standard times this means that everyone has to work as hard as one another as the faster your time the better your percentage and those with the highest scores

 get the top points.

Almost thirty runners from around the region took part including the previous years winner from Moffat, now 69 years young, Jim Buchanan .It was also good to see

 Dumfries athlete Jim Ferguson who is now in the Male 45 category, Carl Heaven, last years top female Mhairi Douglas and in form ADAC runner Mark Whitelaw 

on the starting line thus making it an interesting competition.

The first event to take place was the one mile race. A record twenty two runners set off and first in was Whitelaw in a time of 4.55 hot on his tail however was 

Ferguson who crossed in 4.57.Martin Graham of Shettleston Harriers came third in 5.08.Mhari Douglas of Dumfries was the leading lady across the line in 5.48.

 Buchanan however once again claimed the lead for his run of 6.01 which when transferred to % gave him an excellent top mark of 84.87.

Just over 40 minutes rest and the runners were in action again, this time to run 3.75 miles over a cross-country route on the banks of the River Annan. 

Twenty-four competitors stood on the starting line this time.

Yet again it was Whitelaw who came into the home straight ahead of Ferguson one second separated the duo their times being 20.12 and 20.13.

Was it enough to claim victory over Buchanan? All eyes were on the watch as they eagerly waited on the Moffat veteran to come into sight they 

didn’t have long to wait as he soon appeared and clocked an impressive 25.52. It was just enough to earn 85.42% from Ferguson’s 84.99%

 which gave him the lead going into day number two. Over 60 Roger Guy took third place in the % table with his run of 24.05 transferring to a

 creditable76.02%. Douglas once again took the ladies honours with a super run of 23.23 from ADAC ladies Anne Torduff 26.55, Louise Hopper

 28.22 ,Liz Dawson 29.29 Caroline Legg 29.33 and Tricha Patterson 33.24.Well done to Annan jog fit runner Jane Kirkpatrick who completed in 31.22.

After a good nights rest Saturday morning arrived bringing near on perfect conditions for a road run. Yet again it was a record turnout for the 6-mile

 challenge with twenty runners lining up at Gretna Green. They were set off in groups according to their ability to give the faster runners a target to

 chase in order to try to help them achieve a fast time. Whitelaw ran to form and was fastest crossing the finish in 31.41. Ferguson gave it his all and 

was delighted to clock 32.49.Graham crossed third in 34.52 from Langholm runner Stewart Pool who was fourth running very close to a personal best

 in 35.41.Moffat’s James Kellock was pleased with his 36.07 as was Kevin McCaig of Border Harriers who ran 36.11.Making a reappearance on the

 running circuit after an absence of 4 years was Dumfries’ Willie Mason and his time of 37.02 is sure to be lowered in the forthcoming months. Good outings

 were had by Paul Nicholson 38.04, Ian ‘Smiler’ Waude 37.54,Donald McCaulley 38.50, Owen Brown 39.14 and John Murphy 39.37.An excellent run of 

37.41 gave Mhari a good 76.51% but no one was good enough to beat the unstoppable Buchanan who’s time of 39.40 converted to an incredible 87.53% 

and with that performance it looked like he was going into the last event with a very considerable lead.

Sunday morning and it was up to Moffat which was the venue for the 3.5 mile fell race and although it was a climb of only 550 feet –not much for the experienced

 fell racers- it was going to pose a bit of a challenge for those not familiar with the hills. The competitors that had completed all three events so far were feeling 

slightly weary legged but they were eager to complete the final hurdle.

Eighteen in total set off on the scenic route across the Moffat hills. Whitelaw made it a clean sweep of victories by crossing the tape ahead (21.31) well clear

 of Ferguson (23.04) and fell running specialist Roger Irving of Langholm (23.14). Andy Fairgrieve had a very impressive run of 24.03 to finish in fourth place.

 Douglas made it a clean sweep of events for the ladies coming down in 28.11 from Moffat girls Aileen Gibson 32.15 and Liz Dawson 36.00 and Gordon

 Rogerson showed his love of the hills by running a much improved time of 38.22.

After some light refreshments it was time to add up the points and it was no surprise that Jim Buchanan had held on to his title with the maximum 120points. 

Jim Ferguson had battled extremely well and finished runner up with 112 and should be pleased with the excellent times he achieved. Mark scored 103 to 

give him third place and was happy to finish in one piece. Roger Guy was fourth from Kevin and ‘Smiler’ who were fourth and fifth. Mhairi was the top placed

 female with 80.

There was a record fifteen runners who completed all 4 events, which is an achievement in itself. The event was a huge success once again and thanks go to all 

competitors, and the band of helpers whose help as always is invaluable. Full results can be viewed on the website adac.org.uk

.

Includes bonus 20 points for completion of all 4 events *