Impressive run of results for IAC
Published 8 Feb 2012 13:30
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FIRST PAST THE POST: Winner Craig Ruddy is congratulated by MP Iain McKenzie.
THE top athletes in Inverclyde competed for the title of number one road racer in the Renfrewshire area at the Battery Park on Sunday.
Inverclyde AC were to the fore with 11 medals collected with Renfrewshire AAA Championships titles to Ryan Gray, Greg Williams, the under-11, under-15 and under-17 boys teams and the title of the best road runner going to Craig Ruddy.
Inverclyde ACs Scottish International pairing of Craig Ruddy and Mark Pollard strode confidently to the front of the senior men's race and led the chasing athletes as they circled the Battery Park prior to heading eastbound along the Esplanade.
As both athletes hit the main road it was Craig who pushed the pace opening up a slight gap on Mark as the hot pace set by two of Scotland's top distance athletes continued to take them clear from the chasing packs.
With a mile to go, Craig made a clear break and as he passed coach Lawrie Spence he received instructions to push himself into another level. Responding to this, Craig raised his pace and was an impressive sight to the watching public as he powered to the finish victorious.
Not to be outdone, Mark moved through his gear to hit full pace along the finishing straight to make it an impressive one two for 'Clyde' with both athletes running sub-25 minutes for the five-mile course.
Equally impressive in the under-17 boys age group was Greg Williams who, despite earlier muscle pulls, returned to the fore when his fellow competitors were happy for him to lead. Undaunted by this Greg willingly accepted this invitation and extended his stride length to open up a gap with each stride over the three-mile course.
As he approached the Battery, he was a clear winner and enjoyed the feeling of again leading his clubmates home. Greg was joined by his under-17 team-mates, Michael Houston and Robert Todd who again stuck to their task by being at the front end of races, so much so that Inverclyde were awarded the gold medal for the team, making it a double for road and cross country.
The ever-popular Jon Glen received plenty of vocal support as he competed against the UK's top under-15.
He dug into his reserves and pushed himself to ensure he kept close attention to the leader and worked as only Jon does to win the silver medal with an excellent performance. Like the under-17 boys the under-15 team of Jon, Josh Houston and Ross Gray collected yet another podium finish, this time at the top winning the gold.
In the under-13 boys race Ryan Gray took the title to add to his already bulging award cabinet this season and now looks forward to the Scottish championships as the only athlete unbeaten this season. Likewise in the team event Matthew McKinnon and Macauley McArthur competed well to secure the silver medal and another podium visit for the young athletes.
In the youngest age group, under-11, Cameron Watson was the club's top performer claiming the silver with a very good run from the youngster.
He led the line for the under-11 boys, being joined by Max Rice and Cameron Purves to claim victory and the gold team medal. Not to be outdone, the under-11 girls team of Sara O'Docherty, Cara Hogg and Clara Pollock ran well as a team to secure bronze.
Other notable performances in the senior race came from Rachael Bushfield who won the family battle from mother Rhona. John Smillie again improved his performances, recording a time some two minutes faster than his last over the course.
After a very successful Masters event the day before, Gary McKendrick worked himself round the course and had a fast finish to bring Inverclyde team home for the silver medal, joining Craig, Mark, Sean Gaffney, Thomas Jamieson and Jude Boulton.
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 08 Feb 12
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