Promoting Athletics in Orkney

Orkney Athletic and Running Club

15 hours ago

The Lows Orkney Kirkwall 10k took place today with clear skies and a light breeze marking a good set of road running conditions. A field of 57 runners set off for one and a half laps of the Picky track followed by a run out to the Hatston Terminal and back. Craig Moar led the field through the Picky gates and out into the car park with Bobby Oag in hot pursuit, and it was clear that would be the battle throughout. Bobby crossed the line first in 35:30, 18 seconds ahead of Craig (first veteran male) with just over a minute to Gary Ward in third.

In the women’s race, Ava Luke completed her first road 10k since 2024 in some style, sailing round the peedie sea to finish in 38.34 as the first senior female, less than a minute away from Aly Kemp’s course record which looks like it could be a target in the future. The first veteran female home was Dawn Williams (46:05) for whom this was something of a warm down after the London marathon last weekend. In the super veteran (60+) category, we saw a very impressive performance from visiting Kirkby Miller Gary English who finished in 42:18, with Ruth Spence the first super veteran female, finishing in 50.16.

Elsewhere in the field, we saw a clutch of PBs for Cathy Smith, Donna Stephenson, Dawn Williams, Kristina MacPherson, Scarlett Palmer, Fraser Christie, Laurence Tait, Vikki Budge, Chris Moore, Ava Luke, Meryvn Hourston and I suspect quite a few others who I couldn’t find on Strava! Well done to all the runners and thank you to Sarah Finn, Carrie Gunn and their team of volunteers and marshals for supporting the event, and to Lows Orkney for the sponsorship. After three events in three weeks, we now have a well deserved break until the Kirkwall Half Marathon at the end of the month.

There are a *lot* more photos which I'll post tomorrow.

Meanwhile in Cardiff, Bobby Harcus and William MacDonald were competing at BUCS Outdoor Athletics. Bobby competed in the 200m, getting a tough draw in Lane 1 but a good result, finishing in 23.09, just outside his PB despite a strong headwind. He finished 6th in a high quality field, following on from 51.26s in the 400m yesterday which was amidst a torrential downpour.

The same weather was making throwing conditions difficult for William MacDonald, who threw the shot 11.53m to reach the final and 44.57m in the javelin. Well done to both William and Bobby for competing hard in the kind of miserable conditions us Orcadians simply aren’t used to! All four performances were within the Faroes 2027 qualifying standard.

Also competing this weekend, this time on Friday night at the Scottish 5k Championships was Ewan Foubister, who finished in an impressive 15.52, more than a minute inside the (track) Island Games qualifying standard and contributing to a silver medal for the U20 Male team from Edinburgh University. Congratulations Ewan! ... See MoreSee Less

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Orkney Athletic and Running Club

2 days ago

We don't do a lot of personal news on here... but sometimes you have to make an exception. Congratulations from everyone at Orkney Athletic and Running Club, past and present, to our lead sprint coaches Mags and Nigel, who recently tied the knot in secret after 21 years together - having met (more or less) on the Picky track!

I suspect this isn't the first club marriage, but you couldn't find two people who have done more for athletics in Orkney over the years - and hopefully for many more to come! ... See MoreSee Less

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Orkney Athletic and Running Club

1 week ago

TCS London Marathon 2026

On a day where the two-hour marathon barrier was officially broken for the first time, the real achievement to celebrate was clearly the four OARC runners who completed the course narrowly outside that record.

The club had two places to give away with this year, with Sarah Finn & Judith Bonner having their names pulled from Carrie's hat. They finished the course in 5:36:09 and 4:43:46 respectively, with Judith sending in a picture of her overtaking Daddy Pig (who I think finished with Joe Wicks, although that may have been a fever dream...)

Fancy dress record chaser Dawn Williams dragged her clown shoes around in 4:03:02, narrowly missing out on a (second!) Guinness World Record thanks to the presence of a rival clown running slightly ahead of her.

Finally, fresh from his jog around Shapinsay, Magnus Harrold put in a terrific time of 2:51:48.

Well done to all four of our runners on your fantastic achievement, and congratulations to to Karen Scholes who made it five Orkney finishers in 6:21:42. ... See MoreSee Less

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