Promoting Athletics in Orkney

Orkney Athletic and Running Club

2 hours ago

Photos from Taylah Paterson's post ... See MoreSee Less

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Orkney Athletic and Running Club

3 days ago

𝐎𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐀𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫
A Saturday night check-in on a few OARC athletes who’re competing this weekend around the UK and beyond.

Emily McArthur has had an interesting week: she’s stayed down in England since the BMC in Manchester last weekend and has been training with Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow AC and staying with their legendary coach Conrad Milton. You may remember that Conrad visited Orkney on holiday in September 2021 and spoke to our athletes about his long career as a coach to thousands of athletes including Sir Mo Farah, Hayley and Liz Yelling. Conrad is known for his generosity and Emily tells me she’s gained enough tips to see her through her athletics career!

Today she pulled on the WSEHAC vest to compete in the National Athletics League Premier Division fixture, an incredibly high level of competition and one that Emily rose to meet, running both the 800m and 400m. In the 800m she finished 3rd in the A Race in a time of 2:12.79, a very similar time to last week but in a totally different style of race which went out slowly, showing her maturity as an athlete to be able to adjust and still perform her best. A few hours later, she ran her first 400m of the outdoor season in 58.68, a couple of seconds outside her personal best but an excellent effort on tired legs and in the middle of a 25 degree day - you’re not in Orkney any more Emily!

Well done to Emily and thank you to Conrad Milton and WSEHAC (not on Facebook, but www.instagram.com/wseh_ac) for giving her the opportunity!

Meanwhile, Taylah Paterson is in Brussels with the Scotland 4x100m squad attempting to run the qualifying standards for the Commonwealth Games. The results of this one forced me to try and translate some Dutch from the competition website, but I’m fairly sure that Taylah ran the individual 100m in 12.03s, a tenth faster than her time at the Loughborough International last weekend as she continues her comeback from injury. There was fantastic news for the relay team as their heat time was 44.60, inside the Commonwealth Games standard - Taylah didn’t run in this race, but is down to run in the final tomorrow, stepping into the not inconsiderable spikes of Alyson Bell. That race is at 3pm local time, 2pm here.

Ewan Foubister competed on Friday night in Glasgow at the Miller Meet, running in the 3000m and recording a PB of 8:55.61.

It’s also the Edinburgh Marathon Festival this weekend, and ahead of the big race tomorrow, the 10k took place today, with OARC’s John Gonnella finishing in a very impressive 16th position (out of more than 2000!) in a time of 35:51.

Well done to everyone competing, and good luck for tomorrow and beyond! ... See MoreSee Less