March 11 2026
Promoting Athletics in Orkney
COMPETITIONS & RUNS
Upcoming Events
| Shapinsay 10k | April 18, 2026 | READ MORE |
| Starlings Open Graded Track & Field Competition | April 26, 2026 | READ MORE |
BLOG
Latest News
OARC AGM set for Monday 16th March
February 18 2026
VIEW OUR LATEST UPDATES
Find us on Facebook
We are on Facebook
300m Orkney Record for Bobby in Aberdeen
Aberdeen Amateur Athletic Club's Spring OGM was held today, with three Orkney athletes competing: Bobby Harcus and Zander Scott in the 300m and William MacDonald in the javelin.
The outdoor 300m is an event we don't tend to include in the programme for our home events, but it's a nice crossover event with 100 and 200m specialists going a little longer and 400m specialists stepping down to meet them. That mix of speed and stamina played out in the race, with Bobby and Zander going out fast and pulling well clear of the field, but Bobby having a little more in his legs as they rounded the final bend, taking the race in a time of 36.18s, just over two tenths inside the Orkney senior men's record set by Nigel Thomson in 2005. Congratulations Bobby - that's the 100, 200 and 300m senior men's records now held between the Westray Harcus boys.
Zander finished second in 36.87, a very creditable time and it's great to see him back running after a horrible time with injuries.
William was throwing the javelin today after focusing on the shot put through the indoor season, opening his outdoor season with six legal throws, his second of 44.72 being the longest. He's got a lot more in the tank, but a strong start to the season.
Well done Bobby!🤩
Congratulations Bobby!
💪🏼💪🏼
Woohoo!!!! Congratulations Bobby 🏃♂️
It's the 1st April, and rather than an April Fool, we have the approaching outdoor competition season to bring to you, with our first road race and track and field events now open to entries.
Shapinsay 10k is on Saturday April 18th, and entries are open at: www.orkneyarc.org.uk/events/event/shapinsay-10k/ - please remember to book the boat as well as the event, it did fill up last time!
The Starlings Open Graded is our first track and field competition of the season and is now open for entries via Opentrack, details at www.orkneyarc.org.uk/events/event/oarc-open-graded-competition/ and entries at data.opentrack.run/en-gb/x/2026/GBR/oarcapr26/
If you have any questions, please let us know.
After tonight's primary session, 2 Medium Youth jumpers were left behind and 1 Large Youth jumper taken home by someone by mistake. If you can reunite any of the three please let us know and we'll get them back to you after Easter.
Oh dear….I got all the way through reading this trying to work out whether they were high jumpers or long jumpers 🤦. You Orcadians are probably far cleverer than me.
William Sichel - Scottish Ultra Runner finishes the GOMU World 48H Championships in Italy with a bronze medal finish in the M70 category, completing 144.4 miles/232.487km in the time. An unbelievable effort, we hope you've found a very large bowl of pasta indeed!
What an inspiration he is - an incredible performance, massive plaudits to William.
Congratulations! Fantastic result. 👏👏👏
Very impressive William Sichel - Scottish Ultra Runner hats off to you!
So well done!
Well done William
Huge congratulations, William!! 💪 🏃♂️🥉
Brilliant well done William 👏👏
Well done!
Amazing, well done William! 💪👏🥳🌟
Well done William doing Orkney proud
Woop woop! Amazing William. 👏🏼🥳🙌🏼
Well done William
Wow! Well done William 👏
Bronze for Max at Sprint Fastest 2026
This was a new event for the 16 fastest sprinters in each age group in the 100m in Scotland last year. We were delighted that six of our athletes qualified to receive invitations: Jenna declined as she's focusing on her jumps, and Conor and Abi unfortunately have injuries that they've been struggling with and couldn't race today.
That left us with a terrific trio of Sophie Shearer in last year's U13G category and Max Tulloch and Gerard Enemmuo in last year's U17B category. They were accompanied by sprints coach Nigel.
This really was a very high standard event with every single entrant one of the best in their event in Scotland, and it's hugely to all our participants credit that they took part at all.
Sophie Shearer was the first to hit the track, running her first ever sub-14s 100m in 13.86 - not an official PB due to the windy conditions but a great run and the joint 12th fastest time in the category. She was disappointed to miss out on the final but knowing she can compete at this level will set her up well for the outdoor season ahead and North Districts in May.
In the U17 boys, Max and Gerard both lined up in the first heat. Max stormed out of the blocks to win the heat and qualify fastest for the final in 11.41s, while Gerard's 11.71 is the fastest time he's run in competition - but again not wind legal for PB purposes. Gerard narrowly missed out on the final.
Max advanced to the afternoon's final. For those who don't know, Max fractured his collarbone 5 weeks ago and has had to adjust his shoulder position as a result.
Lining up in the final alongside Max was Kian Redman of Shetland Amateur Athletics Club as well as athletes from Edinburgh, Inverness and Ayr amongst others. He put in a fantastic effort to finish third in 11.30 behind Kian and Rory Smith of Edinburgh AC. Well done Max!
A huge well done to them all, as opening up outdoor season at the end of March is very very early.
The long journey home has started, and a change in ferry times tomorrow and the clocks going forward, it will be a very tired group on the Pentland Firth tomorrow morning!
www.facebook.com/share/v/1ELyTScUQd/ video of Max's final courtesy of Shetland Amateur Athletics Club
Well done everyone! 👏
Well done xx
Well done everyone some great early season running.😀
Well done everyone!
Well done everyone! 👏
100 miles in with about 40% of the time remaining for William Sichel - Scottish Ultra Runner
This content isn't available right now
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.
JOIN US
Become a Member
As well as providing regular athletic instruction and training sessions, one of the key aims of OARC is to promote pathways to performance and as part of this, the Club organises and participates in a range of home and away competitions throughout the year.