Defending champion Megan Keith successfully retains her crown in River Ness 10k in Inverness
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DEFENDING women's champion Megan Keith successfully defended her River Ness 10k title in Inverness on Sunday.
The 19-year-old Inverness Harrier cruised to victory crossing the line in a time of 34 minutes and 22 seconds.
She was over two minutes ahead of Inverness Harrier teammate Jenny Bannerman in 36:27 with Michelle Slater of Moray Road Runners third in 40:18.
Keith, who has relocated to Edinburgh to study at university, was too good in the female race for the chasing pack.
But she had to combat difficult windy conditions which she said impacted on how she finished.
"I was wanting to start off conservatively for the first half and see how I was feeling," she said.
"I went through five kilometres ok but struggled through the last few kilometres.
"I think I was on track for under 34 minutes until the last kilometre and knocked it down in the wind and couldn't keep it up.
"It was tough to keep the momentum going."
However, she paid tribute to the crowd for keeping her going in her hometown race.
"The Inverness crowd is as good as it gets and kept me going as there were so many familiar faces," she said.
Keith is now looking to balance the new cross country season with being a student as she looks to progress her impressive career.
"It has been a hectic few weeks but it is definitely a new environment and good one for me," speaking about relocating to Edinburgh.
"Cross country starts in two weeks time in Cardiff for and this is a nice place to start the season and I am also looking forward to Liverpool in November."
