Inverness athlete keeps her good form running with victory in 10k at Forres
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European Junior Championship contender Megan Keith completed her second race in less than 40 hours to win the women’s contest in Sunday’s Back To Basics 10K in Forres.
Having recorded a personal best of nine minutes 19.05 seconds on the track to win the Miler Meet event at Linwood, the 19-year-old Inverness runner returned home and headed for Forres where she produced a time of 35:06 to take the women’s title by 36 seconds.
She beat Jenny Bannerman (35:42) while Catriona Fraser completed an Inverness 1-2-3 with a time of 36:31.
“That was definitely a lot harder than Friday,” said Keith.
“10ks are definitely a lot further than I remember them being, so that was a tough one.
“It felt like a long straight on the way back. It went on for a while, but I’m just glad to be out in a local race and to be able to come out and support it.”
Keith already has the 3000m qualifying time for this year’s European Junior Championships so now just has to negotiate the trials later this month for selection.
She is also just seven seconds outside World Junior qualifying, but is playing down taking that extra step.
“The World Juniors isn’t really an aim,” she said.
“It would be fun to run that fast, but the focus is on the European ones.
“I’ve got the European time but it’s got to be run in a female-only race.
“The one I’ll be doing is the European trials at the end of June.
“I’ll run as fast as I can in that one and if I hit the world standard there, then great.”
Fraserburgh’s Max Abernethy won the men’s title in his first competition in 18 months since the 2019 Baxters 10K in Inverness.
He was rewarded by a personal best of 31:34 to take the honours by a margin of 15 seconds.
Ben Ward of Metro Aberdeen finished in second place in 31:49.
Shaun Cumming of Highland Hill Runners completed the top three in 31:54.
Like many of the other athletes, Abernethy found battling into the wind on the long final straight the biggest challenge.
“It was really tough,” he said.
“The first four miles I paced it quite well and then I just turned back and it was a struggle into the wind.
“I went off a bit slower than expected so I went to push the pace on my own and I think that’s why I slowed down on the last little bit.
“It’s my first race for 18 months.
“I’ve been training all through, although with quite a few injuries this last year and I’ve got a fairly decent personal best.”
