Scottish Schools Cross Country Championships, Irvine - 14/03/2009

Irvine was the venue for this years Scottish Schools Cross Country Championships and it was like a re-run of last years event as athletes arrived to a wet and windy reception.

As the morning wore on, the rain subsided which was slightly more favourable for the 700 secondary school athletes.

Emma and Oonagh Dunnett had made the long journey to represent Thurso High School in their second year at this National level competition.

In the 14-15 year old girls race, Emma and Oonagh were part of a 110 strong field of athletes who took on a hilly 3 kilometre course in tough conditions.

After a determined start, Oonagh settled into her race and finished strongly in 29th place after a friendly tussle with North Scotland team mate Bethany Wilson (Moray Road Runners).

Emma for her part, took the race out hard in what is traditionally a fast paced race due to the course length which is well below the normal national distance for this age group.

The lead pack of 8 athletes was soon whittled down to 4 as the stronger athletes keep up the early pace of the race.

Emma was among this first group of runners who she had competed against at national level several times this year.

As the athletes completed the first shorter loop and headed back out into the exposed section of the course on the second loop, Emma was still in touch with the lead runners.

As the pack took a sharp bend on a hilly section of the course, Emma made the most of an opportunity to take a tight line and found herself at the head of the pack, dictating the pace.

Having got herself in what was an unfamiliar position, Emma committed to this and started to pull away from the following pack which was quickly strung out with the injection of pace.

Over the final 1 kilometre of the course, Emma built on this initial lead and by the time she cross the line as Scottish Champion, she had a 10 second advantage on Rachel Dunn in second place and 16 seconds on Olivia Mackenzie who finished 3rd.

The first three athletes are all Edinburgh Athletic Club athletes which bodes well for the Scottish Road Race Championships this weekend.

Emma has also gained herself a Scottish Schools team vest as her performance guaranteed her a place in the Scotland team which will compete at the British Schools International in Bangor, Wales on the 28th March.

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