Great Britain international Megan Keith is one of the top athletes taking part in the north east’s first post-lockdown track and field meeting of the season at Aberdeen Sports Village on Saturday.
The 18-year-old Inverness runner, who was part of the gold medal winning GB under-20 team at last December’s European cross-country championships, is to compete in one of a series of open 5,000m races.
Keith is relishing the opportunity to get back into the competitive groove for the first time in more than five months.
She said: “I’m really excited about competing. I’d like to run a fast time as my best is 17:32 from last year. I’ve run 16:30 and 16:35 in a couple of virtual races so I’d hope to be quicker if it’s not too windy.
“My training has gone well especially since we got back to running in groups again. I’ve missed that. I’ve only been on the track once but hopefully I’ll still have my speed.”
Keith’s opponents include East Sutherland’s Constance Nankivell, Metro Aberdeen’s Hannah Morrison and Caithness athlete Rhiannon Kirk.
Scotland international Cameron Strachan is the fastest entrant in the men’s 5,000m which promises to be an exciting race.
The Metro Aberdeen man has a best time of 13:58 set at the Antrim road races in February, but he faces strong opposition led by Inverclyde’s Johnny Glen who clocked 14:01 at Barrowford last month.
Other contenders include Strathpeffer’s Hamish Hickey and the Aberdeen AAC duo Michael Ferguson and Myles Edwards.
Aberdeen Sports Village hosts a second meeting on Sunday when the latest match in the Scottishathletics 4J Studios series goes ahead.
