Great Britain mountain running international Robbie Simpson refused to blame a navigational error for costing him victory in the Orsières-Champex-Chamonix 55k race at the prestigious Ultra Trail Mont Blanc running festival.
The Banchory athlete had to settle for second position after a thrilling alpine battle with Norway-based fellow-Brit Jonathan Albon.
Albon, the 2019 world trail running champion, completed the high altitude route, which included 3,500 metres of climbing, in a record time of 5hr 2min 57secs.
Simpson was also inside the old mark when clocking 5:05:35, while Sweden’s Petter Engdhal took third position in 5:08:31.
But the Deeside athlete was some 90secs ahead of the eventual winner after 35K, but then had to make up lost ground after taking an unfortunate detour.
He said: “I went the wrong way on the second long downhill section when I was leading by around 90secs.
“I got to a point where there was a very sharp right turn. I was pretty sure it was the way to go, but there wasn’t a marker there so I kept heading straight on.
“After a while, I realised I was on the wrong course and I could hear people cheering for Jon lower down the track, so by then I realised he was quite a bit ahead.
“I tried to find my way back on to the course, but went straight over the edge of a steep slope, slid down and cut my arm.
“By now I was 90secs behind him and I had to work pretty hard and dig deep to make up the time, but I caught up after a few kilometres.”
The effort in closing the gap combined with the fatigue expected in the closing stages of such a long and demanding race, then began to take a toll on Simpson and Albon was able to edge away to claim victory.
Simpson said: “I ran out of energy gels during the final hour and there were none available at any of the aid stations.
“My legs buckled and at one point I didn’t think I’d make it to the end. But I knew there was a podium place at stake, so I managed to keep it going.
“I don’t think taking the wrong turn affected the outcome. The only difference was that I would have been ahead for longer than I was.
“I think he would still have caught me on the final descent as I was really struggling.”
Also at the UTMB festival, Oldmeldrum’s Meryl Cooper finished sixth in the women’s division of the 101k race between Courmayeur and Chamonix.
The Great Britain trail running international recorded 14:18:49 for a route which includes 6,100m of climbing.
Spain’s Marta Molist Codina won in 12:50:48.
Cooper, who was 13th in 2019, when the race was last held, overcame severely blistered feet to secure an impressive result.
Hodi leads north charge at Scottish U20 championships
Nairn’s Will Hodi struck double gold when competing in the 4J Studios Scottish under-20 championships at Aberdeen Sports Village.
The 17-year-old national decathlon champion, who is about to move to Loughborough University, won the 400m hurdles in a personal best 56.52sec, before going on to take the triple jump with a clearance of 13.23m. Aaron Kerr (Inverness Harriers) was third in the triple jump (10.66).
Rachel MacLennan (Inverness Harriers) topped off a successful summer by winning her first Scottish hammer title.
The Robert Gordon University student threw 49.46 in her final competition of a season in which she has broken the Inverness club record six times and won her first Scotland vest.
There was also gold for Aberdeen AAC’s Jane Davidson, who clocked 14.62 in the 100m hurdles.
Scottish under-17 champion Kai Crawford (Aberdeen AAC) stepped up an age group to earn 800m silver with a time of 1:54.21, while Elgin’s Kyle Wilkinson achieved a PB of 6.82 for second position in the long jump.
There was double silver for Alister Mackay (Inverness Harriers), who threw a PB 42.10 in the javelin and cleared 12.04 in the shot. He was also fourth in the discus (37.26).
Gabriel McFarlane (Elgin AAC) pocketed hammer bronze (43.78), while Rosie Meyer (Aberdeen AAC) did likewise in the javelin (30.67).
And there was a bronze for Aberdeen AAC’s Kirsty Purcell in the 1500m (4:42.37). She had earlier just missed a medal when finishing fourth in the 800m(2:14.92).
Success for younger competitors
Holly Whittaker (Elgin AAC) set a championship best and new national age group record of 11.04secs when winning the 70m hurdles title in the Scottish under-13 championships at Aberdeen Sports Village.
The north athlete broke the previous record of 11.30, which had stood since 2006. She also won the long jump with a personal best of 5.01m – but the wind speed was above the legal limit.
Lucas Davidson (Inverness Harriers) scored a notable sprint double in the 100m (12.78) and 200m (26.17). The wind was just on the limit for the 100m, but above it for the 200m.
Banchory Stonehaven AC’s Ethan Nicolson was third in the longer sprint (26.69) and second in the shot (8.78).
Lois Macrae (Inverness Harriers) led from the start to win the 800m in 2:26.22, while clubmate Kai Bertram was second in the discus (25.90).
Nairn’s Archie Smith was second in the long jump (4.47).
Rory Stainsby (Inverness Harriers) threw a personal best 44.34metres to win the hammer at the under-15 age group championships, while his clubmate Aaron Cheyne took bronze with 26.26. Stainsby also picked up bronze in the discus (30.33).
Another Inverness athlete, Leona Fernandes, won the girls’ javelin (30.27) and finished third in the hammer (38.96), both PBs.
There was also gold for Elgin AAC’s Lexi Grant in the triple jump (9.74) and for Aberdeen AAC’s Rhys Crawford in the 800m (2:05.07).
Silvers went to Banchory’s Millie McClelland-Brooks (Glasgow School of Sport) in the 800m (2:23.35) and Orkney’s Max Linklater in the high jump (1.67).
Aberdeen AAC’s Finn Bryce earned double bronze in the javelin (39.51) and discus (29.05). Orkney’s Abi Coltherd was third in the 300m (43:07).
