Jim Tole says his triple medal-winning achievement at the East District cross country championships was his finest performance in the colours of Metro Aberdeen Running Club.
The 46-year-old struck double gold when winning the over-40 age group title after placing 21st overall from a field of 258 competitors in the 8k race through the grounds of Stirling University.
In addition to picking up the individual age group title, he led Metro to the masters team prize with solid backing from Allan Christie and Paul Knight.
And Tole bagged medal number three as he was first man home for the Metro senior men’s squad which took team bronze behind Central AC and Corstorphine AAC.
The other scorers were Scotland 100k internationals Chris Richardson (35th) and Jason Kelly (37th), as well as Christie (39th), Will Mackay (43rd) and Martin Mueller (57th).
Tole said: “That was probably my best run in a Metro vest.
“I was surprised to finish ahead of guys like Jason, but everything is going well for me at the moment and I’m training consistently. There’s a good group of guys to train with at the club and we do sessions together on a Tuesday and Saturday, which has really helped.”
Tole has certainly been in fine form since returning to competitive action in the late summer.
He won the Braemar half marathon and the North Rayne 10k in September before tackling the London marathon, where he set an impressive time of 2hr 36min 32secs – the third best by a Scot in the over-45 age group this year.
He said: “I was training for London throughout the summer and hoped to get under 2:40 as a minimum, although I wanted to be as close to 2:30 as possible.
“Now I’m aiming to run faster in the Berlin marathon next September, although, if I feel I’m in decent shape at the end of the cross country season, I might go for the Manchester marathon in April.
For now, Tole is focused on more cross country success.
He won the over-40’s title in the Scottish 4k championships at Lanark last month, but his main target for the winter is the national masters championships on home ground in February.
He said: “The masters championships are at Balgownie playing fields and my goal is to win the over-45’s title.
“A few years ago, I felt I should have won the over-40’s title at Forres, but I started too fast that day and was narrowly beaten by three Cambuslang runners. Not winning really irked me, so I want to put that right.
“As the race is at Balgownie, there’s no excuses. I’ve been training there with the other Metro guy, so I certainly know the course. It’s also great not having to get up early to travel – I should be well rested.”
Chalmers wins Kingswells 3k by 20 seconds as Safari Series draws to a close
Scotland international Sean Chalmers cruised to a comfortable victory in the Gathimba Edwards Foundation Safari Series 3k road race which attracted over 100 runners to Kingswells.
The Aberdeen-based athlete zipped around the Prime Four Business Park circuit in 9min 27secs to finish 20 secs ahead of Gareth Haycroft (Garioch Road Runners), with Ross Finlayson (Lasswade AAC) a further five secs behind in third position.
It was Chalmers’s second win in the series, following his success in the previous month’s Hazlehead 5k.
Finlayson had earlier won the opening Safari event at Aberdeen Sports Village, in October, when clocking the fastest time in Mel’s Mile.
Chloe Gray (Metro Aberdeen), runner-up in November’s Fraserburgh half marathon, headed the women’s field at Kingswells when clocking 11:06.
Aimee Tawse (Aberdeen AAC), winner of the women’s race at Hazlehead, where she finished one second ahead of Elaine Wilson, had to settle for second position in 11:20. Wilson was five secs behind on this occasion.
Chalmers and Gray were presented with Rhino Trophies by Stuart Oag of race sponsors Drum Property. Oag played an active role in the event, finishing fourth in the B race in 12:45.
Lawson Bowie won the accompanying children’s 1k in 4:41, with Lilly Story (Young Meldrum Runners) runner-up in 4:43 and Caleb Collie (Metro Juniors) third in 5:36.
The races were held in aid of the Gathimba Edwards Foundation, a charity co-founded by Aberdeen athlete Myles Edwards which supports under-privileged children and families in Kenya.
Edwards said: “The series gave runners the chance to compete over three different distances and terrains, while also receiving a unique Kenyan safari animal medal at each event.
“An incredible £1,364 was raised at the Prime Four races, which was greatly helped by Drum Property’s sponsorship of the event medals and trophies. And we are delighted that the inaugural series has raised £1,748 in total.
“The series will be back in summer 2022 and there will be three different themed animal medals and winners trophies up for grabs.”
