Aberdeen AAC’s international sprinter Zoey Clark was happy to crank up through the gears and blow away a few cobwebs when tackling her first races since the Tokyo Olympic Games in early August.
The 400m specialist stepped down from her preferred distance to compete in the 60m and 200m at the 4J Scottish indoor open meeting at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena.
It was also the Great Britain international’s first competitive outing since parting from long-time coach Eddie McKenna at the tail end of the summer. Her partner, Ryan Oswald, is now overseeing her training.
Clark, who was the only woman in each of the races, clocked 7.55sec to finish sixth in the 60m and 23.82 for third position in the 200 – solid performances for this stage in the year.
She said: “I’m reasonably happy. I was always going to be a bit rusty after a winter block of training and adapting to the new coaching. So, it was a bit more nerve-racking than it would normally be for an open meeting, but overall I’m happy.
“It was good to run against the guys. I went into the races knowing full well I might finish last, but there was no pressure on me to push for a position. So, it probably helped me to run a bit better.
“The 200m was always going to be the main focus and it was probably better than the 60m, but I still made some mistakes, so there’s definitely room for improvement.
“But that was one of the reasons for taking part in this meeting, to get a feel for racing again so that hopefully, when I next compete, it will be a bit more polished.”
Here's @_ZoeyClark on her 1st action since Olympics and with new coach https://t.co/Mx5fjiTxod@AberdeenAAC @Team_Scotland @BASCSupporters @BritAthletics @AthleticsWeekly @Jason_AW @VincoSport @Bobby_ThatOneMo @BASCSupporters @Tyrone_M_Smith @SusanEgelstaff @ScotWomenSport
— scottishathletics (@scotathletics) January 10, 2022
Clark isn’t placing too much emphasis on the indoor season as she prefers to focus on the summer when she has world and European championships to aim for, as well as the Commonwealth Games.
She has only a couple more competitions lined up before ending her indoor campaign.
She said: “I’ve entered the 60m and 200m at the national championships in a fortnight.
“I’ll probably do both events, but I’m not 100% sure about the 60 yet. Doing a 60 beforehand can fire me up for the 200, but we’ll see.
“There’s also the possibility of a one-off 400m being arranged for the following week, although that will depend on whether Scottish Government advice allows for races of that length by then.
“Whatever happens, I’m not extending my indoor season beyond the end of January.”
Banchory Stonehaven AC’s Claire McGarvey opened her indoor campaign with an impressive performance in the high jump.
The Glasgow University student cleared a personal best of 1.78m, which is a marked improvement on her previous record of 1.74 from 2019.
She said: “I didn’t think I’d manage to come out and jump like that straightaway, so it’s a good start.
“Hopefully there’s more to come before the end of the indoor season.”
Run Garioch organisers in plea for support as event gets set to return
Sustainability is to be at the heart of the Run Garioch races which are poised to return after a three-year absence because of the pandemic.
Entries open today for the flagship Dandara 10k, the Garioch Sports Centre half marathon, the PMC 5k, and the CP&CO junior runs, which combined will attract thousands of runners to Inverurie on Sunday May 15.
Race director Graham Morrison said: “Despite the huge success of our Go Green for Garioch virtual event last year and the continued support of many of our sponsors and patrons, 2022 will be a tough year for Run Garioch.
“We will need the support of all our local runners, charities and businesses to ensure the sustainability of the event for 2023 and beyond.
“In order to ensure as many runners as possible can take part after what have been difficult financial times for many, entry fees have been reduced across the board.
“RG2022 is very much about us working in partnership with the community to help us all recover from the pandemic, in terms of rebuilding our mental and physical health, re-establishing community links and having the confidence to get involved.”
Environmental sustainability is also high on the agenda as race support manager Christine Appel emphasised.
She said: “We’ve put in a place a number of initiatives to help reduce the carbon footprint and environmental impact of our event.
“We’re making t-shirts as optional extras that runners can purchase when they register online. We’ve chosen technical shirts made from recycled bottles for the adults and 100% organic cotton ones for the kids.
“Neither shirt is air freighted or packed in plastic, and both are PETA vegan-approved.”
“We’ll also be encouraging runners to bring their own water, and are looking at various incentives to encourage them to do so.”
Layla Todd, 14, is youngest-ever Metro Aberdeen Proms winner
Shetland teenager Layla Todd scored an impressive but hard-earned victory in the fourth of this season’s six races in the Metro Aberdeen Proms 3k road running series.
The 14-year-old Anderson High pupil became the youngest winner in the 24-year history of the competition when holding off a strong challenge from Rosie Hislop (Metro Aberdeen) to win the women’s division of the race by one second in a time of 11mins dead.
It was Todd’s first appearance in the Proms series, but it might not be her last as she is eyeing up possible outings in the final two rounds in February and March.
She said: “I really enjoyed it, although it was windy. I’m happy with my time, but it’s a few seconds slower than I’ve run on the track.
“I’m down on the mainland as I have a couple of training camps to attend, so it was good to have this race.
“I have more training camps over the next few months, so if they are at the same time as the 3k races then it would be good to be able to do them.”
Todd, who finished fourth in the national cross country championships under-13 girls’ race two years ago, will return to the mainland next weekend for another major competition.
She said: “I’m running for the north in the Scottish inter-district cross country championships at Irvine.”
Hislop was followed by series leader Aimee Tawse (Aberdeen AAC) in 11:20.
Martin Mueller won a competitive men’s race in which five seconds separated the top four finishers.
The Metro Aberdeen man powered home in a personal best 9:17, with Andrew Johnstone (Inverness Harriers) two secs behind in second position, while Joe Battershill (Edinburgh University) was another two secs adrift in third spot.
