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LOCAL MAN CRAIG
THE WINNER!
LOCAL runner Craig
Walker won the 2009 Dominion Gas Ythan Challenge adventure
race on 28 June, leading a field of 351 runners home on a
humid morning in his first attempt at the race.
Craig, 33, from Ellon, who finished in 47 mins and 45
seconds, only took up running a couple of years ago after
retiring as a Scotland badminton international. He said:
“This was my first Ythan Challenge, and I really enjoyed it.
The hills were very tough but I’ll definitely be coming
back.”
Behind him was veteran David Armour, 48, who is based in
Stirling but runs for Forres Harriers, in a time of 48:27,
with Simon Nichol, 34, from Aberdeen, third in 49:05. Fourth
in 49:12 was Metro Aberdeen runner and three-times winner
Rob Taylor, 51, who retained his male supervet’s crown. The
first vintage male was Forfar Road Runners’ David Douglas,
61, in a time of 1:08:16.
First woman home and 14th overall was 2005 winner Eleanor
Reid, 33, from Inverness, in a time of 52:33. She said: “It
was warm, really warm, but a great race. It’s a unique
event, and that’s why I came back – winning it again is a
bonus! The hay bales at the finish were a bit of a surprise,
though – getting over them right near the end was like
climbing Everest.”
Behind her in 53:04 was Edinburgh AC runner Victoria Lomax,
31, who for the second consecutive year was runner-up, and
Amanda Blackhall, 39, from Fort William, third. She runs
with Lochaber AC and finished in 54:48. First veteran woman
was Janette Rainey, 43, who runs with Arbroath Footers in a
time of 59:12, and first supervet woman in 1:10:08 was Ann
Jessiman, 55, proprietor of event sponsor The Running Shop.
The last runner came home in 1:59:47, and two dropped out.
The winning open team was the Metro Moaners, comprising Rob
Taylor, Keith Fraser and Malcolm Valentine; first corporate
team was Acergy NEC Highlanders (Kevin Tulloch, Andrew
Crichton, Farquhar Mitchell); and first uniform team was
Grampian Police Plod Squad (Stephen Morrison, Mildren
Robertson, Stephen Cole).
The prizes were awarded by Dominion Gas managing director
Doug Crighton.
The 2009 race was the ninth consecutive running of the race,
from which all proceeds go back to the local youth groups
which benefit most from the event. Represented on the
organising committee are The Meadows sports centre in Ellon
— where the event starts and finishes — and Ellon Rugby
Club, Ellon FC, Ythan Amateur Swimming Club, Ellon Ladies
Hockey Club, the Middleton Trust, and Ellon ATC many of
whose cadets acted as marshals on the route.
The event – for which the main sponsor is Aberdeen-based
oilfield services company Dominion Gas – as usual started
and finished at the Meadows, with runners setting off at
11am and then heading along the side of the Ythan onto the
beautiful Esslemont Estate, usually closed to the public.
Here the adventure really began, with a variety of obstacles
to slow down the runners and the river Ythan to navigate
before they head back.
For the first time this year, runners were confronted with a
further series of obstacles when they reached the Meadows,
making for a tough final sprint to the finishing line.
All runners received technical t-shirts for the first time
in 2009. They were supplied by Mizuno through The Running
Shop who together also sponsored fantastic prizes for all
the category winners along with spot prizes. Also new was
our partnership with SportCam, a photography service run by
runners and specialising in covering running and cycling
events. They had two photographers covering the event, and
runners can check out their gallery for a lasting memento.
Organising committee chair Ann Howley said: “The race was
another great success, and we’re already getting lots of
positive feedback from those who took part. The weather
stayed fine – if a little warm for the runners – and there
were only a few minor bumps and bruises, along with a few
trainers lost in one of the boggier bits of the course! This
year for the first time we had a supply of spare trainers
from the Meadows lost property box on hand!
“Next year will mark the tenth staging of the race, which
attracts runners from all over Scotland and further afield
and is still among the toughest of its kind. As a measure of
its growing popularity, the event was full by the end of
March this year, at least two months earlier than ever
before.
“Our main sponsor was for the fourth consecutive year
Dominion Gas, whose generosity meant we could again use
Aberdeenshire Council’s excellent computer chip timing
system to separate the entrants into three waves. This once
more reduced bottlenecks on the course and we were also able
to offer a swift results service.
“We would like to offer our congratulations to all the
category winners and also give a huge vote of thanks to
Dominion Gas, to all our other sponsors and supporters, to
Charles and Angela Wolrige Gordon for allowing us to use
Esslemont, and to the many volunteers who helped out on the
day.”
Our thanks for
making the 2009 event such a great success to:
> main
sponsor Dominion Technology Gases
>
The Running Shop
Aberdeen, and through them Mizuno
>
Dome,
for donating and maintaining this website
>
Sangs
of Banff, who for the ninth consecutive race provided our
runners with water on the course and at the finish line
> Costcutters of
Ellon for their continued support in providing goody bags
for all finishers
> Delicious of
Ellon for the eco-friendly paper goody bags
>
We’d also like to thank everyone else involved, in
particular Charles and Angela Wolrige Gordon for once again
allowing us to stage the event on the beautiful Esslemont
Estate.
Our thanks too to the following, in alphabetical order:
> George
Chalmers, for donating and delivering straw bales on the
Esslemont Estate
> HM Coastguard
Aberdeen, for organising the river obstacle
> Alan Irvine,
for donating and delivering the straw bales at The Meadows
> St Andrew’s
First Aid Grampian
> George
Stephenson, for the scaffolding on the Esslemont Estate
...and to everyone else who gave up their time to help in
the run-up and on race day.
Race
Sponsors:
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And how was it for you?
Please complete our
feedback form
and let us know how the 2009 Dominion Gas Ythan
Challenge went for you. Changes this year as a
result of feedback from the 2008 event included
kilometre markers along the route, technical
t-shirts for all runners, and obstacles at the end
of the race! What would you like to see next year?
Tell us!
Your views at Runner's World
We're getting some good feedback from 2009
competitors at
Runner's World. Once you've shared your
views with us, why not add your comments
here as well?
Ythan Challenge
is on Facebook
here
Twitter Ythan Challenge
here
Visit our 2008 Ythan gallery
A selection of photos can be viewed
here.
Visit our 2008 Junior Ythan gallery
A selection of photos can be viewed
here.
Download the 2008 results
Results from the 2008 Dominion Gases Ythan
Challenge can be downloaded
here
Challenge FAQs
Visit our FAQs page to find answer to some
of the questions we get asked most often. Feel free
to
e-mail us if you have a question that we haven't
answered:
FAQs page
Prime TV spot for Ythan Challenge
The Dominion Gases Ythan Challenge was
featured in the August 2006 edition of BBC2
Scotland's The Adventure Show, presented by
Dougie Vipond...
more
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What you said after the
2008 race:
‘Loved it!
Best event I've taken part in, smiled the whole day!
Recommending it to everyone.’
‘Most fun I'd had in years - want to do another one next week.’
‘One of the best races of the year and always well organised and
friendly.’
‘Excellent fun.’
‘Really good course once again, and great atmosphere.’
‘Definitely one of the better fun adventure races I've done.’
‘Absolutely bloomin’ fantastic!!! It was my first time and I
thought that it was brilliant fun – I couldn't help but laugh
thinking that I was paying to do this… See you next year.’
‘Super race, super day, results system fantastic, see you next
year!’
‘Loved it, loved it. Will spread the word and be back next
year.’
‘Felt like I was a kid again, but without the mother telling me
not to come home wet, muddy, with torn clothes and bloodied
knee!’
‘Another good time had this year and a highlight of the year.’
‘Great day’s craic.’
Photos of the 2007 race (above)
courtesy of
Barbara Wright
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