Irvine Athletic Club's bright start

Apr 17 2009 by John Woods, Irvine Herald

IRVINE Athletic Club runners made a good start to the road race season when they travelled to Motherwell on Easter Sunday for the Tom Scott 10-mile race which traditionally marks the start of the summer road racing season.

This event has been held annually since 1962 in memory of a well-known Motherwell runner who was killed in a road accident while travelling to a race in England.

The original course was on open roads following the training route which Tom Scott used from his home in the village of Law to the factory where he worked in Motherwell.

However in recent years the increase in road traffic has forced the race onto a traffic-free, but still very scenic, course round the paths of Strathclyde Park.

A crisp, still morning provided excellent racing conditions for the field of over 200 runners who set a fast and furious pace over the mainly flat course.

David Millar yet again produced the best result of the Irvine runners finishing in fifth place in a superb time of 51 minutes 51 seconds.

Next home Tony McKnight whose top 30 placing just inside 58 minutes should give him confidence for his attempt at the London Marathon next week and Mark Livingston running over ten miles for the first time was pleased with his 66th place in 63.32.

Further down the field Stevie Connell, Andy Rennie and Jim White were changing positions throughout the race and, until about the five-mile point, it was Stevie followed by Andy then Jim but by the finish the places had reversed with Jim finishing in 66.12, followed by Andy in 67.31 and Stevie in 68.56.

On Sunday the popular Ormidale 10k on Arran should attract a large entry from the Irvine Club.