Scotland teams for Armagh Road Races

Wednesday 17th January 2018

FPSG Athlete of the Year Callum Hawkins – set to race for Scotland in Armagh (photo by Bobby Gavin)

Our report on the 2017 races

Callum Hawkins heads the Scotland selection for the Armagh Road Races next month.

The Gold Coast 2018-bound marathon runner leads a team of four male athletes who will race over 5K at the event in Northern Ireland on Thursday 15 February.

And the Women’s team over 3K features another four athletes as eight in total are given the chance to benefit from this international opportunity.

GB and NI Euro Cross U23 team medallist, Mhairi Maclennan, is joined by Scotland international, Steph Pennycook, in that team for Armagh with a new name being that of American-based Scot, Holly Rees. Rees, who was educated at Cambridge and at Harvard, emerged on the scene last summer and has a recent run of 9.17 for 3000m indoors, with her PB being 9.12.

Aberdeen AAC athlete, Naomi Lang, the Scottish U20 indoor 3000m champion, completes the Scotland selection for the Women’s 3K race – with the Road Running and Cross Country Commission keen to offer an opportunity to one U23.

Joining Callum in the men’s team are Shettleston athlete, Lachlan Oates, who has the distinction of winning vests for Scotland at Senior level at hill running, cross country, track and road running.

Delhi Commonwealth Games athlete and twice National XC winner, Alastair Hay, returns to the international stage with a Scotland selection with the U23 place handed to Dundee Hawkhill Harriers athlete, James Donald.

Congratulations to the eight athletes selected to race for Scotland and to their families and coaches as well as the clubs involved in their development over a number of years.

The Armagh 5K has become one the most significant events of its kind in the British Isles, with the quality and depth of the field over both distances now renowned.

As well as the four-strong Scotland teams, a host of other Scottish athletes are entered or plan to enter the event and we wish them well in their training plans, too.