Emma and Dougie take Scottish 100km titles at Anglo Celtic Plate

Monday 3rd April 2023

Dougie Selman and Emma Murray celebrate with their Don Ritchie trophies after Scottish 100km title wins (photo by Peter Tucker)

Results from Craigavon

Emma Murray and Dougie Selman secured the Scottish 100km titles at the Anglo Celtic Plate in Northern Ireland on Sunday.

For jogscotland Kintore runner Murray there was the added bonus of picking up the bronze medal in the British Championships and leading the Scottish women’s team to victory in the Home Countries International competition.

In a strong men’s field, Corstorphine AAC athlete Selman acquitted himself well in his debut at the 100km distance as he finished fifth overall, only losing out on fourth by a second in a sprint finish with Englishman Dale Brennan.

Dougie’s time of 6:47.58 moves him to fifth in the Scottish all time 100km rankings .

Chris Richardson (Metro Aberdeen) took the silver medal in the Scottish championships in 6:58:29 with Michael Deason (Shettleston) taking the bronze in 7:18:10. Deason was not in the Scotland team but took part in the open race held within the event.

Peter Tucker (Inverclyde AC) was the Scottish team’s third counter in 7:32:29 to land the Scottish Masters gold medal. Jason Kelly (Metro Aberdeen) suffered stomach issues from halfway but toughed it out to finish in 7:48:09. Rob Turner had to pull out at 70km with a calf injury.

The Scotland men’s team finished second behind England in the team competition.

Emma Murray (centre) leads the Scottish 100km podium as she is joined by Amanda Woodrow and Catherine Cowie (photo by Adrian Stott)

Murray, running her first road 100km, also had a close finish, losing out to Northern Ireland runner Karla Borland, by a mere 10 seconds to finish fourth overall. Emma recorded 8:26.36.

With second place finisher Pat McLaughlin of Ireland ineligible for the British Championships, it ensured Murray secured the GB bronze medal.

Backed up by Amanda Woodrow (Edinburgh AC) in 8:30:04 and Catherine Cowie (Portobello RC) in 8: 52:58, Scotland narrowly took the team title ahead of Northern Ireland.

Fife AC’s Alison McGill was a late withdrawal due to an ankle issue.

Selman and Murray also received the Don Ritchie Cups, named after Scotland’s legendary record breaking, ultra distance pioneer. They are awarded annually to the male and female Scottish 100km champions.

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The performance of the day was from Sarah Webster from the Isle of Man. In her debut at the distance, she bravely committed from the start and recorded 7:03:40.

Webster thus broke the long-standing British record of 7:27:19 set by Carolyn Hunter-Rowe when winning the World Championship 100km in Belgium in 1993. An improvement of over 23 minutes.

It is the second best time ever by a European and 5th fastest in the Global rankings.

Northern Ireland’s Jarlath McKenna (Bristol and West AC) was a popular home winner of the event taking the Men’s British Championship in 6:37:19.

With thanks to Adrian Stott