James crowned king at Skinadin as winter series gathers pace

Chris James finished 30 seconds ahead of Scott Templeman to take victory at Skinadin last weekend in the second Skye and Lochalsh winter series race.

Chris completed the 10k course, situated north of Broadford, in 43 minutes and three seconds to claim first place, while Scott Templeman, who won the season’s opener at Skeabost last month, secured another podium place with a second place finish in 43:34. Ian Silvester completed the top three overall with a run of 43:56.

Hugh Standen (44:37) and Donnie Nicolson (44:54) powered to top five finishes.

Sarah Attwood, meanwhile, retains a strong grip of the women’s championship following a sixth-place finish overall, which saw her finish as the fastest lady for a second race in succession.

The reigning women’s winter champion clocked 45:41 and was followed by Maggie MacAskill who secured her second runners-up spot in 51:31 — 19th place overall. Iona Gillies also secured a top three finish in the women’s standings, in 52:16, adding to her strong showing in Skeabost where she also came in as the third fastest woman.

Ben McKinlay (46:26) and Paul Parker (46:28) were narrowly separated in seventh and eighth place, respectively, while Alan Cope (47:28) and Chris Walker (48:02) also earned positions in the top 10.

In the 5k race, Edwin Stewart put in a first-class showing to take the top spot in a time of 26:01, while Peter Gordon (27:52) and Iona Towers (28:51) came in second and third.

The 2020/21 winter series championship, which is organised by the Skye and Lochalsh Running and Athletics Club, is being held through a race window format this year in adherence with Covid-19 restrictions.

Participants can contest the race during a time slot starting on Friday morning through to Sunday evening — making it a race weekend as opposed to a set day.

This weekend’s race attracted 57 runners, which means that a total of 127 runners have competed in the opening two races of the 2020/21 series.

The next race will be the 4.5 mile Braes road race, held between Friday 4th and Sunday 6th December.

10k results: 1st Chris James (43:03); 2nd Scott Templeman (43:34); 3rd Ian Silvester (43:56); 4th Hugh Standen (44:37); 5th Donnie Nicolson (44:54); 6th Sarah Attwood (45:41) 1st lady; 7th Ben McKinlay (46:26); 8th Paul Parker (46:28); 9th Alan Cope (47:28); 10th Chris Walker (48:02); 11th = Laurence Tait and Niall Till (48:21); 13th Angus Murray (48:24); 14th Dave Canning (49:38); 15th Richard Stridgeon (49:42); 16th Robert Macdonald (49:51); 17th Angus Macdonald (50:17); 18th Paul McWilliams (50:29); 19th Margaret MacAskill (51:31) 2nd lady; 20th John MacLeod (52:12); 21st Iona Gillies (52:16) 3rd lady; 22nd Andi Dunkel (52:41); 23rd Eilidh Towers (53:04) 4th lady; 24th Jason Bold (53:31); 25th John Downie (54:23); 26th = Thomas Coles and Rebecca Miller (54:49) 5th lady; 28th Marina Slater (55:52) 6th lady; 29th Marina Gordon (56:36) 7th lady; 30th Chris Macnab (56:59); 31st Ilana Paterson (57:12) 8th lady; 32nd = Wilma MacRuary (57:18) 9th lady and Neil Roberts (57:18); 34th Margaret Macfarlane (57:19) 10th lady; 35th Vicki Dunkel (57:43) 11th lady; 36th Jennifer Pearson (57:53) 12th lady; 37th Dave Till (59:48); 38th Morag Macdonald (61:20) 13th lady; 39th Rosanna Macdonald (61:30) 14th lady; 40th Kirsty Shaw (62:05) 15th lady; 41st Marion MacDonald (62:47) 16th lady; 42nd Sarah Stephenson (63:03) 17th lady; 43rd David Pringle (63:06); 44th Anne Phipps (63:23) 18th lady; 45th Robert MacDonald (63:32); 46th Sheena Amos (64:41) 19th lady; 47th Chris Attwood (66:02); 48th Anne-Marie Sharp (67:45) 20th lady; 49th Nina Detlif (68:51) 21st lady.

5k results: 1st Edwin Stewart (26:01); 2nd Peter Gordon (27:52); 3rd Iona Towers (28:51); 4th Clara Connell (29:24); 5th Fiona Stoddart (31:47); 6th Janet Casey (32:32); 7th Fiona Wilson (32:47); 8th Kay Macdonald (33:58).

 Sarah Stephenson from the Skye and Lochalsh Running and Athletics Club told the Free Press: “I’m really happy that so many people have taken part despite the races going ahead ‘virtually’. It was so nice to see the strava leader boards filling up over the weekend and everyone being so supportive of each other (online). We do miss the craic (and baking) afterwards though!”