Runners dashed to west Skye last weekend for a series of races at scenic Dunvegan Castle.
The Race Dunvegan events made a welcome return for the first time since 2019, and in total 115 runners turned out for the 10k, 5k and fun runs.
They were all piped to the start line by Alan Mackenzie and members of the Skye Pipe Band.
The terrain makes it difficult to achieve any personal bests, but with 69 runners in the 10k field, Dean Whiteford made a swift finish in a really respectable time of 37:20:08, closely followed by Alex Jamieson in 37:48:04 and Paul Parker, with a time of 41:09:00.
In the women’s category first place was taken by Shannon MacLeod with a time of 49:27:07, followed by Marina Gordon and Ruth Harrison with just seven seconds between them, finishing in 49:50:06 and 49:57:08 respectively.
A smaller field of 17 runners turned out for the 5k with Joshua Turner leading the field with a time of 24:10:04 for the men’s category, and Eilidh MacLean for the women in 29:53:05.
This year saw the introduction of a new walking 5k with Kathryn MacLeod striding in at a time of 1:01:30:3.
There was a great turn out for the fun run, a two-mile trail through the beautiful gardens at Dunvegan Castle and it proved a really competitive race with excellent sportsmanship.
Uilleam Manwaring Spencer (aged 13) was first overall winner with a time of 10:55:04, pipping Matthew Clancey (aged 12) at the post with his time of 11:01:05, closely followed by Hamish Turner (11) with a time of 11:05:00. First in for the ladies was Anne Noble with a time of 13:54:0.
The events were organised by Skye Events and hosted by Hugh MacLeod and the Dunvegan Estate, and thanks go to all the marshalls and volunteers who turned out to help keep runners safe on the road.
Goodie bags were sponsored by Isle of Skye Candle Company and Isle of Skye Fudge Company, with winners receiving entry tickets to the Castle during the season, Race Dunvegan t-shirts as well as Dunvegan Castle t-shirts for the Fun Runners.
MacLeod’s Tables put on an excellent lunch as it geared up for opening to the public on 1st April.
Race Dunvegan also raised £230 in donations and match funding for Dunvegan Primary School towards their Polycrub and Orchard.
More pictures by WILLIE URQUHART – contact us here if you’d like to purchase a copy of any of them
