Jamie Crowe flew into the record books with a series of stunning performances at this weekend’s Run Balmoral meeting which attracted more than 4,000 runners to Deeside. The 27 year-old Dundee-based athlete, who represents Central AC, opened up by demonstrating a razor sharp turn of speed to smash the course record in Saturday’s Harbour Energy 5K, clocking 14:20 to slash four secs off the previous mark set by Sean Chalmers 12 months earlier. And this was done despite losing his lead after going off-course at one point!
 
Elgin-based Lachlan Oates (Shettleston Harriers) finished in the silver medal position for the second year in a row when completing the course in 14:45, and former Scottish 1500m track champion Michael Ferguson (Aberdeen AAC), competing at Balmoral for the first time, took third spot in 15:03. Neither could live with Crowe’s pace.

Then, with little more than 60 minutes of recovery, Crowe was back on the starting line, this time for the Stena Drilling 10K which follows a route widely acknowledged as being one of the toughest in the country. This time he shrugged off his opponents with a performance that was oozing with power and strength, to produce another clearcut victory. His time of 31:54 saw him finish well clear of Aberdeen AAC’s Myles Edwards (32:54) and Aaron Odentz (33:44).

But he wasn’t finished. After an overnight rest, Crowe returned for the Bristow 15 mile trail race, cruising to a relaxed victory in 1:22:26, finishing three mins ahead of Metro Aberdeen’s Kyle Greig. No-one has previously won this incredible treble at the Balmoral meeting, now in its 24th year.

Crowe said: “I’m preparing for next month’s Great Britain team trial for the world mountain running championships so I want to do as many races as possible to find out about my fitness. I came up to Ballater for the week and decided to make the most of it. I was surprised to get the 5K record as I went a wee bit off course. I went straight on at the point where we were meant to turn. Fortunately, Michael Ferguson called me back so I only lost five or six seconds.
 
“I was surprised my legs felt fine in the 10K as well although the hill was a bit of a surprise. I had been told about it but never realised just how much of a climb it is. But I’m training for mountain running, so it probably did me good. It’s a nice course with most of it off road, which is good.”
 
GB international Meryl Cooper (Deeside Runners) made a late surge to claim top spot in the women’s division of the Bristow 15 mile trail race with a time of 1:45:29. Harriet Cross was runner-up in 1:47:27 and Mhairi McAllister was third in 1:48:28.
 
Constance Nankivell celebrated her 23rd birthday by winning the women’s division of the Harbour Energy 5K in a personal best time of 17:11. The Edinburgh University student, who comes from Strathpeffer, was competing in the Deeside event for the first time since finishing third in 2015. She said: “It’s a long time since I’ve been here but I took part every year when I was at school, from about age 10 to 15. This is the first chance I’ve had to come back since going to university."
 
Gemma Cormack (Moray Road Runners) won the battle of the new mums to take second position in 17:57 while Jenny Bannerman (Inverness Harriers) was third in 18:11. Cormack has been a regular competitor at Balmoral over the years, winning the secondary schools race in 2006 and the 5K title in 2015. She said: “My daughter was born last May while Jenny’s son came along five weeks later, so it’s good to see we are both getting back into it. I really enjoyed the run."

Nicola MacDonald (Metro Aberdeen) won the women’s division of the Stena Drilling 10K, recording 38:41 to finish comfortably ahead of Clubmate Chloe Gray (40:20) and Moira Davie (Forres Harriers, 43:22). The late withdrawl of the 2022 champion and course record holder Ginie Barand, opened the door for MacDonald to step up one place from last year.

Sam Milton (Moray Road Runners) won the AberNecessities Devil of Deeside Challenge for the second year in a row. He completed the daunting task of tackling the 5K, 10K, duathlon and 15 mile trail race in a combined time of 3:47:47. Estera Zak lifted the women’s title in 4:52:05.

You can view all results from the weekend's races at runABC's results page.

Image: Run Balmoral