Sean Chalmers produced a series of top class performances to claim a hat-trick of victories in the 25th anniversary Run Balmoral races which attracted more than 5,000 runners to Deeside at the weekend (27/28 April). The Aberdeen AAC athlete won the Harbour Energy 5K and the Stena Drilling 10K on Saturday before going on to take top spot in Sunday’s Bristow 15 mile trail race to emulate the triple crown achieved by fellow Scotland international Jamie Crowe of Central AC in 2023.

Crowe intended going head-to-head with Chalmers this weekend but called off at the last minute after failing to fully recover from a bout of COVID. Chalmers could have been forgiven for taking his foot off the gas in Crowe’s absence, but there was no sign of that as he showed impressive form in all three events. It started with a dominating run in the 5K, which he won in 14:48 with his Aberdeen AAC team-mate Steven Murray taking second position in 15:53 while Metro Aberdeen’s Lesley Morrison was third in 16:10.

Chalmers said: “I set off quite hard as I was looking for a fast time but after a kilometre I felt a bit shot. I’ve been doing a lot of half marathon training so I’m maybe missing a bit of a good turn of pace. The support out on the course was amazing, with a lot of people cheering us on and that helped me to pick it up again, so I’m still happy with the time.”

A little more than one hour later and the Scotland international was back on the road, tackling the 10K in which he was given a stiffer challenge. Chalmers won in 32:50 while his clubmate Aaron Odentz was next home in 33:36 and Lochaber AC’s Ryan Mackay finished third in 35:07.

He was totally dominant in the Bristow 15 mile trail race, completing the course in 1:25:29 to finish more than 10 minutes ahead of his closest rival. Chalmers’s achievements were matched, if not bettered, by Sam Milton who won the John Clark Motors Devil of Deeside title for the third year in a row.

The Moray Road Runners club member posted the best cumulative time of 3:49:17 from competing in the 5K, 10K, duathlon and the Bristow 15 mile trail race over a punishing two days of competition. He was sixth in the 5K, fifth in the 10K, third in the duathlon and second in the 15 mile race.

Sally Wallis of Deeside Runners also hit the high spots by winning the women’s Devil title in a record-smashing 4:23:28. It was a stunning performance which scythed close to 14 minutes off the previous best set by Aberdeen’s Kerry Prise in 2017. She said: "I only decided to do it a couple of weeks ago. My husband said he was going to put an entry in for me online, and I didn’t stop him. It feels fantastic to win but I really began to feel the cumulative effects of the weekend kicking in when we got to the final third of the 15 mile trail race.” 

Gemma Cormack battled through the pain barrier to win the Stena Drilling women’s 10K in fine style after placing fourth in the 5K just an hour earlier. She completed the challenging route in 40:26 to finish 12secs ahead of Sally Wallis (Deeside Runners) while Kerry Berry (JS Kintore Running Club) was third in 42:57. Wallis had also performed well in the 5K, taking fourth position.

The prize for the first kilted runner to complete the 10K went to Glenn Chalmers (Newburgh Dunes Running Club) while the women’s award was taken by Helen Drewery.

Jenny Bannerman showed real grit and determination to win the Harbour Energy women’s 5K title for the third time over a 10-year spell during which she has now featured on the podium seven times. However, the Scotland international was made to work exceptionally hard for her latest success, with Aberdeen AAC’s Emma Jenkins pushing the Scotland international all the way to the line.

Full results can be found via runABC's results page

If you'd like to know more about the 2025 Run Balmoral which will take place on 26/27 April you can do so here.

Image: Run Balmoral