Gamble pays off as almost 100 runners tackle Clashmach Hill Race at Huntly
The Clashmach hill race drew almost 100 runners to Huntly, with a pacy effort from the winning athlete.
Once again, Insch Trail Runners Club entered a large number of members and produced the first man to the finish line.
Jonathan Gamble’s rapid run of 22 minutes, 44 seconds was over a minute and a half faster than club colleague Ewan Wilson’s winning time in 2023.
Gamble was also over three minutes clear of the rest of the field, with Garioch Roadrunners’ Ian Adamson - who was seventh last year - coming second in a time of 25:57.
Another Insch entrant, Rasmus Ipsen, was third, a repeat of his placing in 2023.
Starting and finishing at Huntly mart, the event heads out to a trig point at the top of Clashmach Hill then back again, climbing some 375 metres and covering an overall distance of 375 metres.
The winning junior runner was once again Alfie Perrin, for the second consecutive year, representing the Insch club.
First female to the finish line was Aberdeen Metro’s Lucy McLeod, who was 12th overall in 28:53. Insch’s Jenni Rees-Jenkins was second in 30:19.
A local lass, Annabelle Medler from Huntly, won the first female junior prize in 32:55.
And the prize for first local female went to Huntly Loons & Quines’ Joyce Reed in 31:18, finishing 23rd overall.
The race returned to the running calendar in 2017 after a 25-year break.
Organiser Phil Dawson said: “It was good to see many new faces amongst the regulars.
“There’s too many people to thank individually at this time.”
One of the event’s helpers was Jason Rogers, who before the race took his sit-on mower overt a large section of the route to give runners a clear path to the summit.
“The kindness of our locals who help us out with this type of work is so overwhelming and appreciated.”
Results, top 20.
1 Jonathan Gamble (Insch Trail Runners) 22:44; 2 Ian Adamson (Garioch Roadrunners) 25:57; 3 Rasmus Ipsen (Insch) 26:29; David Barclay (Garioch) 26:53; 5 Martin Junor 26:55; 6 Jakob Ipsen (Insch) 27:08; 7 Harry Jackson 27:20; 8 Alfie Perrin (Insch) 27:21; 9 Jason Williamson (Cosmic Hillbashers) 27:30; 10 Rab Murray 28:30; 11 Hayden Lorimer (Hunters Bogtrotters) 28:50; 12 Lucy McLeod (Metro Aberdeen RC) 28:53; 13 Andrew Gilmour 28:57; 14 Cullen Bowie (Insch) 29:03; 15 Andrew Knowles (Garioch) 29:06; Lawson Bowie (Young Meldrum Runners) 29:17; 17 Hugh Gilliland (Insch) 29:40; 18 Fraser Sharp (Huntly Quines & Loons) 30:08; 19 Alan Smith (Deeside Runners) 30:11; 20 Jeni Rees-Jenkins (Insch) 30:19.
