In what has become her own backyard, across terrain that she regularly covers at dawn and at dusk, Rhona Auckland sought to defend her turf yesterday but came up just short.
The reigning European cross-country champion was vanquished by one of her predecessors over the ten miles of the Morrisons Great Edinburgh Run as Jess Coulson assuredly crossed the line in Holyrood Park in 56 minutes and six seconds with the local favourite barely 50 metres behind.
Not that you could begrudge Coulson a joyous triumph, a day after she had turned 25. The Englishwoman was victorious here in 2012 but has been beset by one injury after another since. "It's been really hard," she admitted. "I think I've quit the sport completely a few times."
Nor will Auckland dwell too long on narrow defeat. Coming 19th at last month's world cross in Guiyang despite a prolonged hiatus of her own, the Banchory Stonehaven prospect has greater goals ahead. "China was really encouraging, even though it was a stiff learning curve. I did a lot of my training in the gym but it did make me stronger. I hoping it makes me more sustainable and I don't break down so easily."
Amid the drizzle in the capital, the Anglo-Scottish scrap lasted until half-way before Coulson opened up a little daylight. For both, it simply became a matter of lasting the pace. "The hills were tough and I was so glad when I reached the Mile 9 mark," the victor confirmed. "From there it was downhill and it was such a relief."
Auckland will now immerse herself in preparing for one final exam at Edinburgh University and then target greater gains on the track over 5000 and 10,000 metres. Expectations have been raised. Likewise, ambitions. "I'm hoping to get to the European Under-23s in July and all my focus will be on that," she affirmed. "But I'm looking forward to something new."
Andrew Lemoncello, freshly rebooted in the wake of his own injury travails, was forced to settle for second place behind Ethiopian Abeje Ayana in the men's race with the 19-year-old winning in 48:44 with the Scot 18 seconds behind. No biggie, the runner-up acknowledged. Still short of sharpness, his endurance will be gradually built up ahead of an autumnal return to the marathon.
"I couldn't do anything," Lemoncello said. "We'd been battling for a mile before then but he really wound up the gap. I was trying to keep the gap as small as possible but up the last hill, he just went and put a minute on me."
In the adjoining relay event, Callum and Derek Hawkins were pipped into second by Boniface Kiprop and Loitarakwai Lengurisi but the siblings are set to avoid any familial quarrel after confirming distinct objectives for the year ahead. While Derek, the elder by three years, will soon head to Colorado to ready his bid to qualify for the Olympic marathon, his 22-year-old brother will target steps forward on the track despite the lure of going long-distance.
"The marathon is still something I want." Callum said. "The debate's only really on when I want to move up. I still feel I've not achieved what I want yet on the track but there's also that question of: 'if I wait, do I waste an opportunity?' Rio will probably be too soon because I want a full track season this year, which would rule out an autumn marathon."
Susan Partridge teamed up with Helen Clitheroe to triumph in the women's relay.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article