Kirkcudbright Half Marathon’s new route was embraced by runners.
Kirkcudbright Summer Festivities and Kirkcudbright Rotary took on the organising this year, with the course switching to the opposite side of the River Dee than normal.
And it saw success for two Dumfries Running Club members, with Andrew Gibson first male and Lisa Finlay first female.
The five-mile Buckland Burn Up was won by Ritchie Thomson and Rebecca Dunn respectively.
Summer festivities chairman, John Blakie, said: “The numbers were more than I thought they would be for the first time of us doing it.
“Using the chip timing saved us quite a bit of hassle. We’ve not done it before so getting the chip timing in was certainly the better option.
“A lot of the feedback was good. The occasional one said it was very tough but a lot of people liked it.
“Comments were that it was better than the old route. As far as I’m concerned, I think we’ve done well.
“There’s lessons we’ve learnt – I think next time we’ll put up mile markers – but on the whole we’re very pleased. It went well and the weather was good. I don’t think it was excessively warm.”
Andrew Gibson of Dumfries RC was first home in 86 minutes 33 seconds, 10 seconds ahead of Darlington Harriers’ Iain McCulloch. Cameron Muir was third.
Dumfries RC’s Lisa Finlay – a multiple winner of the event on the old course when it was organised by Kirkcudbright Academy, was first woman in 93 minutes 20 seconds – nearly five minutes ahead of Kirkcudbright Running Club’s Lauren Craig. Dumfries RC’s Sue Jeffrey was third.
A half marathon is usually 13.1 miles, but runners on Saturday had to go a bit further to reach the finish line.
John explained: “The only hiccup was someone decided to change one of the arrows. We’ve a strong suspicion we know who it was but we’ve no proof.
“Our lead vehicle went by and it was pointing the right way. Shortly after that the runners were going the wrong way.
“It added about a kilometre onto it, which is disappointing for the serious runners and for us as well. It’s something we’ll need to watch the next time.”
There were no such problems on the Buckland route, Solway Orienteers’ Ritchie Thomson completing the five mile course in 27 minutes 57 seconds.
Ally Wight of Hardrock Hoodlums was a couple of minutes behind with Dumfries RC’s Kevin McQueen third.
First lady was Rebecca Dunn in 36 minutes 7 seconds with Galloway Harriers’ Rowan McCleary just 11 seconds back. Anna Maughan wasn’t much further behind in third.
Lewis Morrow of Stewartry Athletics Club took the prize for first local, with Josh Stewart winning the 1km junior race.
The half marathon was part of a busy weekend for the festivities, with Sunday’s farmers market proving extremely popular.
