Borderer Scout Adkin still top of women’s World Mountain-Running Association world cup leaderboard after racking up two second places in Italy

The Moorfoot Runners senior followed up her first-placed finish in round one of the cup in Romania at the start of the month with second places in Saturday’s Nasego Vertical Kilometre race, so called because of its climb of 1,000m over a distance of 4.2km, and Sunday’s 21.5km Trofeo Nasego up-and-down race, both in Lombardy.

Adkin clocked 39:23 to finish as second woman to Kenya’s Philaries-Jeruto Kisang and 29th overall on Saturday and 1:46:20 for 35th place all told and as runner-up to Kisang again on Sunday.

That followed her finish as female front-runner and eighth overall in 2:03:18 in the 19km Zmeu X-Fest Mountain Race at Campulung Moldovenesc on Saturday, May 3.

She was in Italy as part of a four-strong Scottish women’s team also featuring Gala Harriers under-20 Isla Paterson, plus Carnethy Hill-Running Club’s Kirsty Dickson and Bellahouston Road Runners’ Catriona MacDonald.

Adkin was one of two member of the Peebles club representing Scotland there, the other being under-20 Thomas Hilton.

He was part of a four-strong men’s team picked to compete against international opposition from five other countries, his teammates being Corstophine Amateur Athletics Club’s Ewan Brown, East Sutherland Athletics Club’s Ross Gollan and Deeside Runners’ Robbie Simpson.

The two teams’ combined scores saw the Scots finish as runners-up to their hosts in that six-nations cup.

Simpson led Scotland’s men home on Saturday in 13th place overall in 36:46 – three minutes and 23 seconds behind Kenyan winner Richard Omaya Atuya – with Hilton as their second counter and first under-20 in 38:23 for 23rd place and Gollan 26th in 39:08.

Adkin’s teammate Dickson was sixth woman home on Saturday, and 53rd all told, in 43:03, with MacDonald 18th, and 80th overall, in 47:31 and Paterson 20th, and 84th all together, as well as being second female under-20, in 47:48.

Hilton and Paterson weren’t eligible for Sunday’s race but Dickson, MacDonald, Simpson, Gollan and Brown all competed alongside Adkin, with Kenya’s Philemon Ombogo Kiriago winning overall in 1:31:42.