St Boswells trail-race bows out with £1,700 boost for good causes

First held in 2017, it follows a trail route of just over eight miles looping from St Boswells’ village green along the River Tweed to Maxton, through the Mertoun Estate and back to the village green via St Cuthbert’s Way.

It’s always attracted a wide range of runners from Borders clubs such as Moorfoot Runners, Gala Harriers and Lauderdale Limpers and further afield, with some finishing in under an hour and others happy with times of more than twice that, and this year’s finale was no exception.

Charities supported over the years include the Harris Trust, Stable Life and, this time round, the Scottish Borders Rape Crisis Centre in Galashiels. £1,400 was raised for this year’s main beneficiary and a further £300 will go to community groups in St Boswells.

A field of 115 runners went the distance on Sunday, with Moorfoot’s Jack Philip winning in a time of 58:17, going one better than last year’s second-placed finish in 58:30.

Edinburgh’s Slawomir Pietrzak followed eight seconds behind in 58:25, holding off Gala’s Charlie Dalgliesh, third in 58:37, just ahead of his brother and clubmate Archie, fourth in 59:10.

Lauderdale’s Naomi Dijkman was first female finisher and 16th overall in 1:06:11 and her clubmate Carol Mantle was second woman home and first female veteran in 1:09:31, placing 23rd all together.

The men’s veteran category saw a 1-2-3 for Gala, with James Dennison finishing first, and tenth overall, in 1:02:03, followed by Tim Darlow, 13th all told in 1:03:27, and Wayne McIntosh, winner of the first Wobbly Trail-Race in 2017, 14th in 1:04:25.

In the women’s veteran class, Gala’s Gillian Lunn was runner-up to Mantle in 1:12:02, with Moorfoot’s Gillian Carr third in 1:15:00, placing 30th and 37th overall respectively.

Lauderdale octogenarian Frank Birch was the oldest runner taking part and he finished 111th in 1:50:26.

The final finisher was Edinburgh Running Network’s Sorrel Cosens, crossing the line in just over two hours to bring the curtain down on the event.