Wallace and Graham-Marr win on first trip to Linlithgow, as Flat ‘N Fast turns 5

Linlithgow, Scotland – Shettleston Harriers’ Brogan Wallace won a scintillating sprint to the line to win the elite women’s race, breaking the 16-minute barrier at Flat ‘N Fast 5 at the West Lothian Cycle Circuit in Linlithgow.

Meanwhile, Tom Graham-Marr managed the elite men’s race from the front, strategically dropping athletes in a tactical field.

Elite Women’s Race

Wallace came into the race as one of the favourites, having laid down a new marker over the distance last month with a best of 15:56. The Scottish National Cross Country Championships bronze medallist was making her debut at the race, but came up against familiar opponents.

Amongst them was Fife AC’s Annabel Simpson, remembered for her tremendous victory in difficult conditions in April, who looked to become the first to win the women’s title twice.

Wallace, who along with Simpson was selected for the Pro For a Day scheme with New Balance, was involved in the front group from the start, with six athletes forming a clear breakaway back after a kilometre. With Wallace and Simpson were Cambuslang Harriers’ Stefanie Tucker, Simpson’s teammate Jenny Selman, Central AC’s Grace Whelan and Katie Rourke from Gala Harriers.

Those six split into two separate packs, with Wallace, Simpson and Tucker pulling away. From the halfway point, the two favourites broke Tucker, who had to survive the last two laps in a solo effort.

Throughout, Simpson was happy to dictate the pace, with Wallace staying on her shoulder. Having slowly wound the pace up, they charged down the first of two straights and by the time they emerged around the hairpin, Wallace had mad her move. She charged home, now focusing on the clock.

Seeing 16 minutes approach, she managed to make it to the line just in time to record her second sub-16 5K, in a time of 15:59. Simpson may have lost touch, but she was strong in the final straight, running far quicker than her win in April, this time with the clock stopping at 16:04. Tucker dug in for third place in 16:21, a valiant effort to manage her race while holding off the chasers.

The best of that chasing group was Katie Rourke in 16:36, just beating Jenny Selman in 16:37 and Grace Whelan in 16:38. Garscube Harriers’ Anya MacLean finished seventh, having made a bold attempt to bridge the gap and overtake the second group, finishing close behind in 16:41. Eilidh Bell, Zoe Bates and Cade Wright completed the top 10.

After the race, Brogan Wallace said: “I really wanted to just try, set, be patient and kick. I wasn't sure if I still could kick. I've not kicked like that in a while, so I'm really glad that I managed to execute it properly and not blow up with 50 metres to go.

“I was actually training for a half marathon that happened two weeks ago. I had a week off, and then I just wanted to have one last dab at a road race.”

Elite Men’s Race

Tom Graham-Marr on paper, would have been confident of standing on the top of the podium by the end of the evening. The Boise State University alumni, who runs for Aberdeen AAC, has a personal best of 13:39, but Linlithgow has provided many surprises over the past two years.

From the gun, he controlled from the front. Initially, a group of 15 athletes were bunched together, but Graham-Marr would turn the screw at the halfway point. Utilising the winding, back part of the course, they would be reduced to 12, and then going into the last lap, a group of five alongside Garscube Harriers’ James Alexander, Cambuslang Harriers’ Gavin Smith and Kilbarchan AAC duo Fraser Gilmour and Robbie Ferguson.

With 800 metres to go, Graham-Marr pushed again with Gilmour and Ferguson joining him, leaving Alexander and Smith trying to come back to them. Graham-Marr kicked on the first of the two straights, and did not look back. Emerging around the hairpin first, he pushed for home, storming to the line in 14:13. Ferguson, who had subtly kept himself in the leading pack, pushed past his younger teammate in final 400 metres to take second in 14:19, followed by Gilmour in 14:20.

Alexander, who broke the Scottish Under 17 5K record this time last year at Flat ‘N Fast 3, placed fourth after a gutsy run in a new personal best of 14:26, followed by Smith in 14:29 and the chasing duo of Wrexham AAC’s Connor Rogers in 14:30 and Inverness Harriers’ Andrew Baird in 14:34. Cameron Smith, Philip Neilson and David Bunn completed the top 10.

After the race, Tom Graham-Marr said: “It was a great event, great course, good competition.

“I was just really trying to sort of see where my fitness was at, so it was a great indicator of that. I just went out there and tried to race as hard as I could and it ended up being a win, so we'll take that any day.”

Junior 3K

Aberdeen AAC’s Emily Taylor and Luca Anderson of Anster Haddies claimed the U15 Girls and Boys titles in the Junior 3K race.

Taylor has been one of the most in-form juniors at Flat ‘N Fast, competing in all four races to date and making the podium in all three races before toeing the line. Having won the Under 13 title at Flat ‘N Fast 2, she took the Under 15 gold this time. She was locked in a close battle with her teammate Rachel Fitzpatrick throughout. Taylor would lead Fitzpatrick, but only by a length. It come down to a sprint finish and despite Fitzpatrick looking threatening, Taylor would take the victory, with a new course record of 10:10. Her teammate crossed the line in 10:11, followed by East Kilbride AC’s Nina Clark in 10:34.

In the Boys race, Luca Anderson pulled away on the final lap to take the gold. He was in a group of six in the early stages, sharing the pace with Aberdeen AAC’s Cullen Bowie, Harmeny AC duo Fred Currie and Rory Beattie, Giffnock North’s Kian Dick and Alexander Wotherspoon from Law & District. By the final lap, this was reduced to Anderson, Dick and Beattie, chasing the victory.

He had finished second in the race at Flat ‘N Fast 4, but this time would have enough to take the win – storming ahead of his two opponents, crossing the line in 9:31. Beattie would finish second in 9:37, followed by Dick in 9:44.

The Under 13 race saw a tremendous effort from National Cross Country champion Millie Glass Park, who came close to winning the race overall, setting a new course record of 10:07. The Aberdeen AAC athlete turned heads by matching the pace of the front four boys in the race – Harmeny AC’s Blake Burchill and Fynlay McVay, Cambuslang Harriers’ Carlo Brown and Springburn Harriers’ Thomas Fraser-Moodie. While McVay faded to fourth in the Boys race, the group remained as four until Fraser-Moodie was also dropped, ultimately finishing third.

In the last lap, all three were still together with 600 metres to go, but Burchill started to push the pace, finally moving away from Glass Park with Brown. At the turn, Burchill kept his speed and was able to leave Brown behind. He won the gold medal in a time of 9:56, followed by Brown in 10:01 and Fraser-Moodie in 10:15.

For Glass Park, she finished in a tremendous time of 10:07 – smashing the course record. A close fight for the silver medal saw her teammate Jess Davidson just beat Linlithgow AC’s Hannah Bogle to the line. They respectively finished in 10:57 and 10:58.

Mile

The first edition of the Mile saw Stride Springboard athlete Jacob Smith and Jill Cherry win the men’s and women’s categories in 4:15 and 4:54 respectively. Cherry was joined on the podium by Rachel Muir in 5:15 and Anise Macaulay Orr in 5:19. Daniel Bradford finished second in the men’s category in 4:19, with Alistair Street placing third in 4:22.

Thank you to timekeepers ProTay, our officials at Scottish Athletics for dedicating their time, our race sponsors, our marshals and volunteers, Amvale Scotland, and our caterers for providing food and drink, and our sports brands for attending.

	Flat N Fast 5	Flat N Fast 4	Flat N Fast 3	Flat N Fast 2	Flat N Fast
Men’s Top 10	14:35	14:16	14:33	14:49	15:10
Men’s Top 20	14:55	14:36	14:55	15:02	15:30
Men’s Top 30	15:06	14:49	15:05	15:21	15:53
Women’s Top 10	17:06	16:47	17:21	18:00	18:13
Women’s Top 20	17:22	17:11	17:39	18:26	19:00
Women’s Top 30	17:59	17:31	18:08	19:23	20:34

Press Contact: Michael Houston, Communications: comms@strideathletics.co.uk