Windy ‘N wild race sees Simpson and Crowe win at Flat ‘N Fast 4

Annabel Simpson took the women's crown in Linlithgow

Linlithgow, Scotland – Annabel Simpson of Fife AC and Jamie Crowe from Central AC claimed victories on their first appearance at the West Lothian Cycle Circuit, on a challenging day at Flat ‘N Fast 4.

Both made the trip to Linlithgow as part of packed fields, which saw 17 women run 17 minutes or under, and 42 men under 15 minutes and the most finishers in the event’s history. With times not the priority, both elite races saw several contenders coming into the final straight.

Olympian Megan Keith of Inverness Harriers competed in the elite men's race too, setting a new women's course record of 15:11, beating Morag Millar's previous best mark of 16:00.

Simpson was part of a breakaway pack of five runners in the elite women’s race including Morag Millar from Central AC, Sophie Hicks of Belgrave, Livingston’s Sarah Calvert and Hanna Andrejczuk from the University of St Andrews.

The group managed to bridge a sizeable gap to Kirsty Walker from Edinburgh AC and Millie McClelland-Brooks of Inverclyde AC, with an even larger gap back to the second pack. At the halfway point, Walker made the move to go with the front to make it six in contention.

Simpson braved it with 600 metres to go, making a run for home going into a headwind. She was pursued by Millar and the early leader Hicks, as well as Walker. Andrejczuk was the first to be dropped, with Calvert – who is part of the Athlete Springboard – losing contact too, finishing fifth. Hicks would be the one to miss out on the podium down the home straight as Simpson made the run for home in 16:13, chased all the way by Flat ‘N Fast 3 winner Millar in 16:14 and the well-paced Walker in third, also in 16:14.

In the following race, Jamie Crowe won an action-packed elite men’s race which saw the top nine runners finish within four seconds of each other. Crowe was keen to take to the front with his teammate Hamish Hickey, with Cambuslang Harriers’ Andrew McGill, who won Flat ‘N Fast 3 and is a member of the Athlete Springboard; and Finlay Ross-Davie of Garscube Harriers.

But they were just some of those involved. Peter Bradshaw of Edinburgh University Hares and Hounds, Aberdeen duo Sean Chalmers and Mohamed Warsame, Cambuslang’s Jamie MacKinnon and Callum Tharme and Shettleston Harriers’ Taha Ghafari, who was second in September, were all involved in the action at the front.

When the kick came in the last lap from Hickey, the group followed, but Tharme was the first to falter. Crowe, who is regarded for his endurance over his speed, managed to find the gap coming into the final straight as Hickey fell back, finishing seventh ahead of MacKinnon and McGill.

Chasing Crowe was Bradshaw, who looked capable of outsprinting his older opponent, but the Central AC athlete was solid through the final straight, holding on for the victory in 14:09, ahead of Bradshaw, also in 14:09. Chalmers came through for the bronze medal after a strong final lap in 14:10, pipping Ross-Davie to the podium who had the same time. Warsame finished fifth in 14:11, with Ghafari, Hickey and MacKinnon in 14:12 and McGill in 14:13.

Falkirk Victoria Harriers’ Luke Sedman successfully defended his under 15 boys’ title in the junior 3km race, in a time of 9:15. He, along with Connor Campbell of Garscube Harriers and Anster Haddies’ Luca Anderson were the front three in the race, closely followed by Giffnock North’s Cameron Nugent. The front three pushed away further from Nugent, and all went inside the old course record for this age group of Rory MacMillan of 9:19. Anderson finished second in 9:16 and Campbell third in 9:18.

Lasswade’s Cerys Wright set a new course record in the under 15 girls’ category too, crossing the line in 10:21 to beat Imogen Turner’s old mark of 10:25 from September. She was in a close battle for the podium too as she held off strong opposition in the form of Holly Simpson of Giffnock North in 10:24 and Aberdeen’s Emily Taylor in 10:25, who has won a medal at all three Flat N Fasts she has competed in.

James Shinnie of Aberdeen put in a tremendous performance in the under 13 boys’ race to take the crown in 9:51, beating Law & District’s Alexander Wotherspoon (10:01) and Sam Deery of Giffnock North (10:16). Eilidh Murdoch from Banchory Stonehaven set a new under 13 girls’ course record of 10:50, cruising to gold ahead of East Kilbride AC’s Nina Clark and Cambuslang’s Brooke Walker, both finishing in 11:02.

Thank you to timekeepers ProTay, our officials at Scottish Athletics for dedicating their time, our race sponsors, our marshals and volunteers, Amvale Scotland, Coull Beans Coffee, Bonnie Events and Pops Pizza for providing food and drink and our sports brands for attending.

	April 2025	September 2024	April 2024	September 2023
Men’s Top 10	14:16	14:33	14:49	15:10
Men’s Top 20	14:36	14:55	15:02	15:30
Men’s Top 30	14:49	15:05	15:21	15:53
Women’s Top 10	16:47	17:21	18:00	18:13
Women’s Top 20	17:11	17:39	18:26	19:00
Women’s Top 30	17:31	18:08	19:23	20:34

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