Published: Wednesday, 31st December, 2008 8:40am

Pitreavie sprinter wins £1000 Musselburgh prize

by Simon Harris

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WEST FIFE flyer Nick Smith had a grand day out at the New Year Sprint.

The Pitreavie sprinter (pictured), a former winner of the main handicap race in 2000, raced in the British Championship 110 metres event at Musselburgh on Monday and won the Dave Gibson Memorial Trophy and £1000 first prize in a time of 12.06 seconds.

Fellow Pitreavie athlete Ross Kirk was the top-performing West Fifer in the main handicap race, finishing fourth in the final off a mark of 8.5m.

The 400m runner has struggled with injuries but was well backed at Musselburgh and adapted well to the soggy conditions to claim fourth in a final that was won by ex-Hawick rugby player Leigh Marshall.

Elsewhere, Pitreavie 400m hurdler Francis Smith reached the cross-ties for the first time but, along with Gemma Nicol, who was drawn in the same cross-tie on Monday, didn"t make the final.

Back in November, Press Sport reported that Smith had his Scottish Institute of Sport funding for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi scrapped after an injury-ravaged season last year.

But former Pars physio Pip Yeates offered to provide a year"s free medical cover to help the athlete get back on track after reading about his plight in the Press.

Now injury-free, Smith said he enjoyed his outing at Musselburgh on Sunday and Monday and is now gearing up for the indoor season, starting with the Scottish Championships at Kelvin Hall on 17th January.

'It"s the first time I have made it through to the cross-ties and it was kind of fun being in the round with all the betting going on and the crowds were quite big,' he told Press Sport.

Smith clocked a time of 12 seconds off a mark of 4.25m in the cross-tie and he said, 'I could have sat up a bit and maybe got a fastest loser spot but it wasn"t to be.

'It was interesting standing around for the final among all the bookmakers and watching all these people who knew absolutely nothing about running putting their money on.'

Smith will compete in the 60m hurdles at the Kelvin Hall in a fortnight.