A MEMBER of PH Racing Club has described having the opportunity to run for Scotland this weekend as "incredible".

John Hammond is set to make his debut in the vest of his country on Sunday when he competes at the annual Anglo Celtic Plate competition in Perth.

The event is a 100K international race that features competitors from Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, taking place of a 2.381-kilometre loop course at North Inch Park.

There will also be an open 100K event, for anyone wishing to tackle what is regarded as the classic ultra distance, as well as a 50km event which will act as the Scottish 50km Road Championships.

The Anglo Celtic Plate will also double-up as the Scottish and British 100k Championships, and John will be part of the Scotland men's team for the first time.

He had been selected for the event in 2020 but, due to COVID-19, the race did not take place, and the 36-year-old is now looking forward to finally having the opportunity.

"I'm super stoked to be selected," the told Press Sport.

"I was actually selected before – that would've been in 2020 – and I was super hyped for it. I was training well, everything was going perfect, and then COVID happened and the race was postponed that year by six months or so.

"Even the postponed one didn't go ahead in the end because of all the restrictions at the time, so that was a bit gutting at that year because I was feeling probably in the best form I've ever been.

"Ever since I started running, it's been an ambition to get to this kind of level where you could run for your country, so even just getting the opportunity to wear the vest is incredible really.

"The selectors look at your races, how your form is and what have you, and I was probably more deserving of it the first time, but then through the COVID stuff, I suppose a lot of folk weren't racing as well, so it's hard to get an idea of what form people were on.

"I didn't get much chance to race last year. I didn't race at my best to be honest, so for them to take a chance on me and give me the opportunity again, it feels pretty special."

John, who joined PH in October after moving to Dunfermline, took up running after leaving university and, in 2019, won the Scottish Ultra Trail Running Championship.

"It's that sort of ambition that you never think you'll actually achieve," he said of his Scotland selection.

"I wasn't a sporty person at school; I only started running when I left university as a 21, 22-year-old.

"You tend to think these things happen to the guys that have been training as wee toddlers or whatever. But to come from my background and prove, with a lot of hard work obviously, that you can get to that level, feels pretty nice to be rewarded with the opportunity to wear the vest.

"I want to do the vest proud. I want to run a good, strong race, and I think I'm a strong runner over the long distances, but I'm loathe to put a time or a place on it because, running at the kind of level, some of the other guys on the team, you look at them and it's easy to be intimidated by how they do."