PH RACING Club's Allen Marr enjoyed a final flourish to 2020 as he reached the UK's all-time top 10 over a one-mile distance.

At the end of a difficult year that saw official competition limited severely because of coronavirus restrictions, he was part of a strong turn-out of club members that took to the track for a third, and final, one-mile meet of the year hosted by Pitreavie AAC.

A late December frost presented unusual conditions for track racing – with some athletes who had arrived without spikes deciding not to risk the slippy surface – but that did not deter several PH runners from taking part, including Marr.

Running in the second one-mile heat, he not only achieved his goal of ranking first for the year in his new V65 age category but he moved straight into the UK all-time top 10.

A time of 5 minutes and 38.3 seconds secured those feats for Marr which, remarkably, was almost 10 seconds slower than this season's best, which came prior to his recent birthday!

Just behind him in the heat was Julie Menzies, who knocked almost 12 seconds off of her debut mile time in November, clocking 5:40.5 on this occasion.

In the first, and fastest, heat, Robert Sellar finished second to Fife AC's Ben Kinninmonth in 5:12.1, and was followed by Aaron Bennet, who enjoyed a good race by clocking a time of 5.25.7. In addition, there were new personal bests for both Graham McInnes and Michael Lindsay, who crossed the line in 5:31.1 and 5:51.2 respectively.

Susan Allan, sporting the PH vest for the first time, targeted a sub-seven minute time in heat three, having just missed out in November, and achieved it with a run of 6:57.3.

As well as the one-mile races, the meet gave runners the added option of two 3000 metre events, and there were three PH members in the faster of those.

Dunfermline's Owen Miller, a Great Britain para athlete who represents Fife AC, led the way but James Adam was quickest for PH, posting a time of 9:08.4.

Andrew Thomson, who was making his debut in the event alongside Paul Kieran, held off Fife AC's Reiss Marshall to finish in 9:19.7, while Kieran was not far back with a time of 9:34.4.

In the second race, Alan McGowan led for almost seven laps before being outsprinted over the final 250m by clubmate Scott Love, whose run of 10:35.7 was a new personal best over the distance.

Another Fife AC runner, Rolf Gunnemann, prevented a PH 1-2-3 by edging out Paul Hammond, who placed fourth in 10:59.4.

A PH spokesperson added: "Well done to all who ran and thanks to Pitreavie AAC and officials for putting on these races in difficult circumstances and far from ideal weather conditions.

"Hopefully it won’t be too long until we are back racing again."