Scottish Road Race Championships, East Kilbride - 22/03/2009

Emma Dunnett collected her 4th and 5th National medals in East Kilbride last weekend in the Scottish Road Race Championships.

13 year old Emma continued her successful season at cross country onto the roads in taking silver in the Under 15 Girls Road Race Championships.

Emma finished 7 seconds behind Helina Rees from Fife AC after a captivating race which saw the lead change between Helina and Emma, and Pitreavie athlete Kathryn Pennel who eventually took 3rd place.

Unlike the other medal winners, Emma still has another year in this age group and with every national level competition, she grows in race experience and confidence.

Emma took herself out of any difficulty at the beginning of the race as 63 athlete's jostled for positions on a tight start on the East Kilbride 8 lane running track. She took the pack out of the stadium in the lead and kept up the fast pace stringing out the pack early on to leave only 5 athletes in the lead group.

As this group rounded the half way stage of the 4.5 kilometre course, Emma again injected pace and brought the lead group down to 3 athletes, guaranteeing each of the girls a podium finish.

After a final attempt by Emma to take control of the race on a long uphill section, Helina Rees proved her strength in pulling a lead on Emma and Kathryn Pennel.

In finishing 2nd Emma took the Edinburgh AC team and clubmates Olivia Mackenzie (10th place) and Blair Wood (17th place) home to win the team competition. With a total of 29 points, the three girls were well clear of Shettleston Harriers with 34 points and Giffnock North AC with 37 points.

Twin sister, Oonagh also competing in her first road race, took the race out at a more conservative pace and worked her way through runners entering the stadium and finishing in 21st position. Oonagh was the fourth Edinburgh athlete home and showed the strength of this team which will stand them in good stead for next years cross country.

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