Brother and sister take race honours
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FAMILY came first in the Inverness 5k as brother and sister Lucas and Anna Cairns picked up the men’s and women’s titles.
The Fortrose duo, who represent Inverness Harriers, both set personal bests to be crowned champions on Sunday.
Lucas (14) took his second men’s title as he crossed the line in 16 minutes and 33 seconds.
The Ross-shire teenager‘s achievement was made even more remarkable considering he was competing in England 24 hours earlier.
He said his performance has shown how far he has come as an athlete over the last 12 months.
“It was a good time and I managed to record a personal best,” he said.
“It was quite hard but I think I’ve improved quite a lot since last year.
"I managed to win after coming off a flight around 90 minutes beforehand because I was competing at the British Championships on Saturday in Loughborough.
“I did feel tired when I got here when I was warming up but during the race I didn’t feel any affects from Saturday.”
Not content with winning his second 5k title, Cairns says he already has his sights on completing the hat trick next year.
But before that he is looking forward to representing his country in 2019.
“It is my second win and I will try and go and win the Inverness 5k for a third time next year.
“But I have been picked for the Scotland squad to compete in Ireland later this year and focussing on that.”
Lucas won by 38 seconds from fellow Inverness Harrier Euan Roll who claimed second in 17:11.
Meanwhile Anna (12) won her first Inverness 5k title in three attempts.
She claimed gold in a personal best time of 19:09.
She said conditions were tough during the race but that made her victory even more meaningful.
“I have competed for the last two years. The conditions were harder as it was windier and there was more rain than previous times.
“But I think it makes the achievement more worthwhile and it was great to record a personal best.”
Anna is also hopeful that she can defend her title next year.
But she is determined to find at least 10 more seconds over the distance before the end of 2019.
She said: “I am now looking forward to the track season and my ambition for this year is to get under 19 minutes for the 5k.”
Anna won the women’s title by over two minutes from Lois Macrae with 21:16.
