Gemma Cormack won the women's 1,500m race at a Scottish track and field meeting in cold conditions. She hopes to improve her personal best times over the summer in track races and road races like the Aberdeen Baker Hughes 10km. Other Aberdeen athletes also achieved wins at the meeting, including Ailisha Rees in the under-17 100m and Catriona Pennet in the senior women's 100m hurdles. The winners of a new duathlon event at RunBalmoral praised the organization of the race and said they would participate again. Ian Russell and Laura Wood won the men's and women's races respectively. A rare turf disease called Typhula is affecting half

1. 36 Thursday, April 30, 2015
www.eveningexpress.co.uk
Thursday, April 30, 2015
www.eveningexpress.co.uk 37
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athletics
By Fraser Clyne
GEMMA Cormack was one of
five Aberdeen athletes to
produce winning perfor-
mances in the opening Scot-
tish women’s track and field
league meeting of the season
at Meadowbank Stadium.
The 22-year-old occupational
t h e r a p i s t r e c o r d e d 4 m i n
44.15secs to take top spot in the
1,500m, finishing more than
three secs ahead of her closest
challenger.
It was a good performance in
cold and windy conditions and it
came 24 hours after she had won
the women’s prize in the Cono-
coPhillips 5km at Balmoral
Castle.
Gemma clocked 18:14 at Bal-
moral to finish ninth overall from
a field of 700 runners.
Now she’s hoping to improve on
her track times over the summer,
but will also take part in a few
road races.
She said: “My aim is to get close
to my personal best times on the
track, mainly for 1,500m but also
for 3,000m. If I can do that this
summer then I’ll look to move on
from that and improve next year.
“I’m also going to do the
Aberdeen Baker Hughes 10km.
I’ve never done it before so I’m
looking forward to it. I’ll prob-
ably do some more 5km races and
towards the end of the summer
I’ll look for a couple of 10kms.”
A l i s h a R e e s w o n t h e
Meadowbank under-17 girls’
100m in a nippy 11.86 while Catri-
ona Pennet won the senior
women’s 100m hurdles in 14.51.
Kelsey Stewart secured an
impressive victory in the
women’s 400m in 55.47 and
Frances Sealy earned maximum
points when clearing 4.60 in the
under-15 girls’ long jump.
Rebbeca Eggeling, who won the
Kongsberg Maritime secondary
schools 2.5km at Balmoral, set a
personal best time of 2:18.99secs
when finishing second in the
under-17s 800m at Meadowbank.
THE winners of
RunBalmoral’s newest
event have voted the
Apollo duathlon a big
success.
Aberdeen competitors Ian
Russell and Laura Wood
picked up the top men’s
and women’s prizes
respectively in the race
which featured a 5km run,
a 20km mountain biking
stage then another 5km
run.
Both were delighted with
their performances but
also spoke favourably
about their experiences.
The duathlon was held as
part of the annual running
festival on the royal estate
which attracted an entry
of more than 5,000
competitors of all ages for
the programme of eight
runs held over the course
of the weekend.
Ian, who comes from Keith
but lives in Aberdeen, said:
“It’s the first time I’ve done
a duathlon and although it
was hard work, I enjoyed
it. The event was really
well organised and I liked
the course. Hopefully, I’ll
do it again.”
Laura echoed Ian’s
sentiments. She said: “It
was a really good race,
well organised, very well
marshalled and I enjoyed
it. I’ll definitely be back.”
Both winners showed
good composure and
paced themselves well
over the testing course.
Ian had to dig deep to
secure his victory in 1hr
20min. He said: “I set off
quite fast in the first 5km
and came into the
transition zone in fourth
position. I lost another
place there, so I was fifth
when we set off on the
biking stage.
“I put my head down and
managed to catch the
others over the first half of
the cycling route. I just
kept powering on from
there until getting back
into transition for the
second time.
“The second run was really
tough after the cycle, but I
managed to hang on. I’ve
never done a duathlon
before as I’m mainly a
runner. But I did a lot of
cycle training over the
winter to prepare for this
and I came out to Balmoral
a month ago to preview
the course so I’d know
what it was like.”
He was chased home by a
pack of three runners who
were separated by five
secs in an exciting battle
for second spot.
Tom Jenkins sprinted clear
to take the runner-up
position in 1:20:39,
followed one sec later by
Phil Westmorland, with
Newburgh beach 10km
champion Mike Bland a
further four secs behind in
fourth.
Laura won the women’s
prize when completing the
course in 1:36:24, while
Banchory’s Kate Sibly took
second position in 1:42:03,
20secs ahead of former
Scotland 400m
international Emma
Cloggie (Torphins).
Laura said: ”I overtook one
woman on the bike stage
but I was convinced there
was still another woman
ahead of me, so all the
way round I was chasing a
competitor who wasn’t
there.
“I’m pleased to win as it’s
my first duathlon and I
only did it because a friend
persuaded me.”
Both Ian and Laura now
plan to compete in next
month’s Aberdeen Baker
Hughes 10km.
Balmoral’s duathlon gets thumbs up from competitors
Winner Gemma chasing
personal bests on track
STRONG SHOWING: Gemma Cormack, women’s winner of
the RunBalmoral 5k, with men’s winner Jordan Chapman.
Nature’s fickle finger
LOCHTER: On Sunday it was quite
intriguing to look at the high
definition screens, in the comfort of
the conservatory restaurant at Lochter
Fishery, Oldmeldrum, and see pictures
of the Lochter ospreys high up on
their nest and covered in snow. Great
big flakes that went on for hours
chilling the whole place.
You could not help but wonder what
they were thinking: “Oh, this is very
picturesque,” or: “I told you we
should have stayed in the warm south
for another fortnight.”
I suspect that the latter was their
foremost thought and it goes to show
that even the sharpest minds in nature
can be caught out by the unexpected
vagaries of the weather.
It certainly caught a number of
anglers out. Those who had been
de-layering were forced to bring out
the thermals again and the big drop
in temperature forced a rethink on
angling tactics.
At the start of the week the weather
was nice and Ian Hutchison had 14 on
a mixture of damsels, buzzers and
even dries.
Lenny Davidson, one of the famous
“McDuffers”, netted 11 on
cormorants, Albert Trail & Bob Ingram
12 and eight respectively on PTNs.
This was the pattern but the arrival of
the snow meant a return to Lures,
Blobs & Bloodworms. Walter Senior
had 12, Peter Wilson 11and David
Taylor Jnr eight using various
combinations of the above. This is
likely to be the picture for the week as
nature points an icy fickle finger at us
yet again.
Buzzers to the fore
DELGATIE: What a difference a week
makes.
After two or three weeks of higher
than average temperatures the
mercury plummeted this week and a
cold north-easterly wind took over.
The change in temperature together
with a moderate rainfall played havoc
with the fish feeding habits and
catches proved more elusive.
While sinking and intermediate lines
with a variety of lures attached
continued to yield catches it was
undoubtedly the buzzer in various
shapes, sizes and colours which
dominated proceedings for the past
week.
The best recorded catches this week
fell to: A Murray, Gardenstown, 14 fish
(black fritz, white nomad), L Adams,
Aberdeen, 14 fish (buzzers), G Littler,
Newmachar, 11 fish (lime green
buzzer), N Thomson, Turriff, 10 fish
(buzzers), C Watson, New Deer, 10 fish
(buzzers), J Walker, Banff, six fish
(orange fritz), W Deeming, Peterhead,
six fish (black buzzer).
The forecast for the coming week
suggests a continuation of the cold
spell with winds persisting. However,
the emergence of surface activity
suggests “dry fly” time is just around
the corner.
Delgatie Castle Trout Fishery is open
seven days from 8am until 8pm. For
information phone Bob on 07980 999
006.
Fishers in wonderland
MIDMAR: A snowstorm left the fishery
looking like a winter wonderland over
the weekend and anglers only landed
a handful of fish.
The previous days found more
fortune. On various flies Bill Christie,
Insch, had a good day’s fishing
grassing 12.
Ken Johnson from Stonehaven’s best
of four fish weighed 5lbs, on black
damsel.
Al Birnie’s best of three came in at
over 6lbs caught on pink nymph.
Gus Ogilie, Huntly, had a braw day –
he kept four of his six landings and
grassed on various wets.
Finally, Fraser Sim, 9, of Westhill,
caught his very first fish.
With Ian Millar
ANGLING
CULTS Bowling Club are
starting this year’s season
with only half a green, as
it is being plagued by a
rare turf disease.
Typhula, commonly called
snow mould, is a frequent
problem in the Great Lakes
region in the United States,
but is virtually unheard of in
Scotland.
Cults treasurer Jean Main
said: “It’s taking up half the
green and it’s in patches.
“We’re trying to keep mem-
bers off it for as long as pos-
sible, but it’s not easy, as I’m
not sure everyone under-
stands the problem.”
Cults opened for the season
earlier this month, but had to
cordon off the affected areas.
Dr Kate Entwistle, of the
Turf Disease Centre in Hamp-
shire, explained that because
Typhula only develops after
prolonged snow cover it is
exceptionally rare in Britain.
She said: “It will probably
never completely leave, as the
fungus will have produced
structures that will allow it to
stay dormant – waiting for the
right conditions to re-emerge.
“There are fungicides which
have to be applied prior to
snow cover, but the best way to
manage it at this point is to try
to encourage the grass to grow
out.
“It will be close to impos-
sible to completely eradi-
cate.”
Arthur Crichton, of AA
Crichton, the company that
maintains the green, hasn’t
seen a case of Typhula for 32
years.
Crichton said: “It’s very
rare. I’ve been greenkeeping
for 48 years and I’ve only come
across Typhula three times.
“In 1978 at the King James
XI golf club in Perth, in 1982 at
three Tayside bowling greens,
and this year at Cults.
“It’s the worst fungus turf
can get.
“It kills the roots and it’s
health now. The aesthetics of
it are a little bit ruined but the
main thing is to maintain the
integrity of the playing sur-
face.”
Crichton added: “This isn’t
as bad as it was in 1982. Lochee
green in Dundee, Canmore
green in Forfar, and Kinnoull
in Perth were all grey after the
snow, then they just turned
orange and died.”
In 1982 Braemar recorded
Britain’s coldest ever temper-
ature of -27°C, which would
have contributed to the out-
breaks of Typhula.
Last winter saw Cults green,
which is in a sheltered area,
covered in ice for a prolonged
period, with some people even
taking to ice-skating on it.
Crichton said: “I just
couldn’t believe how long the
ice lasted. And as soon as it
melted there it was again,
Typhula.”
Concern as
Cults green
hit by rare
turf fungusbowls
By Christopher Bradley
BETTER: Cults bowling green, estimated to be 80% free of Typhula.
It lingers in
the bowels
of the earth
impossible to get rid of – it
lingers in the bowels of the
earth.”
Crichton and his team are
monitoring the green at the
moment to decide how best to
proceed.
“It’s nothing like as exten-
sive as it could be,” he
explained.
“We’re really just focusing
on nursing the green back to
COLD: Cults bowling
green when it was
under ice in February.
boxing
MANNY Pacquiao has
warned Floyd May-
w e a t h e r t h a t h i s
unbeaten record will
fall to his fists in Las
Vegas in the early
hours of Sunday.
Mayweather wears
his immaculate run of
47 successive victo-
ries as a cloak of invin-
cibility, using it to fuel
his claim to being the
greatest boxer of all
time.
Pacquiao, however,
insists his speed will
confront the 38-year-
old pound-for-pound
ruler with a challenge
he has never faced
before.
“I’m different to the
47 opponents he has
fought before. I’m
faster than them and
I’m content for the
fight. I believe this is
the moment he will
experience his first
loss,” Pacquiao said.
“I can’t say May-
weather is the most
dangerous opponent
of my career because
I’ve fought guys like
Oscar De LA Hoya,
Miguel Cotto, Juan
Manuel and Marquez
and other boxers.
“He’s a difficult
o p p o n e n t b u t m y
confidence is differ-
ent for this fight.”
Pacquiao enters the
richest fight in boxing
history as underdog
for the first time since
h i s e i g h t - r o u n d
destruction of De La
Hoya in 2008, but he is
happy for Mayweather
to be backed.
“Every time I’m the
underdog, I like that
because my killer
instinct, my focus is
there. This is what I
want,” Pacquiao said.
“We’re not working
one strategy, but we
have two or three. If
he wants to fight me,
that’s good for me.
“But if he’s running
a n d r u n n i n g a n d
moving around the
ring, we’ve prepared
for that.”
Pacquiao
warning
ahead
of fight
CONTENT: Pacquiao.
Lucy to the four with wins at Insch
A YOUNG bowler has
scooped four awards after
a successful winter season.
Lucy Willox, 12, from
Insch, picked up the gong
for most improved girl, as
well as president’s player
of the year and both
Saturday and Sunday
junior Hat League
championships.
A junior member of Insch
Bowling Club, Lucy was
invited to open her local
green for the start of the
summer bowling season.
President of Grampian
Junior Bowling
Association Frank Philip
described Lucy as “one of
our up-and-coming young
stars”.
Lucy, pictured, has been
helped in her
development by a
“fiercely competitive”
rivalry with her brother,
Liam Willox.
He had previously won
the junior Saturday Hat
League two years in a
row, but unlike his sister
did not win for both days
in the same year.
Frank added: “We are the
only area in Scotland
where junior membership
is holding strong.
“Also, youngsters are
staying in the game
longer.
“They used to get a lot of
stick, their friends would
say ‘they’re off to play
bowls with the oldies’.
“But we’ve found they
stay around longer and
some go on to play at a
higher level.”
ABERDEEN Ex-Presidents Bowling Association team to play Woodend BC on
Saturday (2pm):
D Duguid (We) E Haw (W) WJ Mair (Cs) I Haw (W)
J Jamieson (UA) F Strachan (P) G Strachan Jnr (P) C Walker (W)
H Barrie (UA) S McLenaghan (W) G Strachan Snr (P) I Forbes (P)
A Paterson (Ns) R Bond (Cs) G Craigen (UA) D Campbell (P)
G Fraser (UA) JF Reaper (Wo) A Birnie (UA) M Mathieson (UA)
D Elrick (UA) L Emslie (C) B Gordon (UA) WM Laird (Ns).