Black bags team gold on Scotland debut

Long distance runner Charlotte Black says it was privilege to pull on the Scotland vest for the first time, scooping a team gold in the Anglo Celtic Plate in Wales.

Black was one of six Scottish athletes to tackle the gruelling 100k race in Redwick last weekend.

Athletes from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland took part, clocking up 31 laps of the flat two-mile road loop.

The Dunrossness-based ultra athlete got her first Scotland call up after being the first Scot to finish the 100k run in Perth two years ago. But with only three weeks to go before her first international appearance, she had to pull out through injury.

Thankfully the opportunity came along again and being part of Team Scotland was a great experience, she said, though running the same course 30-odd times over was “quite torturous”.

Running continuously on the flat, she said, “is really hard on your body … if you go up a hill or down a hill your muscles are changing.”

“It’s mentally quite taxing, that’s the worst bit,” Black added.

“Once you have been round [the course] a couple of time and seen what there is to see… it’s a small field so it’s not like there’s lots of folk around, it’s mentally soul destroying because you’re trying to stick to this pace and it’s hard work.”

The first 30 miles “aren’t too bad because you’re regularly running that distance in training,” she said, but admitted that the race was tough going. “You just get so angry towards the end because you just want it to be over.”