Falkirk Vics: Duo join countries best at Comeback 500 event

A total of seven races, all seeded by personal bests, and each race faster than the last, concluding with the elite men’s and women’s races. Vics’ Kane Elliot and Scott Stirling featured amongst the 27 men chasing sub 14:15, while the 24 elite women were looking to beat 17:30.

The race, hosted by Belgrave Harriers consisted of 12.5 times round the track to make up the 5k distance was supported by a host of spectators in what was described as a festival vibe.

In the men’s elite race, three runners were out front for the majority of the race, with a lead of around 50m. Vics’ Kane Elliott led the chase pack, closely followed by Scott Stirling, bringing them forward to the runners out front.

In a thrilling final 40 seconds, with all to play for, the athletes gave everything they had.

The top three finishers were Zak Mahamed from Southampton Athletics Club who led the race from the start and knocked an incredible 15 seconds of his last years time to finish in 13:47.43. Zak was a silver medalist in the 2022 European Cross Country championships in Italy.

Second place went to Ben MacMillan (14:00.00) of Central AC with Andrew Milligan (14:02.29) North Belfast AC in third spot. Vics finished 7th and 12th with Scott Stirling running a time of 14:05.45 while Kane Elliott ran a time of 14:16.66 – which was a new personal best for Kane.

Scott now has the British Track Championships in his sights while Kane is looking to towards the European U23 Championships in Finland in July. Both athletes will head to Sports City in Manchester in a bid to qualify for these prestigious events.