MORE than five hundred athletes descended on Helensburgh on Thursday night for the opening race in the 2018 Babcock 10K Series.

The size of the field was significantly up on last year, and was a record since Babcock took on the sponsorship of the series, leaving organisers hopeful of a return to the 1,000 or so runners who turned out in the heyday of the series’ 33-year sponsorship by Polaroid.

The men’s race saw Craig Ruddy of Inverclyde AC break Shettleston Harriers’ recent stranglehold on the prize, easing away from Mike Deason (Shettleston), Murray Maclarty (Central) and Bellahouston Harrier Gregor Yates in the last 3km to come home 25 seconds clear in a time of 32 minutes and six seconds, 25 seconds clear of his nearest challenger, with Deason second and Maclarty third.

Katie White of Garscube was equally dominant in the women’s race, missing Jenny Wetton’s course record by a mere six seconds but finishing more than half a minute clear of Hungarian Fanni Gyurko, while Elspeth Curran completed the top three.

Inverclyde took the men’s team honours ahead of Shettleston and Greenock Glenpark. Dumbarton AAC swept the board in the women’s team race, while Helensburgh’s Jason Blair was the first local runner home, finishing 17th overall.

* Turn to pages 38 and 39 of this week’s issue for full results from the race.