Charlie Storrie was the sole Dumfries Running Club member to take part in the Nigel Barge 10K race, held annual to commemorate a soldier who was killed in action at the age of 23 in Dunkirk during Word War II.

Nigel was an outstanding officer who trained as a Royal Engineer and ran for Maryhill Harriers. This race has been on the go since 1943 and is one of Scotland's oldest road races and is among the first races to welcome the new year.

Charlie, who does much of his training in Sanquhar and in Glasgow, was keen to test himself against many of the fastest runners. He has completed the Glasgow University 5 mile race and the two races cover much of the same terrain.

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Charlie is in the early stages of marathon training so likes to do a few shorter races to get some speed in his legs before focusing more on longer distances. He was delighted to get round in 19th place out of 400 in a superb 33.54 which is well under six minutes a mile.

As for the rest of the year Charlie is travelling to Vietnam for a half marathon in March and he has targeted a sub 2hr 35 marathon in Newport in Wales in April. This is reckoned to be a fast course and he is looking forward to the challenge.

Monday night group/JogScotland

The beginners and improvers group meets on Mondays at Dumfries Sports Club on Nunholm Road at 6.30pm where organised groups are led over distances from 2km at a suitable pace up to five miles. Prospective newcomers are reminded that high visibility clothing is required for safety on darker nights. Further details can be found on www.dumfriesrunningclub.org.uk The free Jog Scotland programme is now onto week four and newcomers are very welcome, regardless of whether you have ever run before.