Two years after Jonas ran 32:23 at the Scottish 10km Championships in Stirling, improving on the best time he set in Berlin just a few weeks earlier by a further 55 seconds, Scotland's fastest runners were now looking forward to the comeback of the championship race. When we heard about it, we planned to be there too.

Due to rail strikes, we had to travel to Stirling at short notice with a hire car, which caused extra hassle and expense. Nevertheless, we were happy to be able to start in Stirling. Jonas had already shown in Forfar and especially in Larne in Northern Ireland with a new half marathon best time that fast times were possible for him at the moment. Therefore, he entered the race bravely and tried to repeat what he had already shown at the same place some 24 months earlier: to run 10 kilometres in under 33 minutes.

Kilometre after kilometre he ran at a fast pace. Whether it would be enough for a new best time in the end, however, was not clear for a long time. He had run 32:23 minutes in 2019, but this time the clock stopped after... 32:16 minutes! Best time! What a day for us, even if I could just participate after a cold and not run full throttle. And just like two years before, we were drawn to Stirling Castle afterwards, one of the most beautiful castles in Scotland.

Picture: Scottish Athletics (Facebook)