THE EIGHT-TIMES world champion showed the rest of the field a clean pair of heels to retain his title at the Scottish Coal Carrying Championship race in Kelty at the weekend.

Scarborough builder John Hunter romped home in a time of four minutes 51 seconds—narrowly outside his winning time last year of four minutes 34 —in the race, sponsored by Scottish Coal’s St Ninian’s Trust.

This was the fifth Scottish success for John, who left home at 4.30am to make the long drive north just to compete over the hilly one-kilometre course with a 50kg sack of coal on his back.

And he is getting ever nearer the record of six successive wins held by local coal racer supreme William Hargreaves, who has since retired.

John was delighted to once again lift the title, declaring the six-hour drive—with one hour’s rest fitted in before the race got under way—was worth it.

“Not bad for a 44-year-old, is it?” he said shortly after crossing the finishing line and heading back down the course to give encouragement to those struggling.

John put his success down to his sheer determination. He beat Chris Pratt from Glencraig into second place and Jamie Robertson from Dunfermline into third in times of five minutes 28 and five minutes 41, respectively.

First woman home, in a time of six minutes 59, was Aberdeenshire’s Louise Murray, whose boyfriend Jamie came third.

Louise last took part two years ago when she was second. “I feel much better at the end of this one than I did before.

“I ran a lot stronger than two years ago so I am getting there,” she said, though that may have something to do with how well she prepared: the small matter of a marathon in the Himalayas.

Louise beat sisters Mairi and Catriona McRobbie from Cowdenbeath into second and third with times of seven minutes 46 and eight minutes 05, respectively.

Trophies were also handed out to the first Scots home in the men’s and women’s events, these being Chris and Mairi.

Anthony Lafferty took the award for the first Kelty man home but there was no female entry from the village this year so the top Kelty female racer title went unclaimed.

Now in its 14th year, organiser Michael Boyle was pleased with how it went but, with the men’s field outstripping the women’s by 16 to four, he said he wanted to see more women—in particular from Kelty—take part in 2009.

There will also be additional races next year, for juniors and celebrities.