A WEE COUNTY teenager was left filled with joy after being congratulated by one of her idols after coming first in her age group in the Tillicoultry 10k run.

Alloa’s Mirren Henry, 16, battled through the cold and the snow to win the under-17s female category in the race held on the morning of Tuesday, December 27.

After the race, Mirren’s dad Ross published a Facebook post sharing his daughter’s achievement which attracted the attention of renowned Scottish middle and long-distance runner Eilish McColgan, who said: “Great effort in that weather!”.

Ross Henry was left beaming with pride at his daughter’s latest win, who has been going from strength to strength over the past few years running.

He added: “I’m very proud of her, she’s never stopped training and keeping fit but it’s really all down to her grandad.

“Her grandad, Jim Douglas, used to compete and he started walking with her regularly then she progressed onto running.

“During lockdown, she stopped competing but kept practicing and going for runs to keep her fitness up and now she’s back at it.”

Mirren started running when she was in primary school and has won the cross country race every year since P5.

The S5 pupil listed Eilish McColgan as one of her competing idols and her dad described it as a big achievement winning the Tilli 10k and being congratulated by her.

“She doesn’t like me bragging, but I am very proud of her and it’s great to see her do so well,” Ross added.

Mirren has also had success in 5k park runs, coming the first female in Stirling, Aberdeen and Plean.