THE pouring rain wasn’t enough to dampen spirits as thousands gathered to celebrate the 165th Famous Alva Games.

More than 4,000 people from all across the world took to Johnstone Park to watch the competitions, held this year on Saturday, July 8.

Craig Dunbar, secretary for the Alva games, praised the crowd for their attendance despite the adverse weather conditions.

He said: “It was so nice, I’ve had loads of nice messages about it. The feedback has been incredible this year.

“You could feel a positive buzz in the air – I’ve been doing Alva for almost 30 years and the crowd has always been a really responsive one.

“Every single one of the runners receives a big cheer. Every competitor is made to feel that they’re valued.

“The crowd is just fantastic each year and this year was no different.”

This year saw the addition of a couple new events to the programme including the junior heavyweights, which is open to under 18s.

Ken McCaffrey was chosen as this year’s guest of honour, following on from his role as the vice chairman for the Alva Games.

“The opening ceremony was a particular highlight for me,” Craig added. “We got to surprise our person of honour with a piper from Northern Ireland.

“It’s just wee emotional moments like that that make you realise why you do this. He genuinely had no idea that we were doing that and it brought a tear to his eye.

“Even me, Mr No Emotion, had a lump in my throat when I was introducing him, it was fantastic to see.”

The pull of the Alva Games has never been bigger, attracting four of the best sprinters in Scotland including a double New Year Sprint winner.

Outwith Scotland, the games drew in a number of people from across the globe, including a group of German scouts running in the visitors race and a stag do from Pickenham.

“It’s great to see,” Craig said. “I don’t care where people come from as long as they come.

“We had somewhere in the region of 300 foreign language students who booked to come see the games and all actually came.

“If all of them are taking back a little story about this tiny county all around the world, I think that’s fantastic.”

FULL RESULTS:

90m OPEN

1st Gkontouin Imante, Shettleston H (9.98secs)

2nd Greg Kelly, East Kilbride

3rd Lucky Idowu, Shettleston H

90m OPEN INVITATION HANDICAP

1st Callum Letham, Glasgow Jags (10.46secs)

2nd Abbie Harrison, Inverness

3rd Samantha Turnbull, Peebles

200m OPEN

1st Greg Kelly, East Kilbride (21.83secs)

2nd Declan Gall, Dundee HH

3rd Ewen Bradley, Inverness

400m OPEN

1st Robbie Welsh, Hawick (51.38secs)

2nd Declan Gall, Dundee HH

3rd Natasha Turnbull, Peebles

800m OPEN

1st Mykola Kulakov, Ukraine ( 57.82s)

2nd Alex Thompson, Keighley

3rd Rory Anderson, Hawick

1600m OPEN

1st Andrew Gibson, Hawick (26.09s)

2nd Craig Bell, Forfar

3rd Mykola Kulakov, Ukraine

3200m OPEN

1st Ronnie Haddow, Ulverston (05.06s)

2nd Angela Bell, Forfar

3rd Robbie Welsh, Hawick

90m YOUTHS

1st Ray Taylor, Dunblane (10.69secs)

2nd Corey Donaldson, Clydesdale H

3rd Aimee Calder, Falkirk Vics

200m YOUTHS

1st Erin Jackson, TLJT (23.18secs)

2nd Corey Donaldson, Clydesdale

3rd Aimee Calder, Falkirk Vics

400m YOUTHS

1st Stuart Whiteford, Innerleithen (51.93secs)

2nd Alfie Laing, Dunblane

3rd Noah Cookj, Ulverston

800m YOUTHS

1st Ray Taylor, Dunblane (24.00 s)

2nd Noah Cook, Ulverston

3rd Theo Zaboklicka, Cumbria

1600m YOUTHS YOUTHS

1st Theo Zaboklicka, Cumbria (36.17s)

2nd Jack Sanderson, Settle

3rd Amber Cunningham, Lothian RC

800m OPEN CYCLING

1st James Melville, Alexandria (16.22s)

2nd Paul Gallacher, Kirkcaldy

3rd Paul Anderson, Perth

1600m OPEN

1st James Melville, Alexandria (50.92s)

2nd Paul Anderson, Perth

3rd Paul Gallacher, Kirkcaldy

3200m OPEN SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP

1st Stewart Burke, Limekilns (44.84s)

2nd Alexander MacRae, Glasgow

3rd Isaac Small, Torphins

DEIL CYCLING

1st Alexander MacRae, Glasgow

2nd Isaac Small, Torphins

3rd Paul Gallacher, Kirkcaldy

16lb STONE

1st Vlad Tulacek, Czech Rep (54' 6.5")

2nd George Evans, Inverness (54' 5")

3rd Kyle Randalls, Falkirk (51' 1")

22lb STONE

1st Vlad Tulacek, Czech Rep (46' 10")

2nd Kyle Randalls, Falkirk (44' 3")

3rd George Evans, Inverness

16lb HAMMER

1st Kyle Randalls, Falkirk (144' 9")

2nd Vlad Tulacek, Czech Rep (135' 4")

3rd Murdo Masterson, Oban (120' 7")

22lb HAMMER

1st Kyle Randalls, Falkirk NGR (122' 0")

2nd V;ad Tulacek, Czech Rep (115' 4")

3rd Murdo Masterson, Oban (101' 3")

28lb Distance

1st Kyle Randalls, Falkirk (83' 10")

2nd Sinclair Patience, Inverness (80' 3")

3rd Vlad Tulacek, Czech Rep (79' 3")

56lb over Bar

1st Vlad Tulacek, Czech Rep (16' 4")

2nd EQ Kyle Randalls / George Evans (14' 0")

2nd EQ Murdo Masterson

CABER

1st Vlad Tulacek, Czech Rep

2nd Sinclair Patience, Inverness

3rd EQ Kyle Randalls/Murdo Masterson

POINTS

1st Vlad Tulacek 38pts

2nd Kyle Randalls 34.5pts

3rd Sinclair Patience 24pts

SHOT PUTT JUNIOR

1st Charlie Farndon, Blackford (32' 9")

2nd Rowan Hart, Glenisla (27' 5")

3rd Jules Ramsay, Perthshire (25' 7")

HAMMER JUNIOR

1st Charlie Farndon, Blackford (97' 9")

2nd Rowan Hart, Glenisla (86' 10")

3rd Jules Ramsay, Perthshire (85' 9")

WFD JUNIOR

1st Charlie Farndon, Blackford (74' 7")

2nd Jules Ramsay, Perthshire (55' 4")

3rd Rowan Hart, Glenisla (52' 1")

CABER JUNIOR

1st EQ Charlie Farndon, Blackford

1st EQ Jules Ramsay, Perthshire

3rd Rowan Hart, Glenisla