Written by Eve Miller, Senior School News Editor.

Earlier this month, Billy Sutherland, a talented runner and S4 pupil, entered the Baxters 5K race in Inverness and finished in first place, smashing his personal best, to gain a time of 16 mins 15 seconds beating his previous record of 17 mins 41 seconds.

Recently, he has started an intense program with Performance Endurance Training (P.E.T) which focuses on trail runs, hill reps, over/under paced sessions and speed reps. Billy has found that these techniques of training have helped him become a better all-round runner helping him take part in new races.

In March, 2024, he placed 6th in the Inverness 5K, competing against 1,500 other runners. Billy told us that this has been his favourite race to date, where he set his previous best time of 17.41. Billy recently attended a training camp in Aviemore which gave him the chance to train with over 20 athletes who compete at high levels nationally. In April, he took part in the U20 category of the Balmoral 5K and came home with second place and a time of 18.04. He was the youngest runner entered. Billy has been training with Ross County Athletic Club (RCAC)  which will give him access to different races, and open more opportunities for him. RCAC wants Billy to represent them in future races, and when he turns 15 to focus on 10K’s. In the future, Billy hopes to take part in the Cross Country League and to continue competing in races especially his ‘dream race’ of the Edinburgh 5K.  

We, at Wick High School, are all immensely proud of Billy’s achievements and cannot wait to see his future success.