Scott and McColgan rising up the runbritain rankings with Olympic Qualifying times
Marc Scott and Eilish McColgan were in action in the USA over the weekend. Both races were loaded with runners being paced for Olympic qualifying times by world steeplechase medallists Courtney Frierichs and Evan Jager..
At the Californian venue in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County , the men were targeting an Olympic qualifying time of 27:28. Marc Scott (handicap -7.1) has shown his maturity in recent years and meandered to the optimum draft position as the lead train of runners settled into 65 second laps (or 13:33 5k pace).
American, Grant Fisher was leading going into the final 800m but at 600m, Scott pushed on. The pair hit a 61 second penultimate lap with Scott driving all the way down the home straight for a massive PB and a momentous win of 27:10.41. Marc Scott is now second on the runbritain all-time list behind four-time Olympic Champion, Sir Mo Farah.
The race is available on this link
With a late flight from Dubai to LA, Eilish McColgan (handicap -3.3) was always going to have a blurred plan with a greater level of uncertainty.
After some perfect pacing to hit their target (31:25 Olympic time) in the first half the women looked fluid and on track for their respective targets. In typical McColgan fashion, Eilish pushed on with Emily Infeld, Karissa Schweizer and Elise Cranny to alternate the lead ‘train’. McColgan held strong to finish third 30:58.94 taking 18 seconds off her previous best, place fifth on the runbritain all-time rankings, one place behind her mother’s 30:57.07. Elise Cranny had a stunning win in 30:47.42, just ahead of Schweizer’s 30:47.99.
UK runbritain rankings for endurance events and age groups
Other results from the weekend are on the following links: