Weekend update
London, Glasgow, Cardiff and Loch Ness were hives of running activity this weekend.
At the TCS London Marathon top British performances came from Weynay Ghebresilasie (handicap -4.3) and Rose Harvey (handicap -0.4) in the elite men’s and women’s races.
Weynay Ghebresilasie improved his personal best to 2:11:57 for ninth place in the men’s race; he clocked 2:12:17 in Rotterdam earlier this year. Philip Sesemann (handicap -6.0) was the next Briton across the line in 10th position, also in PB time, recording 2:12:10.
Rose Harvey , who was forced to withdraw from the World Athletics Championships marathon with cramp in July, ran the second quickest time of her career as she earned a top 10 finish in the capital. She ran 2:27:59 on her way to 10th while Steph Twell (handicap -1.2) was the next Briton across the line from the elite women’s start in 12th in 2:39:16. Hannah Alderson (handicap 3.9) was the second fastest British woman overall, setting off from the mass start and finishing in a time of 2:35:56.
At the Great Scottish Run Eilish McColgan (handicap -4.3) sliced another second off her British record in the women’s 10km as she continued her excellent 2022 season. On the roads of Glasgow, the Commonwealth and European medallist recorded a time of 30:18.
Meanwhile, Callum Hawkins (handicap -4.7) won the men’s half marathon race in a time of 1:03:35 ahead of Adam Craig (handicap -4.7) and his brother Derek Hawkins (handicap -3.5).
In Cardiff, Dewi Griffiths (handicap -5.6) and Natasha Cockram (handicap -1.5) were the top British performers with 64:15 and 73:12 respectively.
Dougie Selman (handicap -3.7) scooped the top prize at the 20th anniversary Baxters Loch Ness marathon with a come-from-behind last ditch victory which left long-time leader, veteran Kenyan athlete Isaiah Kosgei, battling to hold on to second position ahead of fast finishing Shaun Cumming (handicap -3.1).
The Edinburgh athlete didn’t move into pole position until a little more than a mile from the end but opened up a big gap over these closing stages to complete the testing Highland course in 2hr 23min 53secs. Kosgei, the 2019 winner, came through in 2:26:36 but was almost caught by Cumming whose final sprint took him to within one second of the Kenyan.
Selman said: “I don’t know what Kosgei went through the halfway point in, but when I got there he was out of sight. I ran quite consistently from that point on but quite suddenly after about 23 or 24 miles I could see the gap was closing and I could see he was slowing down. I passed him after the 24 mile mark and just kept going. The final mile was very hard and felt like it was never going to end. But it was a good feeling to breast the tape at the finish – I’ve never done that before.”
It was only the second marathon Selman has completed, the other being at Berlin in 2016 when he recorded 2:21:46, but he has another one planned before the end of this year.
He said: “I’m doing the Valencia marathon in nine weeks from now. So,thiswas a good opportunity to practice a race,taking on drinks, gels and getting experience of how tough the last stages can be.It was also good to be in a competitive race. And Loch Ness is a good course with great pockets of support along the way.”
Kosgei arrived in the Highlands less than 24 hours before the race, having flown from Nairobi to Frankfurt and on to Glasgow. He then took a train to Aberdeen before catching a bus to the Inverness. He was relaxed about the outcome, saying: “I went through halfway in about 1hr 8min but I got very tired after 22 miles. I don’t think all the travelling over the past few days has helped me. I’ve been sitting down too much. But I’m still happy to finish second.
Third-placed Shaun Cumming was ecstatic about his performance. If the course had been 10 metres longer, he would have caught Kosgei but the Highland Hill Runners club member was delighted. He said: “It’s great. I ran here six years ago and did 3:19 so it’s a big step up from that. My best time before this was 2:32 at Edinburgh in May,so this is another huge improvement.”
Jemima Farley admitted she was unaware how close she came to breaking the course record when winning the women’s race. The Malta-based Aberdonian doctor lifted the title with a superb time of 2:42:40 to knock close to four mins off her previous best set at last year’s Richmond marathon. The Loch Ness record of 2:42:04 was tantalisingly just 36secs outside her grasp. But her time puts her into second position in this year’s Scottish women’s rankings.
Great Britain international Mhairi MacLennan (handicap -0.1) returned to her home town to scythe 46 seconds off the 16 year-old women’s course record in the Baxters River Ness 10k with a time of 33:00. The Edinburgh-based athlete, who was raised in the Highland capital, was competing in the event for the first time since she was a youngster and certainly made her presence felt by producing an outstanding performance. Only 10 men were faster. The previous record of 33:46 had been set by Kenyan athlete Cathy Mutwa in 2006 but MacLennan simply tore that to shreds.
She said: “I’m delighted but because its two secs outside my personal best so I’m actually a little annoyed about that. When the clock came into sight, I thought surely I can get a personal best, but not quite.
“I didn’t know what shape I was in beforehand because I haven’t raced for six months so I was treating this as a run-out ahead of doing a half marathon in Portugal next weekend.
At halfway although I thought I might get the record, I still wasn’t sure if I might blow up. So, I was constantly checking in with my body for the rest of the race and I guess I surprised myself.”
Runner-up Virginie Barrand (handicap 0.6) ran a superb time of 33:39 which passed under the radar to some extent because of MacLennan’s outstanding performance. The Metro Aberdeen member was thrilled as she is in the middle of training hard towards the Valencia marathon in December.She said: “That’s a personal best by more than two minutes, so I am very happy considering my focus is on marathon training.”
Scotland Commonwealth Games 800m representative Jenny Selman (handicap -1.2), wife of marathon winner Dougie, took third spot. It’s the first time the Fife AC runner has competed in a 10k.
Lachlan Oates (handicap -4.2) won the men’s title after a three-way battle for supremacy which was only resolved over the final two kilometres. The 30 year-old Elgin-based Shettleston Harriers club member, competing in the event for the first time, eventually pulled away from Kent AC’s Owen Hind (handicap -2.4) and defending champion Sean Chalmers (handicap -5.1) to take the top prize in a time of 30:26.
Oates said: “I tried to run my own race. I took the lead at the start and led for 4k with Sean and Owen just behind. After 4k they went past me but I responded by putting in a couple of surges as I felt they weren’t really going any faster. After the first surge Sean dropped a bit and in last 1.5k I saw Owen’s shadow dropping further behind.I’m pleased with the time as I would have been happy with 30:30 so 30:26 is the fifth best I’ve done so I’m pleased with that.
Hind was runner-up in 30:32 while Chalmers had to settle for third position in 31:05.
UK runbritain rankings for endurance events and age groups
Other results from the weekend are on the following links: