Isaiah Kosgei wins Baxters Loch Ness Marathon after epic journey while Katie White smashes women’s record

Winner of the Loch Ness Marathon in a time of 02:29:31, Isaiah Kosgei

Isaiah Kosgei stormed to an emphatic victory over a record field of 5,200 runners to win the Baxters Loch Ness marathon by finishing more than a mile ahead of his closest challenger in 2hr 29min 31sec.

But running 26.2 miles was arguably a relative stroll in the park compared with the epic journey the veteran Kenyan athlete made to get to the Scottish Highlands.

He said:”I left home in Iten on Tuesday and it took me a day to get to Nairobi. Then, because of a misunderstanding about flight times I had to spend 24 hours at the airport before flying to Oman then on to Manchester and finally Aberdeen where I stayed. I travelled up to Inverness on Saturday.

Kosgei, who was proudly sporting a Metro Aberdeen vest in tribute to his friends at the north east club who have supported him during his visits to Scotland over the past two years, was determined that nothing would stop him from getting to Loch Ness.

He said: “Despite all the travel problems I did not give up. I stayed positive because I really wanted to be here to try to win after being fifth in 2017 and third last year.So, I need to thank everyone who has helped me, including my friends Alan Brown and Lynne Newcombe in Aberdeen and the race organisers.

Kosgei led for almost the entire way,passing through halfway in 1:11:20, and despite slowing significantly after that, he still had more than enough to hold off any challengers.

He said:“I am grateful to win. It was a tough second half but I am so happy as this means so much to me. I am here to raise funds to support children at home who need help with getting access to education. Some of my prize money will be used for that.”

Nick Harris-Fry (Orion Harriers) finished second in 2:36:30 while Ed Rees (Sinn Allstars) took third position in 2:37:09 and German Jonas Muller (Roadrunners Sudbaden) was fourth in 2:39:16. Two-time previous champion Tarus Elly (Army Athletics) was 18th, 2:50:24.

Winner of the female, Loch Ness Marathon in a record breaking time of 02:42:04, Katie White

Katie White smashed the women’s course record when powering to victory in 2:42:04, a time bettered by only five men. Her performance was a significant improvement on the previous standard of 2:44:50 set by Fife’s Megan Crawford in 2015. The Garcube Harriers club member also showed remarkable powers of recovery after winning the Scottish half marathon title in Glasgow only seven days earlier.

She said: “Last week’s performance in Glasgow wasn’t planned. It was meant to be a final training run before Loch Ness but conditions were good so I just went for it. Despite that I was surprised how good I felt today. I had a bit of cramp around 17-18 but I got over that.

I am delighted to get the course record and it’s not too far away from by best time,so that’s good. It’s a lovely course. I’ve only ever done the big city marathons so this was very different and I enjoyed it.

White, who is also a past winner of the Inverness half marathon, is now going to take a well earned break before getting ready for the cross country season.

Lairig Ghru mountain marathon winner Kerry Prise (Metro Aberdeen) finished second in 2:52:34 while the 2018 winner, Sheena Logan (Fife A) was third in 2:54:24.

Megan Keith is surprise women’s champion in Baxters River Ness 10K and Cameron Strachan wins close men’s race

Teenager Megan Keith upset the odds by scoring a shock win over title-holder and three-time previous winner Jenny Bannerman after a fascinating duel in the women’s division of the Baxters River Ness 10km.

The European under-18 orienteering champion, who was competing in her first 10km, showed no inhibitions as she basted off at a fast pace which Bannerman struggled to match. Keith slowed very slightly towards the end but, spurred on by thousands of enthusiastic spectators, she sprinted through the finishing tape in 34min 42secs to achieve a memorable victory.

She said: “In orienteering, most of my races are held over 3km and I don’t think I’ve ever raced beyond 6km before, so this was a new experience. My aim was to hang on to Jenny for as long as possible and see what happened. So, I stayed with her for the first half and I got a personal best time for 5km, but after that I felt good and pushed on. I struggled a bit after 6km and I don’t think I would have made it had it not been for all the people cheering us on. I am absolutely delighted.”

Scotland international Bannerman, who was runner-up in 35:11, was magnanimous in defeat, saying: “It’s not that I had a bad race, it’s just that Megan had a brilliant race. That performance must put her amongst the top two or three in Britain for her age group. She has had such a successful orienteering season and I’m sure the combination of speed and endurance she has got from that has stood in her in good stead today. It’s great for her to be doing this at such a young age. I’m sure she’s going to have a great future.”

Metro Aberdeen’s Ginie Barrand set a personal best 35:46 to take third position with her clubmate Nicola Gauld fourth in 37:29

Cameron Strachan (Metro Aberdeen) sprinted to victory in the men’s race after an intriguing three-way battle with Sean Chalmers (Inverness Harriers) and James Donald (Dundee Hawkhill Harriers).

The Scotland international pulled away in the closing stages to win in 30:31 with Chalmers runner-up in 30:40 and Donald taking third spot in 30:41.

Strachan said:”After 3km I was a bit detached from the other two but I got back with them by halfway. We then ran together until around 9Km when Sean made a break. I ran with James but with 800m to go I realised Sean wasn’t getting any further ahead so I pushed on. I caught him with 400m to go and just went from there. I am delighted with the win and happy with the time. “

Chalmers wasn’t too disappointed with the outcome, saying: “it’s a Personal best time by about 10secs so I’m delighted with that. I maybe made my break a little too early but in the end Cameron was just too strong.”

Youngsters on form in River Ness 5K

Duncan MacDonald,15, recorded 17min 13secs to win the Baxters River Ness 5km after fending off a strong challenge from his clubmate Jake Henderson who was only 16secs behind while Gregor Nixon completed an Inverness Harriers clean sweep of the podium positions by taking third spot in 18:14.

MacDonald, a pupil at Millburn Academy, was delighted with the result which sets him up for the coming indoor track season. He said: “I’ve run in this event many times before but this is my first win. It was a tough race and I had a good battle with Jake so I am pleased to have won.
“After this I’m concentrating on the indoors this winter with the aim of getting my best 800m time down from 2min 11sesc to maybe 2:05. So, I won’t be doing any cross country racing.”

Anna Cairns, who won the Scottish under-13 cross country title earlier in the year, swept to an impressive victory in the girls’ division of the run to complete a successful weekend.

The 13 year-old Fortrose youngster finished ahead of her clubmate Grace MacDonald in a reversal of the top two positions from 2018.
She said: “I was pleased to run 18:25 as it’s just four secs outside my best for 5km. But,I had another race yesterday when I won at the North District cross country league.

“My big aim for the winter is finish in the top three in the under-15 age group at the national cross country championships and to be selected to run for Scotland in the London mini marathon.”

MacDonald was runner-up in 18:53 with Kate Comisso (Ross County) third in 20:01.