Kosgei’s Inspiration Comes from Helping Others

Kenyan Aims For Victory in Baxters Loch Ness Marathon

Veteran Kenyan athlete Isaiah Kosgei believes that a burning desire to help others will propel him to another successful performance in the Baxters Loch Ness marathon on Sunday.

Kosgei celebrating winning the 2019 Baxters Loch Ness Marathon 

The 47 year-old distance runner, who comes from the Kenyan running town of Iten – home to many of the world’s top distance runners – has a fine record in the Highland race, having finished fifth in 2017 and third in 2018 before going on to claim victory on his most recent visit, in 2019.

On every occasion he has used his prize money to support a variety of charitable projects in his local area, most notably providing funds to improve facilities at his old school and helping to support the education of under-privileged children.

Kosgei missed last year’s race because of covid travel restrictions, but is eagerly anticipating toe-ing the start line again on Sunday after making the long and arduous journey from East Africa.

He said: “I am in good shape and feel ready. I hope to win and run under 2hr 20min to enable me to accomplish my dream of giving back to society and transforming the lives of many children in my village.

“I started my build-up by running 210k per week and recently 170k per week. I train with a group in Iten but do my easy runs alone.

“I enjoy running Loch Ness because of the good reception I get every year. The organisation of the race is very good and there are beautiful views on the route. The course is tough but I have prepared for it.

“I am ready to run this marathon and any prize money will be used to give opportunities to children from humble backgrounds, to buy them school materials, uniforms, shoes and books. Also, I want to complete my previous project – providing a modern science laboratory at St Paul Makongi secondary school. This is all being done through my charity, the Kosgei Walpole Foundation.”

Kosgei showed his form in another fund-raising challenge a few months ago, completing a testing 60k run in the heat of the Kenyan summer in 3hr 38min. Whether he’s in shape to crack the 2hr 20min barrier at Loch Ness remains to be seen. But, if successful, he will break the course record of 2:20:13 set by his compatriot Simon Tonui in 2009.

The Kenyan is to face some strong competition led by Edinburgh’s Dougie Selman who aims to match the achievement of his Corstorphine clubmate Stuart Livingstone who won in 2021.

Selman has a best time of 2:21:46 dating back to Berlin in 2016. But earlier this year he clocked a lifetime best half marathon time of 1:06:19 which suggests he’s capable of a quick marathon performance.

Chris Richardson (Metro Aberdeen) is another contender for a place on the podium. The Scotland ultra distance international has a best time of 2:24:54 set in Cheshire last year. Since then he has focussed on ultra-distance running and won the Scottish 100k title in 2021 before clocking a personal best 6:51:07 when finishing seventh at this year’s British championships. That’s the fifth best of all-time by a Scot.

Richardson’s clubmate Will Mackay is another athlete expected to be among the front runners. The former Scottish 10,000m track champion has a best time of 2:24:51. And Welshman Geraint Williams (Swansea) will be hoping to improve on the runners-up position he filled last year.

Joe Symonds (Shettleston Harriers) has a best time of 2:20:52 but that was set nine years ago. However, the Great Britain mountain running international cannot be discounted as he has shown good form in a variety of long-distance trail and mountain races over the years.

Malta-based Aberdonian Jemima Farley is among the favourites to win the women’s race. The 36 year-old doctor has a personal best time of 2hr 46min 35 set at last year’s Richmond marathon. It was the third quickest by a Scottish woman in 2021 and a repeat of that level of performance would make her very difficult to beat.

Farley, who has been living on the Mediterranean island for the past 18 months, having previously been based in London, has blossomed as a distance runner in recent years. She said:”I took up running when I was 14 or 15 and did it with my dad just for fun. His first marathon was the Loch Ness one, a long time ago. My first was in Amsterdam, maybe in 2007, but I can’t remember the time I got.”

The only marathon Farley has run in Scotland so far was at Edinburgh in 2009 when she clocked 3:18:22.

She added: “I ran mainly for fun for many years but didn’t do too many races. The only other Scottish race I can think of doing is the Stonehaven half marathon as it’s close to where my family comes from. But that was more than 10 years ago. I’ve done a lot more racing since we moved to Malta where there’s very active running community. There’s races nearly every week.

“I’m looking forward to Loch Ness but I just hope there’s no last-minute hitches as there’s been talk of some airline strikes in the days leading up to the race.

“I’ve been training well but it has been ridiculously hot here, so I’m sure it will be different at Loch Ness.”

Others aiming to feature in the battle for awards include Nottingham’s Carolyn Hay (Redhill Road Runners) who was fifth last year and hill running specialist Jill Mykura (Carnethy) who was third in 2016 and ninth in 2022. Australian Lea Pailas could also be among those at the sharp end of the field.

Sutherland Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Event which defied the Sceptics

When Malcolm Sutherland and his wife Caroline organised the first Baxters Loch Ness Marathon in 2002 they could never have envisaged it would grow into the iconic running festival it has become.

The event celebrates its 20th anniversary this weekend when thousands of runners of all ages and abilities from 43 different countries will congregate in Inverness to tackle either the marathon, 10k, 5k or Wee Nessie Run.

It’s all a far cry from the inaugural run which saw just under 600 competitors complete the award-winning marathon which follows a wonderfully scenic route along the southern shores of Loch Ness to the finish line in the Highland capital.

Sutherland said: “We always had an ambition to grow the event but at the outset many people told us that the first year would be our biggest and it was unlikely to grow beyond that.

“As you can imagine, that was like a red rag to a bull and made us more determined to build the event. There’s no doubt that adding a 5k fun run in year two and the 10k in year three played a big part in broadening its appeal and making it more inclusive.

“It has been really interesting to see it develop but it has only been possible due to a lot of hard work from everyone involved. We have a fantastic team and huge number of volunteers and marshals – almost 500 of them – without whom it wouldn’t be possible to do what we do. And our sponsors have been behind us all the way.”

Megan Keith Ponders Hat-Trick Attempt in Baxters River Ness 10K

Megan Keith (Inverness Harriers) will make a late decision over whether to compete in the Baxters River Ness 10k but the Great Britain international admits the lure of bidding for a third win in a row in her home town race might prove too strong to resist.

Megan Keith winning the Baxters River Ness 10K in 2021

The 20 year-old European junior cross country champion made a big impact when winning the women’s division of the 10k three years ago, then repeated the feat in 2021 after the 2020 event was cancelled because of the pandemic.

Her winning time 12 months ago,34min 22sec, was the second quickest in the history of the event, bettered only by the record 33:46 set by Kenyan athlete Cathy Mutwa in 2006.

Keith, a student at Edinburgh University, said: “I haven’t decided for sure if I’m going to run, so it will be a late call. I took a longer break than usual after the track season and it was later than normal, so I only returned to training recently. On top of that I picked up a bit of a cold when getting back to university, so it’s not ideal.

“But, I love the race. I have to admit it’s the race I get most excited about. It’s a fantastic occasion and it pretty much goes past my house so there’s plenty of people on the course that I know. So, we’ll see how things go. If I do it I might find it difficult to just treat it as a steady run. I’d probably go out all guns blazing.”

Keith’s Inverness clubmate and fellow Great Britain international Mhairi MacLennan also plans to tackle the event for the first time. The national cross country champion has the quickest 10k time of any woman in the field, having clocked 32:59 at Brighton in 2019. However, it will be her first race for a few months following a bout of illness, but Keith reckons her training partner will be more than ready for the challenge.

She said: “Mhairi is preparing for a half marathon in Portugal later in the month and I know she’ll be strong.”

Keith also reckons that middle distance star Jenny Selman’s appearance in the contest will spark interest as the 800m specialist steps up to tackle 10k for the first time. The Fife AC runner represented Great Britain at this year’s world indoor championships in Belgrade before competing for Scotland at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Keith said: “Jenny is very fit and although she told me she’s not expecting to run much quicker than 37min, I’m sure she can go much faster. So, we’ll see what happens.”

Metro Aberdeen’s Ginie Barrand is also expected to be in the mix. The Banchory-based athlete, who made a successful debut for Scotland in August’s Antrim half marathon,set a record 10k time of 36:07 on the testing Run Balmoral course earlier in the year, but is expected to be much quicker on the more favourable River Ness route.

Scottish under-17 cross country champion Louisa Brown (Garscube Harriers) could also make her mark as could Giffnock North’s Valencia Wright.

It’ll also be intriguing to see how three-time previous winner Jenny Bannerman (Inverness Harriers) fares. The Scotland international is taking part in her first competitive race since giving birth to her first child just three months ago.

Sean Chalmers is prepared to push through the pain barrier in his bid to retain the Baxters River Ness men’s 10k title. The Aberdeen-based PE teacher, who represents Inverness Harriers, won last year’s race in 30min 15secs, having previously finished second in 2019.

He’s keen to put in another top-level performance on Sunday but a troublesome stomach and groin problem has hampered his progress in recent months.

Chalmers, who won the Scottish 10k road running title at Kilmarnock earlier in the season, said: “I had problems in my stomach area when running in the Seville marathon in February and I’ve had pains ever since. I was in a lot of pain after the Stirling race. I’m running sub-30mins for 10k but I want to be pushing on for the low 29s and getting sub- 14mins for 5k.

“There’s little doubt it’s going to hurt at Inverness, as it has done in every race for quite some time. But I’m getting treatment and a rehab plan. So, I’ll try to get things sorted after this one. I’ve taken a few days off training and then some easy runs in the countdown to it. So, I feel I’m still in sub 30min shape and I hope to run well enough, but we’ll see.”

Fraserburgh Max Abernethy, runner-up last year, isn’t competing so the main challenge to Chalmers could come from Kent’s Owen Hind who set an excellent time of 29:11 in 2020. Fellow Scotland international Lachlan Oates (Shettleston Harriers) will also be a contender when trying to improve his personal best time of 30:11. James Wilson (Moray Road Runners) and teenager Lucas Cairns (Inverness Harriers), a Scotland junior international, are others expected to be among the chasing pack along with track international Stephen Mackay (Inverness Harriers).