Pryde smashes long standing course record to win men’s race

While Gibson Retains Women’s Title After Epic Battle

Moray Pryde ‘s running career reached new heights today when the 29 year-old Lothian Running Club member won the Baxters Loch Ness marathon for the second year in a row in a fabulous course record and personal best time of 2hr 19min 26secs. His performance cut 47secs from the previous mark set by Kenya’s Simon Tonui in 2009.

It was Pryde’s third marathon victory over the past 12months, having won at Edinburgh in May in addition to last October’s success in the Highlands. But this is the first time he has ducked under the 2hr 20min barrier and he was obviously thrilled with the outcome.

He said: “I have to acknowledge that conditions were absolutely perfect, but I’m really chuffed to win and to get the record. I certainly thought it was on after running 2:22:04 last year. I said at that time that I was aiming for under 2:20 at some point, and it has taken a year to get there.

“We set off quite fast over the first 10 miles and I actually got a personal best half marathon time along the way and I just tried to keep it going. I was on my own for a long way, but that wasn’t a problem.”

Pryde, who made his marathon debut at Loch Ness in 2019 when he recorded 2:51:04, now has his sights set on a first overseas adventure. He said: “I’m planning to take part in the Seville marathon next February, so we’ll see how that goes. I’ll keep chipping away at it and hopefully the times will continue to improve. I must thank my club and my coach Owen Miller, for great support. I really appreciate it.”

Manchester’s Tom Charles, who finished second behind Pryde last year, and also at Edinburgh, again tried to stay with the  Mussleburgh athlete, but dropped off the pace in the second half and was eventually caught by Shaun Cumming (East Sutherland Running Club). Charles, in obvious discomfort, struggled home in 2:31:59, with Cumming ahead in 2:31:16.

Cumming, who finished third in each of the previous two years, said: “I held back in the first half and was lying about fifth or sixth at halfway. Then I worked my way through, but didn’t expect to get into second place. I overtook Tom with about 300m to go. I’m really pleased to be on the podium as beforehand I thought I might only be top five.”

Melissah Gibson (Ealing Eagles) successfully defended her title in the women’s race after an epic dual with Rachel Boswell (Thames Hare and Hounds), while 2012 Olympian Freya Ross came unstuck after leading through the first half of the contest.

Gibson was unsure if she would be able to run because of tendinitis problems, but showed great resilience to hold off a strong challenge from Boswell to win in 2:54:39. She said: “I’m about 11mins slower than last year, so it wasn’t my best run but I was just happy to be here and it was a good tussle with Rachel. Freya was well ahead for a long time and I presumed she would win.”

Gibson also revealed that the Loch Ness race was a warm-up for an even bigger challenge in the near future, saying: “I am competing at the world 100k championships in India in December, so I felt that if I could run sub three hours today, that would be a good indicator that things are heading the right way again. Last year Loch Ness was my 90^th marathon and today was my 103^rd, so I haven’t been doing as many as usual because I’m looking to the 100k. “

Runner-up Boswell celebrated her 32^nd birthday by clocking 2:55:14. She said: “Melissah was mainly ahead of me for much of the race, although I tended to catch her on the downhills then she would pull away again. But it was a special day because it was my birthday and it was interesting to finish ahead of an Olympian.”

Katie Wilson (Highland Hill Runners) came through in the closing stages to take third position in 3:03:29 while a very tired Ross finished fourth in 3:05:11. Ross said: “The wheels came off after about 18 miles. I’ve had a bad cold all week, but the wheels might have come off in any case.  I don’t know.”

Rees Obliterates Men’s 10K Record While Heggie Wins an Emotional Women’s Race

Logan Rees overcame jet lag to rip apart the 16 year-old course record when winning the Baxters River Ness 10k ahead of a top quality field. The 27 year-old Fife AC runner made the 5,000 miles journey home from his base in California just a couple of days before the race, but that didn’t seem to affect him in any way as he sped to a superb victory in 28min 52secs, scything 43secs off the previous mark set by Shettleston’s Amanuel Hagos in 2008.

Rees said: “I’m happy with that as the plan was to go for the record. I was on my own pretty quickly after the start, but I train on my own most of the time so I’m used to it. It was good having the kilometre markers so I could keep track of my pace. I felt good at halfway so decided to step it up from there. I got a bad stitch a couple of minutes from the end, but it was no big deal. Overall, I’m satisfied as I only got here on Thursday and haven’t slept well, so it hasn’t been a great few days.”

Rees also recalled his only previous visit to the event, in 2017, when he finished second in 30:01. He said: “That was a different experience and I only finished second. It’s good to win in a much faster time. If I can improve my time by as much as I’ve done over the next seven years as I’ve done over the past seven years, I’ll be happy.”

Rees has now relocated permanently to Scotland after spending most of the past five years in the US. He completed a Masters degree in biology at Boise State University in Idaho before moving to Sacramento, California where he worked as a Field Biologist. Now he’ll spend some time at his parent’s home in Fife before deciding which direction to take. He said: “I’m really looking forward to getting back into the Scottish and British running scene as the set-up here is brilliant.  I’ll be racing every weekend between now and mid-December. But, I need to figure out my life. I’ve been set up in the US for five years, so I’m not sure what the long-term plan is. I need to get a job.”

The winners from the previous two years, Fraserburgh’s Max Abernethy and Shettleston’s Lachlan Oates, had to settle for second and third positions respectively. Abernethy, the Scottish 10,000m track champion, clocked 29:55 with Oates timed at 31:00.

Caitlyn Heggie dedicated her fantastic victory in the women’s race to her granny who passed away the previous week. The 17 year-old Inverness Harriers club member, who recently started studying for a degree in medicine at Edinburgh University, was very emotional as she crossed the finishing in a personal best time of 35min 50secs.

She said: “I was running in my granny’s honour today. She passed away last week so I wasn’t sure if I was going to do the race, but she would have wanted me to. When it got hard during the race, I was thinking about her. It was very emotional as it meant a lot to me to win today.

“The conditions were perfect and I think I was always in the lead. I didn’t see any other women during the race and I never looked behind as that’s something my dad has always told me not to do.”

The last 17 year-old Inverness Harriers club member to win this race was Megan Keith, who has since gone on to represent Great Britain, competing in this summer’s Paris Olympics. Heggie said:”Yes, it’s amazing, and I heard Megan out on the course cheering for me at the 8k mark, just when I was struggling. It was so cool. I’ll also be training with her at Edinburgh University this winter which is amazing.”

Robyn Pinder (Metro Aberdeen) finished second in 36:22 with Molly Rasch (Highland Hill Runners) taking third spot in 36:25

Sutherland and Glass Park take the Honours in River Ness 5K

Megan Keith, the Inverness athlete who represented Great Britain in the 10,000m at this summer’s Paris Olympic Games, set the huge field of 5k runners on their way some 15 years after she had first taken part in this race as an enthusiastic youngster. She said: “I did it with my sister but we started near the back and took our time.”

Billy Sutherland certainly wasn’t wasting any time as he made the long trip from his home in Latheronwheel, Caithness, worthwhile by storming to an emphatic victory ahead of almost 1800 participants. The 15 year-old Wick High School pupil, who represents Ross County AC, sprinted across the finish line with a broad smile on his face in 16min 15secs to smash his previous best for the distance. He said: “I haven’t broken 17mins before, so I’m really happy. My previous best was 17:16. I can’t really believe it. But everything was perfect today. This was a race I’ve wanted to do for a long time, so I’m very happy with the result. Now I have to aim for sub-16mins. I’ll be back next year.”

Ruairidh Stirling (Inverness Harriers) was second in 16:37 with Archie Dalgliesh (Galla Harriers) taking third spot in 16:40.

Millie Glass Park, who represents Young Meldrum Runners, was an equally impressive winner of the girls’ race, completing the course in 17mins 55secs to finish 43secs ahead of her closest challenger. It was a superb performance from the 11 year-old Dunecht primary school pupil who was delighted when Megan Keith autographed her number at the finish. Millie said: “I’m very happy as my time is quite a bit faster than my previous best of 18:38 which I set here in Inverness in March. It was really good to hear Megan speaking to us before the start and to get my medal from her at the finish.”

Anna Meek was runner-up in 18:38 while her Inverness Harriers clubmate Charlotte Burton finished third in 18:58.