Eilish new PB at 10k and Callum wins Great Scottish Run for second time

Sunday 2nd October 2022

Eilish McColgan crosses the finish line after a quite superb 10k run in Glasgow (photo by Bobby Gavin)

Eilish McColgan made a sensational return to racing in Scotland to break her own British and European Record over 10k.

The triple Olympian clocked 30:18 in the 10k event at the Great Scottish Run – one second faster than her 30:19 run at the Great Manchester Run in May,

It was an awesome performance from Eilish in her last race of season replete with medals on the track and records on the road.

The Glasgow course does not carry a reputation as a fast one so the time was even better although the weather conditions were favourable.

Callum Hawkins continued his return to race action with victory in the Great Scottish Run over the half marathon with a run of 63:35.

That ensured a Tru Wealth Scottish Half Marathon title for Callum with Shettleston’s Fionnuala Ross taking the Women’s gold with a run of 73:25.

Photos by Bobby Gavin on our Facebook page

‘I am thrilled with that because it is so long since I ran in Scotland – certainly on the roads – and I really wanted to do well,’ said Eilish, who had not raced in Scotland since the Glasgow 2019 European Indoors.

‘To break my PB time by one second feels special. I came into the final stages and saw 30:00 on the clock but it was a wee bit deceptive how far I still had to run.

‘I think I had 30:17 on my watch and you always worry that they will come back to you with the official time and there’s another three or four seconds added to it!

‘It’s been a marvellous year for me in so many ways and this is a lovely way to end and go into a well-deserved holiday.’

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2022 SAL HM Results

Callum won the Great Scottish Run for the second time after his 2016 success and was joined on the Tru Wealth Scottish Half Champs podium by Adam Craig and Derek Hawkins.

Inverclyde’s Adam clocked 64:17 and Kilbarchan’s Derek was at 65:32.

Shettleston’s Fionnuala won the Tru Wealth Scottish Half Champs title once again and was followed home by Giffnock North’s Yvonne McNairn (79:49) and Fife AC’s Annabel Simpson (80:55).

There were team titles for Edinburgh AC in the Men’s and Shettleston Harriers in the Women’s (TBC and we will also confirm other team medals in due course)

Photo by Bobby Gavin

Callum said: ‘I’m pleased with that because they have changed the course a little and I don’t think it is the fastest half marathon course. It was slippy in places.

‘I’m a couple of weeks on now from Copenhagen (63:13) and I actually think today is a better performance.

‘Valencia at the start of December is the target so there’s still lot of mileage going on as I build towards a full marathon. The plan has been to race my way back to full fitness and I’m getting better week by week.

‘I’ve never been a huge spectator when it comes to athletics but I’ve had to get used to it a bit more over the past couple of years.

‘It was hard to watch marathons in major champs happen during the summer but I did enjoy watching Laura, Eilish, Jake and others perform superbly for Scotland and for GB and NI. I just want to get back in there again to try and over-shadow them!’

Lewis Hannigan takes the 10k win (photo by Bobby Gavin)

Back to the 10k and there was a win there for Kilbarchan AAC’s Lewis Hannigan with a run of 29:56. Callum Tharme was second with 30:18 and Jamie Burns third in 30:22.

Samantha Kinghorn won the Wheelchair race with her best time ever at this event after competing a number of times.

‘I am taking that as a Course Record, definitely,’ smiled Samantha, who pushed to 26:40 with Melanie Woods home in 28:55.

‘I was 27:18 here a few years ago so it is great to be quicker this time and it’s not the most straight-forward of courses. There are twists and turns on it and a few potholes to be honest which mean you lost a bit of momentum.

‘But I feel I’ve pushed well on the longer distances this year and I’m happy to end this season with this. It’s time for a holiday.

‘Next year the IPC World Champs and the shorter sprint events will be the target for me. There are one or two changes we can make and hopefully I can keep getting quicker after some PBs this past year.’