Course Records in Inverness with Moray and Logan in top form

Sunday 29th September 2024

Moray Pryde sets Course Record for Loch Ness Marathon as crosses finish line in Inverness (photo by Trevor Martin)

By Fraser Clyne

Moray Pryde‘s running career reached new heights when the 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 2:19.26.

Moray’s performance cut 47 seconds from the previous mark set by Kenya’s Simon Tonui in 2009.

It was Pryde’s third marathon victory over the past 12 months, having won at Edinburgh in May in addition to last October’s success in the Highlands.

But this is the first time he has broken 2:20 and he was obviously thrilled with the outcome.

‘I have to acknowledge that conditions were absolutely perfect, but I’m really chuffed to win and to get the course record,’ said Moray, who is ocahced by Owen Williams.

‘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.’

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 in Seville,

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.

Photo by Trevor Martin

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 also revealed that the Loch Ness race was a warm-up for an even bigger challenge in the near future.

‘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. Katie Wilson (Highland Hill Runners) came through in the closing stages to take third position in 3:03:29.

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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 28:52, scything 43 seconds 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.’

Logan 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 the family home in Fife.

‘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.’

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 35:30.

‘I was running in my granny’s honour today,’ said Caitlyn.

‘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 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.

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Tags: Caitlyn Heggie, Loch Ness Marathon, Logan Rees, Melissah Gibson, Moray Pryde