PERSISTENT rain didn’t dampen spirits yesterday as thousands of runners pounded the streets of Glasgow for the Great Scottish Run.
Scot Callum Hawkins was beaten by just 34 seconds by Surrey runner Christopher Thompson who was first over the finish line on the half marathon course in a time of 62:44. Hawkins last year was the first Scottish athlete to win the half marathon in 23 years but his record-breaking time was invalidated after the course was found to be too short. He had hoped to defend his title but could not close a gap opened by Thompson early in the race.
Kenyan athlete Flomena Cheyech Daniel was the first female to finish in a time of 01:10:17 while the first female finisher in the elite wheelchair race was Scottish World Champion Sam Kinghorn.
In the 10km race Stuart Gibson was first across the line in 31:37 while Rebecca Murray was the first female finisher with a time of 34:30.
Some well-known faces also took part in the 10km run including radio host Des Clarke who tweeted “Ya Dancer” after finishing the run in a time of 39.20.
University of Glasgow student Joe Sanders who was running in the Glasgow event for the first time, along with girlfriend, Jess Hedley, and her mother, Jane, said the atmosphere had been “brilliant” despite the weather.
“It was raining pretty hard all the way round but it didn’t dampen people’s spirits. It was amazing,” he said.
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