Sean Chalmers will attempt to create a small piece of local athletics history when he competes against a record field of 3,400 runners in the Inverness half marathon on Sunday.
The men’s title has never been won by a member of Inverness Harriers in the 37-year history of the race, but the Scotland international looks more than capable of putting that right this weekend.
He is the fastest man in the field, having set a personal best time of 1:04:22 at Farnborough in January – that’s five secs quicker than the Inverness race record set by Deeside’s Robbie Simpson in 2018.
And, despite a disappointing marathon debut in Seville three weeks ago, when he recorded 2:25:05 after suffering from a stitch and stomach cramps, Chalmers still looks to be the man to beat.
He said: “I feel I’ve got over the problems I had in Seville, so I should be fine on Sunday.
“I’m looking forward to getting a good solid race, but I don’t think I’ll be going for a really fast time. I’ve been selected to compete for Scotland in the Cardiff half marathon at the end of the month, so ideally I’d like to be able to save something back for that one.”
That doesn’t mean to say Chalmers won’t be anything other than competitive and there’s little doubt he’ll be difficult to beat. He also has winning form in Inverness, having won last year’s River Ness 10k.
One of his main rivals is fellow Scotland international Kenny Wilson who hopes it might be a case of third time lucky this weekend. When the Moray athlete made his first Inverness appearance, in 2017, he finished third in 1:08:37 and followed that up in 2020 by taking second position in 1 :06:35. So could he be ready to step up another level?
“I’m not sure,” he said, “I feel I’m in decent shape and would be happy if I could run a similar time to what I did two years ago.
“I’m doing the Manchester marathon three weeks later, so it would be good to sign off my preparations with a good performance to give my confidence a boost.”
Wilson has shown good cross country form since the turn of the year and he recently clinched the North league title.
He said: “I certainly feel as though my preparations for the marathon have gone well and hopefully everything will fall into place. This weekend will give me a good indicator of what stage I’m at.”
James Donald should also be in the reckoning for the top prizes.
The Dundee Hawkhill Harriers club member has a best time of 1:05:27 from the 2020 Antrim Coast half marathon and he also has pace over shorter distances, having won the Scottish indoor 1500m title two years ago. Like Chalmers, he is also to represent Scotland in Cardiff.
Bruce looks good for a PB – but won’t give flat-out effort
Claire Bruce should be among the leading contenders for the top women’s prize in Sunday’s Inverness half marathon – but the Metro Aberdeen runner plans to hold something in reserve for next month’s Manchester marathon.
Whatever the outcome, she is confident of improving on her first attempt at the Inverness half marathon seven years ago.
She said: “Actually, it was the first proper race I did and it took me 1hr 37min 51sec for 38th position in the women’s division. Hopefully I’ll do better than that.
“I also ran there in 2019, when I was fifth in 1:22:35.”
Indeed, Bruce is showing the sort of form which suggests she is more than capable of improving on her best time of 1:18:27 set when picking up a Scottish championship bronze medal at Glasgow in 2018.
Last month she set a personal best 10k time of 35:28 in Edinburgh, but despite that she is playing down her chances of winning this weekend.
She said: “I’m feeling good, but my main focus is the Manchester marathon at the beginning of April, so I probably won’t be going flat out at Inverness.
“The marathon is just three weeks away, so it’s probably too close for me to give it a full effort.
Catriona Fraser-Lennox (Inverness Harriers), winner of the North District 10k title last weekend, is also Manchester-bound and is looking for a good performance on Sunday.
Fife AC’s Annabel Simpson is the fastest entrant with a best time of 1:16:28 and will start as favourite, while Jen Wetton (Central AC), with a PB of 1:16:51, is also expected to be in the frame.
Inverness’ Keith in world university cross country champs action
Megan Keith (Inverness Harriers) is the only Scot in the Great Britain team competing in this weekend’s world university cross country championships at Aveiro, Portugal.
The first-year Edinburgh University sports science student earned her place on the four-strong women’s team after finishing fourth in the British universities championships in Middlesex last month.
Keith, 19, is enjoying an outstanding winter season, winning the European under-20 women’s title at Dublin in December and retaining her Scottish national junior title at Falkirk last month.
Meanwhile, Robbie Simpson is favourite to win this weekend’s Dee 33 mile ultra-distance race – but the Banchory athlete says he won’t be chasing a record time.
Central AC’s Ross Houston set the standard to beat seven years ago when he completed the route from Aberdeen’s Duthie Park to Banchory and back in 3hr 10min 40secs.
And, while Simpson is more than capable of putting that mark to the test, the Great Britain mountain running international isn’t keen to push himself too hard because of an even more challenging race commitment next month.
He said: “I’m aiming for the Highland Fling 53 mile race between Milngavie and Tyndrum on the West Highland Way, which is this year’s Scottish ultra trail running championship race.
“So I’m going to run the Dee 33 fairly hard, but not eyeballs out. I’m thinking about aiming for a time of around 3:25.
“If I try for the record, it would take me much longer to recover and that would impact on my training. The Highland Fling is only five weeks away and I don’t want to miss any preparations.”