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Athletics: Fionnuala Ross draws on memories of 2017 in bid for Inverness Half Marathon glory

Fionnuala Ross after winning the Inverness half marathon in 2017.
Fionnuala Ross after winning the Inverness half marathon in 2017.

Three-time Scottish women’s half marathon champion Fionnuala Ross hopes to defend her national title in Sunday’s Inverness Half Marathon.

The Ireland international, who is based in Glasgow and represents Shettleston Harriers, is also a previous winner of the Inverness race, having taken top spot in 2017 when recording 1:17:56.

Her impressive personal best of 1:13:25, set at last October’s Great Scottish Run, is just four seconds short of the Inverness course record set by Kenya’s Cathy Mutwa in 2007.

‘What goes up, must come down’

Ross believes she is in the sort of form which could take her close to that mark if weather conditions are favourable.

She said: “I feel as though I’m in similar shape to when I ran in Glasgow last autumn so, hopefully, I can be around my personal best time, but we’ll see how it goes.

“From what I can remember from running at Inverness in 2017, it’s quite a hilly course. But what goes up, must come down, so it’s still good.”

Ross is making the journey to the Highlands in a bid to add to her list of Scottish titles, but admits this weekend’s race is important for another reason.

Fionnuala Ross wins the Inverness Half Marathon in 2017. Image: Inverness Half Marathon

She added: “The Scottish championships have been in Glasgow in recent years, which was handy for me, so it’s obviously much further to go this time.

“But, I’m training for the Manchester marathon in April, so the Inverness race comes at an ideal time in the build-up towards that. It gives me the chance to see how everything is going.”

Ross has shown outstanding form over shorter distances since the start of the year. She returned home in February to set a personal best time in the Armagh 3k road race, and last weekend set a 5k PB in the Allan Scally road relay organised by her club in Glasgow.

She said: “Everything is certainly going well over the short distances, but we’ll see if that translates into a good half marathon performance.”

Barrand plotting a challenge

Ross’ main challenge is expected to come from Metro Aberdeen’s Ginie Barrand, who set a PB of 1:16:30 when making her Scotland debut in the Antrim Coast half marathon last August (when Ross ran 1:13:59).

The French-born athlete, who is based in Banchory, has made one previous appearance in the Inverness half, recording 1:20:05 to place third in the 2017 race won by Ross.

Ginie Barrand. Image: Paul Glendell

Barrand believes she is capable of improving on her Antrim time and will go into the contest in a confident mood after setting a marathon PB of 2:37:25 at Valencia in December.

‘We’ll see what happens’

She said: “I was very happy with my run in Valencia and I haven’t competed since then because I wanted to take time to fully recover.  I’ve also been busy with my physiotherapy course at Robert Gordon University, but my training has been going well so I’m looking forward to Sunday.

“I feel I’m in better shape than I was last year at Antrim, but that was a fast course and conditions were good. Inverness is also a potentially fast course. And with it being the Scottish championships, it should be a good field, so we’ll see what happens.”

Annabel Simpson, who came within 19 seconds of the women’s course record when winning at Inverness last year, is unable to compete on this occasion.

The Fife AC runner has a hip injury and isn’t sure how long it will take to recover.

She said: “I thought it would have been better by now, but I tried running on it last week and made it worse. So, I really don’t know how long it will take.”

Others expected to challenge for the podium positions include Barrand’s Metro clubmates Claire Bruce, who set a PB of 1:17:35 at Edinburgh last year, and Nicola MacDonald, who clocked 1:19:52 a couple of years ago.

Runners go past Inverness Castle during the Inverness Half Marathon.

Yvonne McNairn (Giffnock North), who set a PB 1:19:47 for second position in the 2022 Scottish championships, can’t be discounted, nor can Rebecca Burns (Pitreavie AC), who ran her PB of 1:17:28 at Edinburgh last year, or three-time Loch Ness Marathon champion Megan Crawford (Fife AC), whose best time is 1:18:02.

Look out, too, for Scottish under-20 cross country championships silver medallist Natasha Phillips (Dundee Hawkhill Harriers), who is making her half marathon debut.

Sarah Attwood (Skye), Catriona Fraser (Inverness Harriers) and Amy Hudson (Nairn) are among the top north athletes taking part.

Race director believes course records are under threat

Race Director Malcolm Sutherland is eagerly looking forward to the occasion.

He said: “It’s shaping up to be a fantastic day of racing with so many top-quality athletes coming to Inverness.

“We are proud to be hosting both the Scottish and North District championships this year, which adds a bit of spice to the proceedings.

Action from the Inverness Half Marathon in 2022. Image: Inverness Half Marathon

“The men’s and women’s course records could be under threat as the quality in depth is arguably better than in any previous year.

“Last year Annabel Simpson came close to Cathy Mutwa’s 2007 record of 1:13:21 in the women’s race, while the men will be chasing Robbie Simpson’s 2018 mark of 1:04:27.

“We are delighted to see just over 3,600 runners choosing to take part in the half marathon and the accompanying 5k, and we can assure everyone that they’ll receive a warm and enthusiastic welcome.

“There’s a fantastic level of support along the route and the atmosphere in the stadium at the finish is always enthusiastic and heart-warming. Every finisher is treated like a champion.

“It’s a great day out.

“Although half marathon entries have closed, we have a 5km fun run which has attracted almost 1,000 entrants. Limited additional places will be available on the day and these will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

“Runners wishing to enter the 5K should come along to registration at Inverness Leisure between 10.30am and 12 noon on Sunday. Children aged 8 and under must be accompanied by an adult who should also enter.”

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