Moray Marathon and Chilled 20-miler races thrill the crowds with grandfather winning age category to the delight of his family
A veteran marathon runner was a hero in the eyes of his grand-daughter at the finish line.
Sunday’s Moray Marathon and Chilled 20-miler races drew good running conditions out of Elgin and along the Moray coast before finishing in Elgin’s Morriston playing fields.
Among the 158 marathon finishers and 32 who did the 20-mile event were Moray Road Runners’ veteran Phill Thompson, who earned a well-deserved treat at the finish line when he won the 70+ male age category in a time of just over four hours.
He was greeted by his family, including his young grand-daughter Eilidh who was holding a banner which said ‘Grandad Phill - our hero’ and he took her hand to run the final few metres to the finish.
Phill was also involved in the organisation of the event and said: “It was a great success and went very well.”
The winner was Kevin Watson from Windrush Triathlon Club in a time of 2 hours, 42 minutes and 52 seconds.
He finished almost four minutes ahead of Peterhead runner Ross Aird in second.
Jill Mykura (Carnethy Hill Running Club) won the women’s race in 3:06:27, while Moray’s Sarah McIlvaney was second in 3:11:20.
First Moray athlete to the finish line was Moray Road Runners’ Steven Morrison in third place, and second in the 40-and-over male category.
Thompson said: “As this was the second successive year of running, the marathon and the organisation ran very smoothly.
“Many volunteers from last year were helping out again as marshals, at the numerous drink stations and at the finish. The finish area was made family friendly so that relatives could cheer in their runners as they finished.”
He described the race from a runner’s perspective. “The main marathon started at 8am from Morriston playing fields with a start of 7am for 10 runners who wished to start early.
“Conditions were good for running with a cool temperature and a westerly breeze which was in the runners’ faces as they proceeded up Brumley Brae and towards Burghead.
“From Hopeman to Lossiemouth the breeze was at the runners’ backs and later on the sun came out to warm up the temperature as they then headed back from Lossie to Elgin. The final three miles back through Cooper Park to Morriston were quite challenging against the wind and with the sun shining strongly.”
“The Chilled Running event followed the same last 20 miles of the marathon route, with unattached runner Robbie Campbell winning in 2:09:17 and fastest female Joanna Wilson (Metro Aberdeen) in 2:17:30.
In the marathon, Moray Road Runners’ William Stewart was eighth overall while the first Forres Harriers’ runner to the finish was Tony Bishenden in 11th place (3:05:32).
Fellow Harrier Simon Dobbs won the male V60 category in 3:37:55 and MRR’s Anne Hewes was second F50 runner in 3:46:10.
