Scottish Half Marathon Champs

Wednesday 30th September 2015

Derek and Callum Hawkins – both could race Great Scottish Run on Sunday

2015 BoS GREAT SCOTTISH RUN – ELITE MEN START LIST #1 25 09 15

2015 BoS GREAT SCOTTISH RUN – ELITE WOMEN START LIST #1 25 09 15

There are classy fields assembled for the Great Scottish Run and the Scottish Half Marathon Championships also look certain to be keenly contested on Sunday.

Medals and cash are up for grabs with the scottishathletics Road Running Grand Prix reaching a conclusion with the fifth race in the 2015 series.

Fife AC’s Megan Crawford won the Scottish Marathon title at Loch Ness last weekend and is anticipating a crack at the half distance this Sunday if she feels she has recovered in time.

That will give Fife AC’s Megan another opportunity to lay down a standard in the Grand Prix matrix, which at the moment has her picking up the full £2000!

Beth Potter, of Victoria Park City of Glasgow, could challenge that and claim a slice of the money if she can run under the A standard of 76 minutes or under 77 minutes for a B standard. Commonwealth Games 10,000m runner Beth has a half marathon PB of 73.29.

The men’s Scottish Half medals are difficult to call with both Callum and Derek Hawkins set to make late decisions about the extent of their involvement.

Callum is lined up for a first marathon run in Germany at the end of the month and, following a slight injury setback a few weeks ago, elder brother Derek has been on heavy mileage and is also now due to run in Frankfurt.

The Great Scottish Run last year saw Callum tackle the half for the first time and win the Scottish title with an impressive 63.06. Grand Prix A standards are on offer for those who run under 66 minutes this weekend and B standards for those quicker than 67 minutes.

Inverclyde AC’s Craig Ruddy has had a fine 2015 so far and will be looking to add to his wins in the Tom Scott 10-Miler back in April and the Scottish 10K Champs at Stirling a couple of weeks ago.

Shettleston’s Tewolde Mengisteab, who took silver at both those events, is another with GP standards against his name and will be looking to post a final ‘share’ before the series finishes.

Ronhill Cambuslang’s Robert Gilroy and Neil Renault of Edinburgh AC are on the start-list as well, while Shettleston look to be very strong in team terms with places for Mike Deason, Paul Sorrie and Kamil Sieracki.

The 10K is the first race on Sunday but unfortunately Haile Gebrselassie was forced to pull out this week, with his elder sister seriously ill back in Ethiopia.

Among the Scots who could be prominent in the 10K distance are Murray Strain, Ben Stevenson and Alasdair McLeod while the women’s field includes Fiona Matheson, Jenny Bannerman and Jill Knowles.

Road Running Grand Prix 2015

Tags: Beth Potter, Callum Hawkins, Craig Ruddy, Derek Hawkins, Great Scottish Run, Megan Crawford, Scottish Half Marathon Champs