Mhairi Maclennan sets new course record to win River Ness 10k at Loch Ness Marathon and Festival of Running in Inverness
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
KIRKHILL athlete Mhairi Maclennan smashed the record to win the River Ness 10k in Inverness on Sunday afternoon.
The Great Britain international athlete claimed victory in her first time competing in the race with a time of 33 minutes exactly.
She destroyed the old record by 46 seconds, previously held by Kenyan athlete Cathy Mutwa who claimed gold with 33 minutes and 46 seconds in 2006.
Metro Aberdeen athlete Ginny Barrand was second in 33:39 with Jenny Selman taking third place.
Maclennan, who represents Inverness Harriers, was slightly disappointed to not beat her personal best of 32 minutes and 58 seconds.
But she was pleased to take gold in her debut.
She said: “I’m delighted but because its two seconds outside my personal best so I’m actually a little annoyed about that.
"When the clock came into sight, I thought surely I can get a personal best, but not quite.
“I didn’t know what shape I was in beforehand because I haven’t raced for six months so I was treating this as a run-out ahead of doing a half marathon in Portugal next weekend.
"At halfway although I thought I might get the record, I still wasn’t sure if I might blow up. So, I was constantly checking in with my body for the rest of the race and I guess I surprised
myself.”
“I had a lot of big aims for the summer but unfortunately illness knocked them all on the head. So, this is a big confidence booster for the season ahead. I’m now looking forward to doing the Lisbon half marathon next weekend.”
MacLennan also revealed she’d be keen to return to the Baxters event in the future, with perhaps a different race target.
She said: “This is the first time I’ve done the 10k although I think I ran in the 5k when I was about 10.
"One day I’d like to come back and do the marathon.”
