Loch Ness Marathon
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The Loch Ness Marathon (Gaelic: Marathon Loch Nis) is an annual marathon race in Scotland, held along the famous loch, Loch Ness, ending in Inverness. The event is part of the Festival of Running, held annually at the beginning of October. This also includes a 10K race and a 5K fun run, and attracts over 8,000 participants across all of the events. The first prize in the marathon is approx 1,400 GBP.
The marathon starts near Whitebridge, and follows the southern side of Loch Ness, passing through the villages of Foyers, Inverfarigaig and Dores. The route goes into Inverness, crossing the River Ness by the Ness Bridge in the city centre, and finishes at Bught Park.
The marathon supports several charities, including Highland Hospice, Leonard Cheshire, Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland, and the Scottish Community Foundation. The lead partner charity since 2013 has been Macmillan Cancer Support, who have been involved in the event since 2009.
Kenyan Zakary Kihara was a convincing winner of the 2007 Baxters Loch Ness Marathon in a time of 2 hours 23 minutes. The women's race was won by Banuelia Katesigwa from Tanzania in a time of 2:55. The 2007 event saw 5600 people take part in the three main events - marathon, 10 km, and the 5 km with fifty different nationalities were represented.
In 2005 Simon Pride from Fochabers won in 2:30:15 whilst Julia Myatt won the women's event in 2.51.56. 18 nationalities were represented in the 2005 event.
Winners of the 2010 event were Tomas Abyu of Salford Harriers in a time of 2:20:50 and Dinknesh Mekash Tefera from Ethiopia in 02:46:37, a new course record for the women's race.
Past winners
Key: Course record
| Edition | Year | Men's winner | Time (h:m:s) | Women's winner | Time (h:m:s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2002 | Eric Kiplagat (KEN) | 2:33:36 | Addy Gerrard (GBR) | 2:57:06 |
| 2nd | 2003 | Tomas Abyu (ETH) | 2:20:59 | Trudi Thomson (GBR) | 2:50:42 |
| 3rd | 2004 | Simon Pride (GBR) | 2:27:58 | Jan Roxburgh (GBR) | 2:59:57 |
| 4th | 2005 | Simon Pride (GBR) | 2:30:15 | Julia Myatt (GBR) | 2:51:52 |
| 5th | 2006 | Zachary Njoroge (KEN) | 2:22:17 | Helen Cherono (KEN) | 2:46:54 |
| 6th | 2007 | Zachary Njoroge (KEN) | 2:23:17 | Banuela Katesigwa (TAN) | 2:55:04 |
| 7th | 2008 | Ezekiel Cherop (KEN) | 2:28:03 | Banuela Katesigwa (TAN) | 2:51:23 |
| 8th | 2009 | Simon Tanui (KEN) | 2:20:13 | Joyce Kirui (KEN) | 2:48:25 |
| 9th | 2010 | Tomas Abyu (ETH) | 2:20:50 | Dinkinesh Mekash (ETH) | 2:46:39 |
| 10th | 2011 | Tomas Abyu (ETH) | 2:20:50 | Lisa Finlay (GBR) | 2:59:14 |
| 11th | 2012 | Ross Houston (GBR) | 2:20:24 | Avril Mason (GBR) | 2:54:54 |
| 12th | 2013 | Elly Tarus (KEN) | 2:27:21 | Megan Crawford (GBR) | 2:46:37 |
| 13th | 2014 | Tomas Abyu (ETH) | 2:22:41 | Jennifer Emsley (GBR) | 2:46:10 |
| 14th | 2015 | Elly Tarus (KEN) | 2:25:19 | Megan Crawford (GBR) | 2:44:50 |
| 15th | 2016 | Mohammed Abu-Rezeq (JOR) | 2:20:52 | Jennifer Wetton (GBR) | 2:47:03 |
| 16th | 2017 | Mohammed Abu-Rezeq (JOR) | 2:22:02 | Lesley Pirie (GBR) | 2:48:10 |
| 17th | 2018 | Mohammed Abu-Rezeq (JOR) | 2:22:56 | Sheena Logan (GBR) | 2:51:11 |
| 18th | 2019 | Isaiah Kosgei (KEN) | 2:29:31 | Katie White (GBR) | 2:42:04 |
| 19th | 2021 | Stuart Livingstone (GBR) | 2:32:21 | Megan Crawford (GBR) | 2:48:15 |
| 20th | 2022 | Dougie Selman (GBR) | 2:23:52 | Jemima Farley (GBR) | 2:42:36 |
| 21st | 2023 | Moray Pryde (GBR) | 2:22:04 | Melissah Gibson (AUS) | 2:43:45 |
| 22nd | 2024 | Moray Pryde (GBR) | 2:19:26 | Melissah Gibson (AUS) | 2:54:39 |
List of winners
- Youngson, Colin (2013-08-25). . Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2013-10-05.