Lochaber Marathon

The conditions were about as good as you will get in Scotland for today's Lochaber Marathon. The event was hosting the British and Scottish Masters' Championships and as such was full of athletes of a certain age, including our own Eddie Reid. Preparations had gone well for Eddie on the lead up to this one and recent race form over shorter distances suggested that this was going to be the one for a pb.

The plan was to get to 18 miles in 2:03 to give a margin for sub 3. Eddie was comfortable and slighlty ahead of schedule at the 18 mile mark, going through in 2:01:33. However, the marathon has a nasty habit of springing surprises and at 22 miles the quads cramped up reducing Eddie to "baby strides" for the remaining 4 miles. This unfortunately pushed the 3 hour mark out of Eddie's reach and he crossed the line in 3h 5 minutes, still earning Eddie a very comortable M45 bronze standard (maybe even a silver once we see the official results).

In the championships, Eddie was 5th in the British Masters and 3rd in the Scottish Masters. Very well done to Eddie and thanks for relaying the report to me. Some photos will follow in a few days.
Alan