Inverness Half Marathon champion not sure if he will attempt to defend his title when race takes place on Sunday
INVERNESS Half Marathon champion John Bell says he is undecided whether he will defend his title on Sunday.
The Inverclyde Athletics Club athletics claimed victory 12 months agowhen he crossed the line in a time of one hour, five minutes and 34 seconds.
However, in the lead-up to this year’s event he has been struggling with a hamstring injury he picked up during the summer which has affected his training since.
Bell says if he does enter the race, he will do so looking to retain his title, but says if he does not feel comfortable, he will not put his participation in other events later this year at risk.
He said: “To be honest, I have no idea if I will be there. I’m still unsure, but I would love to attempt the defence of my title.
“However, I picked up a hamstring injury running for Scotland in Antrim last August and did not race for months.
Then, after ramping up my training, I picked up an issue with my right quad which has led to a week of basically no running, which is not ideal.
“If I do stand on the start line it will not be just to make up the numbers. I will be there to race regardless of my form. It would be a mammoth task but that’s what excitesme. If I feel the race won’t put the rest of my season in jeopardy, I will be there.”
Maryburgh athlete Sean Chalmers could put in a strong bid to win the title for the second time in his career.
The Aberdeen Athletics Club runners won the half marathon in 2022 and goes into this weekend’s race in good form having won the Nairn 10k last weekend by breaking the course record.
Chalmers finished in second place last year and is aiming to be among the front runners for this year’s title.
“I have won the Inverness Half Marathon previously and I was second last year.
“It would be great to be in the medals again, but there is a tough field as I have looked at the entry list and there are good runners there. But I will give it a go.”
Central Athletics Club athlete Jamie Crowe is the favourite to win the men’s title. He has run the fastest half marathon time in the field, recording .04.19 at the Big Half in London.
In the women’s race, Edinburgh Athletics Club athlete Nancy Scott is the favourite to win the title having set a personal best time of 1:12:51 at the Barcelona half marathon in mid-February before finishing second in the national 10k cross country championships at Falkirk the following week.
However, the 25 year-old Cambridge University graduate, who is a Resident Doctor at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, is taking nothing for granted. She said: "I really have no idea how it will go.
This will only be my third half marathon, so I’m still a bit of a novice at the distance. My first one was at Wilmslow last March and I went out too
fast. Once I get used to know how best to pace them, I think I’ll enjoy them more. Barcelona was much better, but my only concern now is whether there has been enough time to recover from that and the cross country race. I;d like to think I might get within a minute of my Barcelona time at Inverness, but it’s difficult to be sure, especially as I don’t know the course. I’ve seen people doing fast times there before, so it should be fine.
“Among her main challengers include Edinburgh Athletics clubmate Kirsty Walker and Great Britain mountain running international Naomi Lang, another athlete with limited exposure to half marathon.”
