Inverness athlete proud to win silver medal at Loch Ness Marathon
SHAUN Cumming spoke of his delight of achieving his best ever finish in the Loch Ness Marathon.
The 34-year-old from Inverness, who is both a member of East Sutherland Athletics Club and Highland Hill Runners, finished in second place on Sunday in a time of two hours 31 minutes and 15 seconds.
He overtook Tom Charles from Chorlton Runners on the final straight to claim the silver medal, with Charles finishing with a bronze medal in 2:31:58.
Broxburn athlete Moray Pryde from Lothian Running Club broke the course record to win the men’s title for the second time in his career in 2:19:26.
Cumming had finished third in each of the previous two years. In 2023 he recorded a time of 2:30:35 and in 2022 he finished in a time of 2:26:35.
He says before the race he would have settled for being in the top five, so was delighted to finish in second place.
Speaking about his performance in the race, he said: “I held back in the first half and was lying about fifth or sixth at halfway.
“Then I worked my way through, but didn’t expect to get into second place. I overtook Tom with about 300 metres to go.
“I’m really pleased to be on the podium as beforehand I thought I might only be top five.
“I didn’t know until the last half a mile that I was close to second place. To get second place I am delighted with.
“I will be back next year as it is on my doorstep.”
Pryde claimed the Loch Ness Marathon title for the second time and he also won the Edinburgh Marathon in May when he completed the course in a time of 2:23:14.
He says it was ideal conditions for racing, and was proud to break the course record which he was confident he could target after setting a quick pace early on.
He said: “Three of us went out for the first five miles and then someone dropped off.
“We flew through the first 10 miles, but at mile 14 Tom had dropped off, and then from mile 14 to the finish I didn’t really look behind me. I was chasing a car for 12 miles.
“I dropped bang where I wanted to be at a sub 2:20 pace and it was squeaky bum time from there until the end to make sure to get some time back.
“It was a nice feeling on the final straight and everything went to plan.”
Speaking about breaking the record, Pryde said: “I thought it was on after 2:22 last year. It was three minutes this time so we will see what we can do next time.
“I have been fortunate as the racing has been going my way and hopefully I can keep that luck going. I used to play football three times a week but stopped doing that. Lothian Running Club have given me a lot of support and long may it continue.”
