Abyu Victorious Again

3 OCT2011

Tomas Abyu of Salford Harriers won his third Baxters Loch Ness Marathon in as many visits yesterday. Ethiopian Abyu, 33, recorded victory with a highly impressive time of 2:20:50, as over 8300 runners from 45 countries took part in yesterday's Baxters Loch Ness Festival of Running.

Runner-up was Ross Houston of Central AC, who finished just 15 seconds behind the Kenyan. Houston's time was enough to secure the title of Men's Scottish Marathon Champion. Chris Wilson achieved third position with a time of 2:25:15.

In the women's race, Lisa Finlay of Dumfries Running club completed the course in style with a personal best of 2:59:14. Crossing the finish line second and achieving another PB was Carole Setchell who managed to clip almost 15 minutes off her previous record. Gail Murdoch finished in third position (3:09:37).

After the race, Tomas Abyu felt his closely contested race with Houston was given the perfect backdrop, commenting: "The Baxters Loch Ness Marathon is a good fast course, and it's such a beautiful area. I had a very good run in the second half of the course today. Ross Houston was pushing the pace but I felt very comfortable."

In contrast to the Indian summer across the north of England at the weekend, Loch Ness saw intermittent rain throughout the day. Abyu felt these conditions were conducive for the runners: "This is my third time running at Loch Ness and the weather is always great for the event, and a perfect temperature for running."

Female winner, Lisa Finlay of Dumfries Running Club, said: "There was a lot of good runners taking part today, making for stiff competition. I ran my own race, sticking to my plan and was delighted to win, and even knocked a few seconds of my PB!" Like Abyu, Lisa complimented the setting and atmosphere of the event, commenting: "It's a lovely course and the spectators along the route were really warm and supportive."

Winner of the River Ness 10K was Kyle Greig with a time of 32:55. First woman home in the 10K was Melissa Whyte, with a time of 35 minutes and 45 seconds.

For a full breakdown of Baxters Loch Ness Marathon, refer to northernrunningguide.com's results page.