Scott happy to be back in front of fans on way to race victory
Britain’s Marc Scott won the 40th edition of the Great North Run in Newcastle, with Kenya's Hellen Obiri triumphing in the women’s event.
Scott, aged 27, from Northallerton,NorthYorkshire,finished in one hour, one minute and 22 seconds as he took a title won by Mo Farah for the past six races.
“I’m delighted to win such a prestigious event,” said Scott. “It was really difficult – the last three miles are all pretty much uphill – and it was hard to get into a rhythm.
“It’s incredible [to be running in front of people again]. Even just to have the mass participation back, it’s such a good feeling. The streets were lined with people, which is what the Great North Run is known for.
“Especially being from just 30 minutes down the road, it was good to have people shouting my name the whole way. It’s great to follow in the footsteps of [Kenenisa] Bekele and Mo.”
World 5,000m champion Obiri ran 1:07.42 to pip Scotland's Eilish McColgan.
“I did what I wanted to do for today,” said Obiri, who had finished second in the 5,000m at the Diamond League final just a few days earlier.
“The first half was very good, but Eilish was very strong and there was a lot of pressure on me running with her. To run 67 minutes so soon after Zurich is special for me.”
While McColgan had been eyeing her mother Liz’s personal
best of 67:11, she was delighted with her day’s work and is now full of confidence ahead as she looks towards a future on the roads which will feature the marathon.
“I wanted to be competitive
today,” she said. I found myself broken away with Hellen and I thought ‘I’d better commit now’ and I can’t really ask for anything more from today. Hellen is such a strong athlete that’s it almost a privilege to be that close to her in what is my first halfmarathon.
“I felt more comfortable on the roads than on the track. I think, because I’m so tall, it was nice to have my own space. I had the whole road to stride on and it surprised me how comfortable I did feel and it gave me a lot of confidence being next to someone like Hellen. I still have ambitions on the track, but this is the start of my progression towards the marathon.”
Britain's Sean Frame, 24, won the men’s wheelchair title for the first time with fellow Briton Shelly Woods, 35, winning the women’s.