Kelly has desire to take first prize in the forest

Jason Kelly hopes it will be a case of third-time lucky when he competes in Sunday’s Fetteresso Forest marathon, which has attracted a capacity field of 130 runners.

The Metro Aberdeen club member finished second behind Banchory’s Mike Mosgrove in the inaugural race in 2018 then seemed well on course to win last year before running out of fuel with only two miles remaining. Mosgrove, who isn’t running this weekend, stormed past to claim a second victory in a course record of 2hr 50min 40secs.

Kelly said: “I’d love to be able to win it after a disastrous last few miles last time. I train on those forest trails every week, so the race is one I’m very fond of.

“I’ve been training harder and better in the last few weeks than ever before and have done a few long runs along sections of the race route during which I felt pretty good at close to race pace. Obviously, anything can still happen, but I’m confident I’m in shape to have a successful run on Sunday.”

Kelly’s main opponents include his Metro clubmates Paul Knight and Dwayne Batt, both of whom have featured prominently in previous Fetteresso races. Knight led for 20 miles in 2018 before hitting a bad patch and eventually finishing fourth. Batt has been runner-up for each of the past two years.

Jenni Rees-Jenkins (Insch Trail Running Club) defends the women’s title after winning last year in a record time of 2:42:48. North Ayrshire’s Angela Reid, who was second in 2018 and third in 2019, is also in the field.

Former Glentanar Illuminator race winner Sara Henry has also signed up along with experienced ultra runner Shona Young (Lothian).