Half Marathon Highlights

Every good story has a beginning, middle and end however the story of the Scottish Student Half Marathon has only just begun. The inaugural championship was held on Sunday 15^th March 2020, kindly incorporated within the Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon.

With a total field of just under 700, the race started at Balloch on the scenic shores of Loch Lomond. The athletes followed a path alongside the River Leven for the first few miles before joining a cycle path that wound through several quite Dumbartonshire towns and villages. The welcome home straight followed Singer Road and North Avenue to finish in Clydebank.

The half marathon is a challenging distance. It requires the endurance to run from anything between one and four hours, and the speed to keep up with your competitors. The 2020 Half Marathon Champs was a very challenging course, and all the athletes who took part did exceptionally well to navigate their way around – with some new personal best being achieved too!

Kevin Wood from the University of St Andrews was the first student across the line to become the Men’s Champion of the inaugural SSS Half Marathon. His finishing time of 1:08:14 represents an electric average pace of 5:12 per mile! Vitaljis Brejevs from University of Glasgow was the next student home in 1:13:09, with Jamie McLaren  (University of Strathclyde) taking the 3^rd student Men’s position in 1:14:27.

On the Women’s side, Sophie Chisholm from University of Glasgow had the honour of being the very first SSS Half Marathon Women’s Champion, navigating her way round in the impressive time of 1:27:13. Tara Walker (University of Glasgow) finished in the silver medal spot with a time of 1:56:22. It is hoped their incredible achievements will encourage more student Women to participate in future Half Marathons and for teams to be able to compete for the overall team medals.

Beyond the battle for the individual plaudits, there was also stiff competition for the Men’s team awards – with two teams in particular vying to be crowned the inaugural Scottish Student Sport Half Marathon Champions. Athletes were packed closely together with much of the competition coming down to a sprint finish!

Men’s Team Results

1^st – University of St Andrews – Kevin Wood (1:08:14), Ross Broomfield (1:14:49) & Christopher Russell (1:16:13)

2^nd – University of Strathclyde – Jamie McLaren (1:14:27), Jack McKenna (1:16:12) & Euan Durnberger (1:17:57)

📝Please see here for the full results.

📸Please see here for the event photography (credit, Molly Johnston)

Thank you to the race organisers, particularly race director Aoife Carr and her teams at the University of Glasgow and the Dumbarton Amateur Athletics Association, who all supported the event in great numbers. Thank you also to all the athletes who supported the event and to Molly Johnston at Scottish Student Sport for providing our excellent race photography.