Scots Top the Podium on Super Sunday
Team Scotland athletes delivered on the global sporting stage yesterday [Sunday 13 Sep] as Josh Kerr, Jemma Reekie and Melanie Woods all came out on top.
In the AJ Bell Great North Run, Melanie Woods raced with the men and finished eighth overall as she clocked a performance of 50.19 to take the women’s title for the half marathon course.
She said: “It was such a great race, always such a fun one. There wasn’t a huge women’s field so I was on the start line looking at the men and seeing who I could stay with for most of the race. I was looking at the clock to see what I could do and it was a great race.”
Across the pond in a damp New York City, Jemma Reekie race to a course record 4:13.9 in the 45th New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile, America’s largest and most famous road mile.
Reekie, who also won the race in 2021 and 2023, followed a mid-race move by Kenya’s Susan Ejore-Sanders and never eased off until she crossed the finish line. This was the ninth time over the past eight editions of the race that a Scottish athlete – male or female – had claimed victory.
She said to reporters after the win: “I just really trusted my body, listening to my body. My body felt really good today and I wanted to push it on and run the best of my ability. If it worked, it worked. If somebody came past me, they did. I executed it and came away with the win. I had no idea where anyone was; I was just running to the light.”
Lighting up the stadium in Budapest Josh Kerr proved to be the Ultimate Champion winning the hotly contested 1500m in convincing style, taking control from 200m and out-kicking the rest of the field down the home straight.
He said: “I’ve had a near perfect year so I can’t complain. It was hard for me to recoup after London for the Commonwealth Games but it was so important to me I was able to do that. It’s a hard thing to maneuver but I am doing that well and looking to next season and the season after that.”
Other notable athletics performances for Team Scotland athletes yesterday: Jake Wightman finished in 9th place in the 1500m; Sarah Calvert finished 12th in the women’s elite field for the 5th Avenue Mile; at the Great North Run Sean Frame finished 4th in the Men’s Wheelchair race, Andy Butchart finished 11th in the men’s field and Elish McColgan wasn’t able to finish in Newcastle due to her recurring foot injury.
