The Edinburgh Marathon is an event where Run-Fast athletes have enjoyed a lot of success in recent years, and the 2017 edition (28 May) proved to be no exception. Of the five athletes we entered into the race, four finished on the podium, with two among them taking the honours as race winners.
Having won in Edinburgh in 2016, Eddah Jepkosgei defended her title by winning the women’s race in 2:37:46, finishing almost six minutes clear of Belorussian Olga Dubovskaya. Eddah’s winning time was around two minutes faster than in 2016.
In the men’s race Julius Korir took the win in 2:17:13, having made a decisive move at around 22 miles. He was followed by 2016 Bournemouth Marathon winner Stanley Bett (2:19:08) with local hero Japhet Koech, on his fifth appearance in this race, taking third in 2:20:33.
Elsewhere, Will Gray (Run-Fast Birmingham) and Jonny Hopkins both recorded personal best times in the 3000m steeplechase at the IFAM Outdoor meeting in Belgium. Will finished 8th in 8:33:68, with Jonny one place behind in 8:34:03. Jonny’s result gives him a very good chance of representing Wales at the Commonwealth Games next year, for which the ‘A’ standard is 8:35.
Meanwhile in Canada, Paskalia Chepkorir finished 2nd in the Ottawa 10k (27 May) in an impressive 32:08.