Marathon: Phil Nicholls beats pain barrier as debut pair triumph in Edinburgh

Published on Sunday 22 May 2011 19:34

Past experience mattered little as the ninth Edinburgh Marathon produced two winners who had never before tested themselves over 26 miles.

Phil Nicholls and Sarah Harris, both from the Midlands, coasted home by clear margins on their debuts, but each admitted that the conditions, on a course which claims to be the quickest in Britain, had proven more testing than expected. East Lothian's answer to The Mistral lulled many of the estimated 10,000 runners into a false sense of security as it propelled them along the first 18-mile stretch, from the city centre out to Portobello and Musselburgh and along the coast.

"I felt absolutely superb," said Nicholls, who competes for Tipton Harriers. "But when we turned round and went into the wind, it was horrendous."

Pulling away from Scotland international Martin Williams after both men passed the 12-mile mark together in 61 minutes and 34 seconds, nature turned assistance into resistance.

A pace of five-minute miles dropped toward six. Then, with the 25-mile marker in sight, Nicholls stopped, clutching his right leg as cramp set in. "I thought: 'This is it, my race is over'," he said. "But then someone handed me a gel. I took it on board and it seemed to really lift me. I just said to myself: 'C'mon, there's only a mile left. Anyone can run that. Even if I have to crawl.' I was thinking about the 1,000 prize at stake. I just kept my head and got there."

He crossed the line in 2:19:22, a minute in front of his club-mate, with Edinburgh-based Ross Houston making a late charge for third.

"I did see him ahead of me and someone shouted at me that he'd stopped," said Williams, who has now abandoned any hope of qualifying for the world championships.

"If he'd had another episode, I might have had a chance to get there, but he got going."

Harris, from Derbyshire, was also stung by the breeze despite her victory in the women's race in 2:43:01. "Once we got to the turn, it was hellish," she declared. "Mentally, I had to tell myself that I'd done the training and that I could cope with it."

Jennifer MacLean, ten minutes behind, was the first Scot home but was feeling the after-effects. "I pushed a bit much early on," she said. "So did a lot of people. Some suffered more than others."

Inverclyde's Andrew Douglas won the adjoining half-marathon in 1:06:49 while Becky Paton set a new course record of 1:15:31 in the women's event.