Matthew Pierson hopes Edinburgh Marathon will put right his London wrongs

Published on Saturday 22 May 2010 01:00

MATTHEW Pierson has pledged to show his true form in tomorrow's Edinburgh Marathon to make up for his recent sub-par showing in London.

The Englishman, 25, starts as favourite in a largely domestic elite line-up at the head of the 14,000-strong field that will head on a route that begins on Regent Terrace and heads eastwards to its finishing point at Musselburgh Racecourse.

Despite the short recovery period, Pierson is determined to prove that his time of two hours and 31 minutes last month was a one-off. "After training in Kenya for three months ahead of London and having a disappointing run there, I hope to put things right here," the Holmfirth Harrier said.

With a number of drop-outs from the 26.2-mile field, despite the attraction of potentially quick times in a Commonwealth Games year, Scotland international Martin Williams could provide a more intriguing duel in the adjoining Scottish half-marathon championship. He lines up against Great Britain rival David Webb with both men looking for a boost ahead of June's European Championship in Barcelona.

"I just want to run a personal best," Williams said. "I ran 65.30 in Bristol last year and I want to beat that. David's is in really good shape. The way he's been training has gone really well. But then again, in Edinburgh (in the full marathon) last year, I wasn't favourite but I managed to pull it off."

With Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Liz Yelling confined to the role of honorary starter due to injury, Edinburgh-based pair Jenny McLean and Niamh Devlin look the likely front-runners in the women's race. "I've had a fantastic cross country season and ran a half marathon personal best," McLean said. "I'm looking forward to running a half on a fast, flat course with some proper distance training in my legs."

The event, now in its eighth year, will see over 23,000 competitors in total taking to the streets of the capital with the inclusion of the Hairy Haggis relay event. The organisers, who expect over 3.5 million to be raised for charity, have put extra security measures in place to avoid any repeat of 12 months ago, where runners were left without water after thieves cleared one of the drinks stations of its stock.

"This will be the biggest Edinburgh marathon yet," said marketing director Damien O'Looney. "60 per cent of the marathon entrants have come from outside Scotland this year and it's now moved from being just a local race to something with a real national presence.

"And we're seeing a lot of top British runners coming here because we're deliberately supporting them rather than going for overseas athletes. We're also stationing guards overnight along the route to protect the water supplies to make sure what happened last year doesn't occur again. "

The half-marathon begins at 8am while the elite marathon starts at 9.50am on London Road with the massed fun-runners, including former Scottish rugby cap Gregor Townsend, GMTV news presenter Katie Hunter and chef Alan Murchison, following ten minutes later.

Murchison, the only Scot to hold two Michelin stars, represented Scotland at under-23 level before embarking on his culinary career and his target of 2.30 could see him inside the top five. "Running is now a great distraction from the pressures of a busy kitchen," he said. "But I'm looking for a fast time."

&#149 Several of Scotland's Commonwealth hopefuls will open their season tomorrow at the McCain Loughborough International.

Nick Smith, who had a fine indoor campaign, will look to gain the Delhi 100 metres standard of 10.25 seconds at the first attempt in the five-team competition that will see world champion Jessica Ennis compete for England ahead of the 3-14 October tournament in India.