Athletics: Douglas storms to victory in Chris Hoy Half Marathon

A NEW STAR was born on a dreich Edinburgh morning as Inverclyde youngster Andrew Douglas won the Chris Hoy Half Marathon by almost six minutes in a new course record of 67 minutes 37 seconds.

The 23-year-old enjoyed the biggest winning margin in the event's history after leading from the start at Meadowbank Stadium before churning out five-minute miles with metronomic precision, out along the Forth coast to Prestonpans and back to the finish at Musselburgh Racecourse.

"I just focused on the lead car and kept an eye on my splits because I had a target time in mind," explained a drenched Douglas after completing the 13 miles.

"I was hoping to get under 68 minutes, but it was really tough. Conditions were difficult, but I got great support out on the course, especially in the last three miles.

"I'd put it right up there as the best win of my career. I won a big half marathon in New Zealand last year, but for sheer numbers (a record 4,500 entries], this is the biggest.

"I'm going to sit down with my coach now to discuss my future plans. I've got a 10K race next weekend and I might try a marathon in a couple of years."

North Berwick's David Wright was a distant second in 73:26, less than a minute ahead of Edinburgh-based New Zealander Jon Carpenter, representing the Harmeny club of last year's winner, Robert Turner.

"I'm good friends with Bob, but he's injured at the moment," said Carpenter, a Health and Wellbeing manager in the city.

"I come from Rotarua in New Zealand, but I've lived in Edinburgh for a year now, so it was nice to run the course. It's a nice fast one.

"I did a half marathon in Perthshire last week in one hour 16, but it was a lot hillier. It was called "Heaven and Hell" – Heaven for the view and Hell for the hills!

"I'm hoping to run sub-two hours 30 in the Leiden Marathon in Holland next month, and I've done 100 miles this week, so it's all part of my training for that."

Bingley Harrier Sarah Jarvis won the ladies race by well over two minutes in 79:11 from Edinburgh's Issy Menzies and Musselburgh's Niamh Devlin, who repeated her third place finish from 2009.

"I knew I had a reasonable lead at the turn at the ten-mile mark," said Jarvis.

"This was a training run for me because I'm doing the Edinburgh Marathon in five weeks and my legs are a bit tired from my marathon training.

"I'm hoping to specialise in the marathon, but this will be my first one, and I thought I'd do Edinburgh because I love the city so much."