Scotland name team for Commonwealth half marathon

by FR Newsdesk August 28, 2018

Photo: Bobby Gavin

Steph Twell will race for the first time in five years over 13.1 miles in Cardiff.

Scotland has named a team of six athletes to represent the nation at the inaugural Commonwealth Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff on Sunday, October 7.

Following the announcements from England and the hosts Wales, Scottish Athletics revealed it’s two teams of three athletes, with British 5000m champion, Steph Twell, stepping up in distance to lead the women’s trio.

Twell hasn’t raced the half marathon distance for a number of years, but after a fine track season, that included appearances in the 5000m final at Gold Coast 2018 and the European Championships, should be well capable for the challenge ahead.

Joining Twell in the Scotland selection are Fiona Brian of Metro Aberdeen and Annabel Simpson of Fife AC.

The Scotland men’s team has a strong North district presence with Kenny Wilson of Moray Road Runners and John Newsom of Inverness Harriers. They will be joined by Mike Crawley – the Corstorphine AAC athlete who has raced for Great Britain over 50K.

The event currently holds an IAAF Silver Label. The route for the race is near identical to the one used for the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships in 2016. On that day several national records were set for both half marathon and 15km.

The race route is flat, fast and currently holds the British All-Comers Record for women set at 65.52. In addition to the individual championship races, the first three finishers for each team shall score. The team results shall be decided by the aggregate of times recorded by the athletes of each team.

The championships will be incorporated into the Cardiff University Cardiff Half Marathon on Sunday 7 October at 10am.

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