McColgan third in Great North Run as Chepkirui wins

Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya won the Great North Run women’s race, beating Eilish McColgan of Britain, who came in third.

In the final stages, Chepkirui and Vivian Cheruiyot lost ground to the Scot, and despite a late push, she was unable to defeat them.

Chepkirui defeated her compatriot Cheruiyot by five seconds, and McColgan by ten seconds, to claim the victory in one hour, nine minutes, and 32 seconds.

Although the weather was excellent, Chepkirui, 34, said, “There was a lot of wind.”

The 34-year-old described today as “tough conditions.” “We had a headwind pretty much the entire race up until that very last mile,” the early morning hours of the race seemed to be out of the question.

We started the year off much more slowly than we did last year. It was a special day because there was no rain compared to last year and the crowds were strong.

Kenya’s Alex Mutiso, 28, won in 1:100.52 in the men’s race after a final-second race.

Abel Kipchumba, who won the race last year, was nine seconds behind the winner in third place, while Bashir Abdi of Belgium was six seconds further in second place.

Ben Connor placed fourth in the men’s race in 1:02.57, making him the highest-placed Briton.

Sean Frame, a fellow Briton, won the men’s wheelchair race in 49:24, adding to his 2021 victory.

In 52: 38, Simon Lawson placed second, followed by Anton Shepherd, who placed third.

Although it was a little of a headwind, Frame remarked of the race’s success.

I was second last year, so it didn’t bother me much. I just put my best foot forward this year, performing it as best I could, and using my weaknesses as much as possible, and it paid off.

In a time of 1:05.24, Italy’s Rita Curuccu came second, and Mel Nicholls of Great Britain came home in 1:22.22.

Nicholls remarked, “I loved it, it was so much fun. The wind was insane.