Crowe Faces Strong Opposition in Bid for Scottish Title at Inverness

March 6, 2025

Scottish and North District Championship Medals up for Grabs in Inverness Half Marathon

Jamie Crowe may be the fastest man in the record field of 3355 runners signed up for Sunday’s Inverness half marathon, but the Central AC stalwart know he will need to be on top of his game if he is to win the Scottish men’s title for the first time.

The race through the Highland capital, which celebrates its 40th edition, is hosting the national championships for a third year in a row, as well as the North District championships, and has attracted a top-class domestic field.

Crowe has competed in only four previous half marathons, but has been consistently fast in all of them. His quickest is a 1hr 4min 19sec performance set at the 2021 Big Half in London, while his slowest is 1:04:48 from Copenhagen in 2023, Impressive statistics, but he is playing down his chances of success this weekend.

He said: “I’m not sure what half marathon shape I’m in, if I’m in any shape at all. I’m training well at the moment, but not racing so good, and I’ve not done a half marathon for more than a year so I don’t know how it will go. But I’m excited about it. I’ve never done the Inverness race before, although a lot of my Central AC clubmates have, and they speak very highly of it. It looks like a top quality field and if everyone shows up it will be a good race.”

If Crowe is successful, he’ll add to his extensive list of Scottish achievements, having won the Scottish cross country title on three occasions, as well as striking gold in the national 5k and 10k road championships and the national 5000m track championships.

There’s some uncertainty as to whether the 2024 champion John Bell (Inverclyde AC) will defend his title on Sunday as the title-holder has been nursing a muscle injury. He said: “To be honest, I have no idea if I will be there. I’m still unsure, but I would love to attempt the defence of my title. However, I picked up a hamstring injury running for Scotland in Antrim last August and did not race for months. Then, after ramping up my training, I picked up an issue with my right quad which has led to a week of basically no running, which is not ideal.
“If I do stand on the start line it will not be just to make up the numbers. I will be there to race regardless of my form. It would be a mammoth task but that’s what excites me. If I feel the race won’t put the rest of my season in jeopardy, I will be there.”

The 2022 Inverness race winner Sean Chalmers could pose the strongest challenge to Crowe. The Aberdeen AAC runner gave himself a major boost last weekend by overcoming extremely windy conditions to win the Nairn 10k in a course record time of 30:03. Chalmers, whose best half marathon time of 1:04:22 came at the 2022 Farnborough race, said: “I was delighted to get the record especially in these conditions. It bodes well for Inverness.”

Another strong contender for a podium position is 29 year-old refugee runner Taha Ghafari, who represents Shettleston Harriers where he comes under the guidance of coach John Mackay. The Glasgow club, and Mackay in particular, has a widely admired reputation for helping the refugee community not only with their athletic development, but in providing wider support.

Mackay explained: “Taha is originally from Iran. He is Kurdish and has the right to remain in the UK for political reasons as it is not safe for him in Iran. He hopes to run for Scotland in the near future. He has not done many half marathons but has a best time of 1:06:16 from Swansea in 2023. I know he has been putting in the miles for Inverness.”

There are many others who will have a strong say as to the outcome of what promises to be an enthralling contest. These include Fraser Stewart, winner in 2023, and his Cambuslang Harriers clubmate Ryan Thomson.

Lewis Rodgers (Fife AC) has been a remarkably consistent performer in the Inverness race, finishing second in 2023, fifth in 2022 and seventh last year. With a best time of 1:05:24 from Edinburgh in 2022, he will be looking for another strong run.

Michael Ferguson (Aberdeen AAC), who was bronze medallist last year in 1:05:58 and Noah Howlett (Edinburgh AC) who clocked 1:06:49 in the 2024 Copenhagen race should also feature prominently.

James Wilson (Moray Road Runners) will defend the North District men’s title from Shaun Cumming (East Sutherland) and Donnie Macdonald (Inverness Harriers), who respectively finished second and third behind him last year.

Scott Favourite for Women’s Title but Lang could post a Threat

When Nancy Scott lines-up on the start line at Inverness on Sunday, it will be only her third half marathon. But despite her relative inexperience, the Edinburgh AC runner is clear favourite to win the Scottish title.

She is in great form, having set a personal best time of 1:12:51 at the Barcelona half marathon in mid-February before finishing second in the national 10k cross country championships at Falkirk the following week.

However, the 25 year-old Cambridge University graduate, who is a Resident Doctor at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, is taking nothing for granted. She said: “I really have no idea how it will go. This will only be my third half marathon, so I’m still a bit of a novice at the distance. My first one was at Wilmslow last March and I went out too fast. Once I get used to know how best to pace them, I think I’ll enjoy them more.

“Barcelona was much better, but my only concern now is whether there has been enough time to recover from that and the cross country race. I’d like to think I might get within a minute of my Barcelona time at Inverness, but it’s difficult to be sure, especially as I don’t know the course. I’ve seen people doing fast times there before, so it should be fine.”

Despite her limited half marathon background, Scott has an impressive athletics honours list which includes a victory in last November’s Scottish 4k cross country championships and a sixth place finish when representing Great Britain at the 2024 World University Cross in Oman.

She will be difficult to beat, but a highly competitive race is still expected with a number of other top runners keen to make their mark. These include Scott’s Edinburgh AC clubmate Kirsty Walker who could pose a threat to the favourites despite this being her first half marathon.The 25 year-old has shown some fine form over shorter distances, winning last year’s Great Scottish Run 10k in 33min 55sec.

But the main challenge is likely to come from Great Britain mountain running international Naomi Lang, another athlete with limited exposure to half marathon racing, but one who also has an impressive pedigree. This will be the Carnethy club member’s second half marathon, her previous outing coming two years ago when she finished second in the Edinburgh race with a time of 1:16:12.

Since then, Lang has enjoyed success on the mountains and trails, culminating in a fifth-place finish at the European off-road championships in France last May when the Glasgow-based Aberdonian helped GB win team gold medals.

For now, however, her goal is to run a fast half marathon time. She said: “I was meant to do the Seville half marathon at the end of January, but because of the storms at that time, I couldn’t go. So, I was pleased to get a place at Inverness. There will be a strong Scottish field and I feel I’m in shape to run faster than I did in Edinburgh. I have done more specific half marathon training this time, so hopefully I’m ready to do well.”

Lang’s Carnethy clubmate Ella Revitt also hopes to perform well after she too missed out on the Seville race. Jenny Selman is another who could be in contention for podium position. The Edinburgh-based Fife AC member, who represented Great Britain in the 800m at the 2022 world indoor championships, has been trying her hand at longer distances over the past couple of years and last May she won the Edinburgh half marathon in 1:19:51.

Others who shouldn’t be discounted include Catriona Fraser (Inverness Harriers), who is among the favourites for the North District women’s title, Grace Tindall (Central AC), Halina Rees (Fife AC), Nicola MacDonald (Metro Aberdeen), Rosa Donaldson (Shettleston Harriers) and veteran Jenn Wetton (Central AC).

Sutherland Delighted with Record Numbers

Race Director Malcolm Sutherland is eagerly anticipating an exciting day of competition to mark the 40th running of the event. He said: “We are proud to be hosting both the Scottish and North District championships once again this year, which adds a bit of extra spice to the proceedings. The quality of performances in both the men’s and women’s divisions of the race is always extremely high and that trend is set to continue this weekend.

“The women’s record has been broken in each of the past two years, so it will be interesting to see if anyone can get close to the time of 1:11:47 set by Mhairi Maclennan in 2024, while there seems to be a number of runners capable of threatening Robbie Simpson’s 2018 men’s record of 1:04:27.

“We are delighted to have a record combined entry of 4855 runners between the half marathon and 5k, and had to close entries for both races at an early date. And, it’s really encouraging to see that 42% of our 5k runners are from schools and youth clubs.”

“We can assure everyone that they’ll receive a warm and enthusiastic welcome. There’s a fantastic level of support along the route and the atmosphere in the stadium at the finish is always enthusiastic and heart-warming. Every finisher is treated like a champion.”