Great South Run 2019 winners: Eilish McColgan and Marc Scott win the elite races
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Eilish retained her title by clocking a superb 51.38 in the Southsea sunshine this morning - and in the process broke mum Liz’s Scottish 10-mile record of 52.00.
She led from the starting gun and romped to victory in a time three minutes quicker than her 2018 winning GSR time of 54.43.
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Hide AdEilish’s winning time was almost four minutes quicker than women’s runner-up Verity Ockenden, who recorded 55.18.
![Winner Eilish McColgan flanked by runner-up Verity Ockenden and third placed Jenny Nesbitt](https://jp-ct.co.uk/image/onecms:705195f5-3294-4886-ace3-83f24853c0bf:d24e928c-4788-4496-8ff8-8456a124f076/image.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)
![Winner Eilish McColgan flanked by runner-up Verity Ockenden and third placed Jenny Nesbitt](/img/placeholder.png)
Eilish is coached by her mum, who wasn’t in Southsea, and she added: ‘I can’t wait to phone her! She told me I was capable of running 51.30 and she knows me better than anyone.
'Last year I was petrified before running this race as I'd never done anything like this before. Today was easier - it was all about trying to break 52.00 dead and my mum's Scottish record. I'm absolutely buzzing I did it!'
In the men’s event, Chris Thompson was aiming to become the first man to ever win the GSR four times.
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Hide Ad![Marc Scott winner of the men's elite race. Picture: Chris Moorhouse](https://jp-ct.co.uk/image/onecms:7b0e5ad9-61d5-496b-9b4a-c5f7b506290d:d599e2ec-19d6-4d01-a51a-80f269980a59/image.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)
![Marc Scott winner of the men's elite race. Picture: Chris Moorhouse](/img/placeholder.png)
But he was never really in contention with Yorkshireman Marc Scott, running 10 miles for the first time ever, triumphing in 46.47 - the third fastest GSR time by a British runner ever after Gary Staines (46.11, 1993) and Mo Farah (46.25, 2009). Another GB international, Ben Connor, was runner-up.
‘I didn’t have a race plan at all, I just wanted to win,’ declared Scott, who represented GB at the 5000m at the 2017 World Championships. ‘I wasn’t worried about the time at all - I could have run 20 or 30 seconds faster or 20 or 30 seconds slower, it wouldn’t have mattered.
‘Today was all about winning.’
Thompson - who had won the previous three GSRs - failed to finish in the top three, and said: ‘I’m frustrated and disappointed.’
‘I know all good things must come to an end, but if I didn’t win I wanted to put up a better display than I did.
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Hide Ad‘Normally I take the race by the scruff of the neck around the seven-mile mark, but today it took me by the scruff of the neck and I didn’t have any answers.
‘I’m feeling a bit sore about that.’
Here are the list of the top three in the Great South Run elite races:
Women’s race
- 1 – Eilish McColgan – 51 minutes 38 seconds
- 2 – Verity Ockenden – 55 minutes 15 seconds
- 3 – Jenny Nesbitt – 55 minutes 18 seconds
Men’s race
- 1- Marc Scott – 46 minutes 57 seconds
- 2 – Ben Connor – 47 minutes 16 seconds
- 3 – Emile Cairess – 47 minutes 32 seconds
Follow all the action in our live blog here.
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