The Great Scottish Run is a series of mass-participation

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ru ...

events, held annually in the streets of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland, in October. The event began as a full

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

in 1979, but later changed to a weekend of shorter events. The weekend now includes short events for children, a 10K roadrace, and a

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

. The 2013 event, which was sponsored by the

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial bank, commercial and clearing (finance), clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The bank was established by the Par ...

, featured over 30,000 competitors. It is the largest mass-participation sporting event in Scotland.

History

A Glasgow road-race began in 1979 as the Glasgow Marathon, and was run over the full marathon distance, over four loops around the centre of the city. This initial event set the challenging qualifying standard of 3 hours, which limited participation to 62 runners in the first year and 144 in the second. The third year dropped the qualifying standard and encouraged mass participation, with over 7,000 runners competing in the first Scottish People's Marathon. The race continued over this distance until 1988 when, faced with diminishing participation and little engagement from TV and sponsors, the event was run over a half-marathon course. The following year the distance changed again, this time to , and for the first time the event was named the Great Scottish Run. This unusual distance proved unpopular with the elite athletes who the organisers had hoped to attract, and so two years later the race returned to the half marathon format. After the running of the 2016 event, a number of runners raised concerns that their GPS watches reported the route was shorter than the prescribed distance. The race organisers, The Great Run Company, later confirmed that the course was too short; the inaccuracy came from both a setup error in one section and errors measuring the route when roads (which are closed to traffic during the race) were in normal operation. The 2016 men's event winner, Callum Hawkins, had broken the Scottish half marathon record, but the non-regulation distance invalidates this record.

Course

Half marathon course

The half marathon begins in

George Square George Square () is the principal Town square, civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, Glasgow, Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, Glasgow, St Andrew's ...

and immediately heads steeply up St. Vincent Street, going west through the city's commercial centre and

Anderston Anderston (, ) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is on the north bank of the River Clyde and forms the south western edge of the city centre. Established as a village of handloom weavers in the early 18th century, Anderston was an independent ...

. Runners then join a sliproad of the M8 motorway and cross the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

on the Kingston Bridge, part of which is closed to vehicle traffic for the Sunday morning of the event. The next portion of the race takes place in the city's south side, heading through streets of the

Kinning Park Kinning Park is a southern suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It was formerly a separate police burgh between 1871 and 1905 before being absorbed by the city. In 1897, it had a population of 14,326.Govan Parish School Board, ''The Members' Year Book ...

area, and then on paths through Bellahouston Park and heading back northeast toward

Pacific Quay Pacific Quay is an area south of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. It is located at the former Plantation Quay and Princes' Dock Basin. The Princes' Dock Basin was the largest on the River Clyde when it was opened by the Clyde Navigation Tr ...

and the river. The course then crosses the Clyde again, this time on the Clyde Arc. From there runners head west along the river side, past the

Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre The SEC Centre (originally known as the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre until 2017) is Scotland's largest Exhibition center, exhibit ...

before doubling back around the Riverside Museum to head east along the Clyde, and back through Anderston, with runners entering

Glasgow Green Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge. History In ...

through the McLennan Arch for the finish. The route was changed for the 2013 running – in previous races, runners stayed on the south side after Bellahouston Park, looping through

Pollok Country Park Pollok Country Park is a country park located between Shawlands, Crossmyloof, and Pollok in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2007, Pollok Country Park was named Britain's Best Park, and in 2008 it was named the Best Park in Europe, beating competition fro ...

and the streets of

Pollokshaws Pollokshaws () is an area on the South side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is bordered by the residential neighbourhoods of Auldhouse, Glasgow, Auldhouse to the east, Eastwood, Glasgow, Eastwood and Hillpark, Glasgow, Hillpark to the south ...

and the

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, and former burgh, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and e ...

, and only crossing the Clyde again, on the Alexandra Bridge, just before the entrance to Glasgow Green.

10K course

The 10K course follows the same route as the half marathon for the first , but instead of crossing the Kingston Bridge, runners head west through Anderston and around the Riverside Museum (a section near the end of the half marathon course). The course then crosses the Clyde on the Clyde Arc bridge, loops very briefly through Pacific Quay, and then immediately back over the Clyde Arc. From there it follows the half marathon course along the river's north bank to Glasgow Green. As with the half marathon, the 10K course was adjusted in 2013 to include Finnieston and the SECC area. In previous runnings, the 10K crossed the Clyde on the Kingston Bridge and followed an abbreviated path from Scotland Street, through Pollokshields before crossing the Clyde on Victoria Bridge and entering Glasgow Green.

Winners

Half marathon winners

Male

*1991 – 1:04:23 - Dave Lewis *1992 – 1:04:03 - Turube Bedaso *1993 – 1:01:56 - Mark Flint *1994 – 1:02:53 - Joseph Kamau *1995 – 1:02:46 - Samson Maritim *1996 – 1:02:27 - Joseph Kibor *1997 – 1:01:46 - Joseph Kibor *1998 – 1:03:00 - Armando Quintanilla *1999 – 1:02:36 - Joseph Kibor *2000 – 1:02:04 - António Pinto *2001 – 1:03:23 - Abner Chipu *2002 – 1:03:15 - Sammy Kipruto *2003 – 1:01:49 - Peter Kiprotich *2004 – 1:01:48.2 - Peter Kiprotich *2005 – 1:03:02.5 - Jason Mbote *2006 – 1:01:36 - Jason Mbote *2007 – 1:02:42 - Isaac Wanjohi *2008 – 1:01:10 - Emmanuel Mutai *2009 – 1:01:19 - Jason Mbote *2010 – 1:01:53 - Hailu Mekonnen *2011 – 1:01:26 - Joseph Birech *2012 – 1:03:14 - Joseph Birech *2013 – 1:01:09 - Haile Gebrselassie *2014 – 1:01:25 - Stephen Mokoka *2015 – 1:02:18 - Moses Kipsiro *2016 – 1:00:24 - Callum Hawkins *2017 – 1:02:44 - Chris Thompson *2018 – 1:02:07 - Chris Thompson *2019 – 1:01:29 - Timothy Toroitich

Female

*1991 – Andrea Wallace *1992 – Liz McColgan *1993 – Tatiana Pozdniakova *1994 – Alevtina Naumova *1995 – Firiya Sultanova *1996 – Firiya Sultanova *1997 – Catherina McKiernan *1998 – Firiya Sultanova *1999 – Joyce Chepchumba *2000 – Joyce Chepchumba *2001 – Joyce Chepchumba *2002 – Joyce Chepchumba *2003 – Caroline Kwambai *2004 – Beatrice Omwanza *2005 – Hiroko Miyauchi *2006 – Caroline Kilel *2007 – Peninah Arusei *2008 – Worknesh Tola *2009 – Caroline Kilel *2010 – Caroline Kilel *2011 – Flomena Chepchirchir *2012 – Bezunesh Bekele *2013 –

Susan Partridge Susan Partridge may refer to: * Susan Partridge (athlete) (born 1980), British long-distance runner * Susan Partridge (tennis) (born 1930), British tennis player * Susan Partridge (engineer), aerospace engineer and businesswoman * Susan Partridge, ...

*2014 – Edna Kiplagat *2015 – Edna Kiplagat *2016 – 1:07:22 – Betsy Saina *2017 – 1:10:17 – Flomena Cheyech Daniel *2018 – 1:09:15 – Mare Dibaba *2019 – 1:07:38 – Edith Chelimo

Wheelchair half marathon winners

Male

*2005 – Kenny Herriot *2008 – Mark Telford *2011 – Ross Low *2012 – Phil Hogg *2014 – Simon Lawson

Female

*2005 –

Tanni Grey-Thompson Carys Davina Grey-Thompson, Baroness Grey-Thompson, ( Grey; born 26 July 1969), known as Tanni Grey-Thompson, is a Welsh life peeress, television presenter and former wheelchair racer. Athletic career Grey-Thompson started wheelchair racin ...

*2008 – Margo Whiteford *2011 – Jane Egan *2012 – Meggan Dawson-Farrell

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

Photo of runners on Kingston Bridge
STV (Scottish Television) website, September 2010{{dead link, date=January 2017
Photo of 1982 Glasgow People's Marathon medal
A History of the World, BBC website Half marathons in the United Kingdom Athletics competitions in Scotland International sports competitions in Glasgow Road running in Scotland 1979 establishments in Scotland Recurring sporting events established in 1979 Annual events in Glasgow Annual sporting events in the United Kingdom Glasgow Green