Champion beaten at Edinburgh Great Winter Run

Snow capped Holyrood Park in Edinburgh makes a breathtaking back-drop for this year’s Great Winter Run. Despite the weather, over two thousand five hundred contestants – a record number – turn out to run. The course had to be modified for safety reasons.

[Lyndsay Stevenson, Organiser]:
„The BUPA Group winter run takes place around Arthur’s Seat and there’s a few steep inclines and descents and we have been working around the clock to try and get the original 5km course open but because of the weather conditions we decided to go with a contingency plan of a 4km course.“

People are running for charity, for fun or for their own personal goal.

[Graeme Cruickshank, Fun Run Competitor]:
„I am a collector of finishing medals. I’ve got a hundred and seventy-two hanging on my wall and I keep thinking that will be the last one and I keep hearing of a race that I want to do. The reason why I chose mid-winter was I saw a friend’s medal who did it last year and it is in the shape of a snow flake. Cute shape I thought, I never realised how appropriate it would be in weather like this.“

On the same day the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country attracts top athletes to compete in the elite runners‘ events.

Surprise winner Joseph Ebuya leaves the favourite, unbeaten multi
Olympic and World Champion Kenenisa Bekele, trailing in fourth.

Bekele had this to say about the running conditions.

[Kenenisa Bekele, World Champion]:
“It was unexpected thing for me because before it was not like this. So this was very new for me. Strange for me”

Edinburgh has been blanketed with snow for the past three weeks.

Stefan Byfield, NTD, Scotland.

(NTDTV)