Recording a time of 3 hours 36 minutes at the London Marathon in April on an unexpectedly hot day, Sanjai Sharma had narrowly missed out a Good For Age qualifying time. He needed a sub 3:34 time for the 60 to 64 age band that he is in.

That was Sanjai’s 31st London Marathon and he intends to be keep going for as long as he physically can. What that result meant though was that needed to do another marathon to get that Good For Age time secured.

With the deadline fast approaching, Sanjai’s last chance saloon came in the form of an unlikely source. That being, the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon.

The Loch Ness Marathon was the race that one of Sanjai’s long standing Bournemouth AC teammates Nick Kenchington qualified for London in last year. Nick is also in the over 60 age band and he managed a terrific time of 3 hours 14 minutes at the Loch Ness Marathon last year which saw him finish as first M60, achieving the Good For Age time emphatically.

Knowing that Nick had done the race last year, Sanjai had spoken to Nick about the race to get some tips. Completing the Heron Half Marathon in RNAS Yeovilton at the end of June, Sanjai registered a time of 1:34:07 which put him first in the MV60+ category.

A time like that suggested Sanjai was on course for a Good For Age time at the Loch Ness Marathon. You can never take anything for granted though and he still needed to deliver a strong run on the day. The pressure was on.

The Loch Ness Marathon is a point-to-point route along the south-eastern shores of the Loch Ness. It crosses the River Ness before finishing in Inverness – the capital city of the Highlands.

It’s actually on a downhill trajectory for the first ten miles, with the route then flattening out after that. There is one tough climb on the 19th mile but aside from that. it’s a fairly quick course. There was every reason for Sanjai to be optimistic going into the race.

Reaching the half way point in 1:42:53, Sanjai was looking on course for sub 3:30 time. That was a great position to be in but the second half of the race was liable to be a bit tougher.

It didn’t seem to be a problem for Sanjai though and he was able to continue at much the same pace for the second half of the race. Even the hill on the 19th mile didn’t seem to derail him as he was expecting it, after talking to Nick. He also knew that once that once he was over it, it was a flat run in to the finish.

Carrying a couple of gel flasks with him in his shorts, which contained built in pockets, he had constant access to electrolytes. Being struck down by cramp quite badly at the London Marathon, he didn’t want to risk that happening again. Fortunately, the conditions were much cooler at the Loch Ness Marathon so that helped.

One of the most telling aspects of Sanjai’s run was that he managed to up the pace in his last four miles and they were actually his quickest of the entire race. That showed how strong he was on the day.

Reaching the finish line in a time of 3 hours 26 minutes, it had been a fantastic run from Sanjai and put him eight minutes under his Good For Age target time. That placed him 6th out of about 150 in the M60 category. He’d come in 347th place overall out of 4,163 finishers.

Hercules Wimbledon man Alex Milne smashed the course record, winning the race in a time of 2:15:46 which put him quite a way ahead of any of his rivals. James Donald of Dundee Hawkhill Harriers was second in 2:22:01, with Shaun Cumming taking third in 2:22:56.

Melissah Gibson was first female in a time of 2:43:06, which put her 18th overall. Fay Hughes of Wirral AC was second female and 50th overall in 2:51:23, with Rebecca Burns of Pitreavie coming in as third female in 2:55:15.

The fastest of the M60 category runners was Garth Morris of Ware Joggers and he completed the course in 3 hours and 3 minutes.

There is also a River Ness 10k on as part of the same event and that was won by Sean Chalmers of Aberdeen AAC in 28:59. He beat last year’s winner and course record holder Logan Rees of Fife AC who was second in 29:12. Max Abernethy of Aberdeen AAC was third in 29:25 and five athletes finished in under 30 minutes.

Getting so far under the time he needed was a good sign for Sanjai and shows that he still has the hunger to do the very best he can, in any given situation. It made it pretty much a certainty that he’ll be on the start line for London next Spring and he’ll be hoping he can get a good block of training in for it, come the new year.