The lure of the Loch Ness Marathon was enough to entice Nick Kenchington back into action after lying low for a number of years
Members of the old guard at Bournemouth AC will remember Nick Kenchington well. He was a prominent member of the group for years, up to probably around 2018 sort of time, regularly turning up for races and cross country fixtures. He’s had some difficult years since then but he’s back running now and it turns out he was actually competing in the Loch Ness Marathon at the same event that Jacek Cieluszecki ran the River Ness 10k in.
The Loch Ness Marathon is thought be be one of the most beautiful and picturesque ones in the world and with the stunning backdrop you get all the way round its not hard to understand why. It’s a point to point route starting on high ground between Fort Augustus and Foyers where it drops down onto the banks of the Loch Ness.
Nick was running in an orange vest to represent the MND Association who he was raising money for
Following the south eastern shore of the Loch Ness, it then heads north east towards Dores on the northern tip of the loch. The route then goes directly into the centre of Inverness before heading over the bridge and along the River Ness for the last half a mile to finish at Bught Park.
It’s actually quite a nice course as its mostly on a downhill trajectory for the first 10 miles before flattening out for the next seven and a half miles. Then there’s a bit of an incline up to around the 19 mile point before you then head back down back for a lot of the next four miles. Then after that it’s fairly flat to the finish.
Nick steps up to the podium after receiving his first M60 prize
After getting talked into running it by some friends who wanted to raise money for the MND Association, Nick found himself back on the start line and looking at add another marathon to his back catalogue. Nick has done some very fast marathons in his day, including a 2:37 at London in 1999 which makes him the 53rd fastest Bournemouth AC marathon runner of all time.
He’s now 63 but he’s still well capable of an impressive performance and he pulled one out of the bag at the Loch Ness Marathon. Going through the half way point in 1:34:25, he went on to complete the course in a superb time of 3:14:39 which put him 180th out of 3,731 runners. He’d also come in as 1st M60 which was a fantastic achievement in such a high profile race.
It was a performance that showed Nick still has plenty left to give on the running circuit
Nick’s wife Lucy competed in the 10k race as well, getting round in 52:23 which put her 612th overall.
That performance might just have given Nick the bit between his teeth and it wasn’t long before he was back out there again, lining up for The Stickler. With a route taking in Dorset’s Three Peaks, The Stickler features some truly gruelling climbs over its 10.1 mile course. Nick would be joined in that one by fellow Bournemouth AC veteran Geoff Newton.