When Shaun Cumming first ran in the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon, in 2014, he finished 622nd in a time of 3:51:20. Flash forward nine years and the Inverness athlete is now a serious contender to lead home a field of 5,100 runners – the second biggest number in the history of the race - when the 21st edition of Scotland's oldest continuously held marathon takes place this Sunday.

He wasn't too far away from winning last year, finishing strongly to take third position behind Corstorphine's Dougie Selman and veteran Kenyan Isaiah Kosgei in a personal best time of 2:26:35. And with these two absent this weekend, the Highland Hill Runners club member could be poised to claim the biggest win of his career.

Cumming said: "I don't think there's ever been an Inverness winner of the Loch Ness Marathon, so it would be nice to do that, but we'll have to see what happens. I feel I'm in about the same form as last year, so I'd like to run a similar time, or even a little quicker."

Having studied the entry list to search out his main rivals Shaun knows there's always likely to be a few athletes capable of lifting the top prize. He said: "I've heard Carl Delaney won't be running because his training hasn't gone as well as he hoped. But there's maybe one or two others who might be looking to finish high up. Adam Holland has entered and he could do well if he's in good shape."

Orkney-based Holland, who set his best time of 2:24:24 when finishing second at Loch Ness five years ago, is renowned for tackling some outlandish running challenges. Only last month he won a competition in Italy which involved running 50K every day for 10 days. However, he admits to being unsure as to what sort of time might be possible this weekend, saying: "I ran a decent 10K recently, which suggests I'm in reasonable shape, but that doesn't necessarily translate into a good marathon performance. We'll just have to wait and see."

Manchester's Tom Charles, who was a late entrant, will also be serious contender for the top prize. The Chorlton athlete was runner-up in this year's Edinburgh Marathon where he recorded 2:22:56 - just 57secs outside his best set at Pulford, Cheshire in 2021. He also won the Rhodes Marathon in April. Matthew Sutherland, who competes for Central AC, also has the potential to do well if he is on song. The Thurso athlete has a best time of 2:24:49 from London in 2021 but hasn't run any marathons since then.

Rosa Donaldson, a 23-year-old Glasgow University dentistry student, is one of the favourites to win the women’s race in the absence of Malta-based Aberdonian Jemima Farley who isn’t defending the title. Donaldson, who comes from Banchory, was runner-up 12 months ago, recording a time of 2:57:01 in what was only her second marathon. She has made big strides forward since then and earlier this year brought her time down to 2:44:34 when taking third spot in the Edinburgh Marathon. 

She said: “I feel as though I’m in similar shape as I was for Edinburgh in May, so hopefully I can run as well as I did there. I’m always looking for a personal best time when I run, but we’ll just have to wait and see how it goes this weekend. Hopefully I can make the podium again.”

The biggest threat to Donaldson’s hopes is expected to come from London’s Melissah Gibson who has a best time of 2:43:42 set in Seville in 2022. The Ealing Eagles club member is a prolific racer having competed in seven marathons already this year – Milton Keynes, Seville, Copenhagen, Newport, London, Gold Coast and Edinburgh. Her fastest time from that bunch came in the last mentioned race when she recorded 2:50:37 to finish in fifth position behind Donaldson.

Others expected to feature in the battle for podium positions include Michelle Thompson (North Shields) who finished fourth 12 months ago in a personal best 3:02:27, while Jill Mykura (Carnethy) will be looking to maintain her record of consistency in this race, having been a regular top five finisher over the past seven years.

Steven Burnside won't be among the leading runners on Sunday, but the 47-year-old Inverness man will undoubtedly earn one of the biggest cheers of the day when he finishes as it will be his 10th marathon in 10 days. The Highland Hill Runners club member planned to run over the course each day from last Friday to raise funds for mental health charity Mikeysline. It will also be the 10th time he has run the Loch Ness race, having first competed in 2009.

If you'd like to know more, visit the Loch Ness Marathon website.

Image: Loch Ness Marathon