Athletics: McColgan returns to top

A back-to-form Liz McColgan put in a superb run yesterday to win the Great South Run in Portsmouth. Just three weeks after disappointing with a lacklustre effort in the BUPA Great North Run, McColgan finished with a personal best of 52 minutes, breaking the course record.

McColgan ran a thrilling race over the 10-mile course battling with Marian Sutton, who beat her in the Great North Run. The pair were neck and neck until the Scot accelerated with just over half a mile to run.

McColgan is now confident that if conditions are right she can break the British record in next month's Tokyo Marathon. She said: "Even though I only ran 70 minutes in the Great North Run, the way I achieved that so comfortably convinced me then that I can get the British record."

In the men's race, Christopher Kelong continued Kenyan dominance of recent British events. The London-based athlete waited until the final half mile before speeding away from Paul Evans to win in 46:53.