Borderer Anna Rutherford wins 100-mile ultra through region by two-hour margin
A Borderer won a 100-mile ultra-marathon through the region by a margin of almost two hours and reckons she might even have been back home in bed in Peebles by the time the next-fastest runner made it to the finishing line.
Anna Rutherford completed Rat Race Adventures’ run from Northumberland’s Bamburgh Castle to Edinburgh city centre via Berwickshire and East Lothian at the weekend in 17 hours and 23 minutes.
The 43-year-old set off from the Northumbrian coast at about 7am on Saturday and made it to the finishing line in the Scottish capital just short of half an hour into Sunday, almost two hours ahead of runner-up Danny Castro’s time of 19:18:11.
Mum-of-three Rutherford, a lawyer by trade, said: “I felt really emotional coming into the finish.
“I was about two hours ahead of the first male finisher but I had no idea that I had widened the gap that much. I’d passed him at mile 50.
“My parents were at the finish waiting for me, which was so kind of them, and then they drove me home. I had a bath. I just can’t believe how dirty I was – I had to wash my clothes three times – then I went straight to bed and the next day woke up starving.”
She added: “I really enjoy running. I enjoy the solitude and being out there and not having anything to worry about.
“I love being a mum, a sister and a daughter but I am also someone who likes to run, and finding that time to be that part of you as always been my motivation.”
Rutherford’s previous feats include setting a new female record time of 62 hours and 34 minutes for running the 212-mile Southern Upland Way from Portpatrick to Cockburnspath in 2021.