Colin Donnelly
Personal information
NationalityScottish
Born (1959-09-05) 5 September 1959
Sport
Country Scotland
SportLong-distance running
Event(s)Fell running, mountain running
Medal record
Mountain running
Representing  Scotland
World Mountain Running Trophy
Silver medal – second place 1989 Drôme Short race
Bronze medal – third place 1989 Drôme Men's team
World Masters MR Championships
Gold medal – first place 2001 Ustron Over 40s
Gold medal – first place 2019 Leece Over 60s
Updated on 3 December 2014.

Colin Kerr Donnelly (born 5 September 1959[1]) is a Scottish runner who was the British fell running champion three times and finished second in the World Mountain Running Trophy.

Early life

Donnelly is a son of Raymond Donnelly, a sometime racing cyclist. Colin attended Eastwood High School, Newton Mearns and was a member of the Cambuslang Harriers.[2] He showed some talent as a youngster, winning the Galloway and Renfrewshire Schools under-19s cross country championships. His first hill race was at Ben Lomond in 1978. The following year, he won the Ben Nevis Race and in 1980 finished a close second in the Three Peaks Race.[3] He graduated in Arts from the University of Aberdeen.[2]

Running career

The peak of Donnelly's running career was in the late 1980s. In 1986 he had another victory at Ben Nevis in one of the fastest times ever recorded for the race.[4] He won the British Fell Running Championships three consecutive times from 1987 to 1989[5] and in 1988, he won the Snowdon Race.[6]

Also in 1988, he set a record for the traverse of the Welsh 3000s with a time of 4:19 which stood until 2019 when it was beaten by Finlay Wild.[7] Donnelly has also won the Welsh 1000 m Peaks Race many times.[8]

Donnelly finished second in the short race at the World Mountain Running Trophy in 1989.[9] As a veteran, he won global titles at the World Masters Mountain Running Championships in the over-40 category in 2001[10] and as an over-60 runner in 2019.[11]

He held the course record for the Buckden Pike Race from 1988 to 2022,[12] and still holds the Shelf Moor Race record, set in 1989.[13] He continued to win races as late as 2017, thirty-eight years after his first Ben Nevis win.[14]

He has completed the Bob Graham, Paddy Buckley and Ramsay Rounds, as well as the South Wales 2,000ers.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Dave Woodhead, "Interview: Private and Personal", Up & Down, pilot issue (Jul 1990), 10-14.
  2. 1 2 Thomson, Alan (28 September 1981). "A runner who can take mountains in his stride". The Glasgow Herald. p. 7. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Bill Smith, Stud Marks on the Summits (Preston, 1985), 395-96.
  4. ↑ Hugh Dan MacLennan, The Ben Race (Fort William, 1994), 166, 189-91.
  5. ↑ Steve Chilton, It's a Hill, Get Over It (Dingwall, 2013), 164-65.
  6. ↑ The Fell Runner, Sep 1988, 22.
  7. ↑ British Mountaineering Council: Finlay Wild Breaks Records for Welsh 3000ers and Snowdon Horseshoe.
  8. 1 2 Muskett, Calum (27 November 2013). "Interview: Colin Donnelly, a Fell Running Great". ukclimbing.com. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  9. ↑ WMRA: World Mountain Running Trophy 1989.
  10. ↑ WMRA: Masters World Mountain Running Championships, 2001.
  11. ↑ WMRA: 19th World Masters Mountain Running Championships.
  12. ↑ Run247: Wild and Russell show the way at 2022 British Championship Fell Race.
  13. ↑ Glossopdale Harriers: Shelf Moor Fell Race.
  14. ↑ Durham Fell Runners: Cronkley Fell Race 2017 Results.
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