ELDERSLIE man Callum Hawkins became the first-ever Scottish man to win the Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run half marathon.

The 24-year- old Olympian finished second behind Moses Kipsiro in last year’s event but the he turned the tables in scintillating style to end his 2016 on a major high.

He ran the second fastest Great British half marathon in history and smashed the Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run course record on Sunday, October 2.

Hawkins, who broke his 5k, 10k and ten-mile PBs during the race, clocked 60.24 ahead of Kipsiro in 60.54 and Joel Kimutai in 61.34 as he became the first Scot, and the first Briton since 1993 to win the half marathon on a weekend where more than 30,000 people took part in a range of events around the city.

He said: "I can’t put it into words.

"This time last year I was trying to get into the Olympic team, so to have gone top ten in the Olympics, then run a half marathon in 60.24, I think it just shows that Tokyo 2020 is going to be a good time for me.

"Second wasn’t an option today, I went out to win it, that was my aim."

Following victory, Hawkins paid tribute to Moses Kipsiro.

He said: "I tried to break him so many times, and the time I actually broke him I thought ‘thank God’ because I didn’t know how many more I had in me.

"He’s a tough competitor and I was surprised how long he hung in. I was hurting, and I thought I was going to blow up."

Culminating with the main 10k and half marathon, the Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run started on Friday, September 30 with 3,500 pupils from across Glasgow taking part in a 1.5k fun run at the Schools Challenge in Glasgow Green.

This was followed by ‘Super Saturday’ on October 1, with the event attracting more than 3,000 participants to a range of family and children’s runs including the Toddler Dash involving 300 little ones (100 metres), Junior Run (2.5km) and Family Mile, all starting and finishing in George Square.

Mark Hollinshead, group chief executive of event organisers The Great Run Company, said: "It was a privilege to witness Callum Hawkins running the fastest half marathon in Scottish history, on home soil.

"The atmosphere on the streets of the city has been superb, as ever, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back next year."

Entries are open for the 2017 Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run , for more information, visit greatscottishrun.com