Late entry Gemma Steel beats Susan Partridge and Alyson Dixon over 10-mile course, while Chris Thompson has a winning return to the roads following his marathon debut in London

Gemma Steel and Chris Thompson made winning returns to the roads on Sunday, claiming victories in the 10-mile Bupa Great Edinburgh Run.

Fresh from clocking 2:11:19 on his marathon debut in London two weeks earlier, Thompson ran 49:36 over the undulating course in the Scottish capital to beat Olympic marathoner Lee Merrien with 49:54 and Tewlode Mengistead with 50:16.

Steel had also been due to make her debut over 26.2 miles in the British capital on April 13, but was forced to withdraw with a calf tear sustained at the NYC Half on March 16. She had been a late entry to the Great Run event but ran 56:06 to add road victory in Edinburgh to her Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country International win of January, beating Scottish marathoner Susan Partridge and Sunderland s Alyson Dixon who clocked 56:25 and 58:22 respectively.

“It was so nice just to get a race in and get back in the mix with the other girls,” Steel told race organisers. “I wasn t going to break any records. It’s just nice to see where I am racing-wise.”

Steel is also due to race the 10km Bupa Great Manchester Run on May 18.

Partridge was pleased with her performance as she prepares for the Commonwealth games in Glasgow this summer where she has already secured her spot on the Scotland team in the marathon. Fellow Scottish marathoner Freya Ross also hopes to join her at the Games. Having suffered injury setbacks in 2013, the 10-mile outing in Edinburgh was a return to competitive road action for Ross but she was forced to drop out mid-way through the race.

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