Sunday 24th March 2013 - LV Brentwood Half Marathon
With many races being cancelled this weekend and many parts of the country covered in snow, the race organisers did a great job of keeping the runners up to date throughout Saturday with regular updates on the race website as to conditions.
At 6pm on Saturday the race was on and Sunday morning greeted the runners with wet but clear roads, with plenty of snow in the trees and pavements. The snow had managed to keep the marching band away unfortunately, which is always a great highlight of this race, but given the weather a small price to pay for the runners to be able to run.
Having spoken to a number of the organisers they spent most of Saturday driving around the course to help make their decision to run the race, they did tell me they had lots of calls, emails with runners saying they train in much worse - the sacrifices we make to enjoy our sport.
Someone who was very happy the race went ahead was Chemlsford Athletic Club runner Ryan Prout who managed to reel in multiple race winner Paul Molyneux in the closing stages of the race to finish in 1:09:47, just seven seconds ahead of the race favourite. Local athlete Crispin Bloomfield completed the podium finishing in 1:13:58.
The women's race was won by Hazel Vuvi from Dartford Road Runners in 1:22:27 just under three minutes ahead of second place athlete Emma Prideaux from local club Billericay striders. Jo Newens looked happy to take the third place in 1:27:53, comfortably under the 1.30 mark.
As in previous years the fun run was a good mix of competitive runners and those just out enjoying the day, at the front end of the race it was nearly an all girl affair with Sophie Riches taking the top spot finishing in a time of 17:02, a minute clear of her team mate Katie Sollis who finished in third. Matthew Wakefield took second place just 30 seconds behind Sophie.
Top marks however must go to the many marshalls and helpers who endured some challenging conditions!
It was good to see Anthony Bliss and his team at the race taking photos so check out www.sussexsportphotography.com later on in the week for race day pictures.
