The Kingston Breakfast Run, but not as you know it

Race report: Lidl Kingston Breakfast Run - March 15, 2015

One of Human Race’s longest running events, the Kingston Breakfast Run, returned on 15th March 2015 but with some fairly big changes. This year was the first year with new title partner, Lidl, and upon arrival on this crisp spring morning it was pretty hard to miss their involvement with the amount of branding boards and flags they had in place.

In addition to Lidl’s involvement, it was the first time the event had featured the new 20 mile route which provided many runners with the perfect distance option for those training for a spring marathon just a few weeks later. The other distances on offer were the old favourites: the 8.2 mile and 16.2 mile options.

Not only did the range of distances offer the perfect marathon preparation training, a staple of the Human Race Marathon Training Pace Series is the range of Garmin Pacers spread throughout the course. They offer participants the chance to run the race pace they want to with pacers that range from the rapid 6 min/mile to the more conservative 12 min/mile pace.

Due to the distance they had ahead of them, the first group of runners to start were the 20 milers, a distance which sold out well in advance of the event and featured over 500 runners on the start line. Then, after a 30 minute pause to allow the 20 milers to be well clear, both the 8.2 and 16.2 milers were set off in small groups depending on what pace they wanted to run at.

The first group, running with the 6 min/mile Garmin pacer (who had to use a bike to ensure he kept at the correct speedy pace!), sped off rapidly and it wasn’t long until we welcomed home the first 8.2 mile finishers.

Photos: The first 3 8.2 milers (l-r) Paul, Peter and Claudio. Sarah Kingston, the first 16.2 mile female

It was a close finish for the 8.2 milers with Peter Orme winning the first finisher in a field of over 800 runners in a rapid time of 49:43. He beat Paul Edwards into second place by just 3 seconds with Claudio Picco from the Hillingdon Triathletes coming third in 49:53. All three commented on how they enjoyed the flat course but Paul particularly highlighted the difficulty of the return section of the route where runners faced some fairly strong head winds at times along the river. The first 3 women home in the 8.2 mile distance were led in by Rachel Jones who was victorious in a time of 52:36, followed by Emma Froud (53:44) and Caroline Kelly (54:52).

The 16.2 mile race wasn’t quite as close but was equally as competitive with an impressive 750 runners taking on this distance. The winner was Nathan Smeaton of Clapham Chasers who finished in a time of 1:31:32 ahead of Edward Calmur from Thames Hare & Hounds who posted a 1:32:08. Behind these two, and completing a trio of London club runners, was third placed Robin Jones who finished in 1:33:41 representing the Herne Hill Harriers. The women’s 16.2 mile field was dominated by the aptly named Sarah Kingston from Worthing Harriers who crossed the finish line in a time of 1:40:17, almost a full 14 minutes ahead of her closest rival. This rival was runner up Justine Lynch from Belgrave Harriers who finished in 1:54:04 followed by Ana Lees in 1:56:08 who came third.

Considering the distances ran, the 20 mile race was a close affair with the top three places separated by just one and a half minutes. The winner of the inaugural 20 mile distance was a delighted Nicholas Tworney from Ranelagh Harriers who won in a time of 2:00:32 and echoed other runners’ comments about the race featuring a “nice flat course” for them to enjoy. He was closely followed throughout the race by second placed Desmond Moore from Cambridge University who finished in 2:01:32 and taking third spot was Christopher Oddy from Serpentine RC in 2:02:03. Becoming the first ever female to finish the 20 mile distance at the Lidl Kingston Breakfast Run was Yasmeen Hussain who finished in a time of 2:17:53. Second place was Happy Tremayne (2:19:52) followed by Gemma Farrell of One Triathlon in third (2:20:33).

It wasn’t all about the winners though, a vast amount of the field were taking part purely for fun or to complete a challenging distance, whichever one that was for them. Of these an impressive 175 were running in support of official charity Breast Cancer Care, all raising thousands of pounds to fund free services for anyone affected by breast cancer. This was about 50 more people than supported them in last year’s race and one of them, Mike Wheeler who only started running in May 2014, was delighted with his run. He had raised £150 so far for Breast Cancer Care and said “if I can do it then anyone can do it” followed by “blimey, I’m shattered” (or words to that effect!). He was sporting a notably colourful outfit comprising of Breast Cancer Care’s signature pink and orange colours combined with his essential bright green CEP compression socks. Stressing their importance to his running he said that he’d done three PB’s in his three races wearing them (including this race) and “after training runs my legs aren’t knackered anymore thanks to these socks”.

Photos: Nicholas Tworney winning the 20 mile distance. The men's 20mile podium

This wasn’t the most interesting or impressive of outfits by any stretch of the imagination. There were plenty of striking looks on show including Andrew Button who donned a pink fairy outfit to show his support to Breast Cancer Care on what was Mothering Sunday. But the prize for the best running kit must go to the runners who ran in a full rhino outfit, one of these was Paul Cuddeford who completed 16.2 miles in it!

It was great to see a team of over 50 Lidl staff coming together to take on the 8.2 mile distance all looking the part wearing the official event t-shirt, including Lidl’s UK MD Ronny Gottschlich. However, Lidl’s greatest impact on the day was the fantastic goody bags they provided for all finishers. The bags not only featured some of Lidl’s best items such as a large bag of muesli, a pack of 40 Knightsbridge tea bags and a much appreciated 200g luxury chocolate bar, but also included a Spatone liquid iron supplement, a Vita Coco coconut water and a £5 voucher to spend at your nearest Lidl store. Also not forgetting the traditional Breakfast Run finishers mug this year designed by one of the participants Sarah Miller. Social media was abuzz with great feedback for the goody bags including Ian Cox who said Lidl had provided the “swag bag of the year”, and Josephine Perry who said “if you do a running race do one sponsored by Lidl – best goody bag ever!”.

Elsewhere in the competitor village was the Garmin Hire tent where runners could pre-reserve a Garmin running watch to try for free at the event. One runner who did just that was Jaime-Leigh Maynard who enjoyed being able to test one out and commented that it was “more accurate than just an app on your phone” and “much nicer to have on your wrist when running”. There was also post run massage provided by Physio&Therapy for those who needed to ease any sore muscles, and Breast Cancer Care where on hand to offer more information about the great work they do and to support their team of runners with treats. That was on top of providing an inspiring on course cheer point to encourage runners onto the finish.

Amongst the two thousand plus taking part were a couple of the Human Race team who were both using the 20 mile distance as their very own spring marathon preparation. Megan from customer services did the distance in 2:53:11 and found it pretty tough. So tough in fact after finishing she commented that it was “such a far way” – so tiredness was clearly affecting her speech there! The second team member was Flo from marketing who finished in a time of 3:21:00 and quickly tucked into a delicious Zipvit chocolate protein recovery bar to re-fuel.

Zipvit were on hand to fuel all participants in the run with their great range of high performance energy gels and drink available for free on the course. Plus, for a couple of weeks after the run, they are offering all Lidl Kingston Breakfast Run entrants 25% off any online orders made through the Zipvit website (www.zipvit.co.uk/sports-nutrition.html) just by quoting the code ‘ZVBREAKFASTRUN’.

Next up in the Human Race Marathon Training Pace Series is when we go back to Kingston for the Garmin Kingston Run Challenge in October with entries due to open for this soon. However if you’re looking for something a little different why not check out our fun series of 5km Run or Dye colour events taking place throughout the summer. Alternatively check out our other Lidl title sponsored event, the Lidl BananaMan Triathlon on 11th July at Dorney Lake, where instead of a providing everyone with a great goody bag, they offer a free BBQ for all participants and spectators alike!

Photos: Mike Wheeler taking part for Breast Cancer Care. The Lidl goody bag, minus the finishers mug

Men's 8 mile results

Women's 8 mile results

Men's 16 mile results

Women's 16 mile results

Men's 20 mile results

Women's 20 mile results

For the full list of Lidl Kingston Breakfast Run provisional results click here