Race report by Dave Phillips.
Well all I can say is this was not BIG it was HUGE. Never before in a short race have I been with so many runners-about1,700! Car parking in Stratford was manic and the loo queues near the start area were so long that holding on to anything waiting for an empty loo must have been a nightmare.
There were time pens in the park before we walked out onto the Shipston road to the start area and from the middle where I was all you could see up the road to the top and back to the park was a huge mass of runners.
Great for me as I knew I wouldn’t be alone!!
So at 0930 we started on closed roads with great marshals and plenty of company-even if most of it passed me. Lovely scenic route and then at the 5k mark we turned onto the Greenway (old railway track) which is part of the Stratford marathon that you do twice. So with other runs I must have done this part c 75 times I reckon over the years. At this rate it’ll probably be part of HS2 and I could catch a train next time to the finish!
Eventually the racecourse and the River Avon came into view and we were soon on the edge of town, past Holy Trinity Church for the final ½ mile, past the Sunday Market and over the Avon for the sprint finish where a huge medal, water and bananas greeted us.
Plus and unknown to me my daughter Anna and her daughter Eleanor (7 years old) had come along and were shouting me in. Only to find out that Eleanor was doing the 1k Kids Run Free event so well done so we now have 2 medals in the family after today’s events. Well done also to Martine and Kids Run Free for the fantastic work they do to get kids running (not big kids like me but youngsters). Loads of kids ran and there were even 3 and 4 year olds running so what a day! Don’t think I ran any race at that age.
So well done Tempo Events for another superb event and see you at the Illmington 10k in Oct.
Worcester half marathon next week I reckon.
Massey time: Dave Phillips 1hr 17 mins.