Half marathon is runaway success

The town's first ever half marathon took place amid light winds, mild temperatures and glorious clear skies along the seafront on Sunday. That, coupled with a field of around 400 runners aged 17-72 from as far afield as Edinburgh, meant that the inaugural race was "a fantastic success".

"It was a great day," said organiser Lee Holdaway. "The whole atmosphere was very friendly and it was a good quality field considering it was our first time. There were a lot more people than we thought and it all went much better than we expected. It could build into something quite special."

The day was quite special for Seaford Striders' Geoff Gray, who crossed the line first in a time of one hour 15 minutes 59 seconds. Gill Wheeler (Hailsham Harriers), a regular at Bexhill Runners' seafront series events, was the first lady back in a very respectable 1.26.24.

The race joined the Seafront Series run annually over the last four years by Bexhill Runners, which comprises four five kilometre races and a 10 kilometre event.

And, like any great race, the Bexhill Half Marathon had a lovely tale to tell at the end of it. The start was delayed to cope with those arriving late due to the partial closure of the M25. But that was still too early for Wendy Smith. Wendy finally arrived for the race at 3.30pm after spending five hours stuck in traffic. Undeterred, Wendy completed the course in two hours 31 minutes to collect the 600 which she was raising for charity.

The race ended on its usual high note for the runners, who were treated to free medals, tea and cakes courtesy of Kath, Gill and Stella from the Russells Caf. Bexhill Runners would like to thank all those who give up their spare time to help organise and marshal the event.

Holdaway continued: "There's definitely going to be a race next year. I would like to see it grow but it's whether the town or the council would be happy to support it, although not in a financial sense. It's nice on the seafront. It's a different ball game (on the roads) and I don't think it's worth it."

Results - Men: 1 Geoff Gray (Seaford Striders) 1.15.59, 2 Chris Phelan (Stragglers) 1.15.00, 3 Tatsuo Yoshiwara (Invicta East Kent AC) 1.18.00.

Women: 1 Gill Wheeler (Hailsham Harriers) 1.26.24, 2 Kathrine Crawford 1.38.39, 3 Julie Wildey 1.39.40.

Bexhill Runners: Danny Garbett 1.34.09, Mark Clayton 1.46.18, Jackie Blake 1.50.29, John Newman 1.56.54, Ian Sillince 2.00.59, Helen Unwin 2.05.34, Sarah Baltruschat 2.08.58, Jenny Rhodes 2.10.50.

1K fun run: 1 April Johns 3.41, 2 Stacey Clusker 3.57, 3 Tim Forsyth 4.03. A full list of all the results can be found at www.bexhillrunners.co.uk