THE Avon Valley Runners (AVR) have celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Wiltshire Half Marathon which raised £1,600 for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.
The popular event that began in 2012 is held each year in November with the start at Edington Station Yard and a route which winds through the beautiful Wiltshire countryside including Steeple Ashton and Great Hinton.
As usual, the event raised money for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance. The race directors, club chair Sara Robert, club secretary David Hyde and member Sandra Sharratt visited the base in Semington to deliver a cheque for £1,600. Some of this was raised by selling donated cake to finishers as a treat after their run. 254 runners took part and the race was won by George Gurney of London Heathside Runners AC in 1:10:12 which is also a new course record for the event.
Hot on his heels was his brother and AVR member, Tom Gurney who finished second in 1:14:49. The women’s race was won by Annabel Granger of Bristol and West AC in 1:22:52. This year’s event also had two new race directors; Vicky Bodman and Hayley Anderson. With the 10th Anniversary of the run, they wanted to make sure each runner had a really special experience and commissioned bespoke finishers’ t-shirts and medals.
Vicky said, “We are so happy with how the event went. We’ve had great reviews from our entrants about the race, especially our volunteer marshals who line the course to support the runners. It shows how much of a real community Avon Valley Runners are to bring an event like this together.”
Their army of AVR volunteers also received a volunteers’ t-shirt to thank them for their time. The club would like to thank their many sponsors for their support in putting on the event: Gary Daniell Sports Massage and Personal Training, Gooding Accounts, ElevateOM, Box Steam Brewery, Travis Perkins, Apetito, Wiltshire Farm Foods, Dick Lovett Jaguar Land Rover, Forest Promotions, Kingstons Estate Agents, Paxtons Estate Agents, Lovejoys Wholesale, Melksham Motor Spares, Williams Renovations and Booker. This year’s event is being held on Sunday 26th November.
Training plans are available on the AVR website here: www.avonvalleyrunners.org.uk/avr-half-marathon-training-schedules