A record field of 334 runners contested the 2009 Bradley Stoke 10k Run in warm conditions on the final day of the town’s three-day Community Festival.
The race started and finished at the Jubilee Centre in Savages Wood Road and featured ‘chip’ timing for the first time in its short history.
Bradley Stoke Mayor Mark Forsyth got the race under way at 10am and the runners streamed out of the Jubilee Centre car park, along Savages Wood Road and down Brook Way before turning left onto the Three Brooks Path just before the Braydon Avenue roundabout.
The race route took the runners to the south of the town before they headed up Bradley Stoke Way and back into the nature reserve, where they passed the lakes once more before heading up to Primrose Bridge. From there the runners headed down Brook Way before turning right to rejoin the Three Brooks Path, which took them back up to the Jubilee Centre.
Victory in the race went to Gary Hope of Gloucester club Severn AC, national champion at 5000m in the 40+ category, who finished over a minute ahead of his closest rival in a time of 33:36. Second place went to Andrew Harrison of Team Moti (35:00), followed by Peter Morton (36:13).
The winner’s time was nearly two minutes faster than the winning time in last year’s race (held over a slightly different course as the race then started near the Leisure Centre).
First woman home was Joanne Heuze of Cardiff club Village Vipers in a time of 41:17, with Elizabeth Smith of Westbury Harriers second (41:57) and Naomi Eaton of Weston AC third (42.02).
In keeping with the community-oriented spirit of the race, the prize giving ceremony was held back until the last of the fun runners had crossed the finish line – in a time of around 90 minutes.
Organising club Sole Sisters estimates that two-thirds of the runners came from the local community. Full race results are expected to appear on the club’s website later today (Monday).
Take a look in our PicasaWeb gallery for nearly 400 photos of the 2009 Bradley Stoke 10k Run, taken at the start/finish and around the course.
