SIS Longleat 10km race near Warminster, 5th Feb 2006
THE LIONS of Longleat roared on hundreds of runners, including Stubbington's Keith Whittaker for the SIS Longleat 10km race near Warminster.
With the safari park nearby, Keith ran a very respectable 46min 10sec for 135th, which was good enough to win the Male 55 veteran's category.
Championship chip timing was used for the race, and Keith went through 3km in 14:38. Paul Freary from Belgrave Harriers won the race in 32min 39sec.
Top female runner was Sian Monahan from Bristol & West AC, who clocked 38:32. The race attracted 1,070 finishers, starting and finishing at Longleat House in Wiltshire, the home of the Marquis of Bath.
Organised by Mike Gratton's Farnborough-based 2:09 Events Ltd, this was the second staging of the race which was run on a figure of eight route.
For the huge field, this was a mostly undulating route, but with a stiff hill soon after the start and at 7km in the race, plus a short, sharp rise at 5km.
The finish was a spectacular straight run downhill towards the spectacular Longleat House along Lodge Drive, enabling entrants to put in a rapid final 800m.