Swanage Half Marathon, 29th July 2006
OH we do like to be beside the seaside! Well, Barry Hards had fun in the sun when he competed in the Swanage Half Marathon to finish eighth on the day.
This was only the second running of the half marathon. Previously, the Swanage 12 was one of the oldest established road races in the country and Dorset's oldest race.
But then in 2005, the race changed from an 11.7-mile dash across the beautiful Purbeck countryside, to an undulating 13-mile run which takes runners on a route out from Swanage, around Corfe Castle and back to the seafront.
The half marathon is staged as part of the Swanage Carnival celebrations.
Barry was certainly in a celebratory mood with his eighth place finish, clocking 1hr 24min 3sec. The race was won by Bournemouth AC's Mark Hargreaves in 1:16.54, while the first woman was Janie Chapman in 1:36.55.