Swanage Half Marathon
THE Purbeck hills proved a tough task for competitors in the Swanage Half Marathon.
Stubbington's Dave King took part in the 13-miler which is one of the longest-running races in the UK. It was originally known as the Swanage 12, but for the past couple of years has added the extra mile.
That mile was felt by the runners on a sweltering hot day in Dorset, with the first seven miles made up of a non-stop series of searing climbs and descents to Corfe Castle. The second half of the run back into Swanage provides gentler running.
"I made the big mistake of trying to out-run a group of six Gurkhas who made mincemeat of me," said Dave, who finished 90th in a time of 1hr 46min 18sec. "That is my slowest half for some time, but I felt it. So much so that I abandoned plans to compete in the Great Wales Run the following day."
The race was won by Blackheath Harrier's Jamie Atrinson in a time of 1:12.51. The leading lady was 30th placed Belinda Tull from Reading Road Runners in 1:33.57. A total of 280 runners took part.