Swindon Half
IF nothing else, the guy’s consistent. Two weeks ago at the Great North Run, Dave King clocked exactly 1hr 37min for the half marathon distance.
At the weekend, in the less crowded surroundings of the Nationwide Swindon Half Marathon, the Stubby runner ran 1:37.06 for 140th place in a field of 1,058 runners.
Dave has recently moved jobs to the Wiltshire town, and this was a chance to learn more about the area. The race was run along roads from Swindon and out into the countryside, yet amazingly the route was kept traffic-free. The run was very hilly, but marked by friendly crowds and officials.
Three days earlier, Dave and fellow Stubby Mark Hindry took part in a 10km charity race at the Immigration Removal Centre at Haslar. Organised by the physical training instructors at the Gosport facility, the race featured detainees, warders and their relatives, plus some guest runners. The organisers are hoping for more runners from outside to take part.
The race consisted of seven laps inside the detention centre, starting and finishing on the sports field and on a course which crept round the buildings of the IRC lined by a huge wall and fence.
Dave won the race in a time of 46min 26sec, with Mark second a minute behind. “That must rank as the slowest winning time of any 10km race in the country,” said Dave. “And no, the detainees who took part were not wearing balls and chains!”
Click here for Swindon Half pics.