Some 10,000 runners will pull
on their gear
and start their jogging engines at the home
of British
motor racing this Sunday in the
official warm-up race for next month’s
Virgin London Marathon.
The adidas Half Marathon on
6th March takes
its annual place in Britain’s distance running
calendar
as runners from all over the UK
head to the iconic Silverstone race
track in Northamptonshire to test their
fitness over the 13.1 mile
course just
six weeks before the 31st London
Marathon on Sunday 17th
April.
Twelve months ago Bedford’s
British international Liz Yelling
celebrated her second competitive
appearance since giving birth to her
first child in 2009 with her third
victory
in this event, while Toby Lambert from
Winchester won the men’s
race ahead
of 2009 winner Darran Bilton of Leeds.
Bilton is back in 2011 keen to
regain
the title, while Andy Raynor of Blackheath
and Bromley will be
his most likely
challenger. In the women’s race, Lucy
Owen should figure
among the leaders
as Yelling, the course record holder,
concentrates on
her final preparations
for April’s big race, her first full marathon
since 2008.
Among the other notable names
who will come under starter’s orders
at 12 noon will be former model and
TV star Katie Price, TV actress
Jo-Emma Larvin, TV motor
sport
presenter Charlie Webster,
BBC Sports Presenter Mike Bushell
and singer
Jay Aston, a former
Eurovision Song contest winner
with 1980s pop
quartet Bucks Fizz.
Numerous soap stars will also
be running, such as Emmerdale’s
Tony Audenshaw, Chris Chittell,
Tom
Lister, Chris Villiers and
Nicola Wheeler, Taggart’s John
Michie,
Richard Harrington
from Candleford, Ben
Jones from Doctors,
Mark
Lewis-Jones from Silent
Witness, Robin Hood,
Craig Gazie from
Coronation
Street, all of whom are honing
their preparations for the
full
marathon next month.
While Silverstone has been a
home to motor racing for more
than 60 years, its role as a
distance
running venue is relatively
recent, dating back to 2 March
2003 when the
first Silverstone half
marathon was held.
Swindon athlete Matt O’Dowd
made the most of the glorious
conditions that year to become t
he first
men’s champion in 65:40,
a time beaten only once since,
when Tipton’s
Matt Smith completed
the looping course in 65:23 in 2005.
The first
women’s winner was Amy Stiles,
while Yelling set course records in both
2007 and 2008.
Even on half marathon day,
racing tyres
aren’t entirely absent from the Silverstone
tarmac as elite
wheelchair races have
been part of the event since 2005.
Shaho Qadir
won the first three wheelchair
races and held the course record until
2009 when Brian Alldis smashed it by
more than seven minutes in 53:15.
Alldis returned last year to slice another
15 seconds from the record as
he retained
his title.
Andrew Cheek will be pushing
for the wheelchair victory in 2011
after finishing second in 2005,
while
Nikki Emmerson has her
eyes on being first woman home
for the third year in a row. Emmerson
was fourth in last year’s Virgin London
Marathon ahead of Shelly Woods.
Alongside them all will be
many of
the country’s best club runners plus
throngs of fun runners,
fund raisers
and fancy dress joggers enjoying a day
out at one of the
country’s most famous
sporting venues while tuning up to play
their part
in one its greatest sporting events.
by Larry Eder
