Where York, North Yorkshire
When January 21, 2007
First Man Gary Dunn 1:08:50
First Woman Hayley Haining 1:12:07
Last Finisher 2:45:44
No. of finishers 1,010
The clue’s in the name – it’s a good idea to wrap up warm for this popular and friendly midwinter event. The snow forecast for this year’s running didn’t make an appearance in the end, but nippy winds hastened everyone’s progress around the fast, flat, out-and-back course.
The outlook is pleasantly rural but the course is run entirely on roads (complete with plenty of huge muddy puddles to test everyone’s agility).
The many fans of Brass Monkey declare it to be the best half in Britain, although the 2:45 cut-off may have put off some beginners and slower runners. The back-markers were never lonely though, thanks to the numerous and exceptionally upbeat marshals.
The clubhouse, at York race course, offered a warm welcome at the end. Appropriately, all finishers received a cosy sweatshirt (supplies just about held out), and a video of the event was on display for anyone who wanted to watch themselves gurning in the cold.
Minor gripes included a 10-minute delay on the start line (not fun at this time of year) and some inconsistencies over places and finish times in the provisional results list, though the organisers were working on rectifying this at the time of going to press.
