Where Worthing, West Sussex
When April 1, 2007
First Man Nick Baker 1:56:22
First Woman Georgia McNicol 2:26:24
Last Finisher 5:28:36
No. of Finishers 631
A four-lap 20-miler on a windy day by the sea... it sounds like a particularly cruel April Fools’ joke. The Worthing Harriers’ popular fixture went down a storm though with the 700 or so runners who lined up at 9am to tackle the fast, flat course.
That the chip-timed event is run over four well-marked laps makes it a good test of pacing, and frequent drinks stations and silky-smooth traffic control from the many friendly marshals meant runners could concentrate fully on the job in hand.
The headwind along the seafront section was stiff to say the least, although it transformed into a helpful push along some of the residential roads that made up the inland part of the course.
Finishers received an unusual but useful memento – a towel – and finish times were online before the day was over. At the prize-giving, the Harrier on the Tannoy remarked that this race mostly functions as a training run for Flora London Marathon hopefuls. She may have been selling her club’s event short – many runners agreed this is a fine race in its own right.
