try harder.'This event is one of the venerable fixtures in the UK race calendar. Long renowned for its riverside route and early start (8:20am), the breakfast run always draws a big crowd, and this year total numbers topped the 3,000 mark for the first

.Organised by the team behind the London Marathon, the Great City Race is a 5K that brings out the primal instinct in most of the 6,000 or so runners who attend this sellout annual summer event.Although it is an individual race, the USP here is the chance to compete

First man: Aaron Burgess 35:21First woman: Sarah Rendall 40:10Last finisher: 1:21:07No. of finishers: 186RW Rating 2011: 91%Lest you think this race is about fleet-footed fowl battling it out down the home straight of a motor racing track, let me explain. The provenance of the na...

for next year, as well as working up contingency plans in the unlikely event of repeat weather. It would be churlish to dwell on the negatives of what was overall an impressive event that is undoubtedly a great thrill to run under normal conditions