Nearly 5,000 runners took part in the latest edition of the ABP Southampton Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, and Kid's Fun Run – now happily settled back into its traditional spring slot on Sunday 7 April 2024.

One man with a spring in his step was Ian Howard (AKA The Cube – pictured above) who was chasing the Guinness World Record for the fastest half marathon dressed as a rotating puzzle cube (male). Ian took all the twists and turns in his stride as the 1:45:00 pacer and his 1:44:34 chip (1:44:47 gun) time easily surpassed the listed 1:53:38 record held by Ian Stewart, who set his time in the 2018 Great North Run.

The ABP Southampton Half Marathon was won by local favourite – and twice former ABP Southampton Marathon champion – Richard Waldron (Southampton AC, 1:14:33) from French athlete Nicolas Besson (M40 Serpentine RC, 1:16:37) and Southampton University's James Crombie (1:16:37). The top three women were Lucy Short (1:29:59), Nikki Whitehead (1:33:13) and Nicky Nelson (1:34:28). There were 2,127 finishers in just over four hours.

The flagship ABP Southampton Marathon enjoys a scenic two-lap course from Southampton's Guildhall Square. The route features St Mary's Football Stadium, riverside and dockland views, and spectacular double crossings of Itchen Bridge and Northam Bridge over the River Itchen.

There were 872 marathon runners who had to battle high winds to finish the course in seven hours. The top men were Joe Beaton (Tavistock RC, 2:33:41), Jonty Griffiths (2:35:20) and Joshua Price (Isle of Wight RR, 2:38:09). The leading ladies were Hannah Traylen (3:08:01), Emma O'Toole (3:16:17) and Anna Lees (Springfield Striders, 3:24:54).

This year's 10K winners were Brandon Cuell (Fareham RC, 36:18) and Sarah Kingston (39:56) of Southampton AC. The fastest 5K runners were Ben West (17:24) and Hannah Maher (18:46) as 1,612 took these options and a further 228 did the Fun Run.

We don't have a comment from The Cube but we are sure he would have said: "It all just clicked into place on the day"! You can contribute to Ian Howard's Southampton Hospitals Charity appeal here.

Results and previous stories are at the runABC South race listing here.

Images courtesy ABP Southampton Marathon on Facebook