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Sally Gunnell

Famous Names Announced As Run Gatwick Ambassadors

Multi-award winning race director, Dave Kelly, certainly knows how to engage famous names from the sport. The man behind the top rated Intersport Run Reigate Half Marathon & 10K has added the inaugural British Airways Run Gatwick to his 'to do list' and the new event has just named Sally Gunnell OBE, Iwan Thomas MBE and Colin Jackson CBE as official starters.

British Airways Run Gatwick takes place on Sunday 13 May 2018. The scenic route will take runners on fully closed routes through the parks, towns and beautiful West Sussex countryside around Gatwick Airport.

Former world 400m hurdles record holder and the 1992 Olympic gold medallist Sally Gunnell will be joining in with the pre-race warm-up and starting the Family Run mile for young runners aged 4 and above. Sally has held the UK 400mH record since 1993 (52.74).

Iwan Thomas, the Welsh former European and Commonwealth 400m champion has held the UK record (44.36) for 20 years. He will also be taking part in the warm-up and starting the Corporate 5K before joining the race himself. Iwan is a regular at his local Netley Abbey parkrun, with a recent sub-20 minute time, so expect him to overtake quite a few runners.

Colin Jackson was the world's foremost 110m sprint hurdler for a decade during which time he set the world and current UK record (12.91) in 1993. The former double world champion was undefeated in European Championships for 12 years and has held the world indoor 60mH record (7.30) for 24 years. Colin's role will be to start the International Half Marathon at 9am.

All three former athletes are ambassadors for Flying Start, the global charity partnership between British Airways and Comic Relief. The presence of such popular faces in athletics will provide great inspiration to the thousands of competitors set to take part in British Airways Run Gatwick in less than two weeks.

Race director Dave Kelly said: “We are delighted to confirm that Sally Gunnell, Iwan Thomas and Colin Jackson will be joining us at the inaugural British Airways Run Gatwick. Participants can look forward to warming up alongside them and it is very exciting to have high profile official starters for all three races. This will be a fantastic day for runners of all ages and abilities and we are looking forward to delivering a first class event on 13 May.”

Iwan ThomasEntries are still open to all races. Entry costs £36 for the International Half Marathon and £25 for the 5K or Corporate 5K. Entry to the Family Run costs £12 for children 4-15 years and £1 for accompanying adults.

Full details are available at the British Airways Run Gatwick website here

Images of Sally Gunnell and Iwan Thomas courtesy British Airways Run Gatwick

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