The sun shone and 2,500 competitors simply flew around the course at the British Airways Run Gatwick races, promoted by Run Series, on Sunday (8 May). The addition of the brand new Gatwick 10K was welcomed and the programme now runs from the original Run Gatwick Half Marathon through to the Family Run, with 10K and 5K stepping stones on the way.

The new Race HQ at Gatwick Aviation Museum also received praise online where the only gripes were access to the car parking and a request for Race Director Dave Kelly to turn the thermostat down a few degrees next time!

The biggest field (1,326 finishers in 3:39:48) went for the half marathon where there was a new course record in the women's race. Helen Gaunt (W40, Tonbridge) raised the bar to 1:20:58 in seventh overall, followed by Amelia Brown (W40 Crawley, 1:24:25) and Laura Ebbs (W40 Reigate, 1:28:20). 

The men's half marathon saw a clear victory for Neil Boniface (Crawley, 1:11:06) from Toby Meanwell (Lewes, 1:14:43) and Ian Blackham (Crawley Saints and Sinners, 1:17:06). Just as in the women's race, the first three were seasoned over-40 veterans.

In our picture above, competitor Stephen Hatton (Lonely Goat, 2:50:15) has his spirits lifted by a supporter in the shade of Ifield Wood, near the aptly named Hillybarn Road.  

The inaugural Gatwick 10K winners were Ayoub Saji (32:33) and Imogen Amos (Tonbridge, 36:09) while in the multi-award-winning Gatwick 5K the leading athletes were Ben Short (Personify Fitness, 15:53) and Stephanie Shaw (Crawley, 18:05). 

The popular Family Run had 302 finishers and a female winner in Angelina Diacci (7:05) who was 14 seconds clear of Arthur Naish (Horley Harriers, 7:19).

Previous event reports and full results can be analysed via runABC South race listing here 

Images courtesy Ian Mulcahy for Run Gatwick