It takes a small army of volunteers to safely marshal any race and the Hadleigh 2012 Legacy 10K Run at Hadleigh Country Park on Sunday 19 March 2023 was no exception. Here are the 35 smiling hi-viz heroes from Castle Point Joggers and friends who are sharing the same hopes for some sunshine as the solar panels on the roof of the building behind them!

Hadleigh Country Park, overlooking the Thames Estuary near Southend on Sea, is one of those London 2012 Olympics legacy venues as it was used to host the Olympic Mountain Biking races. That sport continues there today but the area also lends itself to some of the toughest trail running terrain in the UK, as the previous course records of 39:43 (Chris Halton) and 46:47 (Jackie Stretton) shall attest.

We say previous course records because both were revised on Sunday, despite rather sticky conditions underfoot. First to go was the men's record as Jim Gordon (39:07) knocked 36 seconds off the old standard. The prolific parkrunner has a best of 16:57 at Colchester Castle parkrun last September and is a member of Leeds University AC.

The runners-up on the technical course were Shay Joyce (Orion Harriers, 40:25) and Ellis Swindell (Benfleet RC, 41:14) as large gaps appeared between the leading contenders. There were 300 finishers in 2:16:07.

W35 Jackie Stretton (Springfield Striders, 41:59) took her own record below 42 minutes with a massive 4:48 improvement. Jackie was followed home by W35 Laura Blazey (St Edmunds Pacers, 45:42) and W35 Laura Wise (unattached, 50:16).

Among those who enjoyed their run was Andrew Forrest who said on social media: "My first time today but it certainly won’t be my last. Fantastic event. Thank you to all the organisers and marshals for your encouragement. See you next year!"

Andrew finished in a respectable 19th position in 49:09, one of only 23 athletes to beat 50 minutes on a course that race management company Nice Work describes as: "A challenging course, but expect hills, more hills, mud, and more mud!"

This award-winning race is promoted by Castle Point Joggers, active since 1975, and supported by Nice Work race management.

Results are available via runABC South race listing here.

Image courtesy Hadleigh Legacy 10K Run on Facebook