With over half a dozen cancellations in the runABC South race listing at the weekend due to Storm Bert, it was good to see that a runABC Featured Event went ahead, with 3106 windswept and well-weathered finishers!

The Larking Gowen Norwich Half Marathon – a revival of the once popular 13.1-mile race organised by City of Norwich AC – was a sellout and drew this praise from new organisers Good Running Events on Facebook: 

"A huge well done to all of you that braved everything that Bert had to throw at us this morning - to the 3000+ of you that finished this morning's Larking Gowen Norwich Half Marathon. It was fantastic to be back at the Norfolk Showground with you all despite the testing conditions that we all faced. A massive thank you goes to our large team of volunteers for braving the elements to support you all across the event village, marshalling, and water stations."

The weather was not quite as bad as forecast in the end and 166 sub-90-minute chip times were recorded by Total Race Timing. At the top of the list was Michael Eccles, an M40 master from Bure Valley Harriers, in 1:13:11. City of Norwich AC representatives Allcock (1:13:21) and Sam Todd (1:14:23) completed the men's rostrum.

It was all Norwich in the women's race as Mabel Beckett (City of Norwich AC, 1:21:50) took the victory from W40 Kate Murrell (Norwich Road Runners, 1:24:16) and Ella Sharrott (City of Norwich AC, 1:25:55). The top eight women were faster than 1:30:00.

The Norfolk Showground proved to be an excellent venue despite some car parking issues causing delays, particularly on exiting the venue, which the organisers are reviewing and have promised to address for next year. Parking aside, the overall feedback was hugely supportive of the course (despite the hills), marshals, bag drop, toilets, and general arrangements.

Among the most popular features were the 20 pacers who did their best in windy conditions to run even splits for times from 1:30:00 to 2:45:00.

Results are available at the runABC South race listing here.

Photo courtesy Good Running Events on Facebook