Just under 3,000 runners brought Priory Park, Reigate to life on Sunday (18 September) at the 8th hosting of Run Reigate with its packed programme from Kids Races for young athletes aged 4-15 up to the concluding Run Reigate Half Marathon that anchors the entire festival.

There were 780 finishers in 3:42:47 in the Andrews Estate Agents sponsored Run Reigate Half Marathon, with many positive comments left on social media – most praising the smiling marshalls and general organisation of this well-established fixture in the South race calendar.

There was a rare dead heat (on gun times) as Aldershot, Farnham & District athletes Alex Pointon and Joe Morwood shared 1:09:28 at the finish line. The victory was awarded to Pointon by two seconds on chip timing with 1:09:26, just outside his 2017 PB (1:09:08). M40 Chris Mullin (Kent AC, 1:15:00) was third overall and first master athlete. 

The women's race was more clear-cut as the lightly raced Hannah Hawken (unattached, 1:25:51 PB) raced clear of W45 Ginevra Stoneley (Reigate Priory AC, 1:28:04) and W50 Sharon Walker (Dorking and Mole Valley AC, 1:28:27) – one of more than 60 to beat 90 minutes despite the hills on the fully-closed road course on a single lap through the Surrey countryside.  

The Run Reigate 10K was a popular choice, with 709 finishers in 1:34:21. The winners here were Reigate Priory AC juniors Oscar Curry (36:17) and Lucy Denece (42:18) – with both making their 10K debuts.

Crawley AC representatives Ben Short (16:56) and Amelia Cox (20:02) took the honours in the traditional Run Reigate 5K and the newly introduced Teens 5K produced another double for Reigate Priory AC athletes as under-15s James Beaty (21:25) and Florence Shade (23:24) led the way.

The Kids Races were a bright spectacle as the colour-coded T-shirts for designated age groups set off for a lap inside the park, with the fastest times being set by Year 8 pupils Daniel Street (Epsom and Ewell Harriers, 6:28) and Isla Kinniburgh (Reigate Priory AC, 6:54).

All the results and previous reports are available at runABC South race listing here

Early Bird entries for Run Reigate 2023 (until 1 October) are available here

Image of the Half Marathon start courtesy of Run Reigate on Facebook