Jo Pavey (pictured above, #33) first came to notice as a precocious young athlete who set a British under-15 record for 1500m (4:27.9) winning the English Schools title at Yeovil in 1988. Fast forward to 2021 via five Olympic Games appearances, multiple UK titles, and a glorious gold in the European 10,000m in 2014 and Britain's most durable distance runner is still winning races.

runABC interviewed Jo Pavey just before the 2019 Running4Women Windsor Women's 10K. The Exeter Harrier and Team Saucony athlete was acting as race ambassador and official starter two years ago but as our race report explained at the time she couldn't resist joining in and finished second (37:50) to Charlotte Taylor-Green (Bristol & West, 35:58).

This year, after a Covid-enforced absence in 2020, the Running4Women Windsor Women's 10K was back in the magnificent surroundings of Windsor Great Park on Saturday (25 September) and Jo Pavey returned to set the pace and claim first place in 36:19.

Katie Brown (Trent Park Trotters/Team Saucony) delighted her personal and event sponsor Saucony with a personal best of 37:23 in second place. Natalie Hallas (Chiltern Harriers, 41:25) was third. There were 821 finishers in 1:45:37 and the Business Challenge was won by the team from GSK.

The quality was high with 35 women inside 50 minutes and 230 beating the hour on this testing but rewarding tour of the highlights of Windsor Great Park including Copper Horse Statue, Royal Lodge, Royal Chapel, Cumberland Lodge, Royal School, and Queen Elizabeth II Statue. But the most welcome sight is Windsor Castle itself as the runners sweep down The Long Walk towards one of the most dramatic finish lines seen anywhere.

The 17th Running4Women Windsor Women's 10K opened the 2021 Windsor Running Festival and the competitors were treated to a dynamic group warm-up with Amie Louise Moves on the stage. The main event was preceded by the Sprite Sprint for 5 to 9-year-olds.

Windsor Running Festival continued on Sunday 26 September with the 38th running of the Windsor Half Marathon and runABC South will also be reporting on that event this week.  

Results and previous race reports are available via runABC South's race listing service

Image of top three finishers courtesy Running4Women on Facebook