Among the Bank Holiday weekend races that referenced the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla was the Saltash Half Marathon through its magnificent commemorative medals (pictured below) which was held as part of the Saltash Mayfair weekend.

The Half Marathon and supporting Saltash 5K and Fun Run were all based at Longstone Park, Saltash in Cornwall. Longstone Park was originally a plot of land set aside by the Town Council for the construction of a reservoir, being the highest point of land within the old town boundary. The plans for the reservoir never came to fruition but the land was retained for recreation and has since become known by everyone locally as “The Rec."

Recreation was very much on the minds of 250 competitors in this Tamar Trotters promotion that got underway at 11:00am on Sunday 7 May 2023. The Half Marathon and 5K competitors started together, exactly one hour after the Fun Run had been held over 1.8 miles.

First back to "The Rec" after a tour of the outskirts of Saltash, with the River Tamar estuary as a scenic backdrop, were the 5K finishers led by the Newquay & Par junior athlete Dylan Stephens (17:59) from Ross Penney (Plymouth Harriers, 18:31) and M40 master Grant Harvey (Tavistock AC, 19:21).

Another junior under-20 runner won the women's race. Holly Reid (City of Plymouth, 20:02) just missed the 20-minute threshold in fourth place overall to take the women's top prize from her junior club mates Molly Gilbey (22:01) and Abbie Chapman (22:11).

The half marathon runs on a pretty, rural route with highlights that include running alongside Forder Lake at 5 and 11 miles, plus a loop at the village of Trematon, with the motte-and-bailey Trematon Castle mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086).

Leading the procession back into Saltash, proudly displaying race number one, was Lewis Greaves (Highgate Harriers, 1:18:17) from Tavistock AC runner Joe Beaton (1:19:01) and Billy Hayton (Pontypridd Roadents AC, 1:20:06).

There was plenty of experience at the head of the pack in the women's race. W65 Jane Bremmer (Tamar Trotters, 1:44:27) was an understandably popular winner from W45 Soozie Trice (Tavistock AC, 1:46:19) and W50 Debbie Harrison-Webb (Hayle Runners, 1:46:57).

Full results are available via the runABC South race listing here.

Images courtesy of Tamar Trotters' Saltash Half Marathon website and Facebook