It's Grand on Brighton's promenade
It is just past the midpoint of the year between editions of the sell out 13.1 mile The Grand Brighton Half Marathon. Time is of the essence to secure your entry for the special 30th anniversary race on Sunday 23 February 2020, so read on for essential information on this huge 10,000 runner event.
The Grand Brighton Half Marathon – named in honour of headline sponsor The Grand Hotel – will celebrate 30 years with a specially struck anniversary medal. Money raised from the inaugural race helped to fund the building of Sussex Beacon, the charity that now organises the race.
This year's winner was Paul Navesey (Crawley, 1:04:56) from defending champion Paul Pollock (Kent AC, 1:06:35) and 2018 runner-up Paul Martelletti (Victoria Park, 1:07:06).
The top three in the women's race were Fiona de Mauny (Herne Hill Harriers, 1:20:25), Emily Proto (Arena 80, 1:20:46) – third in 2018 – and Rose Penfold (Fulham RC, 1:21:18).
There were 7,410 finishers in 4:10:00 and nearly 3,500 beat two hours on the fast and flat seafront course, with amazing crowd support and enthusiastic marshals.
The course record holders are believed to be Paul Martelletti (1:04:53 in 2016) and Eleanor Davis of Preston Harriers (1:14:26 in 2017) although accurate results only go back 25 years to 1995 – from when our historic photo above was taken. Note the Gatorade drinks station and the apparently exhausted Brighton athlete - anyone recognise him?
Enduring features of The Grand Brighton Half Marathon include the vibrant beachfront race village, pacers provided by RunBrighton and the popular youth races over the final mile of the main event. There is also the Sussex Beacon Relay for teams of four who divide the 21kms into just over 5k sections, aiming to raise vital funds for services for people living with HIV.
Both races start on Madiera Drive beside the famous statue of Steve Ovett, the Brighton resident who won the 1980 Moscow Olympic 800m gold and set numerous world records.
Full race details and entry information at The Grand Brighton Half Marathon website here
Image from the 1995 race courtesy Sussex Beacon/The Grand Brighton Half Marathon.