The David Cliff Wokingham Half Marathon has been producing super-fast times since 1984. The 2025 edition on Sunday 23 February didn't buck that trend as four men saw finishing times beginning with 65 minutes and three women ducked under 75 minutes on the fast, flat rural roads around the Berkshire market town that can trace its history back to Saxon times.

On a weekend that was jam-packed with top races in the runABC South region, the fully- subscribed Wokingham Half Marathon stood out with 2,857 finishers in 3:20:40. Nearly 600 of those went inside 90 minutes, and more than 2,000 beat two hours!

First to return to the historic town centre and the finish line in Cantley Park was Joshua Grace (Aldershot, Farnham & District, 1:05:31) closely followed by Alex Lawrence (Victoria Park Harriers & Tower Hamlets AC, 1:05:35), James Reeder (Team Bath AC, 1:05:51 PB) and Finley Proffitt (Trafford AC, 1:05:53) on his half marathon debut.

Annabel Gummow (Herts Phoenix AC, 1:12:57 PB) was a clear winner of the women's race from Lauren Hall (Aldershot, Farnham & District, 1:14:30 PB) and Charlotte Taylor (Bristol & West AC, 1:14:59) – who just ducked inside 75 minutes on chip timing.

Participants enjoyed the fully closed roads, race village with catering, massage, kit tent, changing and showers, bespoke race medals, pace runners, and bib-tag race timing. Elite athletes had free entry and the winning times moved the leading athletes into the top ten half-marathon performances for 2025 on the UK rankings.

Gummow's 1:12:57 PB was the fastest women's time in Britain this year and Grace's result was the second-best on British soil in 2025 despite the windy conditions on exposed sections of the course. 

Full results and reports are available at the runABC South race listing.

Photo courtesy of Wokingham Half Marathon website