Grand Prix opener fulfils its promise

Hopes were high for great results at the 2014 Mizuno Reading Half Marathon as it had attracted the best domestic field of the year over the 21k distance and it did not disappoint.

The race attracted an outstanding British field. The runners had everything to run for with a promise of the title of British Champion, maximum points in the Grand Prix and selection for the World Half Marathon Championships for the winners plus £1000 for winning and £2500 for being the first British man or woman across the line. This resulted in 37 British men dipping below 70 minutes in the men's field and 18 British women under 80 minutes.

The overall winner was Scott Overall (handicap -4.3) who finished six seconds ahead of last year's Grand Prix winner, Nick Torry (handicap -5.4) with Phil Wicks (handicap -4.7) just one second back in third place. Scott's winning time was 64:44. All three were also awarded 100 bonus points in the Grand Prix for clocking times faster than 65 minutes.

The women's race was won by Susan Partridge (handicap -1.5) who was 37 seconds ahead of Tish Jones (handicap -0.8) and 49 seconds ahead of Aly Dixon (handicap -0.6). Susan's winning time was 72:18.

Points are awarded for the first 250 finishing positions. 250 points are awarded for the first British finisher, down to 1 point for the 250th British finisher. Congratulations go to Robert Wilbraham (handicap 3.3) and Rebecca Skelton (handicap 12.5) who both made it onto the Leaderboard in 250th position. Robert ran the distance in 81:47 and Rebecca ran 1:40:36 as she posted her first result in the runbritain handicap scoring system.

It wasn't only about elite runners: 14,261 runners, many raising large amounts of money for charity,  finished the race and thousands of supporters turned out to cheer them on, on the course.

The top 250 men and women will now receive an email inviting them to enter the next race in the Grand Prix with an extended entry deadline beyond the public closing date and their own online link to the entry system. With prize money totalling £18,000, to be shared between the top ten men and women at the end of the series, it is expected that the other Grand Prix events will attract the same quality of fields as did the Mizuno Reading Half Marathon.

Image by Klickchick photography