by Gary Skentelbery
WARRINGTON'S first ever English Half Marathon has been hailed a great success and was won by 22-year-old Julius Kimeu from Kenya in a race time of just 63 minutes, as nearly 2,000 runners of all shapes and sizes took to the streets of the town.
Hot on his heels was runner up Tom Palin from the England International team, who defeated the Scottish International Team. The first woman to finish was England team member Holly Rush in a time of 75 minutes.
Celebrity runners included six members of the Warrington Wolves Rugby League team, running in aid of the Wolves' Foundation, with skipper Adrian Morley (pictured right) leading the way.
Various other Warrington charities were represented at the event including St Rocco's Hospice, the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace and Warrington Disability Partnership.
Event Director John Martindale hailed the event a "great success" and plans are already being made for next year's half marathon. More than 2,300 runners registered for the event, with around 1,900 taking part.
"We aimed to get 2,000 registering so we exceeded our expectations and it is always normal to have quite a few no shows," said John.
He thanked main sponsors New Balance, Warrington Borough Council and the North West Development Agency for their "fantastic support."
A torrential down pour just before the start probably put some runners off but it finished with glorious sunshine as the route took runners from Victoria Park and back via Latchford, Stockton Heath, Appleton, Stretton, Grappenhall and Westy.
Hundreds of runners at the starting line in Victoria Park
The "professionals" start the race.
More photographs visit the warrington-worldwide picture galleries by CLICKING HERE.
Watch the Exclusive video coverage by CLICKING HERE
WARRINGTON'S first ever English Half Marathon has been hailed a great success and was won by 22-year-old Julius Kimeu from Kenya in a race time of just 63 minutes, as nearly 2,000 runners of all shapes and sizes took to the streets of the town.
Hot on his heels was runner up Tom Palin from the England International team, who defeated the Scottish International Team. The first woman to finish was England team member Holly Rush in a time of 75 minutes.
Celebrity runners included six members of the Warrington Wolves Rugby League team, running in aid of the Wolves' Foundation, with skipper Adrian Morley (pictured right) leading the way.
Various other Warrington charities were represented at the event including St Rocco's Hospice, the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace and Warrington Disability Partnership.
Event Director John Martindale hailed the event a "great success" and plans are already being made for next year's half marathon. More than 2,300 runners registered for the event, with around 1,900 taking part.
"We aimed to get 2,000 registering so we exceeded our expectations and it is always normal to have quite a few no shows," said John.
He thanked main sponsors New Balance, Warrington Borough Council and the North West Development Agency for their "fantastic support."
A torrential down pour just before the start probably put some runners off but it finished with glorious sunshine as the route took runners from Victoria Park and back via Latchford, Stockton Heath, Appleton, Stretton, Grappenhall and Westy.
Hundreds of runners at the starting line in Victoria Park
The "professionals" start the race.
More photographs visit the warrington-worldwide picture galleries by CLICKING HERE.
Watch the Exclusive video coverage by CLICKING HERE
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10 Responses to "English Half Marathon success" 
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said this on 04 Oct 2009 2:19:32 PM UTC
Good to see a quality race back in Victoria Park, hopefully all goes well for the Park being the centre of sporting excellence in the future. I remember when I brought the Chris Vose to Vicky Park in 1988 and a thousand runners turned up for the 10km and supporting races. It's fantastic that twice as many hit the streets this morning, mind you my course was two flat 5 km laps - NOT a trip upto Appleton Thorn and back, I just hope that my old coach and fellow course designer BQ watched it as it passed by the end of his street in Appelton. Well done to all get the bath water running and pour in the Radox, you've earned it.
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said this on 04 Oct 2009 2:32:00 PM UTC
A special thanks to those who turned out to spectate and support those competing - a good crowd and atmosphere makes a race particularly for the vast majority who are fun runners or supporting charities. A special thanks to the two drum bands on route who provided a fantatsic lift at two crucial points on the course - clearly one of the highlights of the day - take a well deserved bow!!!
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said this on 04 Oct 2009 8:10:00 PM UTC
WELL DONE TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK PART !!! Especially my not so distant neighbours.
Beer and junk food now back on the menu eh :) :) :)
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said this on 04 Oct 2009 9:26:33 PM UTC
Fantastic event which has put Warrington on the running map. Well done to all those involved and lets hope it does become an annual event.
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said this on 05 Oct 2009 9:47:42 AM UTC
Totally agree with Runner X - a huge thank you to the numerous supporters along the way who clapped, cheered, mexican waved us all through the race, especially the crew at the pub / crossroads at the top of Appleton / Stretton as we turned for home, the combination of your support and the lucozade gave my legs a huge lift - Thank You.
Can we have more bands next year - both bands were excellent yesterday. I'm glad the weather behaved itself for you all.
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said this on 05 Oct 2009 10:06:02 AM UTC
Fantastic event and a big well done to the organisers. We were there supporting family and the atmosphere at the start and particularly at the end was amazing. The weather was kind to us at the end of a race was more like a carnival, absolutely fantastic day and thank you to the forward thinking Warrington Council for bringing such a professional event to our town.
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said this on 05 Oct 2009 10:21:08 AM UTC
Agree with all the above, next year can we have proper starting corals please? and how about a 10K now we've proved our town can handle it exeptionally well?
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said this on 05 Oct 2009 10:27:30 AM UTC
I ran the race yesterday and was very impressed. Great organisation and fantastic support. Special thanks also to the locals who would have been blocked in for a few hours - I know its inconvenient - but it did get a few 1000 people out and running.
My favourite memory - the little kids at the side of the road chanting :
'2, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate ?
Yoooooooou, yoooooooooooou !'
Excellent work.
See you next year warrington !
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said this on 05 Apr 2010 1:29:46 PM UTC
I'm also hoping to do next years race as it should be good fun and looking to do it as a personal challenge too!
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said this on 02 Jul 2010 10:14:17 AM UTC
I can't wait to do this race in October, training has started for me already, just haven't entered yet!
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