THE sun shone for the 16th Robert Moffat Memorial 10K race at High Legh, bringing out a record number of runners – nearly 550 in total – creating a terrific party atmosphere.
Winner John Gilbert of Kent AC, set an astonishing new course record of 30 minutes 16 seconds, coming in over three minutes before second placed Dan Morgan of Lonely Goat RC whose time was 33 minutes and 57 seconds.
Amie Bagnall of Cheshire Dragons was the first woman home in 37 minutes 41 seconds, missing out on the course record by just under a minute.
There were other firsts too, from the 103 entered from Lymm Runners – almost a quarter of the total membership of the club – glass medals and finally the beautiful hedgehog boxes donated as age category prizes, by new sponsor Unearthed Gardens.
The runners were supported, as usual, by a super-efficient organising team, friendly marshals on the course and local High Legh residents, who came out to cheer everyone on.
Everyone enjoyed the event very much with Lymm Runner Phil Rowen summing it all up by saying ‘A great event as always, Lovely to see the sun this morning and thanks to all the hard work put in by all the organisation team volunteers and marshalls.’
The race, of course, isn’t just a fun morning out, it also benefits the local community as proceeds go towards High Legh projects and High Legh Primary School (via the PTA) which also served as the Race HQ. This year over £200 was raised for the PTA. Many runners also took advantage of the opportunity to give money to Tees for Trees instead of having a T shirt in their goody bag, resulting in a huge donation of over £1,432.00 for the charity.
Nick Gerrard, race team chair said : “Lymm Runners and the High Legh Community Association would like to thank all the volunteers without whom this friendly and popular event would not be possible.
“We had more sponsors than ever this year and they have been, as ever, very generous. We would like to thank them for their donations of cheques, vouchers or in kind, including water, fruit and other prizes.”
