The 12th ASICS Windermere Marathon and Brathay 10in10
Sunday’s ASICS Windermere Marathon saw 848 runners, out of the 1168 entered, on the start line to run their lap of Windermere. The day was also the culmination of 10 days of running for 20 athletes taking part in the Brathay 10in10.
The weather was clear and sunny – perfect for the hundreds of spectators and supporters but maybe a little warm for running. Everyone enjoyed the Lake District at its best, with stunning views of the lake and surrounding fells.
This was a particularly emotional but inspirational year for everyone, being only 4 weeks since the devastating death of Matt Campbell while running for Brathay in this year’s London Marathon. Like his Dad Martin, Matt was a great friend and supporter of Brathay and was committed to helping vulnerable children and young people. All runners on Sunday came together to run their own #MilesForMatt through junior races; a guided trail run; day 10 of the 10in10 and of course the Marathon. Runners were also invited to remember Martin and Matt Campbell as they completed the final 3.7 miles of the marathon – the distance Matt had left to run in London.
This was our largest field of runners since 2010 and the third largest since the event started in 2007. The first runner back in the ASICS Windermere Marathon was Neal Emmerson with a time of 2:44:01 and the first woman over the finish line was Sally Ford. A member of the Brathay 10in10 Club she won the women’s race for the second consecutive year. Sally’s time was 3:18:14 making her 31st overall.
Marathon results can be viewed here.
Paul Brown was first runner home in the Brathay 10in10 in an impressive cumulative time of 35:04:14 (av. 3:30:25) with Liane Warren finishing as first woman in 43:29:50 (av. 4:20:59). This was the largest field of athletes for the 10in10 and a huge credit to the sports therapy students from University of Cumbria that all 20 runners completed their 262 miles. 117 people have now completed the 10in10 and we have already received almost 30 enquiries for the 2019 event.
Many spectators and visitors enjoyed a range of activities and sports as part of Go Active at Brathay, a chance for people to discover a new activity that could become a regular way of keeping fit. The day was well attended and we look forward to developing this initiative to support health and wellbeing next year.