The Bristol Half Marathon is an annual road running event held on the streets of Bristol, UK. The route is at sea level and winds through the city centre, along the Avon Gorge and under the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

The most recent addition to the Great Run Series, the Great Bristol Half Marathon comes with its own distinguished history. First staged in 1989 and known as the The great run Bristol Half Marathon, the city centre run has become a long-held tradition in the national running calendar. It passes through many of the most scenic parts of Bristol, including the Avon Gorge, past the Floating Harbour and along the side of Castle Park. Over 15,000 runners took part this year making it the biggest ever. This is a must do event with an atmosphere second to none.

Our own Elizabeth Nuttall took part and quoted:

I took a trip up the M5 for the Bristol half marathon today - it started well but was a hot one and I was cooking by about mile 9. Bristol was buzzing and it was great to be at a big event - the crowd support definitely helped. I finished in 1:41:27 and 1026 overall and despite the heat thoroughly enjoyed it. 

The Riga Marathon (also known as the Rimi Riga Marathon) is an annual road marathon held in Riga, Latvia, since 1991. A flat, two-lap marathon course in the Baltics' largest city. The marathon starts and finishes near Riga Castle, and runs through Old Riga as well as across the Daugava River.

I will let Graydon take up his story:

It’s a really nice race, two laps for the marathon (the half goes off at the same time). There are are also 5K, 10k, 1 mile and kids events over the weekend.Race started at 8am and I was over the line in about 7mins. It was too hot for me so I started off really steady, but was still expecting a fade. I think I went through half in 2:21 and although I faded, I managed a somewhat respectable second half in the circumstances.I was trading places a lot with a 100MCer - Chrissy - who is closing in on 500 marathons. She was hoping for a GFA but I caught up with her at the finish and she just missed it. She knows she can get it in cooler conditions though. The last 5K, myself, a Latvian lady and a Greek chap basically ran in together and I think we helped each other. In the end I finished in 4:57:08: Postion 1241 which I’m actually pretty happy with in the circumstances. Foot was manageable but by no means perfect, and off of virtually no running for over 2 months, I am happy with my time. . But I think the heat was the limiting factor for me today. At the finish there was ice cold soup (which was lovely), sandwiches, waffles, beer and AF beer. It was really good. There where 1241 finishers

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Winding Path's inaugural Half Marathon and 10k Race at Bovey Tracey

The “Wray Trail” in South Devon is an old railway line that connects Bovey Tracey to Moretonhampstead. The Half Marathon starts at Bovey Tracey and heads through Lustleigh and then onto Mortenhampstead, here it turns and runners return to the finish at Bovey Tracey. For the 10k you turn just after Lustleigh and return to the finish.

Samantha Galvin quoted: I participated in the beautiful Wray Trail Half marathon this morning, a bit hot but well worth the effort, really well organised, beautiful scenery and really friendly event.

Half marathon

14 Alan Boone (1:49:08): 15 Derek Skinner (1:49:11): 20 Kate Heaton (1:56.07): 24 Tim Synge (1:58:46): 45 Samantha Galvin (2:17:06)

There were 85 finishers

10k

7 Jade Reid (58:10): 8 Laura Holland (58:10): 14 Mark Wotton (1:05.17): 24 Ed Hounsell (1:09:58): 37 Tia Tarr (1:17:26)

There were 51 finishers

Must give a big mention to Ed Hounsell with his first race in four years...Well done Ed and well done all.

The lap, lake windermere..The Beautiful Ultra! 47 miles Clockwise through the bluebells. The best view points on some of the most runnable and flowing trails in The Lake District.

Sue Tremlett took part and this is her story....Enjoy

So, what can I say? Signed up for this last May with a fellow Trotter who sadly decided to defer a few weeks before this May’s event. After much agonising and deliberating I decided to put on my big girl pants and go solo! Luckily Peter was very supportive and the very recent acquisition of a motor home made it possible.

The route of The Lap is stunning but it is far more than just a lap of Lake Windermere and includes over 8000ft of ascent. There is a strict kit list (including things like emergency thermal blanket, compass, head torch, waterproof trousers, etc) and everyone’s kit is subjected to at least one check. A tracker is attached to the backpack of each entrant at registration, which takes place the evening before the run. I have to say that in the days and weeks beforehand I was far more worried about the logistics of the whole trip than the event itself!

So the morning started with getting up at 4am to allow time to get to the start for 6am. Luckily I had managed to sort out a lift from our camp site with some kind fellow competitors.

The start was great, down a field to meet the west side of the lake but unfortunately then it was a stop-start bottleneck walk/shuffle for around a mile in single file, which was a bit frustrating. The first of 6 checkpoints was early on and I just topped up water and used the facilities. On along Claife Heights to Latterbarrow passing some lovely little tarns (and our campsite) to checkpoint 2 where Peter and a rather excited Dexy were waiting for me; so good to see them, and to know I had 12 miles in the bag. Grabbed some nibbles and Mountain Fuel drink, had a quick spray from a hosepipe then set off to tackle “the 2 hills”, Loughrigg Fell and through Ambleside to Wansfell Pike. It was very hot and both climbs were tough - technical, stony & steep - I was glad I had bought poles (totally new to me!) I made a rookie error by not topping up on liquid in Ambleside and half way up Wansfell I expressed to another runner my concern about maybe running out of water; such a kind lady, she insisted I took some of hers as she had too much. This was a lifesaver for me I think as I later learned that many people had dropped out after Wansfell and some had been quite ill on the climb up. From the top the route took us along a ridge to Baystones - quite disconcerting as the lake was behind us at this point and we were going away from it! There was then a reasonable descent along Nanny Lane where I managed to run again for a while - I was still on my own at this point, people around me and very friendly but mostly already in groups of 2 or 3. Checkpoint 3 at Troutbeck is known as the halfway point, HOWEVER it is not, as the start was changed a couple of years ago so it is “only” 21 miles in. Nevertheless it was a very welcome aid station with fresh pizza as well as all the other goodies on offer. We had been able to prepare a small drop bag (shoe-sized) which was transported here so I took the opportunity to change my socks and apply some more Vaseline (!) although I decided to stick with the same shoes. I’d also intended to charge my phone with a battery pack but I couldn’t get it to work so gave up; as a result my phone died at around 35-40 miles. I have to say that leaving Troutbeck it was somewhat daunting to know there was still a marathon distance to go!

The next stage took in Orrest Head (my son had proposed to his now-wife here) where we received a megaphone welcome from some supporters which, whilst lovely, distracted us from following the very well-signposted route and we (along with several others) went the wrong way. There followed a slight detour and we had to re-trace our steps, about 1/4 mile each way! I had hooked up with a lovely girl by now, Kat, and we were both very pleased to stay together until the end of The Lap - it certainly helped the miles go by. The route took us down to the edge of Windermere town where several very kind families supplied iced water and snacks, and to feed station 4 (I didn’t need or want much here). My memory of the next stretch is very scant; on on to checkpoint 5 which was water only. From there we traversed Gummers Howe which was a big favourite of my late Mum and Dad and on to Newby Bridge which brought back many happy memories of family holidays.

Reaching the last checkpoint and aid station (6) was eerie! Kat and I had been pretty much alone for some time, with just a couple of people in sight ahead and the same behind, but when we arrived at Finsthwaite it was just getting dark and suddenly there were 15-20 people loitering at the village hall. We were told there were 6 miles to go so I then knew the end would be 48+ miles! There seemed to be a reluctance by anyone to leave this final aid station. I think I now know why: we donned head torches and set off again and the route took us UP, UP, UP (seriously the climbs seemed relentless and never ending) through a very tough steep section of woodland to High Dam. After that there was a long section through forests, up and down, very technical. Bizarrely I found a second wind here and ended up leading a pack of 6-8 people through the trees, rocks and winding paths, following the reflective white arrows. We finished by going back up the starting field through the flags where Kat and I somehow found the energy to run over the finish line together. Apparently Dexy sensed me coming and yanked Pete’s arm so he was unable to get a decent photo of me finishing, but I didn’t care because I HAD DONE IT!!! So happy, so tired, so hungry, so thirsty - I think within 5 minutes of crossing the line I had demolished a bowl of chilli nachos, swiftly followed by a cider :-)

Stats:-

Time = 17:35:21

Position = 509 / 700

FV60 4th out of 8 finishers (6 more retired)

Approx 100 DNFs!!