Bourton Half Marathon - Sunday 27 September
This weekend saw the Bourton Roadrunners host the Bourton Half Marathon which was the tenth race in the Gloucestershire AAA Road Race Series and the County Half Marathon Championships.
Known for its challenging course with over 300m of ascent, the race still attracted a field of over 100 runners vying for the road race series points and county age-group medals.
The race was led from the gun by Edward Mallett from Hercules Wimbledon who came home in a time of 1 hour and 14 minutes. Hot on his heels was CLC Strider, Pete Duffy, clocking 1:16:59 for an impressive second place; improving on his 3rd place in 2025. Along with the county title, he also picked up valuable points for the road race series, moving up into 3rd place in the V35 category. With the race only being a week after his notable run of 1 hour 13 in the Run Cheltenham Half Marathon, the jury is out on how many of those minutes were lost to the hills and how many to fatigue.
Next across the line for the Striders was James Endicott in 10th place overall and 2nd in the male V45 category to claim a County Silver medal. Endicott was particularly pleased with the run having had a quieter running month in August and was perhaps lacking a bit of endurance for a longer event.
Louis Jones finished third for the Striders in 13th overall in a race of two halves. Jones is coming back to fitness and finished strongly after struggling a little at the midway point.
Ellie Pudifoot finished 25th overall and 3rd lady in a time of 1 hour 34, claiming a county bronze medal. She also moved into joint second in the road race series, and with only two races to go, is guaranteed at least a third-place finish.
Completing the Striders line-up was Helen Knight who ran an excellent half marathon to claim the V40 to V50 prize, and V45 county medal. Helen is preparing for a multiday event next weekend where she will run 5 marathons in 5 days on the Isles of Scilly.
Whilst the Striders lacked a sixth member to qualify for the team prize on the day, the team’s performance saw them move to 3rd in both the men’s overall and vet standings for the road race series.
