THE WEEKEND saw the town of Reigate in Surrey open itself to the Intersport Run
Series, with a children’s race, 5km, 10km and a half marathon. This
is the sixth year for the event that has got bigger over the years and last
year opened up the Intersport Run Gatwick event (which also hosted the Sussex
Athletics Association half marathon championships).
I was born in Redhill so this is a real home coming for me and why I look forward to this run (even though I never ran when I lived there!). I still have friends who live there and regularly go for a beer in the town. Reigate
is a picturesque old market town in the heart of Surrey. The run starts
from The Priory, where it goes down towards Mead Vale and through country lanes
to Hookwood. The route then follows the main road back to Reigate
before turning left at The Beehive pub and meanders through residential
roads before being pushed out to the countryside before re-entering the
opposite side of The Priory with a final dash to the finish line.
The route is best described as undulating and
varied. There was a lot of support with live bands playing at
various parts of the course and local residents turning out to cheer and supply
sweets to runners in need of an energy boost. It was a hot a sunny day which really saps your energy levels luckily there were four water stations on the route which was a relief. This year Intersport sent out notices that said runners how intentionally litered (water bottles and gel packets) on route would be disqualified. Not sure if this actually occured or not (and come to think of it if anybody actually read the notice).
There
were six members of Haywards Heath Harriers in the event. Michael
Burke 1:26:10, Matt Quinton 1:39:52, Richard Haynes 1:43:37, Maresa Pitt
1:44:47 Oliver Farr 1:47:37 and Michael Parish 2:21:31.
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