It was another successful Great Heath Run last Sunday as great numbers took to the start line on January 21st.
Having spoken to organiser John Browne last week previewing the race, Run Republic caught up with John to chat about how race day went and what his takeaways from the event were.
'We had a very good turnout despite the weather forecast and the run went ahead as the worst of the weather wasn't due until later on Sunday evening.
'We had 430 registered for the chip timed runs (5K - 195 & 10K - 235) with another 70+ in the Family Fun Run, and while we had some no-shows we had over 400 people running on the day.
'While it was windy, we were lucky that the rain stopped just before 11:00 and it remained dry until after the last of the runners came in.
'Overall, we were delighted with the day and the numbers that turned up.
As we highlighted before the event last week, roughly 300 people took part last year. This year, despite the stormy weather, the numbers surged to over 400 participants. John told Run Republic that they 'were expecting numbers to be down because of the weather that was forecast, but it looked as if it was the opposite with people registering late on Saturday night and right up to race time on Sunday morning. We had almost 100 people turn up to register and run on the day.
'Runners are obviously a hardy lot and are not deterred by some wind and rain!'
The togetherness shown by the community to come out in there droves despite the severe weather conditions that were promised for later in the day is really something to marvel at, and this unity is what has made The Great Heath Run such an occasion for the locals down the years.