Richmond’s annual two-day running festival returned to its usual format at the weekend after having to change 2020’s layout due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This saw the return of the Richmond Half and Full Marathon, the Richmond Music Festival & Fitness Expo, Kids’ and Family Mile races, the Visit Cayman Islands Sundown 5k, as well as the Kew Gardens 10k.
The Kew Gardens 10k welcomed the Thai Ambassador and the Royal Thai Embassy, who were all fundraising for Safe Child Thailand.
Tom Bedford, Race Director, said: “Many runners will not know what we went through to get this event over the line. It was a proud moment for myself and the team to welcome runners, spectators, partners and volunteers to this event after all the many challenges we have faced to get this far. A personal highlight was seeing the return of the Kids’ races and all the fun at the Cayman Islands Sundown 5k.”
The England Masters 10k and Half Marathon Championships were included within the Richmond RUNFEST weekend. With the top 3 runners in the Kew Gardens 10k all representing England.
Marathon winners Dan Nash and Jemima Farley won a luxury holiday to the Cayman Islands for their efforts, both breaking the Richmond Marathon course records in 2:23.29 and 2:46.35 respectively. On top of this, one lucky 5k finisher was selected at random to also win a holiday to the Cayman Islands.
Alongside the running events, Bow Anderson, one of the UK’s most up and coming new voices, was the headline act on the Saturday evening following the 5k. With Caymanian DJ and singer, King Navassa, bringing the Caribbean to Richmond and the audience to their feet. Sunday’s energetic line-up was Fake Tan and young and up and coming artists supported by Richmond’s local charity, the Basement Door.
“After a great weekend we can now focus on our brand-new event, Kew the Run, coming on the 9th and 10th of April 2022,” said Bedford. “We hope to see our Richmond RUNFEST runners at this new event in April!”
The 2021 Richmond RUNFEST is likely to return on the same weekend next year. To be the first to find out when entries open, register an interest here.
Race Results
Marathon
Dan Nash, top male with a chip time of 02:23:29
Jemima Farley, top female with a chip time of 02:46:35
Half Marathon
Craig Ruddy, top male with a chip time of 01:08:54
Rebecca Winter, top female with a chip time of 01:20:37
10K
James Bellward, top male with a chip time of 00:32:30
Tracy Barlow, top female with a chip time of 00:35:52
