The 2018 Shrewsbury Half Marathon took place today, Sunday 17th June, and proved to be the biggest and best event yet, with a fantastic turnout of runners and incredible spectator support.
The 13.1-mile race, which took runners through Shrewsbury’s city centre and out into the beautiful Shropshire countryside, was attended by 110 running clubs, loads of charity runners, and plenty of participants from near and far wanting to experience one of the UK’s most scenic summer races.
A cloudy but fine day offered perfect running conditions, and a team of #UKRunChat race pacers were all set to help runners achieve their target times as they set off from Shropshire Country Showground at 9am.
Paul Jones of Shrewsbury AC claimed the men’s title in a time of 01:14:10, 22 seconds ahead of ahead of Barry Reynolds. Thomas Vaughan of Shropshire Shufflers took third place in 01:14:48.
The women’s race was won by Sophie Birtles in a time of 01:26:16, with Sara Willhoit of Shrewsbury AC crossing the finish line in 01:28:57 and 3rd place going to last year’s winner Belle Ward, who finished in 01:30:20.
Young runners aged 4 to 11 also had their chance to experience the thrill of race weekend at the Shropshire Primary Schools Challenge the previous day, Saturday 16th June. Here, they completed the final 1.1 miles of their own cumulative half marathon which they had been working towards at school over the past weeks and months, and it proved to be a thrilling precursor to the half marathon race on the Sunday.
Results (provisional): Shrewsbury Half Marathon, 17th June 2018
Male:
- Paul Jones (Shrewsbury AC), 01:14:10
- Barry Reynolds, 01:14:32
- Thomas Vaughan (Shropshire Shufflers), 01:14:48
Female:
- Sophie Birtles, 01:26:16
- Sara Willhoit (Shrewsbury AC), 01:28:57
- Belle Ward, 01:30:20
Full results are available at www.shrewsburyhalf.co.uk.
Race Director Joe Williams commented, “We are absolutely thrilled with the turnout for the 2018 Shrewsbury Half Marathon and would like to thank all our runners and spectators for making the day such a great success. The atmosphere was incredible and congratulations to all those who crossed the finish line! Our sincere thanks go to Shropshire Council, all our sponsors and partners, our local charity partners, as well as to our fantastic volunteers, for their support in delivering what has undoubtedly been the best event to date.”
Sponsors of the 2018 Shrewsbury Half Marathon were Up & Running, On, Rybrook Shrewsbury BMW, CS Physio, Optimum Movement, Love2Stay and Original Shrewsbury.
Charity Partners for the event were food bank PLUS, Hope House, Lingen Davies Cancer Fund, DC Charity, Severn Hospice, Shrewsbury Town in the Community, The Harry Johnson Trust, Opportunity Pre-School and The Royal British Legion.
Go to www.shrewsburyhalf.co.uk for further event details. You can also like the Facebook page @Shrewsburyhalf and follow @ShrewsburyHalf #RunShrewsbury on Twitter to keep up to date with all the latest news.
Shrewsbury Half Marathon is organised by UK Run Events, powered by UKRunChat and Breathe Unity. The next event from UK Run Events is The Running Festival at Goodwood on 14th October 2018, featuring a Half Marathon, 10K, Relay Lap and Family Lap.
