Nearly 500 take part in Silchester running event

Nearly 500 runners took part in the 24th annual Run Silchester event over the weekend.

Formerly known as Silchester Fun Run, the Saturday community extravaganza had 470 entrants in its three different events — the 2.5-mile fun run, the 5-mile trail run and the 7-mile trail run.

The 7-mile male winner was Luke Walton with a time of 45:35.6 and the female winner was Kate Robson with a time of 55:15.6.

The 5-mile male winner was Simon Thatcher who finished in 30:27.5. The female winner was Georgia Palfrey with her time of 37:16.8.

The fun run winners were Caspar Morris with a time of 17:58.3 and Hetty Martin with a time of 20:06.6.

Race director Steve McAvoy said: “Although we were blessed with glorious weather on the day, the recent rain made the course very challenging with lots of mud.

“The event is organised by a small team. However, on the day we have an army of over 60 volunteers from our local community giving up their time.

“Without them we could not hold the event. Any money raised goes back into our local community to promote sporting activities.

“Each year we also hold a couch to five mile group starting each January, coached by myself. It was so pleasing to see them cross the finish line smiling.”

For the first time, the Tadley Community Food Pantry was invited to attend and runners and marshals donated items of food to the charity on the day.

The monthly Silchester Market also took place on Saturday, with nearly 100 small businesses selling their goods.