Thousands of runners turned out for the Brighton Half Marathon this morning (Sunday 27 February) in perfect sunny race conditions.
The event started just before 9am, with the wheelchair race, which saw the biggest ever field for this event, including three Team GB athletes.
The main race was started at 9am by double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes who then jumped in and joined the runners on their 13.1-mile route through Brighton and Hove.
The route took runners along the seafront cliff tops in east Brighton, the Royal Pavilion, the Grand hotel, the i360, the colourful beach huts along Hove seafront and the Palace Pier.
The field included hundreds of newcomers to the half marathon distance as well as experienced and elite runners – and thousands of spectators lined the route to cheer them all on.
In the men’s wheelchair race, Moatez Jomni, of the Weir Archer Academy, took first place in 62 minutes and 15 seconds.
The women’s wheelchair race was won by Eden Rainbow-Cooper, also from the Weir Archer Academy, who finished in 73 minutes and 18 seconds.
In the men’s race, Ross Skelton, of HY Runners, took first place with a time of 67 minutes and 48 seconds. He was 30 seconds ahead of Marshall Smith of Ashford AC.
Brighton Phoenix runner Simon Heath finished third with a time of 68 minutes and 58 seconds.
The women’s race was won by elite runner Charlotte Ragan, of Basingstoke and Mid Hants AC, who finished in 79 minutes and 14 seconds, followed by Rachel Gifford of Birmingham Running Athletics and Triathlon Club in 79 minutes and 26 seconds.
Lewes Athletics Club runner Emma Navesey finished third in 79 minutes and 46 seconds.
Alongside the elite field, thousands of charity runners took to the streets of the city, raising money for more than two dozen local and national charities.
The half marathon is the main fundraising event each year for the Sussex Beacon HIV charity while the Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice, the Alzheimer’s Society and Macmillan were among the other main beneficiaries.
Sussex Beacon executive director Bill Puddicombe said: “We are so happy to be back in our regular slot at the start of the race calendar, with a full field, and the wheelchair race returning.
“This has been a very special race for us as it marks the 30-year anniversary of the Sussex Beacon.
