Thomas Payne stormed to a comprehensive victory preventing James Baker, the Chichester Runner, from making it a hat- trick of Gosport wins. The Winchester & District runner was a clear winner, clocking an impressive 1hour 07min 27sec time to lift the crown.

For the second year in a row, Susie Bush proved to be a class act and led the women’s field as she demolished her rivals to win in a time of 1hr 15min 06sec to successfully defend her title. She was miles clear of her nearest rival, with the Aldershot Farnham & District runner more than seven minutes in front. Melissa Neal (March Athletic Club) was second women home in a time of 1 hr 22 min 18 sec.

The winner of the Fun Run was Evie Grice from Uplands School in a time of 5min 11 secs. Second place was Matthew Pudney from Woolton Hill Junior School in a time of 5 min 25 secs.

London’s Serpentine Running Club had a strong presence at the race, using the race as one of their club championship events. Hendrik Zietsman featured prominently in the final reckoning as he was the third man home in 1hr 10min 44sec and Natalie Kolodziej was the third woman home, crossing the line in 1hr 23min 12sec.

The feared bad weather conditions never materialised despite the poor weather forecast for the race. That Sunday morning, the gales stopped, the sun shone and 1214 finishers passed the finishing line. There were over 1700 entries and we were surprised that so many runners failed to turn out but we are certain that was a direct result of runners living further away not travelling because of the weather forecast.