Marathon on right track after successful first race

Two hundred athletes weave their way through the city for the first Peterborough Marathon

Runners weaved their way through business parks and country parks during the first Peterborough marathon lastweekend.

The Sublime Racing Peterborough Marathon started from the Lynch Wood Business Park on Sunday morning, and saw the 200 athletes jog through Ferry Meadows and the city centre before looping back to finish at Lynch Wood.

It was the first time the marathon had been held in the city, and exhausted runners were full of praise for the event.

Now organisers are pledging next year’s marathon will be even better.

Martin Jennings, one of the organisers, said: “When you stage a brand new event, especially of this scale, you inevitably worry about the things that have not been factored in despite best efforts. But there really were none.

“The team pulled together to deliver a fabulous event. I am so proud of everyone involved.

“We restricted the entries

this year to allow us to have a low key soft launch and it worked beautifully. We kept the race quiet until the major city marathons had been opened for some time so that most marathoners had already committed to their challenge.

“We ran the first event with 200 participants which was perfect.

The event started and finished from the Marriott Hotel, who provided facilities at the end of the race - including a special party.

The male marathon race winner Ty Farrer said: “What an event - it was amazing!

“(There is) Nothing better than when the fatigue kicks in at 23 miles, you know you have the pool, sauna and steam room to look forward to (on top of the massage, food, band etc).

“I thought the whole team were amazing, and everyone I spoke to thought the same.”

Emma Caplan, who won the female race, said: “Thank you so much for a great race and for arranging such an amazing sub 3 pacer. Ian Hammett was absolutely incredible.”

Robin Elliott, who also took part added: “The organisation, volunteers, marshals and pacers were all great and the route was just amazing.”

Mr Jennings said there were now plans to make the 2020 race even better.

He said there were some ‘minor tweaks’ to be made but some had the opportunity to ‘make the event even better.’

‘I thought the whole team were amazing, and everyone I spoke to thought the same’

Ty Farrer Male race winner