Halfway through the series already, doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun!
June 20th saw the second instance in 2025 of the towpath series. A gloriously warm night that provided a much-reduced field of 134 runners taking on the course. Depending on your music taste we had the bonus of a group of people putting on a rave across the park so it added to the summer vibes, I wonder if they take bookings?
A quick pre-race briefing from race director Mark and they were off! Well nearly everyone, the M5 was providing David Partington some troubles in arriving, but at 7:45 he set off down the course, a great effort and the beauty of chip timing!
Here’s how the race kicked off. Watch till the end for Charlie’s expert analysis!
A mere 33 minutes later we had our first runner return and cross the finish line, the top 3 males were as follows:
- Matthew Battensby – Bristol and West AC – 33:24
- Jamie Williamson – Bristol and West AC – 33:38
- James Bartram – Thames Hare and Hounds – 34:21
Amazing times and strong running in that heat. Great to see a new running club in the listings but rumour is B+W have snapped him up as second claim so he maybe wearing the red band very soon!
A great night for the Southville RC ladies as they took a clean sweep of the overall top 3 spots in the following order:
- Daisy Mummery – Southville RC – 40:21
- Aisling McCarthy – Southville RC – 41:23
- Katie Egan – Southville RC – 42:04
For the full race results listing please click here. If there are any errors in your results or details please get in touch at committee@greatwesternrunners.org.uk
Because of the reduced field, we had even more raffle prizes to be given away. Of course, though, there was only one Toblerone and the race winner Matt Battensby walked away with it, I hoped it arrived home in triangular shape as I kept in the fridge all day! After race 1 winner Ben Rawlins took the Toblerone last time out I have a plan to ensure everyone can win…. Watch this space.
We had some novelty drinks of yesteryear so we could relive our youth, we introduced some Smirnoff ice, the blue WKD was last to go so maybe that needs to be replaced but the standout was ultimately the Take that inspired Gary Barlow wine.
A night full of good atmosphere, camaraderie and teamwork. As always, the race would not happen without the support of the clubs, the runners, Justin @DBMAx, St. Johns ambulance but most importantly the volunteers.
So that’s race 2, see you in race 3 on Friday 25th of July. Entries and still open and will be open on the night!
Cheers
Mark
