02 April 2012

The Mizuno Reading Half Marathon, now in its 29th year, kicked off the second runbritain Grand Prix – which enjoys a Brits-only prize fund totalling £55,000 across five events – with 13,104 finishers crossing the line inside Reading Football Club’s Madejski Stadium.

The popular event, which is one of the UK’s fastest half marathons, sold out at the beginning of January and included a strong international elite field.

The overall men’s title went to Kenya’s Edwin Kipyego, last year’s runner up, who clocked 63:08 ahead of Bernard Chemugo (63:37) and Paul Martelletti (65:39) in second and third respectively.

Bedford & County’s Darren Deed – a solid 12th in the recent McCain Inter Counties Cross Country and Challenge Final – was first Brit home in 65:47 in fourth overall and will lead the early standings in the runbritain Grand Prix.

Second Brit was Dean Lacey (Mark Newall) for Cambridge Harriers in a PB of 66:03, while Shaftesbury Barnet’s Kojo Kyereme (Conrad Milton) was third in 66:31, also a lifetime best performance.

Unfortunately a small group of British athletes, including Jon Pepper (Bud Baldaro) and Chris Powner who eventually finished 16th (68:26) and 17th (68:28), were reported to go off course after taking the wrong turn at a junction which wasn’t marshaled.

Justina Heslop (Clapham Chasers), the pre-race favourite for the British women’s victory and sixth in this event in 2011, didn’t fail to disappoint as she clocked a season’s best 73:57 to finish third overall.

She was second in the 2011 runbritain Grand Prix and kicks off the 2012 edition with an early lead.

Emily Wicks (Keith Donkin), third in the runbritain Grand Prix Series in 2011 and ninth in Reading 12 months ago, was fourth home on the day and second Brit, a welcome return to competitive action following ill health in December.

Alice Mogire took the overall women’s victory in 71:01 with Eunice Kales finishing second in 71:24.

1,316 runners of all ages crossed the finish line in the 2.8 km Green Park Challenge while The Corporate Relay Challenge, with 55 teams on the start line, was also a success.

Footage from the Mizuno Reading Half Marathon is now available on runbritain TV, while a full update on the runbritain Grand Prix overall standings will be published shortly.

The next race in the runbritain Grand Prix is the Bupa London 10000 on Sunday 27 May.

Mizuno Reading Half Marathon, 1 April 2012 (results summary)

Male:

1. Edwin Kipyego: 01:03:08

2. Bernard Chemugo: 01:03:37

3. Paul Martelletti: 01:05:39

Female:

1. Alice Mogire: 1:11:01

2. Eunice Kales: 1:11:24

3. Justina Heslop: 01:13:57

The full results and race photos are now available at: www.readinghalfmarathon.com