Brighton Marathon

The inaugral Brighton Marathon was organized by former international athlete Tim Hutchings. The first running of the race took place on 18th April 2010. The race opened to 12,000 entries, with 7,589 participating on race day. The race then headed west out to and around Hove, before returning on the seafront and finishing on Madeira Drive, close to Brighton Pier.

7,589 runners crossed the start line of the first Brighton Marathon in 20mins, the temperature at race start was a chilly 5C, warming to 15C at midday, but much warmer in the cloudless sunshine with thousands lining the route. In all, 7426 finished the race.

Mongolian Ser-od Ba-otochir claimed the inaugural Brighton Marathon title in 2:19:05, Second was Medway’s Michael Coleman in a time of 2:24:54, local boy Chris Thomson of Brighton and Hove AC coming third in 2:29:54.

I was supposed to be in Boston. Yesterday was the 103rd annual Boston marathon, and while there may be richer prizes in a professional runner’s calendar, and races with a bigger goodie bag, for the thousands of us who’ve let our gym membership’s lapse in favour of battered trainers and a pair of inappropriate tights Boston has an almost mystical appeal.

I’d still like to run Boston one day, but with such a great race so close to home, I’d strongly suggest anyone crowded out of London – or simply in the mood for a change – consider taking the train to the pain. So thank you, Eyjafjallajökull. And thank you, Tim Hutchings. Brighton Marathon is offering three lucky photographers the chance to win an Olmpus digital camera.

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