It rained during the setting up, it rained just as the runners were finishing and it chucked it down during the tidying up! Despite that, the event was, once again, a great success. Started by Peter Levy and Paul Hudson (with their eyes closed) 1786 runners completed the full course and 409 were logged as finishers in the Fun Run. Darren Bilton retained his grip on this event with a record breaking run of just over 67 minutes with the runner up, Pulmani Bangani of Salford Harriers, two and a half minutes behind him! First lady home was Nicola Clay of Stilton Striders, one of the County of Leicestershire and Rutland team.

The Pasta Party at Home Farm did not attract quite the support hoped for but should gain in popularity as it becomes better known.

The greater assistance offered by Barton Rotary Club was most welcome as they provided the marshals on the south bank, distributed the water with additional helpers on the water tables and set out the signs and tables before the event and cleared away afterwards! Their assistance will be acknowledged by a donation to their own charitable funds in due course. Thank you Steve (Leaning) and all your willing helpers.

The feedback being generated from the website is very positive. All enjoyed the run and were complimentary on the friendly and helpful marshals, the availability of water, the support of the public and the overall organisation of the whole day. The only moan seems to be that we need more toilets next year! They all seem to want to come again - so that can’t be bad.

A very real "well done" and "thank you" to all who took part in the preparation for and the management of the race on "the day". The race is now firmly on the runners’ calendar and the Fun Run this year showed real promise of more to come.

We look forward to adding up the pounds and hope to have had another record year.

The date is fixed for Sunday 29th June next year - if we can cope!