Three hundred runners entered the second running of the Malmesbury Half Marathon organised by DB Max and hosting the penultimate race of the Newsquest sponsored Wiltshire Road Race League. In humid conditions Stuart Henderson of Corsham Running Club led from the start with the Chippenham Harriers trio of Gary Dunstone, Peter Cusick and Chris Maxwell in pursuit along with Joby Hobbs of Avon Valley Runners. However it was a lead that was never bridged and Stuart Henderson took victory by nearly a minute over the undulating course recording 1:19:09 with Gary Dunstone second and Peter Cusick third.
Despite the grouping of Chippenham Harriers breaking the monopoly on points held by AVR this season in the Wiltshire Road Race League, it was Royal Wootton Bassett Hounds who took maximum points. Samantha Kelly of RWBH ran 1:27:56 to finish as second lady overall behind Gemma Jones of the Army Athletics Association and ahead of county Half Marathon champion Fiona Price of AVR.
Royal Wootton Bassett Hounds ‘B’ also trumped Devizes Running Club to maximum points but it was not enough to stop Devizes claiming the Second Division title who along with Frome Running Club gained promotion to the top flight. Taking their places, both Team Bath ‘B’ and Salisbury A&RC have been relegated from the First Division which has been won for the second year by Avon Valley Runners.
The next race in the Wiltshire Road Race League will be the Salisbury Half Marathon on 20th October which will also serve as the county championships for the distance and will be followed by a presentation of awards achieved in the Wiltshire Road Race League.
League tables and top-individual scorers can be found here