The winners of the male, female, and age categories in this year’s Butterfield Half Marathon have received their prizes – with the overall winners being given tickets to Bermuda as part of their prize package.
Rick Weston led home the 500+ runners who completed this year’s Butterfield Half earlier in September.
His time of 1:11.47 secured his first home half marathon win.
Nat Whitty was the first female across the line for a second year running in 1:21.44
“I had quite a lot of Achilles issues leading into it so I wasn’t quite sure how it was going to go, but I did actually just really enjoy the race,” she said.
“I did it and actually won last year, which I was really proud of, but it wasn’t such an enjoyable race because I’d been ill. So this one, I just really relished the whole race, and just really enjoyed it, and the support out there was amazing, which really helped.”
More than 700 people had signed up to race with more than 500 turning up to the start line despite the bad weather forecast.
The day offered beneficial running conditions in the end said Weston, despite a head wind for the final few miles.
“It was much, much better than forecast,” he recalled.
“The forecast was terrible but we got the tailwind at the start and the headwind for the second half, when you really want it the other way round, because you want the headwind while you’re fresh.
“When I got to about halfway I thought I was on for a better time than I ended up with, but by the time I got to Salerie I certainly knew I had in the bag then, as there was enough of a gap. I think really from kind of the Bridge onwards, I was quite confident that if anybody did catch me, I would still put together a last decent few miles.”
The pair will now be travelling to compete in the Bermuda Triangle – a trio of running events held in January.
“It’s amazing,” said Weston. “It’s such a huge opportunity for something like that, you don’t normally get (a prize like that) in this sort of race. So it’s pretty cool.”
Whitty was equally pleased to receive her tickets to Bermuda.
“It’s so unexpected and I’m so grateful,” she said. “It’s just not an opportunity that you get, ever.
“As far as I’m aware there’s three consecutive races over three consecutive days. A mile, a 10k and then a half marathon. I believe there’s the option of the marathon, but that isn’t for me.
“It’s really exciting, because I used to be middle distance runner, and the mile was my first love in running so it will be really interesting,” she said.
There were cash prizes for the other category winners and runners up too, with most of them present for the prize giving at Footes Lane.
Weston was the first across the line on 14 September in 1:11.47. It was the first time he had won his home half marathon.
He was followed across the line by university students Dan Galpin (1:13.54) and Jack Rees who secured a PB (1:14.57) when he finished just ahead of Ethan Woodhead in fourth.
Whitty’s time of 1:21.44 ahead of Ulrike Maisch (1:24.44) and Vanessa King (1:29.39) created a repeat of last year’s podium line up in the women’s race.
Graham Merfeld won the M60-64 age category while Karen Farman won the F50-54 category.