Sheffield Half Marathon

As you have all probably heard, after months of training, hard work, determination and thousands of pounds worth of sponsorship the Sheffield Half Marathon Runners were left feeling let down and uninformed. In true Sheffield spirit the race went on.

Many of the participants didn’t know that the race had been cancelled until they saw the police cars barricading the road. Thousands of the runners stripped themselves of their numbers and completed the race regardless.
The race was due to start at 9:00am and the following statement was released via twitter at 10:38am – 1 hour and 38 minutes later.

Due to the amount of people running the police decided it would be safer to let them run and left the road blocks in place. Inspector Neil Mutch, of South Yorkshire Police, said: ‘We attempted to convince runners not to carry on, but decided it was a lesser risk to let them run the race.’

Despite the problems faced, Sunday 6th April 2014 should be a proud day to remember for the people of Sheffield. Thanks to the generous public the runners were kept hydrated during the race as they handed out bottles of water paid for out of their own pockets.

Although the race was cancelled the runners who completed the ‘unofficial’ 13 mile run still received medals. (Pictured below)

Our very own Director Jo Hurley was a first time half marathon runner who managed to complete the course with a good first attempt time of 2 hours 7 minutes and 20 seconds.

Jo Hurley commented: “I had absolutely no idea the race had been cancelled until I got home! All I knew was that there had been a delay at the start and as it was getting cold standing around, I and the others around me were glad when the crowds of runners in front of us started to move and the race was off. It did seem a little odd that there were so many people at the side of the road with water, but having never done a half marathon before I for one was far too busy concentrating on just getting through it. Whilst I understand why some people were and still are very cross, I enjoyed it immensely and will definitely be doing it again next year…”
Olympic Athlete Dan Gable once said – ‘’Gold medals aren't really made of gold. They're made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts’’

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Jo and all the other ‘rogue runners’ on completing the course despite the obvious problems that occurred during the day – each one of you deserved the medal you received!