The 2010 Race
Every year the race attracts runners from all over the UK and further afield. It is fast becoming known as one of the top events in the autumn running calendar. The 2010 race attracted runners from all corners of the globe, including many from Europe, the USA and Kenya.
Before the 2009 race took place, the event organisers announced the date of the 2010 Cardiff Half Marathon to be Sunday 17 October. Registrations opened immediately after the 2009 event. The Welsh Government were backing the race with a £75,000 grant, with the aim to get 20,000 runners competing in the race by 2012. Wales' First minister Rhodri Morgan was so impressed with the 2009 event that he told the BBC he would do the race in 2010.
The size of the field has dramatically expanded during the race’s history; from just under 1,500 runners in 2003 to 15,000 in 2010. The race has simply doubled in size. The number of runners has grown year on year and is on track to achieve over 20,000 runners by 2012.
The Lloyds TSB Cardiff Half Marathon is now host to the Welsh Half Marathon Championships, recognising Wales’s best athletes. 2010’s winners were Cardiff AAC’s Michael Johnson and Neath’s Anne-Marie Hutchison. The race is also attracting elite runners from abroad. The 2010 race saw two foreign winners for the first time, with Edwin Kipkorir and Hellen Jemutai claiming first prize.
2010’s race also saw the debut of the Cardiff Family Fun Run. This special one mile (1.6 km) run allowed children and their families to enjoy running part of the course during the main race and gave the race a carnival atmosphere.
Immediately after the race many runners questioned whether the course was the correct length having finished in unexpectedly good times. Race organisers subsequently admitted that a diversion had been put in place after scaffolding had been erected on a narrow part of the course in the week preceding the event. This left the course 193m short. The event organisers offered a £5 discount off entry for the 2011 race to all those who participated in the 2010 race.
Read more about this topic: Cardiff Half Marathon
Famous quotes containing the word race:
“It is always dangerous to generalise, but the American people, while infinitely generous, are a hard and strong race and, but for the few cemeteries I have seen, I am inclined to think they never die.”
—Margot Asquith (1864–1945)