Sunday (27th Sept) saw the 4th Folkestone Rotary Half Marathon take place. The glorious late summer sun meant ideal conditions for the spectators and supporters, but provided an extra challenge for the runners.

The course began and ended on the Leas, outside the Grand. We went along to witness the spectacle, and show our support to the runners, and, in particular, to cheer on Shane Record.

Despite the large queues for last minute loo visits, the race got underway promptly at 10am.

After making the loop round the top of the Leas, Michael Coleman established a clear early lead.

Localised support for Old High Street artist, Shane Record.

Once the bulk of the runners had done the loop round the top of the leas, we headed down through the coastal park to the promenade to watch them as they headed for Hythe. There was a colourful mix of entrants of varying levels of ability and fitness, including three men walking the course, carrying huge back-packs.

Shane with chef, Martin.

It wasn’t long after the last runners had passed by, before the lead runner came powering back in the opposite direction, having obviously kept up a blistering pace, (see video). We stayed a while longer to cheer on more competitors…

…before climbing back up to the Leas to watch a steady stream of runners cross the finishing line.

We were too late to witness 2nd time winner, Michael Coleman, come in at 1:10:09, almost a minute faster than his own record time (2007). But for the ‘Record’, Shane finished in a commendable 1:44:13, 185th out of 576 finishers.

Record, well and trully finished!

Video highlights of the race:

Mr Record sprinting for the line: