The Ollie Johnson Memorial Kintbury 5 Mile run was held on the very wet bank holiday Monday at the end of May.
What appeared to be pleasant drizzle in the early morning turned to heavy consistent downpour from half an hour before the run until an hour afterwards.
Surprisingly the weather didnt put many off. 217 people finished and we especially would like to thank Jenny Pitman for once again coming down to start them off. The (rather large) puddles on the course and fairly strong cross wind at times kept the winning time down to 27 minutes 13 seconds achieved by David Fry (pictured) from Newbury and he got a stitch halfway round! First lady was Sarah Gee from Maidenhead. David Fry also received the Ollie Johnson trophy presented by Ollie`s family which goes to the first finisher under 21 years old.
First lady from the village was Julia Wright and first Kintbury man was Bob Taylor.
We were very grateful to a number of people for helping us put the event on, including the Jubilee Centre (for having somewhere to shelter before and after and for the Scouts who sold large amounts of tea and coffee to cold people. Kintbury Kittens also organised cakes and a plant stall not rice plants though!) Thanks to Sam Kimber for drying/cleaning the Jubilee Centre after everyone had gone.
We were sponsored by Mick Cornwall aerial services of Newbury and Clere Print of Newbury. Thanks to the many helpers and marshals cheering the runners on their way including many from Newbury Athletic Club and Tina Head, William Hamer, Ian Rivett, Mike Stapeley the Swallows, James Keen and Jane Knight from the village.
Profits are shared between Newbury Athletic Club and Kintbury Tennis Club with the specific aim of promoting youth development and opportunity. Next year with the right weather maybe we could see even more people take part. We attracted over 30 runners from the Reading Roadrunners Club so we must have a nice village and route to run around. Lastly this reminds me that we are indebted to the houses at Balsdon Farm and St Cassians Retreat for allowing us to run past their properties for the day of the race.
Full race results are here.