More than 2,000 runners attended the annual Wirral Half-Marathon and 10k race on Sunday, raising money for their chosen charities or simply aiming to complete the course.
Starting in Birkenhead Park and finishing in New Brighton, the event attracted overseas runners from Norway and Poland, following its shortlist nomination as Event of the Year in the Wirral Tourism Awards.
Alan Rothwell, BTR race director said: “Wirral really does lend itself to hosting distance running events. The coastline is an ideal backdrop and enhances the overall experience for runners. The range of participants is very diverse from charity runners, those chasing a personal best and number of mature runners.”
Mother and daughter, Colleen and Nicola Pryce from Childwall, finished the 10k run together raising money for Marie Curie UK.
Colleen, 52, told JMU Journalism: “We did the race last year and enjoyed it so much we wanted to return. It’s such a fun event and everyone gets involved and the support is incredible. We were lucky to have such lovely weather – despite the cold you warm up as you’re running.”
Jake Thomas, 34, from Wirral finished the half-marathon in less than three hours in a bid to beat his previous race time from last year.
He said: “I trained weeks before today to make sure I could finish faster. Now this is over I’m preparing for the the Santa Dash run in December and hopefully I’ll be even faster.”
All runners who crossed the finished line were presented with a commemorative medal, T-shirt and goody bag.
JMU Journalism TV report by Beth Rogers, additional reporting by Georgie Whitworth