Hundreds Run in the Sun at the Ready Steady Fun Run
Sunday’s sunshine saw runners come out in their hundreds for the annual Ready Steady Fun Run.
Over 400 adults and juniors took to the roads of Rugby for the 5K charity event raising thousands of pounds for local causes.
Organised by the Ladies Running Group, the event was open to runners of all abilities and included many beginners from the both the Ladies’ and Men’s Running Groups at Rugby and Northampton Athletic Club. Running 5K for the first time, the beginners were triumphant in completing the one lap circuit whilst some of the more experienced runners were ready to race.
The overall winner of the main 5K event was Eliot Parsons with second place going to Emily Waugh, fresh from her win at last week’s Rugby 6. With Eliot claiming first senior male, he was followed by Anluan Hennigan in second place and Men’s Running Group coach Laurence Scott in third. Behind Emily, Natasha Pitman came through as second Senior female with Helen Jones in third position.
In the U16 category the boys were lead home by Adrian Kaczmmarek and the girls by Olivia Sheehan. The podium was completed by James London (2nd) and Jack Gospel (3rd) in the boys’ category and by Sophia Hill (2nd) and Bethany Blundell (3rd) for the girls.
Rugby MP Mark Pawsey was on hand to present the winners with their medals.
After the 5K Fun Run, over 60 children took part in the Under 8s races on the athletics track – much to the delight of the cheering crowds.
Organisers Kay Shaw and Anne Hartfield were thrilled by the support the event received from the local community. Anne explained “the atmosphere this morning has been fantastic. To see so many people enjoying and supporting the event again this year has been amazing.” Over 30 raffle prizes were donated by both individuals and local businesses and Rugby Food Bank has a trolley load of donations heading their way thanks to the generosity of the runners and their supporters. Lead sponsor JPF Sports Therapy were kept busy giving post run massages and advice on recovery.
Kay Shaw called the event a “fantastic success” and sent her congratulations to all the runners but especially the Ladies Running Group “Class of 2016” whom she has coached for the past four months. Both she and Anne expressed their thanks to the team who have worked with them in staging the event, “we couldn’t put on an event like this without the help of our organising committee, sponsors and all the volunteers who give their time. They really help to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible.”
See the results section for times and raffle winners.
