Boston’s marathon on 17 April has been hailed a great success by runners, spectators and the local community. It was held on one of the sunniest Sundays in the year so far and attracted almost 300 entries across three categories: the full marathon, the half marathon, and a marathon relay.
The event was devised and organised by Harish Kurup, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Pilgrim Hospital, and supported by Boston Mayor Richard Austin and a hard-working committee and volunteers. Boston Big Local provided £8,000 of sponsorship for the event.
The main aims of the marathon were to promote health and raise Boston’s profile, as well as provide an opportunity for participants to raise funds for the charity of their choice.
Hailed as one of the flattest marathons in the world, the Boston Marathon attracted runners from across the UK and beyond, including Melissa Burnard, a runner from South Africa, who had chosen to run the Boston Marathon in preparation for the London Marathon on 24 April.
The results
The Full Marathon attracted 145 entries. Benjamin Harris finished first in two hours and 40 minutes, followed closely by Ruslan Seitkalijev. The first female runner was Fiona Davies who finished in two hours and 54 minutes (fourth place overall).
There were 129 entries for the Half Marathon. First was Richard Brown who finished in one hour and 12 minutes, second was Mark Sands, and third was Natalie Burns.
Twelve teams also competed in the Half Marathon as a relay and the winners were a local group – the Boston Neighbourhood Policing Team, who completed the race in one hour and 50 minutes.
You can read the full list of results for the Boston Marathon 2016 on the bostonmarathon.co.uk website and also view a gallery of photographs from the day.
“The Marathon attracted many people to Boston who had never been here before, who said they would come back and explore more of the town.” Cllr Richard Austin.
It wasn’t just the participants who enjoyed the event – spectators were out in force too, cheering on the runners along the route. The Boston Marathon may be one of the flattest in the world, but the event certainly seems to have lifted community spirits and created a buzz of excitement in Boston.
Photo captions: The winners of the Full Marathon (top), marathon medals (middle), Boston Market Place on Marathon day (bottom left). All photographs courtesy of Boston Marathon UK.
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