Double delight in the Barnstaple Marathon

The Barnstaple Marathon and Half Marathon achieved the fabulous double success of a brilliant race and superb funds raised for Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW).

In the full marathon, Arron Kearney took the top prize in a time of 2:38:27, followed by Josh Benford and Richard Davies. The women’s race was won by Samantha Baker in 3:11:48, with Shelley Boyles and Kayleigh Maurice in second and third.

Joel Heatley won the Half Marathon in 1:22:00, just pipping Jamie Howard and Roger Easterbrook to the finish line. Sammy Antell claimed the women’s crown in 1:35:47, followed by Chloe Constantine and Helen Anthony. 

An amazing 239 runners took part in the event, which has only very recently been taken over by Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW). Kate Romo, Event organiser for CHSW, said: “We’d like to thank all our runners, volunteers, suppliers and supporters for making our first CHSW marathon and half marathon such a great event.

“It is a well recognised and popular event, so we were excited to be able to take it over from North Devon Road Runners and thank them for all of their support. We hope all of our runners had a good day, we loved it and are looking forward to the race in 2024 already.”

One of the participants, Steve Edwards, made the Barnstaple marathon his 982nd marathon as he continues to attempt to run a world record 1000 official marathon races averaging under 3hrs 30 mins!

 Steve said: "Having enjoyed running this marathon a couple of times before, I really wanted to run it again and am glad I did. A big thank you to the Childrens Hospice South West team for stepping in to organise & host this event at the last minute. It was really well organised with plenty of marshals all of whom were very helpful and supportive. There was a good atmosphere and excellent facilities, you can't ask for anymore really.”

 Harriet Barber, Management Accountant at CHSW, tells us why she chose to take part this year: “Having never run a half marathon before, I chose the CHSW Barnstaple half as the route is flat (mostly!) and my friends/family could easily come out to support.

“I work for CHSW and am in awe of the amazing work we do to support children and families so being able to complete the run in aid of CHSW was extra special.

I’d highly recommend the CHSW Barnstaple Marathon/Half Marathon for those new to running, or more seasoned runners looking to get a PB… perhaps one day that will be me!!”