Half Marathon draws closer
It is now less than five weeks until the town's streets are lined with runners for the 25th Hastings Half Marathon.
The Hastings Lions Club-organised race, which this year takes place on Sunday March 15, is the premier event on the area's annual sporting calendar.
It is widely regarded as the finest run of its kind in the whole of Great Britain and invariably attracts a top class field of athletes from all over the country and beyond.
Kenyan runners have dominated since the early 1990s, with the West Africa country producing 10 of the last 11 winners, including 2008 champion Kiplimo Kimutai.
Another Kenyan star Samuel Otieno set the record for the demanding 13.1-mile course of one hour, one minute and 37 seconds back in 1999.
Five men have won the race twice - Derek Stevens (1985, 1986), Paul Davis-Hale (1989, 1990), Sammy Bitok (1994, 1995), Simon Kasimili (2000, 2002) and Fred Mogaka (2004, 2005) - but none have yet completed the hat-trick.
Among the one-time victors are Eamonn Martin in 1993 - the same year he became's Britain's most recent male winner of the London Marathon - and another top UK runner, Paul Evans, two years beforehand.
Birhan Dagne has been the leading lady on three occasions (1998, 2006, 2007), while Andrea Wallace, Debbie Percival and Caroline Horne have all claimed that particular accolade twice.
Dagne's bid for a third title in four years has been ended by injury, though, and former Great Britain international Horne is also battling to be fit for her third Hastings Half Marathon.
But the real winner is charity, with tens of thousands of pounds going to worthy causes each year courtesy of the numerous fun runners who really make the event what it is.
Entries are coming in fast and organisers have arranged for them to be accepted right up until the eve of race day. Those to have entered already will shortly receive their race numbers.
Anybody wishing to join the mass ranks on the start line in Sea Road can do so by picking up a form from Observer offices, sports shops/centres or online at www.hastings-half.co.uk
Entries are also being accepted for the Manor Insurance Services-sponsored Mini-Run, a 2.5 kilometre race along the seafront for children aged 11-16 which takes place during the main event.
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Weather for St Leonards-on-Sea
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
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