It was one of the nicest days of the year as hundreds of runners, ranging from elite to fun and charity runners, tackled the seafront course, starting and finishing in Silverston Avenue. The race has been a success for many years and always seems to enjoy fine weather. It was previously organised by the Rotary Club of Bognor Hotham but the town’s Tone Zone Runners have more recently taken the helm. There were plenty of the distinctive blue and orange vests of Tone Zone members on show – as well as the white and green of Chichester Runners and numerous other Sussex clubs. This year’s Prom 10k was the 27th running of the event, and with a route that takes you past Butlins and along the sunny promenade it’s always a hit with the locals, whether they’re running or spectating. This year 1207 runners congregated in West Park ready for the main event at 10:30am, though there was just the small matter of 200 children aged four to 14 completing the Fun Run beforehand. Once the Fun Run had finished the runners lined up in Silverston Avenue ready to head off on to the course. The weather was perfect and it showed with some really quick times. Paul Navesey took the honours with a sprint finish to blast past Patrick Martin and finish in a time of 31:54, just six seconds ahead of Partick in second. Matt McDaniel was third in a time of 32:28. In the women’s race Kate Drew took the honours with a fantastic time of 34:43 just a minute off the course record. Cassie Thorp took second place in 35:37 with Nikki Moxham securing third in 37:45. The team prizes were taken home by Bognor Regis Tone Zone Runners – in the men’s race Sean Power, Jack Penfold and Christo Oosthuizen were the first three home for the club. For the women race it was Jess Thomson, Juliet Stallard and Sarah Zacal who put in the work to claim the prize. Mike Houston and Juliet Stallard won the male and female V40 category. The V50 prizes were taken home by Christo Oosthuizen and April Martin. V60 was won by Richard Miles and Helen Dean and the V70+ honours were claimed by Martin Fallows and Yian Solomon. Once again the race was a huge success – with marshals and spectators lining the whole of the 6.2-mile course Bognor Prom 10k really is one of the best road running races on the south coast. See some video of the start via the event’s Facebook page here. See if you can spot yourself – whether you were a runner or spectator – in these photos from the course taken by Neil Cooper and Tone Zone Runners and supporters. And don’t miss the Bogno Observer, out on Thursday, for a report and pictures.
