The Wizz Air Cardiff Half Marathon returned on Saturday to its usual October spot, and the sold-out event saw 25,000 people running across the city. The race started at 10am outside the Cardiff Castle before the runners began following a 13-mile route, showcasing the city's famous landmarks, passing the Principality and Cardiff City Stadiums. Runners then headed to Penarth Marina before crossing the barrage to Cardiff Bay and running past the Norwegian Church and Wales Millennium Centre. After completing a loop of Roath Park lake, runners finished outside Cardiff’s civic centre.
Geoffrey Koech was the overall winner, who completed the course in just over an hour. Gizealaw Ayana was second and Chimdessa Gudeta come in a close third. The first woman across the finish line was Beatrice Cheserek, who completed the race in just under one hour and seven minutes, followed by Viola Chepngeno and Zewsitu Anderaw.
In the Wheelchair Half Marathon, Mel Nicholls was the overall winner, completing the race in just over an hour. In the male category, Richie Powell came first, completing the race in one hour and eight minutes, followed by Ron Price in second place. The Welsh winners in the male category were Dewi Griffiths, followed by Mike Ward and Ciaran Lewis. In the female category, the winner was Natasha Cockram, followed by Anna Bacegridle and Olivia Sims.
Thousands of people raised money for this year's Cardiff Half Marathon, with one group from Newport raising almost £12,000 for Prostate Cancer UK over the last two years, making them one of the event’s biggest ever fundraisers. Sisters Helen and Janet decided they needed to fundraise for Prostate Cancer UK after their father, John Hollywell from Hereford, was diagnosed in October 2020 and died just 11 months later. Helen said: “Dad was full of life until he started to get backache. You can imagine our devastation when he was told a few months later he had stage 4 prostate cancer and it had spread to his bones. He was such a great Dad. We’re a close-knit family and he would do anything to support me and my sister so this has been our way of supporting him.
“We decided to raise money in the hope that one day no one has to go through this and families won’t be left grieving a loved one that has gone too soon. We also run for those who are living with the disease and for the families that support them.”
Ahead of today's race, event organisers Run 4 Wales reported that fundraising figures for this weekend’s race stood at an incredible £2.3 million. This year’s incredible efforts have comfortably broken the £20 million milestone with the sum expected to soar even higher over the weekend, supporting more than 100 charities including NSPCC, British Heart Foundation, Mind, Prostate Cancer UK, Shelter Cymru and Alzheimer’s Society.
From start to finish, here are some of the best pictures from the Cardiff streets on Sunday
Runners gather at the start line outside Cardiff Castle
The best dressed
The runners smiling through the pain
Runners in the zone
Getting over the finish line
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