Two Wilmslow runners participated in the 2004 Robin Hood, Darren Dunn in the full marathon, and Chris Watts in the half. I followed the race by bike, a remarkably easy process in Nottingham which has a lot of cycle tracks, making it feasible to pop up onto the course five or six times and catch the lead runners each time. Unfortunately taking pictures while cycling is a tricky process, as my best efforts of Darren (left) and Chris (right) demonstrate. It was a super day for running, sunny but not too warm, though with a blustery wind on exposed parts of the course. The Robin Hood seems a well-organised event, with plenty of supporters, many police manning the road arrangements, and sensible road closures to avoid runners having to fight with traffic. There were 929 finishers in the full marathon, and 5,968 in the half. A good event if you’re looking for a late-season half or marathon, but not a PB course – too hilly!
Darren did superbly well to finish 6th overall in a time of 2:48:18, under 3 minutes short of the overall winner. Chris was quite happy with 2:09:55; he was on course for 2:00, but died in the last few miles – I know the feeling!
Andy Watts