Bristol Sri Chinmoy Races Summer Series 2024

We had a record turnout at our Ice Cream Relay and at one point it looked as though we'd have to turn some runners away, but fortunately we were saved by a First Aid Angel who flew in with a defibrillator meaning we were able to exceed the limit of 150 runners that EA now impose on races where one is not provided. A huge THANK YOU to those who made the race possible and to those who have promised to help us with this requirement next year.

We had team entries from a lot of local and not-so-local clubs this year, including runners representing Aberdare (our furthest-travelled club), Bath, Bitton, Bristol & West, Chepstow, Clevedon, Great Western Runners, Southville, Westbury and a sizeable cohort of Vegan Runners complete with plant-based team names.

Full results are attached and you can see how you did overall as well as in your specific category. 

It was also great to have lots of runners on hand to cheer the winners of our 3-race series (you can view those if you go to https://uk.srichinmoyraces.org/races/bristol/previous-results/2024#node-71403 and then scroll down to the 3 sets of results - Mens/Womens and the Club Competition).

This year honours went to Bristol & West for the men & boys and GWR for the women & girls.

We're hoping to be back next summer with another series of race on our home turf, the Sri Chinmoy Peace Mile, and as ever we are always aiming to improve our events so please get in touch if you have ideas, suggestions or requests.

Our race season isn't quite over yet as we still have a SBR-Mini DUATHLON in September - if you have never tried multi-sport, this event could be for you as it's run-bike-run with a choice of distances including 1k - 5k - 1k for those who want to give it a go but aren't confident on a longer distance. Any (roadworthy) bike is fine to use, even an e-bike if you can take the battery out and make it self-powered. Yes, we will check that :)   https://uk.srichinmoyraces.org/self-transcendence-go-tri-bike-run-tockington-manor-school

Thanks to everyone who made the races possible, by running / volunteering or just coming along to support their friends or family members who were running.

Please find above the series winners for men, women and clubs.

A warm and sunny evening greeted the first race of our summer series on May 7th, with a perfectly symetrical field of 36 in the 2 Mile race and 36 in the Junior 1 Miler.

The 1 Miler was dominated by a big turnout from Bristol & West AC. In the U/13 girls, Izzy Di Bartolo broke the 6:30 barrier on our undulating course, finishing first in 6:28 ahead of Cora Lambourne (6:37) and Zuzanna Smialek (6:58). The U/13 boys top 3 all went under 6 minutes, the winner Elliott Colclough finishing in 5:45 ahead of clubmates Ali Ramdani (5:48) and Thomas Redfern (5:50). The U/16 honours went to Gabriella Ritter Sheratt (fourth overall in 5:34), Lola Simpson (5:36) and Darcy Simpson (5:49) for the girls and Barney Colclough (outright winner in 5:09), Oisin O'Halloran (very close second with 5:10) and Elijah Buscemi (5:29) for the boys. There were great performances throughout the field, including youngsters Charlie Bush (5:51) and Oscar Nash (6:01) both aged 10 on race day. Callum Skidmore did the double, finishing 6th in the 1-mile in 5:44 before challening the senior runners in the 2 miler to finish 12th overall in 12:54.

In the 2 miler there was a wider range of clubs - with Team Bath, Southville, Westbury Harriers, GWR, Vegan Runners and Charnwood AC all represented - but the mens' podium was a clean sweep for Bristol & West made up of Lee Gawler (11:00), Max McKinstry (11:19) and Robert Pope (11:22). Evergreen athlete Gary Hughes from Team Bath was our fastest 60+ runner, finishing 7th overall in 12:10, with second place in that category claimed by Paul Taylor- Morris of Southville RC (20:20). There was a strong field of 70+ men too, with Michael Wilcox (GWR) taking the honours in an excellent time of 16:56 ahead of strong challenges from clubmate John Hargreaves, Tom Burgess from Bristol & West and Charnwood's Roland Gibbard. 

The women's race was won by GWR's Clare Meraz (12:50) ahead of GWR's Alice Doggrell (13:24), with third place going to Rebecca Williams from Westbury Harriers (13:29). Louise Cronin of Bristol & West won the 50-59 category in 14:46, with Kate Hoffen of Westbury Harriers a close second in 14:53 and another Westbury runner, Sandra Williams, in third place in a time of 15:30. 

There were a number of family pairings, with junior runners competing in the 1-miler and one or other parent in the 2-miler, which bodes well for the Ice Cream Relay in July which as always includes a Family Team category! 

Entries for our 1 miler / 2 miler events on 4th June and 25th June are open at FINDARACE.COM and team entries for the Relay (July 9th) are available now at FABIAN4 - links to all these are on our main event page https://uk.srichinmoyraces.org/races/bristol - just scroll down to the How to Enter section to sign up online.

Thanks for making our season-opener a great event, we look forward to welcoming you back for more summer evening racing on the Sri Chinmoy Peace Mile next month!