The 8th Tonbridge Half Marathon was once again a great success. We were delighted to welcome Barney Burgess as our guest starter. Barney is a Trustee of Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance, one of our headline charities.

803 runners headed out of Tonbridge and through the wonderful Kent countryside. They arrived in Leigh to a great welcome. An enthusiastic and very vocal crowd awaited them back in Tonbridge as they came up the finishing straight. Barney was there to present them with their medals.

Congratulations to Anthony Bradley of Lonely Goat RC who won the men's race in a time of 1:15:51. Daniel Bradley of Tonbridge AC came second and Bryn Jones of Fulham RV was third.

Congratulations to Helen Gaunt of Tonbridge AC in a time of 1:27:01. Becky Phillips of Serpentine RC was second and Tina Oldershaw of Tonbridge AC was third.

This year's event was organised by NICE WORK under licence, with Cathy Burke as the Race Director. They were supported by many local volunteers including the Tonbridge Lions and Tonbridge Rotary Club who provided most of the marshals. Out on the course, the 8th Tonbridge (Hildenborough) Scouts once again manned the water stations. The 2250 Squadron Air Training Corps and the Fat Boy Football team set up and dismantled the start/finish area and crowd control.  St. John Ambulance provided excellent first aid cover for the event with a number of mobile, highly qualified first aiders situated at key points around the course and two ambulances crews, one in Leigh and one at the finish line. Fortunately, they had a very quiet day!

Course Director Diane Bradley was well supported by her team of Tonbridge AC volunteers who helped as race officials. RAYNET volunteer radio operators provided radio communications cover across the whole course and their crack team ran the show from Race Control.

Margaret Hawkins and her team of Lions ladies ran an immaculate baggage drop operation in the Judd Sports Hall and Rotary President Sonia Williams & Janet Sergison managed the Spot Prize operation. Altogether over 200 volunteers turned up on the day and we are immensely grateful to each and every one of them.

Altogether, over £50,000 has been raised for charity, both by the event itself and by the efforts of individual runners for their chosen charities. We are also extremely grateful to our sponsors and supporters for covering many of the costs of staging the event, which are considerable.

Well done to everyone who took part. We look forward to seeing you next year!

Andy Blundell

Chairman, Tonbridge Half Marathon CIO