Stan Eldon was the founder of one of the largest mass running events in the UK, the Reading Half Marathon. The organser of the event during the formative years from 1983 to 1994.
From the early years and the battles to keep the race alive the event has grown to have nearly 15,000 entries in 2007.
His autobiography 'Life on the Run' publisher by Arthur H Stockwell tells his life story which has had 'running'connections' since the age of 12 as a schoolboy in Windsor.
For details of the book contact staneldon@btinternet.com
A Book for Runners written by a runner
In 1983 he set up one of the first major town races, the Reading Half Marathon, which he organised during its 12 formative years.
The Case bound book, published by A.H.Stockwell Ltd has been reviewed in a number of newspapers and the specialist running press.Athletics Weekly " ...in this book the former International Cross Country winner (1958) provides a good read not only for those who ran with him, but also for the many athletics fans who like a bit of controversy. Sprinkled with anecdotes, the book recalls the difficulties getting into Moscow airport for an international match.........another anecdote is the claim by Gordon Pirie that "Stan Eldon cheats - he runs too fast at the start"Runner’s World
The first race was run on 13th March 1983. The start and finish venue was Reading University at Whiteknights Park. The race was set up by volunteers including Stan Eldon who organised the first 12 events.
Over 5000 runners took part and the first winner was a 21 year old student from the University Mark Curzons in 67:45. The British Sports Association for the Disabled was the main charity and the event became the first in the country to allow wheelchair athletes to take part alongside the runners. The charity received £25,000.
The times continued to improve and in 1986 the race moved to the South Reading Leisure Centre. Over 7000 ran with many turned away, the record was reduced to 62:39 and the women’s record to 72:09. The original sponsors DIGITAL continued to support the event and in 1990 the race was run for the last time at South Reading where the runners were so close at the finish that the front two could not be separated and the first four were all within 2 seconds.
The following year 1991 the event moved to the Rivermead Leisure Centre beside the Thames in the north of the town. The regular Essex Police team ran to raise £10,000 for Leukaemia Research and there was huge manpower support with a police helicopter, 80 police, and around 500 volunteers as marshalls.stewards etc.
Drama in 1992 when the race was cut short by a security scare in the centre of Reading and in 1993 Paul Evans set a record of 61:38 which was to stay as the record for a very long time.
During the period from 1994 to 2000 the race went through a difficult time with entries varying from only 3000 to 5000 runners and worse was to come as at the last minute in 2001 the race was cancelled because of the Foot and Mouth outbreak.
In 2002 the race had 9000 runners and was organised by Reading Borough Council for the last time and the first four to cross the line were all Africans.
The following year 2003 the current organisers, Brasher Leisure (the Sweatshop) took over. and the race was run from Rivermead for the last time as it had outgrown the facilities there. The move to the current venue the Madejski Stadium took place in 2004 and the winner Julius Kimtai equalled the Evans record of 61:38 after reaching ten miles in less than 47 minutes.
In 2005 the largest field to date with over 9000 finishers and Kimtai won again just slightly slower with 61:51.Tanni Grey-Thomson won her 3rd Reading Women’s wheelchair race and David Weir set new figures of 51:40.
From 2006 the entries continued to grow with the excitement of finishing in a major stadium. Kenyon Cathy Mutwa finished just one second outside the 1986 women’s record with 72:10 and Paralympian David Weir smashed the wheelchair record with 45:59. The chairman of Reading FC celebrated the club’s promotion to the Premiership by atking part and running into his own stadium and in 2007 the women’s record was finally broken with 70:47 by 21 year old Louise Damen and Weir just failed to break his own record. After a very close race Commonwealth medal winner Dan Robinson split the Kenyans to take 2nd place and Reading Roadrunners won the women’s team race for the 13th time.
In 2008 both records were broken with Patrich Makau (Kenya) setting new figures of 61:19 and Liz Yelling breaking the one year old record in the women’s race with 69:35. There were over 11,200 finishers, the largest to date.
The winner in 2009 was Kimlimo Kimutai with 62:46 from two British athletes Phil Wicks 62:51 and Benedict Whitby 63:43, another huge entry.
Last year 13,000 runners lined up on a dry warm day and a good race was won by Kenyon Edwin Kipyego in 63:03, the 10th fastest in the history of the race. Toby Lambert was 2nd , Cherop (Kenya) 3rd with an Australian and a Dane in 4th and 5th place.
Over the years the race has attracted runners from around the world, as well as Africa leading have come from the USA, Russia, Italy, Germany and many of the UK’s top distance runners have taken part including London Marathon winner Hugh Jones and Dr Ron Hill, perhaps the greatest marathon runner.
The race has raised a huge amount of money for charities; there can be no accurate figure but it is well in excess of 2 million pounds.
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2006 Half Marathon It was Kenyans leading the way again in 2006 with Simon Kasimili winning in the slow time of 64:51 and just getting ahead of rival Simon Tonui in the last few hundred metres after being together for the 13 miles. Tonui’s time was 64:54. They had dropped all other opposition by the 2.5 mile mark and went through 3 miles in 14:52, 6 miles in 29:30, and 10 miles in 49:27, over 2 minutes down on the faster winning times in previous years.Thirty five year old Ian Hudspith (Morpeth Harriers) took 3rd in 65:29,slower than his 63:19 when finishing 3rd in 2000. He was followed by Richard Gardiner (Cardiff AAC) in 65:33, Toby Lambert (Alton Harriers) 5th in 66:47 and Mark Hudspith(brother of Ian) 6th with 68:01.
The first vet 40 was in 7th place Philip Parry (Bristol and West AC) 70:06.In the women,’s race it was another win for Cathy Mutwa in a very good time of 72:10 in 11th place, a personal best time and just 1 second out side the 21 year old record of 72:09.In 18th place and 1st Vet35 was Wendy Jones (Cirencester AC) with 73:21, the mother of a young girl she took a staggering 6 minutes off her best and another PB was set by the 3rd wunner Nicola Slater, 22nd in 74:24.The only course record on the day was set by David Weir in the Wheelchair race who raced away and was soon making it obvious that his reord of 51:40 set the previous year was going to be broken. He flashed through the 6 mile point in 21:33 and 10 miles in 35:45 to win in the new record of 45:59, a massive 5:41 of f his record. His expected main rival Tushar Patel finished nearly ten minutes behind in 55:54 with 3rd place going to Brian Alldis in 56:17. One surprising entry who completed the 13.1 miles was the chairman of Reading FC, John Madejski who had just celebrated the club’s promotion to the Premiership.. He ran into his own stadium to received the welcome of the gathered crowds.
2007 Half Marathon Reading Roadrunners had a double success in the team race with the men finishing as top team and the women ending in their usual position of first in their race. The 2007 race had another huge entry. Over 10,000 runners lined up at the new start in Longwater Drive and there were probably nearly as many spectators there to see the start.There was a short delay of about 10 minutes mainly due to the runners themselves ambling to the start and not seeming to be in any hurry to get there.When the 25th ASICS Reading Half Marathon did get under way six runners soon separated from the front of the field. Including the winner in 2006 Simon Kisimili (Kenya), John Nyasenga (Burundi) and Dan Robinson (Stroud AC).The first mile was a modest 4:57 and at 1.5 miles Dan Robinson was briefly in the lead. By three miles reached in 15:09 the Kenyan and Burundi athletes were in control but three other runners were in touch. Hugh Lobb (Bedsford and County) took a go at the lead and they went through 4miles in 19:43. By 5 miles there were only three runners, the leading two had been joined by Dan Robinson and they went through this point in 24:35. By the halfway reached in 31:54 the two Africans had eased ahead. Between 7 and 8 miles Robinson started to reduce the lead and took the lead. He was still leading at 10 miles reached in 48:47 and it was Nyasenga hanging on. It was still between Kisimili and Robinson as they entered the Madejski Stadium but the Kenyan, always afast finisher, pulled away to win with 63:36 from Robinson 63:42 with Nyasenga 3rd in 63:52.
In the race for the women’s prize the winner, who was running her first race over the distance, Louise Damen broke the 21 year old record setting new figures of 70:47 in 16th place. The first three all had PB’s, Wendy Jones (Cirencetster AC) was 2nd with 72:48 and Alice Braham (Team BBC) was 3rd in 73:25.The wheelchair race was again dominated by David Weir who had set the new record of 45:59 in 2006. He stormed away to win in 46:06 just outside his own record, Brian Alldis was 2nd kin 54:37 and Shaker Qadir was 3rd in 64:59. He had a sensational finish as he jumped out of his chair and crossed the line on his hands pushing the chair ahead of him.
2008 Half Marathon Sadly I could not be at the 2008 race as I was in my bed in the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford at the end of ten weeks there and three major operations. What a race to miss as both the men’s and women’s records were broken. The race winner was Patrick Makau (Kenya) with 61:19 and Liz Yelling(Bedford and County) took the women’s record with 69:35. After lasting for 21 years the women’s record was broken in 2007 and 2008..From an entry of over 14,000 there were 11200 finishers, the most ever but still a huge ‘fall out’.Carol Bowker of Reading Roarunners took my place in the lead vehicle. She had been a member of several of the winning ladies teams for the club over the 13 years they had won the team race. But she did not miss out being in the winning team as they just failed to win for the 14th time.
2009 Half Marathon Another great race in the Reading Half Marathon. After I had sounded the Klaxon along with Mayor Peter Beard I watched the runners cross the start line and it took just over 20 minutes for all the field to run under the start banner. By the time the last few had started their race the leaders were already well passed the 4 mile mark.
On a near perfect day the top runners raced off from the start and in the early stages around five were in contention but before ten miles this had reduced to just two. The runners made their way around the town at roughly 4:40 per mile in front of the huge crowd on the streets of Reading. Always at the front was London based Kenyan Kiplimo Kimutai who won the Hastings Half two weeks earlier with a new record of 62:50, he was challenged by two of Britain’s top road athletes Phil Wicks (Belgrave Harriers) and Benedict Whitby (Windsor Slough and Eton) along with Simon Tonui, another Kenyan, who finished 2nd in Reading in 2006 and won the recent Bath race in 63:09.At ten miles Kimutai parted company with Wicks and dashed away into a reasonable lead to win with 62:46 with a strong finish as he sprinted around the Madejski Stadium. Phil Wicks finished strongly to take 2nd place in a personal best time by nearly two minutes of 62:51 with Benedict Whitby 3rd in 63:43 with another PB. Simon Tonui was 4th in 64:51 with Toby Lambert (Winchester and District) 5th in 65:28. with the 3rd Kenyan in 6th place.
It was good for British Athletics that they shared the honours with the Kenyans having three in the first six finishers. With many runners running PB’s it was surprising that Williard Chinhanhu of Poole Runners, the Wokingham Half record holder was 3 minutes outside his best in 7th place.Mike Trees the veteran Triathlete was 27th in 71:41, he is a V45 and was 1st vet to finish ahead of the Vet40’s, After two years of record breaking in the Women’s race it was a comparatively modest performance by Kenyan athlete Joyce Kirui that won the day in 37th place with 72:49. She had been running faster in the early stages but slowed as she built a large lead and was 70 seconds up on the 2nd finisher Louise Damen 55th in 73:59. The leading runners were well spread with 3rd runner Susie Bush (Aldershot Farnham and District) in 74:46. Holly Rush from Bath was 4th with 76:17.Reading Roadrunner Sarah Gee had a great run with 77:43 (94th overall) in 7th place which also won her the first vet prize. As I presented the prizes to the winning athletes I had the chance to talk to them. A lot of runners could learn from the race winner Kimutai. I asked him where he was running next and his reply “I don’t know, it is back to training now.” He has a best time of 27:23 for 10Kms. It was also great to see 25 year old Phil Wicks in 2nd place, the record holder at two local events, the Wargrave 10K and the Maidenhead 10 mile. Benedict Whitby who did work for the SweatShop and is now a policeman at Slough had previously finished 2nd in the Reading race in 2003.
No surprise in the Wheelchair race which was won by Brian Alldis in 54:37. He was well ahead of previous winner Tushar Patel with 67:12. Alldis reached 6 miles in 25:10 and 12 miles in 49:59.
It was a good day for the local runners. Dave Fallon (Reading AC) headed the ‘locals’ in 39th place and 72:55. Keith Russell was first home for the Reading Roadrunners in 48th place with 73:33. Julian Sherman added another PB with his run in 70th place and 75:07, he was slightly disappointed as he was hoping to break the 75 minutes. Mark Saunders was 95th in 77:40 finishing just behind Sarah Gee, the winning vet lady.Michael Gooding was 101st in 78:03, Peter Crisp shattered his PB for the distance with 79:10 in 120th place, his previous best was 86:38. Other ‘Green vests’ included David McCoy 139th – 79:54, John Pembroke 146th – 80:14, Vet45 Chris Mason 161st – 81:0, Richard Usher 197th – 82:20, and Ian Gosling 226th – 83:00, Dwayne Stewart-Power 86:17, Glyn Jones 86:06, Ian Harvey 86:41, Colin Cottell 87:33, Tim Chesher 88:07, Graham Tull 89:03, and Ian Carey 90:08.
One of the older runners Tom Harrison VM 70 finished in 2:30.It was a good day for the women of the club and they may have regained the team award with Sarah Gee followed by Liz Hartney 169th and 13th female with 81:38 which made her 2nd FV40 behind Gee. Lesley Whiley was 27th female and 3rd FV45 in 84:21, Carol Bowker 51st female and 4th FV45 in 89:55, Bridget Heath 57th in 87:55 and Belinda Tull 67th – 90:54. Having only missed one Reading race Paul Jenkins the former Reading Prison Officer returned to run in the ‘green vest’ and finished in 95:03. In the results he is shown as a VM55 but he is over 60. His wife Liz who runs for Bournemouth Joggers finished in 2:11.53 along with two from her club. Over 125 runners took part from Reading Roadrunners. Other Reading Athletic Club runners were Andrew Hawkins a VM45 248th – 83:43, Anthony Tyler VM40 297th – 85:09, Jacob Batchelor 395th – 87:16, and John Cregory VM50 – 87:34 Leading the Reading Joggers was Richard Coates 390th with 86:31. Others included Simon Plevey 506th – 88:45, Brian Hay 92:52 , Matthew Eley 94:22, Bob Brookes 95:11, Neil Woodroof 95:36, Samantha Houston 98:29, Clare Bird 100:00, and Adrian Lee 101:07. Also from the club two who have taken part every year from 1983, FV60 Caroline White 2:16.29 and Arthur Abbott 2:42.13. Over 40 from the club took part. Reading man 58 year old Michael Denney completed his run in 2:18.54 to keep up his record of running in every race. Also there again Mick Sheenhan from Caversham in 2:9.21 and David Wise VM60 (Tadley Runners) 2:56.50. Fashion Model Nell McAndrew a regular runner in the event running for Thames Valley Harriers was 434th in 87:30 Having his own race blind runner Bill Gulliver was sent on his way by me after the start of the GreenPark Challenge at 8:30am. He walked the course in around 4 hours with his escorts.
Times of first ten women in selected races.
1994 1999 2000 2006 1 84.40 75.18 74.36V35 72.10 69.35
2 85.50 81.56V35 74.50V35 73.21V35 71.03V35
3 87.00 82.36 75.14 74.24 72.27
4 87.19 83.13 76.05 75.31 72.54V35
5 89.48 83.20 77.43V35 78.24V40 74.55
6 93.43 83.37 79.48 79.13V35 75.02
7 94.08 83.56V35 79.59V35 79.39V45 75.45V40
8 94.24 84.03 81.10 79.41 75.56
9 95.47 84.15 80.32 76.50V40
10 96.18 84.38V35 81,24V45 78.05V40
Reading Half Marathon 2010
The mass of runners entered for the 2010 Half Marathon and Green Park Challenge started to arrive at the Madejski Stadium by 7am on race day Sunday 21st March.
At 8:30 over 1000 runners of all ages from 3 years old started their 2.8 km run which ended in the stadium. First to cross the finish line was 17 year old Jack Gregory just a few seconds ahead of 15 year old Jonathan Davies both from local Reading AC.
On the fine clear, warm day nearly 13,000 runners were on the start line for the half marathon that started just after 10:05.
Within a very short distance a runner was setting the pace and had an early lead of up to 30 metres but he did not look capable of winning the race although he did reach the one mile mark in 4:35 and 2 miles in 9:37 (5:02). The chasing group of 5 then took over that included Toby Lambert (Winchester AC), Kenyon Edwin Kipyego, Ezekial Cherop and Simon Tonui. As they ran through the University grounds Lambert had to let them go, he said later “I let them go because I felt that only one of them was able to sustain that pace”. The early leader Abyu was falling back and Lambert overtook him. They leaders were through 4 miles in 19:14 (4:36) and 5 miles in 24:02 (4:48)
At just before 6 miles the 20 year old Kenyon, running in the UK, for the first time, Kipyego shot into a decisive lead. The time at 6 miles was 28:38 (4:36) and 10K was reached in 29:48. The lead rapidly grew and by 7 miles in 33:38 (5:00), even with the slower mile he had put the rest out of sight of the lead car.He went through 8 miles in 38:32 (4:54) and 9 miles in 43:16 (4:44). With the fastest mile of 4:35 in the 10th mile he went through in 47:51, considerably slower than in all previous record breaking runs.
Behind him the race was on for 2nd place and Lambert having reached 10 miles in 49 milutes made his effort in the closing miles overtaking Cherop and even closing slightly on the winner to finish in a PB by 16 seconds with 64:29. Cherop was 3rd ahead of Australian Peter Nowill and Denmark’s Jesper Faurschou. Running a rare race former international cross country runner Dave Clarke was 2nd MV50 to finish in 77:24 as part of his preparation for the London Marathon.
Running very relaxed and strongly with an occasional look over his shoulder he went through 11 miles in 52:47 (4:56) and 12 miles in 57:41 (4:54) the final full mile before th finish was covered in 4:45 and he finished in great style as he raced into and around the stadium where the large crowd gave him a great reception as he raced to the finish for a great win in 63:03, the 10th fastest in the history of the 13.1 miles around Reading.
The £1000 prize for the first woman went to Susan Partridge with 72:47 from 36 year old Jo Wilkinson 73:25 and Helen Decker 74:38 a new PB. Partridge went through 10 miles in 55 minutes
Another great run by local star 45 year old Sarah Gee of Reading Roadrunners who was 5th in 75:59 breaking her PB set Barcelona a few weeks ago.
On a near perfect day for running the crowds were out on the streets in the largest ever numbers and as one runner Mick Denney (he has run every Reading) told me “it was like the Tour de France as we hit Kings Street with people closing in on the runners”. 24th March 2010