Brighton: Cook wins again
Brighton hosted about 20,000 runners for its big race day, and Sam Cook of Horsham won the men’s Brighton Marathon for a second consecutive year. ( ) Organizers framed the weekend as the city’s largest annual sporting event. (brightonjournal.co.uk)
Sam Cook won the men’s Brighton Marathon on Sunday, becoming a back-to-back champion in the city’s biggest running weekend. (bbc.co.uk) Cook, who is from Horsham in West Sussex, finished first in 2 hours 25 minutes and about five seconds, according to race coverage published after the event. Amy Harris won the women’s race, while more than 14,000 runners completed the marathon itself. (bbc.co.uk, brightonandhovenews.org, sussex.news) The marathon followed the Brighton and Hove 10K on the same Sunday morning, with organizers saying more than 20,000 runners took part across the weekend’s events. Brighton Journal called it the city’s biggest sporting day of the year, and London Marathon Events lists the weekend as a two-day festival of running on April 11 and 12. (brightonjournal.co.uk, londonmarathonevents.co.uk, brightonandhovenews.org) This year’s turnout was larger than the marathon field alone: organizers expected more than 14,000 starters in the full marathon and about 3,500 finishers were reported in the 10K. Brighton and Hove News said organizers described the combined total as a record-breaking weekend. (aol.com, brightonandhovenews.org) The route started in Preston Park and finished on the seafront, passing central Brighton landmarks before heading to Hove and back along the coast. Road closures began as early as 6:00 a.m. on several main roads, with reopening expected by 6:30 p.m. (sussex.news, mybestruns.com) Rugby World Cup winner Jess Breach was the official starter for the marathon, and local reports described windy conditions with large crowds along the course. Photos and post-race coverage showed spectators lining the seafront as runners came through in bright but breezy weather. (aol.com, msn.com) Brighton Marathon Weekend has been staged since 2010, and London Marathon Events now runs the event as part of its wider portfolio of mass-participation races. On Sunday, that history ended with Cook crossing the line first again as Brighton’s annual race day filled the city for another year. (worldsmarathons.com, londonmarathonevents.co.uk, bbc.co.uk)
