£23,940 raised in a record breaking year for the Chichester Half

This Sunday saw the fourth staging of the Chichester Half Marathon, organised by Children on the Edge and Chichester District Council. Sponsored by Montezumas and Store Property and started by Sally Taylor of BBC’s South Today, this year’s race had the largest number of entrants yet. Runners took to the popular Chichester route in golden autumn sunshine and the atmosphere in the Chichester College race village at was buzzing. 

From a fundraising perspective the event was a tremendous success. With many runners getting sponsored for their efforts, a record amount of 946 registrations, 98 volunteers helping (many from 6.00 am), 975 litres of water donated by Southdowns Water and many other generous donations from different companies, the total raised for Children on the Edge came in at £23,940. 

To give an idea of what this figure can achieve, this can cover the full running costs of one of our schools for Syrian refugees in Lebanon for a whole year. Each school serves 100 children and employs Syrian teachers from within the camps so is a real benefit to the whole community.  

Our executive director, Rachel Bentley said, “The arrival of thousands of Syrian refugees in Europe has prompted a huge public response. Many local people have been organising events and collections for refugees arriving in Europe, but for over a year now Children on the Edge has been supporting work with Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. We really appreciate the contribution that all runners, volunteers and sponsors of the Chichester Half have made towards the vital work both here and in our other projects around the world”.

Sports highlights

• James Baker was the race winner for the fourth year running, with a new course record of 1hr 11min 52 sec. The women’s race was won by Cassie Thorp.
• The new competition ‘King and Queen of the Hill’ (fastest up the Trundle!), with a trophy sponsored by The Run Company was won by Adam Whitmee of Worthing Striders and Anne Sydenham.
• Another new venture was the Krowmark Trophy, sponsored by the local supplier of workwear and uniforms. This competition was for the first running club to have three men and three women home, and was won by Chichester Runners. Krowmark also donated the popular Chichester Half T-shirts, worn by over 300 of the runners and raising £2000 for Children on the Edge.
• The Works Trophy, sponsored by accountancy firm Evans Weir, was won by the team from Chichester District Council. Evans Weir not only provided the trophy, but a VIP tent for Works Teams, winners and their families to relax before and after the race. 

For a fuller description of sporting achievements in the race see this week’s Chichester Observer report.

Next year’s date is set for Sunday 9th October 2016. 
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