Westbury Rotary’s Imber Ultra Marathon

The fifth annual Imber Ultra Marathon, run by the Rotary Club of Westbury and Avon Valley Runners, took place on Sunday 11th March.

President of Westbury Rotary Club, David Perkins said, “A record 154 runners registered to enter the race. Five of them were running it for the fifth time, and one starter was from Perth, Australia! He saw the race on the internet and entered from Australia before he came over.

“The highest club representation was from Westbury Running Group with 13 starters, then Avon Valley runners with 10 runners. Many others come from far afield to join in this prestigious event, with three entrants all the way from Leeds.

“131 runners set off from the Leighton Sports Centre to tackle the gruelling 33-mile run around the Salisbury Plain Range path, calling at five checkpoints en route for much needed sustenance, much of which was kindly donated by Morrisons in Westbury and Sainsbury’s in Bradford on Avon.

“121 of them finished the course. The overall winner was James Donald of Team Bath in a time of 4 hrs, 4 mins, 2 sec. The last runner completed at 8hrs 40 mins.

“The organisers would like to acknowledge the generous sponsorship of Elkins Ford and Myddleton & Major; and thank the White Horse Pottery for the special presentation mugs and the Leighton Sports Centre for hosting the start and finish.

“The proceeds from the event will be donated to the charities supported by the Rotary Club of Westbury, which include Julia’s House children’s hospice and the Shree Saraswoti project to rebuild schools destroyed by the 2015 earthquake in Nepal.”

For results, visit www.imber-ultra.org/results/results2018.html