Thousands of people descended on Caerphilly town centre on Sunday for the second annual 10k road race.
On what was arguably the hottest day of the year, runners and spectators crowded around the magnificent Caerphilly Castle from 9am, with nearly 200 children taking part in a Junior 2k around the castle before the main event kicked off. Owen Locke, aged 15 from Maesycwmmer took first place in the Junior 2k.
Residents lined the streets of the 10k route, which led the runners in a loop around the town centre before finishing back in the shadow of Caerphilly Castle.
Elite and competitive runners completed the 10 kilometre course in incredible times with Owain Jones from Bristol and West Athletics Club beating the previous winner’s time by almost an entire minute. He breezed across the line in 31 minutes and 22 seconds. He was followed shortly after by the first female to cross the line, Emma Wookey from Lliswerry Running Club, with a time of 36 minutes and 33 seconds.
Cllr Dave Carter, Mayor of Caerphilly County Borough Council started the race alongside the Deputy Leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council, Cllr Barbara Jones, and Andrew Coombs, Captain of the Newport Gwent Dragons.
Cllr Carter said: “I am thrilled that I am able to be here for the second year in a row to start this race. I hope you all enjoy this challenging course and the fun activities that our Sport and Leisure Team have provided in the Commonwealth Sport Park. Events like this truly showcase what we can do and I would like to congratulate everyone involved in organising the day.”
This year there was also one participant who took on the undulating route in her wheelchair. Sian Hughes finished the course in an impressive 1 hour and 11 minutes.