adidas Silverstone Half Marathon
19th March 2006

Incorporating the Men's British and English Individual and Team Championships

Sir Steve Redgrave lowered the famous chequered flag to start the 2006 adidas Silverstone Half Marathon on the world famous F1 circuit. He then joined the field of over 5,100 runners with his wife Ann, both in training for the Flora London Marathon in April, to raise funds for the Steve Redgrave Trust.

David Mitchinson (Newham & Essex Beagles) became the UKA & AAA of England Men's Half Marathon Champion, taking the crown after a fierce battle with the reigning adidas Silverstone Half Marathon Champion, Matt Smith (Tipton AC).

With the wintery conditions there was no danger of Smith's course record of 1:05:40 being beaten. Clouds covered the sky above the Silverstone course throughout the race, with a sharp north easterly wind making the temperature drop to a chilly two degrees.

At one mile the leading split time was 5:11, with Matt Smith leading the chasing pack of Kassa Tadessa, Daniel Macharia, Andrew Swearman, Kojo Kyereme, Richard Williams and David Mitchinson. Swearman then took up the pace until Matt Smith and David Mitchinson reclaimed the lead.

Kassa Tadessa withdrew recently from the Commonwealth Games team through problems with training, but left his withdrawal too late for Matt Smith to take his place and join the team in Melbourne – so this race must have made for a interesting challenge between the two runners.

At three miles Mitchinson led with a leading split of 15:10, followed closely by Smith and Kyereme, with Swearman some 50 metres behind this leading trio. Smith then re-took the lead just after the three-mile point.

At four miles Mitchinson went to the front of the group, where the leaders hit twenty minutes. At the five-and-a-half-mile point Richard Williams, the new leading man, recorded 25:12 for this split, with Smith, Kyereme and Tadessa in the chasing group, who were in turn 40 metres ahead of Louis Jones, Swearman and Williams.

Six miles saw Mitchinson still leading with a split time of 30:27, and seven miles saw Smith re-take the lead in 35:38, where both Mitchinson and Smith decided to pick up the pace together. This move saw Tadessa drift 30 metres off the back of the leading group.

Smith then sat on Mitchinson's shoulder, with Kyereme in third place, and Smith and Mitchinson both hit the eight mile mark at 40:40.

Mitchinson then took off at nine miles, recording a split of 46:04, while Smith was still desperately bidding for his third win in a row at Silverstone. Smith made a big attack and re-took the lead, with Kyereme now 30 metres behind in third place.

The ten-mile mark saw the two international marathon runners Smith and Mitchinson locked together, with a recorded split of 51:02 – and still 30 metres ahead of Kyereme and Tadessa.

Mitchinson, not happy at being side-by-side with Smith, made a couple of bursts for the lead – but this saw Smith respond each time, meaning both the leaders hit 11 miles at 56:13, shoulder-to-shoulder, and now 200 metres ahead of Kyereme.

The leading men, although playing a cat-and-mouse game, found time to exchange words in a cordial way, recognising their own personal battle, and realising there could only be one winner in these Men's Championships, although there was still nothing in it.

After being shoulder-to-shoulder with Smith at the 12-mile mark, with a split time of 1:01:29, Mitchinson put in a kick, followed by another surge in the final mile. Although this was bravely matched by Smith, Mitchinson broke free with less than 150 metres to run, thus taking the tape, closely followed by Smith in second place.

After the finish, Dave Mitchinson said he was 'Over the moon. I came here to win and I achieved my first AAA of E Championship Title. I am very, very pleased and am happy to beat someone of Matt Smith's quality.’

The runner up, Matt Smith, said: 'I haven't felt very good all day but it was a good race. We both tried to break each other four or five times.’

And the third place finisher Kojo Kyereme said: 'I feel very, very good. This is my first AAA of E Medal after 21 years of running. I was injured five weeks ago and have only been back running now for two weeks.'

1st David Mitchinson – Newham & Essex Beagles – 1:07:08
2nd Matt Smith – Tipton AC – 1:07:10
3rd Kojo Kyereme – Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers – 1:08:22
4th Kassa Tadessa – Belgrave Harriers – 1:09:41
5th Louis Jones – Newham & Essex Beagles – 1:10:22
6th Kevin Robertson – 1:10:29
7th Paul Harwood – 1:11:18
8th Richard Williams – 1:11:44
9th William Cockerell – 1:12:54
10th Peter Stainer – 1:13:04

In the women's race the results were as follows:

1st Jude Craft – Headington Road Runners – 1:20:36
2nd Andrea Woodvine – 1:21:45
3rd Sharon Murphy – 1:23:55
4th Kim McBride – 1:24:18

At the finish line, June Craft said the race was 'Phenomenal. I had a tape to finish through! That’s never happened before. It felt just like the Commonwealth Games.’

Andrea Woodvine said coming second was 'Completely unexpected – it's my first half marathon, and I am very happy.’

Third-placed Sharon Murphy – a former junior international runner – said: 'I am very pleased as I only started running again in January.’

In the wheelchair event, Shaho Qadir – the reigning champion on this Silverstone circuit – won for the second year in a row, clocking a time of 1:05:54, followed by Douglas Stone in second position in a time of 1:23:55.

It was quite a week for Shaho, as he was also named London Sports Awards Sportsman of the year, and is warming up for his second outing at the Flora London Marathon in April. (The London Sports Awards recognise disabled people's outstanding achievement in sport.)

Celebrities who took part in the race included:

Molly the Marathon Millipede (20 runners taking part for Action Medical Research) finished in a time of 2:30:53.

Jeff Brazier, reality TV star and currently in training for the Flora London Marathon, ran for Cancer Research UK and finished in 2:12:15.

Former Watford, AC Milan and England footballer Luther Blissett also ran today to raise funds for Help the Hospices, and finished in a very respectable 2:12:16.

CBBC and Blue Peter presenter Zoe Salmon ran on behalf of Childline and finished in 2:45:14.

5,003 runners crossed the finish line.