NUNEATON’S Gary Payne defied the years and record October temperatures to cross the finish line first in Coventry’s half-marathon. As the veteran runner and school cleaner from Nuneaton casually declared the sunshine had spurred him on, 1,700 other mere mortals were helped along with 3000 extra bottles of water, mobile water vans, and sprinkles thrown by thousands of cheering Coventrians lining the 13-mile route. Gary looked to the Gods as he crossed the finish line outside the transport museum in one hour, 17 minutes and 25 seconds. The George Eliot Striders runner said: “I can’t believe a 55-year-old has won the Coventry half-marathon.” The Etone school cleaner from Weddington, Nuneaton, added: “It may never happen again. I normally make the top five here but I didn’t expect to win. “I usually go too early but I stayed with one runner. Then with two miles from the finish, I realised I had a chance. “I thought, ‘I’ve got to go now, I may never get another chance at my age. “So I just legged it.” All 1,700 runners were winners, as were charities collectively set to receive around £300,000 from the seventh Coventry half-marathon. Two other runs were staged – Coventry’s first Junior Mile Race, and a fun run, with young participants including wheelchair racers Bethany and Christopher Challenor, aged 10 and nine. After pushing himself around for a mile, Christopher said: “It was a lot harder this year because of the weather.” Organiser John Martindale said his company Big Q events had been brought in by the city council to help re-shape the event this year, including a re-routing of the course. The family day out included a concert in Millennium Place, where performers included the Coventry and Warwickshire Gospel Choir and the Phoenix Dance Academy, and 100 children took part in an “flash mob” dance. | 
Article
