Marathon weekend is a triumph after thousands flock to Brighton

It was the culmination of a weekend of events with children and cyclists as well as adult runners all taking part, many of them raising much-needed cash for charities close to their hearts.

In addition to Sunday's marathon, there was the BM10k, BM Ride and the mini mile races, which kicked things off on Saturday.

More than 1,400 mini runners took part in the races in Preston Park.

Six hundred cyclists woke up early on Sunday for the BM Ride, which returned for a second year, after a hiatus during the pandemic.

The cycling event took place before the marathon and 10k to allow riders to make the most of the marathon route by riding along the closed roads.

More than 2,600 people crossed the start line at the BM10k at Preston Park, shortly followed by the marathon runners.

More than 8,600 set off from the park to begin their 26.2 mile challenge, heading down London Road, past St Peter’s Church and The Level to the seafront.

At the front end of the men’s marathon, there was unyielding aggression after a steady start saw the leaders pass half-way just outside 73 minutes.

However, the tactically smart racing of eventual champion Alix Ramsier,of the South London Harriers, who took the lead at 19 miles, allowed him to maintain the pressure and stay clear by the narrowest of margins.

Alix as he crosses the finish line

In front of huge crowds over the final miles – many saying bigger than ever before – he was roared home to victory in a new personal best time of two hours, 29 minutes and eight seconds.

Alix, 34, said: “It feels amazing, I think when I went into the league I thought don’t get too excited. it’s a long way to go.

“It’s the first time I’ve done Brighton, so I’m pretty chuffed. I could sense how close it was with about two miles to go, I thought ‘I need to get going because he’s going to catch me’.

“I just tried with everything I had and managed to keep going.”

First three men's winners

He was just 18 seconds ahead of Birmingham’s Ben Holmes, with local man Will Green from Seaford taking third place.

Melissah Gibson won the women's race, crossing the finish line at two hours, 51minutes and seven seconds to huge cheers.

Melissah Gibson

Melissah, 38, said: “It was amazing, I’m so grateful, it’s so nice to win but even to just participate.

“It was great weather, great crowds, it was good to be back - I did it in 2016 and it was slightly hillier than I remember.”

She was shortly followed by Ania Gabb and Sarah Hanley taking second and third places respectively.

First three women's winners

Stacey Beattie-Chavannes, 37, from Brighton ran the race to raise money for Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex and has raised almost £1,000.

It was the third time Stacey had attempted to run the Brighton Marathon, after the first was cancelled due to the pandemic and she then caught Covid for the September event last year.

Stacey

Stacey said: “I’m feeling great, I enjoyed every minute of it, it went so well. I was so happy, I couldn’t have asked for more.

“The weather was perfect, I’m so happy I’ve done it.

“The route was good where there’s lots of people, the part towards the power station was a little bit tough.

“The air ambulance were there at that point so they were wonderful which really helped.

“My husband has always fundraised for the air ambulance since they were called to one of his friends six years ago.

“I’ve learned so much about them through him and about the incredible work they do, I just wanted to do my bit.”

Ben Goode

Ben Goode, 19, from Lewes and his brother Jonah are doing a marathon each this month to raise money for Brain Tumour Research.

Their mother, Linda, was diagnosed with a grade 4 brain tumour in December.

Ben took part in yesterday’s marathon, while Jonah will be running the Rock 'n' Roll Madrid Marathon on April 24.

Ben, who attends the University of Bath, said: “I’m really happy, it was really nice to finish it, it was tough but really rewarding.

“To put the icing on the cake, I beat my dad’s time from six years ago by one minute.

“The fundraising has gone really well, we have a lot of people who care about us all.”

Ben’s mum sat on the seafront in a secluded spot away from the crowds as her son completed the race.

Ben and Jonah have raised over £13,000 for the charity.

Darren and Claire

Claire Page, 38, is a keen runner and took part yesterday alongside her partner, Darren, who acted as her pacer, achieving a personal best of three hours, 24 minutes and 47seconds.

Claire launched a mini fundraiser at the school where she works at, Holy Trinity Primary School in Cuckfield, following the death of a much-loved volunteer.

Veronica Hutchinson, known to all as “Granny”, was a dedicated helper at the school and was loved by staff and pupils alike.

Granny and Becky (staff member at Holy Trinity) at the Volunteer of the Year Awards, of which Granny won

Granny died late last year unexpectedly. Her daughter Louise told Claire that she had frequently given money to Cancer Research and the cause was important to her.

Claire said: “I had already signed up as a non-charity place but I wanted to do something that would honour Granny in some way.

“I just thought it was a nice way to remember her, and get the whole school involved because we all loved Granny.”

Claire had a slightly dramatic finish to her race as she collapsed by the finish line, but her partner made sure she made it over.

She said: “I’ve been running for six years. I’ve done one marathon before, I haven’t done one since 2018 but I thought I would give it a go and get a race time so I could run London with my partner.

“It was a great experience, a terrific journey. It was quite dramatic towards the end, my partner had to pull me in from mile 24 and was holding my hand to keep me going and then I collapsed just before the finish line because my legs had gone completely dead, he picked me up and made sure I crossed that line to get a PB - they had to put me in a wheelchair and everything.”

Overall, Brighton Marathon Weekend proved to be successful with thousands flocking to the seaside to watch and take part.

Organisers have already launched the sign up for 2023 which will be held on April 2. You can sign up on the website.