Records tumble at Norwich race - despite the hills

Course records were broken as more than 8,000 runners took an annual city centre race to new heights.

The Run Norwich 10km (6.2-mile) event was held on Sunday, raising funds for organisers the Norwich City Community Sports Foundation (CSF) and many other charities.

Claiming the women's crown was debutante Daisy Glover with a course record of 33 minutes and 26 seconds, while Cambridgeshire teacher Jonathan Escalante-Phillips improved his 2024 men's record to be the first ever competitor to finish in under 30 minutes - at 29:59.

Glover, an NHS worker who runs for Framlingham Flyers, said: "It was amazing... literally every corner you went round there were big pockets of people."

CSF estimates 20,000 spectators cheered on competitors at the event, which was started by Norwich City Football Club head coach Philippe Clement.

Glover, 35, said: "The roar of the crowd really did inspire everybody."

While many may think Norfolk is a flat county, some runners thought differently due to a few hills on the route.

Glover said: "I knew the course record was 34:40, so I was aiming to go for around 34 minutes.. but because it was so hilly, I didn't know whether I'd be able to do it or not."

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Escalante-Phillips, said: "I'm over the moon to be honest. I was hoping to be competitive maybe have a go at beating my previous time...but you know it's really all credit to [2023 winner] Logan Smith, who was just behind me, he really set the pace out from the start."

Places for the event sold out in just 28 minutes when entry opened in March.

Ian Thornton, chief executive of CSF, said the charity was "hugely grateful" to everyone involved.

He said: "Behind every race number is a personal story, and it's those stories that make this event so special year after year."

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