Running - Wall-to-wall sun for Coniston 14 runners (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Running - Wall-to-wall sun for Coniston 14 runners

1:24pm Saturday 9th April 2011 in Sport

SUNGLASSES and sun cream were required accessories for the well-equipped competitor in this year's Coniston 14 Plus as Saturday brought a warmer-than-wanted day for the field.

This year's race is over a longer distance of 16.7 miles for the second consecutive year and the temperature just after noon - an hour into the race - was 16 degrees centigrade and going up.

A bridge used on the original course was damaged by 2009 floods and closed, which meant the race was re-routed.

Although a temporary footbridge is now in place, it was too late to consider its use and alter arrangements for this year’s race.

This year’s entry of 1,600 is slightly down and organisers believe that its proximity this year to next week’s London Marathon may be one reason as some runners use the race as a warm-up... and in the sunshine it will certainly be that.