A reception was held this week to acknowledge the contribution to city life made by the Bath Half Marathon.

The event was hosted by the Mayor of Bath, Cllr Tim Ball, who after starting this year’s race went on to run it with his wife Sharon. Tim and Sharon together with me have so far raised more than £6,000 for the Mayor of Bath’s Relief Fund, which helps local people facing hardship. I managed to run the race in 2hrs 18mins 33sec.

The money will be part of a total of around £1.2 million expected to be raised by this year’s 11,000 runners for charity.

Cllr Ball said:

To start the race and then run the half marathon was one of the highlights of my year – even though it nearly killed me and the mayoress.

The Bath Half Marathon brings the community together, promotes fitness and raises money for charity. It is a healthy event in every sense of the word.

Race director Andrew Taylor, from Running High Events, thanked Cllr Ball for hosting the reception, which was attended by representatives of organisations who ensure the race can go ahead – including FirstBus, Girlguiding UK, Bath and North East Somerset Council – as well as the main race charity, the Forever Friends Appeal.

He said of the civic duo:

They are an inspiration to everyone who doesn’t come from a running background, and a wonderful example of how this event has grown from simply an elite race for club athletes into a community event raising fitness across the whole city.

The date for next year’s race has been provisionally set for Sunday, March 21 and entries will go live on the website www.bathhalf.co.uk in July.