A RECORD NUMBER of 5,000 runners tackled this year's MBNA Chester 10K.

The sell-out event today (Sunday, March 10), brought excitement to the city streets and its surrounding countryside.

Kadar Omar of Birchfield Harriers crossed the line with a winning time of 31:38 followed by Aaron Doyle of Vale Royal AC (32:25) and Morgan Curry of Newark AC (33:14).

Kadar said: "Thank you for another great race in Chester. I had a good run today. It was tough but I enjoyed it. The support was great!”

First lady was Anna Bracegirdle of Salford Harriers & AC who shaved a second off the course record to cross the line in 34:44 followed by Lindsay Fisher of WCAC (36:36) and Joanna Marsden of Cheshire Dragons (36:41).

Event director Callum Shields said: “The sharp end of the race provided thrilling competition with some formidable athletes battling it out for podium places at the largest MBNA Chester 10K we have ever hosted.

“A massive thank you is due to the local communities, especially those of Mollington and the Garden Quarter for their vocal and enthusiastic support. We are thrilled that so many people made the effort to come out to cheer on and encourage the runners.

“We would like to thank MBNA as title sponsor and our associate sponsors, Mitchell Group, High 5, Brecon Carreg, Farralls Group and GoFundMe. We could not host the event without the amazing support of volunteers, organisations and groups who give up their time for free and give the race its unique and friendly character."

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Race co-founder Chris Hulse: “Whilst the vast majority of the runners taking part would not place themselves in the elite category, nonetheless each one of them was tackling their own challenge in doing the 6.2 mile race whether that be to raise money for charity or to achieve a personal goal.

“Our local running clubs were well represented. It's always great to see their colours in the middle of all of the action!”

The MBNA Chester 10K race started at Chester Racecourse then headed out to Mollington and returned to the heart of the City Centre via Northgate Street for a breath-taking finish in Eastgate Street overlooked by the iconic Eastgate Clock.

West Cheshire Foodbank is the official event charity and on the day they received a fantastic ¼ tonne of food donations.

Organisers expect the three races this year to raise £1m overall for Chester based, regional and national causes.

Chris added: “We are proud of and humbled by the efforts of our fantastic charity runners, many of whom were in fancy dress. And a big shout out to all the ladies who started their Mother’s Day celebrations with a 10K race!

“One race down, two to go! Based on today's event we could see a huge haul of 2024 Chester Triple Medals being awarded at the end of the MBNA Chester Marathon and Metric Marathon in October!”