In the lead up to the Saucony Cambridge Half Marathon there was considerable call for the event to be postponed due to the extreme weather conditions that hit the UK in the days leading up to race day on Sunday 4 March. However, the event went ahead, and more than 7000 runners finished from a start list of 9000.
In deciding to go ahead with the event, there were several key factors considered by the organising team at OSB Events. Most important was runner safety and the ability of the event crew and volunteers to support the event.
OSB Directors, Iain Hamilton and Adam Moffat jointly explain the decisions they made:
‘We worked closely with the City and County Councils, monitoring the weather forecast around the clock before reaching the decision that the conditions would not prevent the event from going ahead. We did, however, hire every heater available to us for the medical tent and to keep volunteers warm. We also supplied 500 beanie hats for race crew members and purchased more than enough foil blankets for every finisher, and a few thousand spares.
‘The key issue for most people who were calling for the event to be postponed, like the Bath and Newport Half Marathons were on the same day, was the inability to get to the venue. However, the thaw had already started in the East of the country, unlike Bath and Newport, which were still under thick snow.
‘Cambridgeshire roads were clear, the air temperature was 10ºC, and over 65% of entrants were local. Postponing the event would have been very difficult given the fact that we shut down the city centre and rely on a lot of good will from businesses and the local councils to do so. Finding a new date would have been very challenging.
‘The decision to go ahead wasn’t taken lightly, and we are indebted to the City and County Councils, our race crew who backed us and put in a monumental effort to make sure it could. We were also in detailed consultation with race partners, and the Met Office, in order to come to our decision.
‘Over 7000 runners finished, collectively having already raised £260,000 for charity partners. We would usually expect some no-shows on the day, but even given the conditions, the number was similar to last year.
‘We offer our sincere apologies to those who could not get there, 400 of whom have taken up the offer of a guaranteed entry for 2019. From those that finished, we have received fantastic feedback. This was a very challenging event, organised under difficult conditions in the lead up, so the feedback really does mean a lot to us and our event crew.’
