Mammoth Marathon hailed a tremendous success

Date published: 17th May 2022

North Norfolk District Council, supported by the North Norfolk Beach Runners, hosted the first official ‘Mammoth Marathon’ on Sunday, 15 May.

Alan Darby took 1^st place in the full marathon with a time of 2 hours 38 minutes. With Rose Waterman finishing 1^st for the women in 3 hours 10 minutes.

Simon English took 1^st place in the half marathon with a time of 1 hour 19 minutes and Alexandra Smith finished 1^st for the women in 1 hour 31 minutes.

Watch highlights from the Mammoth Marathon

The event saw around 500 runners from all around the country take part in either the full or half marathon along North Norfolk’s Deep History Coast. Tackling a diverse and varied road marathon, including the gruelling 'Mammoth Mile' at Common Lane in Sheringham, just 2 miles before the finish line.

The full marathon started in Sea Palling and the half marathon started in Mundesley, finishing at Sheringham High School.

Supporters took to the streets to support the marathon runners, with friends and family stopping at car parks along the route, residents, schools and local communities cheering on the runners as they went past.

This event was the first marathon in North Norfolk for 32 years, initially scheduled to take place in 2020 but was postponed due to Covid-19.

Colin Brown, Leisure and Locality Services Manager at North Norfolk District Council said:

“We had a lot of nervous energy leading up to the day, but we are really happy with how everything has gone. We’ve had lots of very lovely feedback throughout the day from competitors and spectators”

Cllr. Virginia Gay, portfolio holder for Leisure, Wellbeing and Culture said:

“I think it’s been a brilliant day for the inaugural Mammoth Marathon. There were such a lot of happy people around, who were celebrating and just having a great day.

The last section of the race was really tough, so there were a lot of brave people who tackled that section.

I would like to say congratulations to everyone who took part in the race, a great achievement for them all.

I would also like to say thank you to all the organisers, volunteers and people who have been involved in the event, who put in years of hard work to make this event possible.”

Clive Hedges, Chairman of North Norfolk Beach Runners said:

“The North Norfolk Beach Runners were delighted to be supporting this event which we thoroughly enjoyed. We have had excellent feedback from the participants and supporters.

The event supported charities including Break, Norfolk’s Big C, East of England Air Ambulance, The Benjamin Foundation and EACH.

Students from Sheringham High School raised money for EACH by participating in a ‘cycling marathon’ and a cake bake sale.