The Vitality Bath Half Marathon has walked away with a double win at the annual Bath Life Awards, which took place last week at the Assembly Rooms in Bath.
The Bath Half, as it is affectionately known, won both the Event category and the inaugural Platinum Award, for which the judges picked the best overall winner.
The Bath Life Awards are the city’s most prestigious, high profile and coveted business awards. They celebrate the very best businesses in Bath, from arts organisations and charities to restaurants and retailers.
A shortlist of finalists had been selected for each category, and on the night the Vitality Bath Half Marathon beat Bath in Fashion, Bath Festivals and Bath Men’s Walk to take the Event Award.
This was the first year for the Awards to recognise the best overall winner with a Platinum Award.
The Bath Half Marathon was chosen from over 100 finalists for its outstanding contribution to the city and to the running industry, honouring the race with its first ever double and prominent award.
The panel of distinguished and independent judges comprised key figures from local retail, sports, education and other sectors, including Olympic medalist and BBC presenter Sharron Davies MBE.
Mel Taylor, Charity Director for the Vitality Bath Half Marathon, commented: “We are thrilled to have won the Event Award and Platinum Award at the Bath Life Awards.
“The Vitality Bath Half Marathon is a unique and inspiring event for everyone involved, and we are immensely proud that it has received this recognition.
“With only two weeks to go before this year’s Bath Half, this is a really exciting achievement and we would like to thank all our supporters.”
Andrew Taylor, Race Director for the Vitality Bath Half Marathon, said: “Thank you to Bath Life Awards for hosting such a fantastic evening enjoyed by all.
“We are overwhelmed to have received a double award amongst such worthy finalists, and delighted that the race holds such an important and respected place in the local community.”
Greg Ingham, Chief Executive of MediaClash which runs the Bath Life Awards, added: “The Vitality Bath Half Marathon was the stand out winner of the Best Event category of the Bath Life Awards – and then the unanimous choice of our Judges for the new Platinum Award which goes to the crème de la crème, best of all the individual category winners.
“It has had impressive long-term success capped by record-breaking charity fund-raising in 2015. We are delighted for the team and delighted to honour the Bath Half with these two awards.”
The Vitality Bath Half Marathon is one of the most iconic and longest established races on the UK running calendar.
It sees 15,000 participants run through the heart of Bath raising money for over 115 different charities.
All half marathon entries for this year’s race on Sunday 13th March 2016 are now closed.
The 2017 Vitality Bath Half Marathon has been confirmed to take place on Sunday 12th March 2017 and entries for this award-winning race will open on Monday 14th March 2016.
