The first ever Dartford half-marathon attracted 190 entries, 143 starters and 122 finishers. Halfway position in the field was 81:39, 51 beat 1:20, and there were just 5 women finishers and just 7 of the 122 failed to break 1:40.
Worth noting in 2005, that the halfway position time was 1:51:11 and 333 of the 573 runners were outside 1:40 and only 13 broke 1:20.
Almost 30 years ago road running was predominantly a male club runners sport. There were no fun runners as such, and most of those who did the sport trained hard and few women did races. Half-marathons were also quite rare (as were 10k's).
Of the race, nine runners entered on the day and therefore not in the race programme, were ineligible for awards and the £300 worth of prizes donated by race sponsors Win Lighters.
The surprise late entry was Steve Ovett, who had never raced more than 5 miles on the road before. Steve was unable to get his flight to compete in the Edinburgh Highland Games and take on 0lympic 1500m champion John Walker over 1000m and instead joined his Brighton and Hove AC training partners and team-mates who had already entered the half-marathon.
The race which began at Wilmington, saw a group of four pass 5 miles in a speedy 24:39, with Olympic marathoner Barry Watson accompanied by Ovett, Mike Hurd and John King. Watson, who had won the previous year's Olympic trials and AAA marathon in 2:15:08 was the favourite and he and Ovett were clear from the rest at 8 miles but by 10 miles Ovett (49:25) surpisingly had a 16 second lead over Watson (49:41) with Hurd (50:00) a clear third.
Ovett cruised home and while not eligible for an official award, the sponsors awarded him a £20 gift voucher! Ovett, who was just 21 at the time, caused quite a stir with his appearance. He was predominantly an 800/1500 runner and it was the week after he won the European Cup 1500m and a fortnight before his biggest race of the year the World Cup 1500m.
Any fears though that Dartford blunted his speed, were laid to rest in Dusseldorf. He set a British 1500m record of 3:34.5, with an incredible burst of speed on the final bend - that 100m was timed at 11.8s. The following year Ovett won the European 1500m. In 1980 he won the Olympic 800m title and in 1986, he won the Commonwealth 5000m. He now lives in Australia and commentates at major championships for the IAAF - the international governing body, and he was a popular summariser for the BBC at this year's Commonwealth Games.
Ovett still remembers the half-marathon well, "I enjoyed it. Wish I could run that far now." he said. Asked why he ran it he said, "No reason. Sheer madness!" He claimed he was just going to do a few miles but felt so comfortable and was enjoying it so much, he decided to go the whole distance and he was very proud of his result.
Barry Watson won the official first prize of a portable TV and all the first 50 won a special commemorative T-shirt. The author of this piece, Steve Smythe came in equal 49th to ensure he got one and he has competed in many of the last 30 races.
Lynn Billington was the first woman in 89:54, just over 2 minutes up on Betty Norrish. Other runners of note included 0lympic walk medalist Paul Nihill, who ran 1:24:21.
It's not just the standard of runners that have changed - Many of the clubs have changed in the 30 years - Blackheath are now Blackheath and Bromley, Medway are Medway and Maidstone, Invicta are now Invicta East Kent and Victoria Park Harriers are now Victoria Park and Tower Hamlets.
Only a handful of those who ran 29 years ago still compete on a regular basis and apart from Smythe, they include current M55 John Wilkins and M60 Barry Watson.
By: Steve Smythe, 2006
Overall
1 S Ovett (B&H) 65:38
2 B Watson (Camb H) 65:59
3 M Hurd (RAF) 66:22
Women
1 L Billington (Felt) 89:54
2 B Norrish (B&H) 92:25
3 J Everett (Norf O) 96:40
Barry Watson recalls his tussle with Ovett...
"I remember being absolutely gobsmacked at seeing my Montreal team mate turning up for the half marathon. At that time I had only been beaten once in the past 12 months by a British runner in England - by Keith Penny in the Mitcham 25k and was looking for an easy race prior to the Kosice Marathon. We said a brief "hello" before the race and I was left with the impression that he just wanted an easy training run before his next important meeting and that he would probably just do a few miles with the leaders. He had come with his training partner Matt Patterson who was the only one of the two who intended to take the race seriously. Therefore I wasn't that bothered by his presence and was more concerned about Mike Hurd who had run me close in the past."
"In the race itself I was at first pleased that he was in the race as he helped in getting away from Hurd and the other chasers and I told Steve this and looked forward to being out on my own once he had had enough. I asked him how he felt and was perturbed when he said he felt very easy. I tried everything to drop him including every time we turned a corner putting in a burst to make any gap appear bigger. I believe I said something like, ""You still here? Is this a good idea with next week coming up?"" I was cursing Matt Patterson for bringing him to the race.It was going to be tougher than I thought. ""I feel fine at the moment"", came back the unwelcome reply."
"By 10 miles he had a gap on me and all I could do was hang on to my position and hope I had a big enough gap on Hurd. At the end of the race we shook hands and he told me that it had been a good training run and I replied that at least he wasn't getting first prize, having entered on the day. I found it so annoying when he said how easy it had been. I did manage to touch his heels a few times though and run him wide round the corners."
"The Dartford Half is a great race. I have run it a few times since but never did win!"
Barry Watson, 2010