A glorious day saw thousands of people turn out for the MBNA Chester Marathon.

More than 5,000 runners pounded the city’s streets for the sixth annual race on Sunday.

Bathed in sunshine, spectators lined the route which started and finished at Chester Racecourse.

Lower Bridge Street on Chester Marathon 2015 day
Lower Bridge Street on Chester Marathon 2015 day

Competitors also passed Chester’s iconic landmarks, ventured south of the Dee as far as Farndon and Holt, and for seven miles crossed the border into Wales.

Joint race organiser Andy Hulse said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to bits with today, it’s been amazing.

“We’ve had people from all over the world competing in the race.

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“Our focus is on the quality of experience for our runners and we hope we can bring even more runners back next year.

“It’s an immense operation, I would like to thank all the staff and the 700 volunteers for making this such a great event.”

Chester Marathon 2015 gets under way

There were three events on show, the full marathon, the 26.2km metric marathon and the one-mile mini marathon.

The 26.2-mile main races were won by David Rigby, from Preston in 2:24:47 and Samantha Amend, from Marlow, in 2:49:09.

Rigby said: “I’m delighted, I felt good all the way and conditions were great.

“My race worked exactly to plan, I’ve smashed seven minutes off my personal best and my main aim coming here was to beat the Preston Harriers club record.

“To see the amount of people on the streets is amazing it's like the London Marathon, I’m so grateful for all the support from the crowd.”

Male marathon winner David Rigby crosses the line

Pre-race men’s favourite Jonah Cheshum led at the halfway stage, but the Kenyan hit the wall with just over a mile to go.

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In the end he could not trouble the Chester course record of 2:21:25.

Finishing first in the men’s and women’s metric distances were Matt Adcock and Esme Burford respectively.

Chester’s metric marathon is the only race of its kind in the UK.

Cheering on Metric Marathon runners
Cheering on Metric Marathon runners

Local groups were well represented including competitors from Chester Triathlon Club, Ellesmere Port Running Club and Helsby Running Club.

The mini marathon saw children and families hare around a one-mile course having a great time.

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Dehydration was a factor on a surprisingly warm day.

One finisher was treated by St Johns Ambulance Service after collapsing, but race organisers confirmed the man was OK.

This year’s race charity partner is the Countess of Chester Hospital’s Babygrow Appeal, which is hoping to raise more than £3m to build a new Neonatal Unit.

Did you or someone you know take part in the marathon? Has it inspired you to enter next year? Tweet us @ChesterChron or leave a comment below.