The cheers rang out for Lee Stopford as he completed back-to-back wins in the Stroud Half Marathon.

He crossed the line in one hour, 11 minutes, 23 seconds, some 18 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, and as a member of Stroud Athletic Club he was certainly a very popular winner.

But a popular winner though he was, he didn’t get the biggest cheer of the day. That was reserved for Jeff Waters, a remarkable man who was competing in the event for the 40^th time.

He has run in every race since 1982 – the first year of the Stroud Half – and on Sunday he ran through the pain barrier to finish in two hours, 58 minutes, five seconds.

“He says it will be the last time he runs the race,” said Stroud AC chairman Jim Adams. “He suffers with multiple sclerosis and ran with a sign on his back saying this would be his last time.

“He ran with his daughter Rebecca and they got the biggest cheer of the day when they crossed the finish line.”

The Stroud AC member wasn’t the only runner in the close to 800-strong field competing in the event for the 40^th time, it was something that could also be claimed by Dursley Running Club member Kevin Jackson.

He completed in one, 40 minutes, 48 seconds and Adams said that Jackson’s target is to run the event 50 times.

“We presented Jeff and Kevin with engraved tankards to mark the fact they had run in the race 40 times,” said Adams, a retired bank manager who also ran on Sunday and completed in two hours and 35 seconds, a time he was quite happy with.

He was also very happy to see Stopford win in such impressive style.

“He’s a really good runner and one of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet,” said Adams, who is chairman of Stroud AC, the club who organise the Stroud Half.

“He ran the Berlin Marathon in about two-and-a-half hours four weeks ago. We’ve got some excellent runners at the club, they are a very good group.”

The host club had three finishers in the top 10 with Alastair Campbell fourth in one hour, 12 minutes, 23 seconds and Benjamin Gregory sixth in one hour, 13 minutes, 49 seconds.

“It was almost a miracle we had a race at all when you consider how much rain we had,” added Adams. “I was woken by a loud clap of thunder at ten to six on Sunday morning, the heavens had opened.

“But when the race started it had virtually stopped raining, it turned into a pleasant day for running, quite a lot of people ran PBs.”

They included Stroud AC runner Charlie Gorman, who The Local Answer featured in a story online last week and who completed in one hour, 49 minutes, 50 seconds.

Adams, meanwhile, is hoping that the Stroud Half will continue to go from strength to strength over the next 40 years.

“I’d like to thank everyone who helps to make the event such a success – the runners, the organisers and the people who come out to support on the day, that’s what makes this event so special,” he said.