Based at Frimley Hospital, this event was in its fifth year and has grown in popularity every year, writes Manish Kunwar. Five ESM members lined up at the start this year, along with another six from Northala Fields parkrun, running as a team for the charity Helping You. For those of Nepalese origin, this race is also a chance to connect with the Nepalese community in the Aldershot district.
The run started off at Frimley Hospital with runners setting off down a wide road which was closed for 15 minutes, allowing the 950+ runners to spread out during the start. The Start photo shows Manish, Santosh and Krishna, from left to right.
The course was flat for the first 3km and after that, it was very undulating! After the run, runners were heard saying that they had to walk up the hills. The support was fantastic throughout the course though, with locals playing music and displaying posters which was very encouraging.
First man home for ESM was Manish Kunwar who finished third in a personal best time of 34:21. He was in a group of three for 7k until a beastly hill took the fire out of his legs and was left trailing by second placed runner named Mark who seemed to be a local favourite as there was support and chants for him throughout the whole 10k course.
Manish was followed 
home by Santosh Rai, his third time running this event finishing sixth in 36:22 – just a couple of seconds outside his 10k pb. His time is even more impressive when you realise that he ran the London Marathon just last week and also considering how difficult a course this was. According to Santosh, he was feeling the pain when this photo was taken!
The third ESM man to cross the finish line was Krishna Garbuja in 28th place in a time of 40:20. This is a new PB for him but he says said he’s a little bit disappointed to not finish under the 40 minute mark.
First lady home for ESM was Pat Thomas who finished in exactly 50 minutes and was 24th veteran. It was the first time she had run this course and she commented that the course was tough and undulating – which didn’t match Santosh’s description of ‘’fast and flat’’! Santosh’s wife Pringla Rai was the second ESM lady to finish in a time of 55:10, knocking six seconds off her PB.
ESM/Helping You results summary
Men: 3 Manish Kunwar 34:21; 6 Santosh Rai 36:22; 28 Krishna Garbuja 40:20
Women: 164 Garima Rai* 47:42; 232 Patricia Thomas 50:00; 445 Pringla Awale Rai 55:10; 474 Sangnuma Rai 55:51; 688 Nilu Dewan* 1:03:05; 847 Ambika Bhandari Rai* 1:11:04; 848 Bishnu Dewan* 1:11:06; 946 Shova Pun* 1:22:49
*Members of Helping You (and not ESM members)
Full results here