Great Bristol Run Have-a-go hero criticises safety measures at race

A SPECTATOR at The Great Bristol Run has told how he and others in the crowd desperately tried to divert other runners around a man who had collapsed on the half marathon course.

- Ellie KENDALL

The 31-year-old software engineer, who recently moved to Bristol from the south coast, raised concerns about the speed of response from event officials and claimed the man was left lying on the ground in the path of other runners and the ambulance.

The man, who asked only to be named as Harry, had been cheering on a friend in the Queen Square area of the route on Sunday when he felt compelled to intervene along with others.

There are reports that several people fainted during the event, which coincided with warm temperatures in the city. Sadly one man, 28-year-old Jon Devereux, died after collapsing at the race, but Harry said he does not know if this is the man he tried to help.

He said: "A small crowd was starting to gather to try and work out what had happened, and someone in the crowd said out loud that [a runner] had fainted and hit his head going down."

As he is not first aid trained, he said he initially left it to better-qualified people to help, as he had noticed people in official bibs nearby.

He said: "At this point, the runners were coming around the corner at such speed, and I got the impression they couldn't see the man on the ground, so people were essentially running into the unconscious man on the floor.