Richard Friedrich Imperial 10 launched with poignancy

Monday 27 February 2023

A poignant coincidence marked the staging of the 2023 Imperial ten mile running race which was renamed in honour of former Guernsey resident Richard Friedrich (pictured inset) who died last year.

His 2021 winning time of 53:53 was yesterday matched by James Priest who led the field home in the newly renamed 2023 race.

Mr Friedrich was an accomplished runner before he and his family moved to Guernsey less than a decade ago but he quickly made an impression on members of the Guernsey Athletics club, many of whom became close friends of the couple. 

He, and his wife Ulrike, had moved to the island for work and within days he had signed up for a cross country race at the KGV. He came 4th in that event and quickly became involved with other races, making friends with runners and others through this link.

Mr Friedrich had previously won the 2011 Munich Marathon in a personal best time of 2.19.27, and he had competed at the Rio World Military Games in 2011 for his home nation of Germany.

Mr Friedrich died in February 2022 aged 40. He had been active in local athletics until near the very end, having won the Guernsey Marathon in 2020 and many local races in 2021.

In light of his involvement in local athletics and his popularity among other runners and supporters, the traditional ten mile road race, sponsored by Chertsey House, which is staged from the Imperial, up and around the Mallard and back to the coast via L'eree, was renamed the Richard Friedrich Imperial 10.

His wife Ulrike ran in yesterday's event and came second in the ladies race. Her eldest son, Emil ran the first few kilometres of the ten mile course, which passed their family home - with younger brother Paul, cheering them on as they passed.

The full results can be seen HERE.