Congratulations to Jez Bragg on his 2nd place in The Fellsman, which took place in the Yorkshire Dales on Saturday 25 April. This is a fell race at its toughest, consisting of a high level traverse covering more than 60 miles involving climbs totalling 11,000 feet. Much of the course isn’t along well defined footpaths, so it’s a test of the competitor’s navigational skills with map and compass as well as physical fitness. To make matters worse, on the day there was a full-on blizzard, with wind, rain and sleet. Jez‘s time of 10.44 was minutes behind the winner (10.23), and he led a very strong team (named ‘Haggis, Neaps and Tatties’!), as his remaining team members finished 3rd and 4th. To illustrate just how tough was this event, 374 started. but the drop-out along the way was such that 279 finished. Well done to Jez on such a fantastic achievement!

Nearer to home, more usual races were taking place (apart, of course, from the London Marathon, already reported on), including the Southbourne Flat & Fast 5k and 10k on Sunday 26 April. It appears there were no BAC athletes competing in the 10k, but thanks to Tony Hunt, running in the 5k, the BAC flag flew at the event. Tony was 3rd of 71 finishers in 19.34. On the same day the Fordingbridge Fire Station 10k took place, in which, of a total of 117, Simon Hunt was 8th in 41.15, Joe Price was 23rd in 43.49 and Will Price 103rd in 61.01.  Apologies if anyone has been missed, but the results don’t mention clubs, nor full names.

With so much going on during the weekend, it’s hardly surprising that there was limited BAC representation in the Parkruns on Saturday 25 April.  In the Bournemouth Parkrun, this consisted of Ian White, Steve Cox and Ian Graham (1st V65), and in the Poole Parkrun Simon Munro had an excellent run to finish 7th.  314 finished at Bournemouth, and 549 at Poole.