One of those races that has a good tradition of involvement from Bournemouth AC runners over the years, the Lymington Lifeboat 10k is always a fun one to do. It used to be a favourite of Alex Goulding’s and he’s done it a number of times in the past, including last year. Pawel Surowiec and Steve Parsons did it three years in a row as well from 2017 onwards.

Two years ago James Philips won it for the second time, setting a course record time of 32:34. Laura Rothwell picked up a category win that day as well. This year’s race featured three Bournemouth AC members with Rob Spencer, Adam Corbin and Jason Christian in the line-up.

Recently recording a sub 2:55 finish at the London Marathon off the back of very limited training, Rob went on to finish 11th in the May 5 in just under 28 minutes. There was also an opportunity for his kids to take part at the Lymington Lifeboat 10k event as well as there were children’s races on too. It was a very family friendly event.

Setting a PB of 33:34 earlier in the year at the Stubbington 10k, Adam Corbin had been exhibiting some fine form this season. He’d finished first in parkrun four times and ran the Eastleigh 10k in 34:32 in March.

Jason Christian wasn’t far off his best form, running a 38:45 at the Stubbington 10k and then running almost exactly the same time at Eastleigh. In fact, he was one second faster. In his last race he set a new PB of 1:03:53 at the Salisbury 10.

Former Bournemouth AC man Trev Elkins was running as well and he was in good form and had set a new 10k PB of 35:23 at Stubbington earlier in the year.

The Lymington Lifeboat 10k started at Lymington Woodside park and as soon as the race got underway, it was Bournemouth AC pair Adam Corbin and Rob Spencer who were setting the pace. And it was a very fast pace!

Getting through the first mile in 5:20, Adam wasn’t hanging around. Spence wasn’t far behind either with a 5:23. Adam then registered a 5:27 for his second mile, with Rob posting a 5:28.

At 2.8km, the route then went onto a gravel path for quite a lengthy section. Then at 4.4km it was onto the sea wall and into a tough headwind. Adam got through his third mile in 5:38, with Spence posting a 5:37. They were still very close to each other at that stage.

 

It was on the fourth mile where Adam began to exercise his supremacy, somehow managing to push through the headwind for a 5:47 split. Rob wasn’t quite able to match that and fell behind a tough, with a 5:55. Did Adam have enough to keep it going till the end though, that was the question.

Getting through the fifth mile in 5:52, the gap between himself and Spence was still growing slightly with Rob posting a 6:02. Putting in a strong last mile, Adam was back up to 5:38 pace and flying to victory. Going over the line in 34:29, it was a very strong win for Adam.

Going through his last mile in 5:43, Spence then just had a short distance to go before reaching the finish. Getting to the line in 35:06, it was a very good run from Rob. Not quite quick enough to get him the win but certainly another step along the road back to his best form for Spence.

Another runner with Bournemouth AC connections, Adam Jundi, finished third in 35:28. It was a quicker time than he did last year when he finished second. Adam’s daughter Mabel runs for Bournemouth AC and is in the Under 11s group.

Sam Shawyer was fourth in 35:50, with Jack Hemmatpour taking fifth place in 36:03 and Jonny Timms taking sixth in 36:34. Trev Elkins struggled with the headwind and that cost him any hopes of recording a time that he would have been pleased with. He still managed a 36:49 though which put him in seventh place and still saw him finish ahead of Rob Doubleday of Poole AC was was 8th in 37:11 and Christian Rodiger of Littledown who was ninth in 37:23.

Starting with a 6:21 for his first split, Jason Christian went through the second mile in 6:28. He then registered a 6:36 for both his third and fourth miles. Completing his fifth mile in 6:42, Jason then found the strength to get back to the same pace he was going at at the beginning for his sixth mile, posting a 6:20. Then he cranked the pace up well for the final stretch into the finish.

It was a pretty well paced run from Jason and he’d come in in 19th place in a field of 824. He was first M50 as well which meant he would also have a trophy to take home, as Adam and Spence had. Hence, it was a very successful day for the Bournemouth AC trio.

Poole AC star Rachael Haddow finished first female and 35th overall in a time of 41:48. That put her well ahead of Ines Mitchell who was second lady in 43:38.

Thanks to Jason Ludlow at jasonludlow.com for capturing all the action marvellously in his photo gallery.