Two races into the six-race Upton Summer Series and Bournemouth AC athletes have already made their mark, collecting individual victories, team honours and age-group successes as they look to build on some impressive performances from previous years.

The opening race saw a strong Bournemouth AC turnout with Riley Austin, Matt Brown, Tom Casson and Callum Pearson representing the men, while Emma Caplan, Kitty Cook, Helen Beddoe, Michelle Dorrington and Emma Biggs flew the yellow and blue flag in the women’s competition.

Riley Austin arrived at Upton in excellent form. Having won the Junior Summer Series two years ago before stepping up to finish fifth overall in last year’s senior competition, he had recently demonstrated his credentials with a third-place finish at the Bournemouth Bay 10k in a time of 35:44.

He produced a performance to match that promise.

In what became a display of Bournemouth AC dominance, Riley surged clear to take victory in a superb 19:36. Ben Shawyer was the only athlete able to challenge the Bournemouth AC contingent, taking second place in 19:47, while three of the top four finishers wore yellow and blue.

Matt Brown continued the fine form that has seen him run 34:29 at the Eastleigh 10k and record a marathon personal best of 2:40:11 in December. Going through the first mile in 5:30, Matt followed up with consecutive 5:43 miles before closing out the race at 5:53 pace to stop the clock at 19:53.

Tom Casson was another Bournemouth AC athlete enjoying a strong run of form. Having recently clocked 5:08 in the Community Mile at the Bannister Miles meeting in Oxford, he opened with a rapid 5:28 first mile before covering the next two miles in 5:56 and 6:06. Maintaining a 6:11 pace for the final section, Tom crossed the line in an impressive 20:36.

Callum Pearson completed Bournemouth AC’s outstanding men’s performance. Splits of 6:02, 6:12 and 6:19, followed by a 6:39 pace finish, saw him record 21:34 and claim 11th place overall as the club enjoyed one of its strongest collective showings in recent editions of the series.

The success did not end there.

Emma Caplan led the women’s race from a Bournemouth AC perspective, producing an excellent run to finish as first female and 22nd overall in 22:31.

Kitty Cook continued where she left off last year. Cook finished fifth female overall in the 2025 series after completing all six races and had recently placed seventh female at the Bannister Miles Community Mile in Oxford. Her consistency was again on show as she recorded mile splits of 6:19, 6:29 and 6:43 before closing strongly to finish second female and 30th overall in 22:49.

Carys Gallagher of Westbourne was third female in 23:49.

Michelle Dorrington, ninth female overall in last year’s series and a member of Bournemouth AC’s winning women’s team, ensured there were three Bournemouth AC women inside the top eight. Splits of 7:02, 7:04 and 7:09 helped her to a time of 24:50 and 54th place overall.

Helen Beddoe was the fourth Bournemouth AC woman home. Having completed all six races last year and improved her time at every event, she arrived at Upton following a successful spring marathon campaign which saw her break four hours at the ABP Southampton Marathon. She completed the course in 27:04, finishing 90th overall, 21st female and second in the F40-44 category.

Emma Biggs completed the Bournemouth AC scoring contingent. Her time of 32:17 placed her 149th overall and 48th female.

With 190 runners successfully completing the course, Bournemouth AC rounded off a memorable evening by claiming victory in both the men’s and women’s team competitions, which are determined by the first three finishers from each club.

Tougher Conditions in Race Two

The second race of the series proved a sterner test.

Andrew Smith of Poole Runners took victory in 19:47, with Ben Shawyer again finishing runner-up in 19:57. Oscar Ewan Matthews of Poole AC claimed third in 20:16, while Ed Davies of Twemlow Track Club was fourth in 20:34.

Callum Pearson was Bournemouth AC’s leading male athlete on this occasion. Although unable to reproduce the performance that had seen him finish 11th overall in race one, he still ran strongly to place 22nd in 22:44.

The warmer conditions appeared to take their toll across the field.

Helen O’Neile of Poole Runners was first female and 20th overall in 22:26, with Imogen Thorne second female in 22:53.

Kitty Cook once again featured prominently, taking third female spot in 23:31. While some way outside the 22:49 she managed in the opening race, the significantly hotter conditions made comparisons difficult and her placing kept her firmly in contention at the top of the overall standings.

Carys Gallagher finished fourth female in 23:54.

One of the performances of the evening came from Helen Beddoe. Locked in a close contest with Vicky Rutter of Littledown Harriers, Beddoe narrowly missed fifth female place by just one second as she crossed the line in 25:12. The time was quicker than four of her six performances from last year’s series and moved her to the top of the F40-44 standings after two races.

Matilde Blagden made her Upton Summer Series debut in Bournemouth AC colours and completed the course in 30:38, placing 28th female.

Emma Biggs returned for her second outing of the series and finished in 34:57, placing 148th overall.

A total of 168 runners completed the second race, with the Bournemouth AC trio of Kitty Cook, Helen Beddoe and Matilde Blagden securing second place in the women’s team competition.

Early Standings

Following two races, Ben Shawyer heads the overall standings thanks to consecutive runner-up finishes.

Kitty Cook sits at the top of the women‘s standings, while Bournemouth AC also lead the women’s team competition heading into the third race of the series.

With four races still remaining, there is plenty of running left to be done, but Bournemouth AC have already established themselves as one of the clubs to watch this summer.

Junior Summer Series

The club’s younger athletes have also made an excellent start to their campaigns.

Race one saw Aiden Blagden produce his fastest Junior Summer Series performance to date, finishing fifth in 5:27. Having ended last year’s competition seventh overall, the Bournemouth AC youngster looks set for another strong season.

Edward Davies also recorded a personal best for the series, clocking 5:40 to finish eighth. He was 15th overall in last year’s standings.

Imogen Davies completed the course in 6:39 to place 52nd overall and ninth girl. She was also the fastest athlete in the Girls 9 category.

Adam Ewen Matthews of Poole AC won the race in 4:57, ahead of Seth Hollyman of Poole Runners in 5:16 and Stelios Pavlou, also of Poole Runners, in 5:17. Imogen Beisley of Poole AC was first girl and 12th overall in 5:48.

Race two brought another excellent performance from Aiden Blagden, who improved his placing to fourth while recording 5:28.

Marlon Moxey was the other Bournemouth AC representative and finished 14th overall in 5:57, making him the fastest boy in the 8-year-old category.

At the front, Adam Ewen Matthews made it two wins from two starts, lowering his winning time to 4:53. Seth Hollyman again took second in 5:06, while Zacary Armitage of New Forest Juniors was third in 5:25. Imogen Beisley was once more the first girl home, finishing ninth overall in 5:47.

After two races, Aiden Blagden occupies fourth place in the overall Junior Summer Series standings.