The South West Club and Inter Counties Cross Country Championships had yielded some terrific performances from the younger members of the Bournemouth AC fraternity. Isabel Cherrett became South West Cross Country Champion in the Under 17 Women’s race and many of the others picked up medals for representing Dorset in the Inter Counties team competition.

The next stop was the South of England Cross Country Championships at Beckenham Place Park where an even higher standard of competition was expected for each age group race. This was taking things up a notch for the athletes involved and getting closer to the pinnacle of cross country running.

Isabel Cherrett would be contending for the Under 17 Women‘s crown and she was certainly one of the biggest hopes as far as Bournemouth AC were concerned. She came off the back of a win in the Dorset Schools’ Championships where she completed the 3.8km course in 14 minutes 11 seconds. She’d ran the South of England Champs a couple of times before, finishing 12th in 2022 and 14th in 2023.

After taking 7th in the Under 13 Girls race at the South West Champs, Ellie Taylor was competing again and on the look out for another high placing. She finished 53rd in her race at the South of England Champs last year.

Isaac May ran well to take 18th place in the Under 17 Men‘s race at the South West Inter Counties before going on to win the Dorset Schools’ Championships. That would have given him great confidence going into the Southern Championships that he could do well on the big stage. He was joined in the race by another couple of promising youngsters in Jack Webb and Harry Butcher.

Jack finished 118th at the Southern Cross Country Champs last year and did well in the Hampshire League cross country races as well, finishing 21st, 22nd and 23rd before coming 9th at the most recent one, which was Prospect Park.

Harry competed in all three Hampshire League cross country races and all three Wessex League fixtures last year, finishing 8th, 9th and 11th in the Wessex League matchups. He also produced a couple of sub 19 minute parkruns at Moors Valley and came 86th in the South of England Championships last year.

After finishing 14th in the Under 15 Boys race at the South West Champs, Riley Austin was back to lead the line, along with Jacob Taylor who was 29th in the South West Champs. They were joined in that race by BAC teammate Callum Pearson.

Callum did all the Hampshire Cross Country League fixtures last year and the last one this year. He also did all three Wessex League fixtures. His best parkrun time is 19:34 and he finished 133rd at last year’s South of England Cross Country Champs. Could he improve on that this year?

Recording a 37th place finish in the Under 13 Boys race at the South West Inter Counties, Aiden Blagden had the bit between his teeth and was ready for action again at the Southerns. He ran 20:04 at the Run Bournemouth Supernova 5k in October and did all three Wessex League cross country fixtures plus three Hampshire League races.

It wasn’t just athletes from the junior ranks turning out for the Southern Cross Country Champs though. Abdinassier Mohamoud Elmi was there as well, featuring in the Senior Men‘s race and after winning three out of three races in the Hampshire Cross Country League, he was well equipped to be the star of the show. The question was, was there anyone out there quick enough to beat him?

So far, there had only been one race so far that he’d been beaten in. That was the Mizuno Podium 5k when he came 4th despite running an incredible time of 13:54. Before that he’d torn the field apart and smashed the course record in the Battersea Park Friday Night Under the Lights Xmas Five Miler.

Since losing his unbeaten record at the Podium 5k event, Abdi got back to winning ways, completing the Stubbington 10k in exactly 29 minutes. He was now ready for a serious assault on the high profile cross country scene and this was a chance for him to have his moment.

It wasn’t going to be easy though as he was up against James Kingston of Tonbridge AC who was 13th in the runbritain National Ladder at the time. He had the ability to pose a major threat and would have been bookies’ favourite to take the title.

Riley Austin managed a 50th place finish in the Under 15 Boys race, clocking a time of 15:32 for the 4.5km course. Jacob Taylor finished in 100th place, recording a time of 16:10. Callum Pearson came in 172nd in a time of 17:27. A total of 202 runners finished that race.

In the Under 13 Girls race, Ellie Taylor delivered one of the star performances of the day, finishing 6th in a time of 11:26. That was for a hilly 3k route that was muddy in places. She was only 33 seconds behind the race winner Madison Kindler of Brentwood Beagles. There 166 athletes in that race.

The Under 13 Boys also ran a 3k route and Aiden Blagden finished 113th in that race, clocking a time of 12:10. That was out of a field of 189. Aiden’s average pace for the run was 6:37 minutes per mile.

The competition was fierce in the Under 17 Men‘s race and even Isaac May couldn’t get near the front in that race. He came 76th, completing the 6km course in 21:31.

Jack Webb wasn’t far behind, arriving in 87th place in a time of 21:44. His average pace for the 3.7 miles was 5:54 and that was an impressive display from him. Recording a time of 23:08, Harry Butcher finished in 126th place in a field of 165.

In the Under 17 Girls race, Isabel Cherrett bettered her previous results in the South of England Champs, finishing 9th in a time of 22:47. She was just over a minute behind Katie Pye of Aldershot Farnham & District who won the race. There were 107 athletes in that one.

Never seeming to be overawed by the occasion, Abdi went out hard in the Senior Men‘s race, attacking the field from the outset and moving into an early lead. The first bit of the course was downhill which enabled him to set of at about 4 minute pace before it then went uphill for a bit.

Abdi seems to be able to take everything in his stride though and no hill or type of terrain seems to slow him down too much. Going through the first mile in 4:36, he’d already opened up a decent lead. James Kingston was in pursuit and had opened up a gap between himself and the rest of the field. In truth he was probably a bit shell shocked though by how fast Abdi had gone off.

The second mile had quite a bit of uphill but it didn’t seem to slow Abdi down much as he still went through it in 4:53 before clocking a 4:47 for his third mile. The fourth mile was mostly all uphill but again, Abdi powered his way up with no concerns, registering a 5:17.

On the fifth mile there was a bit of respite from the hills and Abdi went through that in 4:47. As he was progressing round the course, the gap between himself and James was widening. It was clear that he was going at a faster pace the whole time pretty much so there didn’t appear to be much chance of James catching him.

Abdi wasn’t quite as quick on the second big lap as he had been on the first but it didn’t matter as he was way out in front. Registering a 5:06 for his sixth mile, he then went on to record a 5:07 for his seventh before moving onto the toughest hill section on the course. Going through the eighth mile in 5:13, that left just under a kilometre to go.

It was a fine performance from Abdi, the likes of which had probably never been seen at Beckenham Place Park before. Getting to 4:52 pace for the final section, he whizzed over the line in 43:30.

James Kingston arrived 1 minute 9 seconds later to take the runner up spot in 44:39 and he probably couldn’t quite believe what he’d witnessed. Neither could a lot of the onlookers. Flurry Grierson of Highgate Harriers took 3rd in 45:19, with Alex Milne of Hercules Wimbledon coming 4th in 45:26. Sam Eglen of Aldershot Farnham & District was 5th in 45:32.

It had been a truly devastating display from Abdi and one that would have shaken South of England Athletics to its core. It was a big statement from Abdi that he’s arrived and he’s here to take titles and make history. It was a momentous occasion to see a Bournemouth AC athlete standing on top of the podium in such a hugely prestigious race as well. That was something that had probably never happened before.

All the Bournemouth AC members deserved credit for their performances though as the South of England Champs is such a high standard event and you know you’re up against the very best in a large area of the country. Of course, the juniors couldn’t have done it without the expertise and guidance from their coaches Simon Hearn and Simon Saunders. They both put a lot of hard work in, coming up with session plans that will help the athletes grow and improve and give them the tools to be the best that they can be.