Adam Corbin was the sole Bournemouth AC representative at the 2024 Egdon Easy
After finishing 6th at the Round the Lakes 10k in April, Adam Corbin went on to record a 4th place finish at the Marnhull 12k and then another 4th place finish at the Alton 10. That meant on a couple of occasions he’d narrowly missed out on a podium place. For his next outing, it was over to Weymouth for the Egdon Easy. Could this finally be his time to get the glory of a top three position.
Although it would be nice to do that, it wasn’t really Adam’s primary goal. What he was really after was a 10k PB. That was what he’d been chasing all year really. The frustration of missing out on one by two seconds at the Stubbington 10k back in January still haunts him to this day. It was still the 33:49 he set at Eastleigh in 2021 that was best time.
The race begins with Adam up near the front of the pack
It was a high benchmark but he knew, from his performance at Stubbington, that he’s got it in him to beat that. He just needed everything to go right on the day. Taking place on a Saturday evening, which is rare for a race, the Egdon Easy is a fast, flat route round Lodmoor Nature Reserve and Country Park. It’s basically one small loop followed by two big loops.
Adam had done the Egdon Easy a couple of time before, finishing 5th in 2021 with a time of 34:48, and taking 3rd place in 2022 in a time of 34:05. What could he produce this time round? Could he finally bag that PB he’d been craving for so long?
Adam signalled his intentions from the outset
Beginning his quest at a high speed, Adam clocked a 5:16 for his first mile split, despite it being on a very slight upward trajectory. That showed that he was in the mood for a quick time.
With the pace he has, Adam was always likely to be one of the front runners
Following it up with a 5:25 for his second mile, Adam then got through his third mile in 5:27. Going through 5k in 16:42, he was well on course for a PB if he could replicate that in the second half of the race. It wasn’t going to be easy to keep that sort of pace going though for a duration of the run.
It would be a tough task to main the pace the whole way for Adam
A 5:32 for his fourth mile was then followed by a 5:36 for his fifth mile. He had slipped of the pace a touch but not that much. Registering a 5:35 for his sixth mile, he then put in strong final burst before reaching the line.
Adam had a good run to finish 3rd but he missed out on a PB
That gave him a chip time of 34:02 which was enough to put him in 3rd position. Only Robert Wood of Basingstoke Mid Hants AC and Matt Papa from Egdon Heath Harriers could better that.
Robert completed the course in 33:20 and Matt got round in 33:28, so they were a fair way ahead of Adam in the end. It was still a very good run from Adam though and nice to nail a place on a the podium after his two previous fourth place finishes. His average pace for the run was 5:28.
Jamie Hill took 4th place in 34:24 with Dave Hicks of Poole AC taking 5th in 34:52. He was 1st in the M50 category ahead of his teammate John Bassinder who was 2nd M50 and 10th overall in 35:48. They were both faster than any other vets in the race.
Nat Lawrence of Egdon Heath Harriers claimed first female spot in 36:52 which put her 12th overall. Gill Pearson of Running for Time was 2nd lady and 1st F50 in a time of 38:04. She came 17th overall. Louise Mills of Woking AC was 3rd female and 33rd overall in 39:39.
Again, Adam hadn’t quite managed to secure the PB he so badly wanted though and had fallen 13 seconds short this time. Hence, the agonising hunt will have to go on for now. He’ll no doubt get it at some point but its just a question of when will it be and how long will it take? All he can do for now is to keep training hard and try to stay in peak condition until the next opportunity comes along.