After coming away with only a sixth place finish at the Overton 5, the Bournemouth AC men were looking to get back on track at the New Forest 10, which was the third race of the Hampshire Road League season.

A win in the opening fixture which was the Totton 10k had given them hope of another strong campaign but as the fixtures began to pile up the strain on the squad was beginning to show.

For the New Forest 10, they only had three men signing up, with Adam Corbin, Jason Christian and Leon Louis entering. They were then dealt another blow in the week leading up to race, as Leon sustained an injury that would render him unable to run.

Louis Suggett then stepped up to replace him but they were still one man shy of a team. Katie Gunn and Emma Biggs had also signed up for it but the women were two shy of a required quartet, meaning it would sadly be a non-scoring race for the club.

Adam Corbin’s record over the 10 mile distance has been excellent over recent years. He’s managed a sub 60 in every one he’s done since 2023 and that’s been two each year. Even the tough, hilly ones like the Alton 10 he’s managed it in. In April he registered a superb sub 58 minute time at the Salisbury 10.

The weekend before the New Forest 10 he ran a 58:06 at the Great South Run so based off that, he was in line for a decent time at the NF10.

Jason Christian was in the team at the New Forest 10 last year when the Bournemouth AC men won the fixture and had the first two finishers. Jason recorded a time of 1:04:40 that day which was an improvement on his 2023 time by 13 seconds.

He’d nailed a new 10 mile PB of 1:03:53 at the Salisbury 10 in April but had been suffering from plantar fasciitis which had hampered his training going into the New Forest 10.

Completing the Alton 10 in 1:02:56, Louis Suggett had shown he’s capable of a good 10 mile time. He was going into it off the back of a decent performance in the Round the Lakes 10k as well where he recorded a time of 36:07.

It was a third consecutive weekend of racing for Katie Gunn after she started with the elite women at the Great South Run the weekend before and did the Run Bournemouth Half Marathon the weekend before that.

She recorded a one second PB at the Great South Run, finishing 23rd out of the women who started in the elite race and 28th fastest female overall. That was a pleasing result for Katie, even if it wasn’t quite as good as her 1:04:38 time from the Lytchett 10 the previous year, as that was a tougher course.

At the Run Bournemouth Half Marathon she got round in 1:27:38 which made her 9th female on the day. Two weeks before that she’d finished fourth female at the Round the Lakes 10 in 38:41 so it had been a busy month of racing for Katie.

After clocking a time of 1:49:36 at the very windy and rainy Weymouth 10, Emma Biggs was back for her second 10 miler in the space of a week. She’d only really been doing 10ks the past couple of years so it was a bit of a step up in distance for her but she was clearly relishing the challenge it brought.

Vectis Academy man Joshua Price was proving to be one of Hampshire’s finest runners of late and he’d come away with second place at the Totton 10k, finishing quite a way ahead of Rob McTaggart. He also got second at the Overton 5 as well, with Harry Smith getting the win there.

Gary Marshall of Ryde Harriers had taken fourth place at the Totton 10k and fifth at the Overton 5 so he was also a contender for the lead positions.

Winchester Runng Club star Erin Willmers won most of her races last season and came out on top in the women’s individual table. She was in action at the New Forest 10 so was always likely to be one of the favourites for the first female position.

Starting off really fast, Adam Corbin registered a 5:35 for his first split. After that there was slight downhill trajectory for most of the next mile which Adam got through in 5:53. He’d been struggling a bit with a hip or lower back pain and that started to effect him a bit after the second mile.

There was a long uphill trajectory after that leading up to 3.3 miles and that put Adam back to a 6:02 and then a 6:06 for his next couple of miles. After that the course was fairly flat with a few lumps and bumps here and there. It was the wind that posed the biggest problem though as when it led out of the forest to the exposed sections, the headwind was was very noticeable.

Going through the first 5k in 18:27, Adam was in 11th place. One he got to the fifth mile, he got into a rhythm though and posted a 5:56 for his next mile. That got him to the 5 mile point in 29 minutes.

He then went on to clock another 5:56 for his sixth mile, taking him to 10k in 39:34. The seventh mile was on a slight downhill trajectory and Adam sped through that in 5:46 before completing the eighth mile in 5:56.

That got him to eight miles in 46:10 which put him in 13th place. The ninth mile was mostly uphill and was perhaps the toughest of the race. Adam was down to 6:21 on that one before getting back on pace with a 5:48 for his final mile.

He’d gone through the second half of the race in 30:14, which was a minute slower than the first half. With a finishing time of 59:13, Adam had come in in 14th place out of 706. That was an excellent performance from Adam.

Going through the first 5k in 20 minutes, Louis Suggett started steady and was in 46th place at that stage. He then went on to reach the 5 mile point in 31:26 before getting to 10k in 42:37.

Reaching the eight mile point in 49:57, Louis went on make it to the finish line in 1:03:38. That put him in 43rd place in the overall standings. That was a fairly good run from Louis considering he’d stepped in quite last minute.

Joshua Price was in fifth place after the first 5k but he ended up winning the race in a time of 54:56. Gary Marshall had been leading the five mile point but ended up having to settle for second place in 55:39.

Shaun Egan of Totton 10k was the man who had been leading after the first 5k but he ended up finishing third in a time of 56:01. Callum Olden of Southampton took fourth place in 56:26, with his Southampton teammate David Healey taking fifth place in 56:35.

Starting off with a 6:16 for her first mile, Katie Gunn then followed it up with a 6:27 for her second. The long slight cliimb came into play for third mile and Katie went through it in 6:39 before reaching the 5k stage in 20:28. She was 65th overall at that point and was third female.

Continuing with a 6:47 for her fourth mile, Katie then registered a 6:39 for her fifth. A 6:34 for her sixth mile led her to reach the 10k point 43:53.

Hitting the slight descent on the seventh mile, she clocked a 6:26 for her next mile split before recording a 6:34 for her eighth. That saw her go over the eight mile chip mat in 51:31, which was 61st best in the field. She was still third female at that stage.

The ninth mile was the tough one with a couple of inclines to get up. Katie registered a 6:55 for that one before finishing strongly with a 6:16, matching her first mile as her fastest.

That got her to the finish line in a time of 1:05:38 which put her 60th overall and she’d been third female the whole way, with an average pace of 6:33 per mile.

There wasn’t a huge gap between Katie and the fourth placed female Bexy Dew of Totton but enough of a cushion for Katie not to be under too much threat of losing her podium place. Bexy came 66th overall in a time of 1:05:54.

Erin Willmers finished first female and she’d been in that position the whole way through. Crossing the line in a time of 1:02:38, Erin finished 34th overall in 1:02:38.

Rachel Walsh of Alton Runners came in as second female in a time of 1:05:13 which put her in 55th place overall.

There were some other Dorset based runners in the field, with Lawrence Wickham taking 18th place in 1:00:26. Adam Jundi, whose daughter runs for Bournemouth AC, came 27th in 1:01:59.

Starting off with a 6:37 for his first mile, Jason Christian then followed it up with a 6:45 and then a 6:53 for the third mile that was on an uphill trajectory. Reaching the 5k point in 21:28, Jason was in 97th place and 17th in the M50 division.

Going through the fourth mile in 7 minutes, Jason then continued with a 6:53 which took him up to five miles. He’d got there in 33:50.

Continuing with a 6:44 for his sixth mile, Jason got to 10k in 47:54. He then went on to clock a 6:36 and then a 6:42, taking him to eight miles in 53:24. That was 90th best in the field and 15th in his category.

Managing not to slow down too much in that tough ninth mile, he clocked a 6:48 before going on to finish strongly with his fastest split of the race in 6:27. That meant he’d gone through the second half of the race in 33:56, making his two halves very even.

Registering a finishing time of 1:07:40, Jason came 82nd overall and was 13th out of 101 in the Male V50 category. That was three minutes slower than his time from last year but after the foot injury he’d had, he was just pleased to make it to start line and get round unscathed in all honesty.

As she usually does, Emma Biggs started from the back of the field and gradually worked her way up. Reaching 5k in 31 minutes, she’d already moved up to 537th position. She then reached the five mile point in 48:45.

Continuing to progress round the course, she made it to 10k in 1:03:21. Getting to the eight mile point in 1 hour 18 minutes, she was in 551st place. That left just two miles remaining and battled through the challenging ninth mile before closing the race out.

Reaching the finish line in 1:39:12, Emma finished 555th overall and was 200th female out of 305. That was over 10 minutes faster than she did the Weymouth 10 in the weekend before so a much improved performance from Emma.

Thanks to Craig Musgrove Photography for the fantastic action shots.

As well as Gary Marshall who finished second, Ryde Harriers had Dave Hunt who came 11th in 58:45, Daniel Furmage who was 16th in 59:19 and Keaan Amin who came 37th in 1:02:55.

Winchester Running Club had John Reed who was 7th in 58:08, David Gaskell who came 8th in 58:12, Tom Hansen who was 24th in 1:01:28 and James Moore who came 30th in 1:02:21.

It was incredibly close but Ryde Harriers won it by two placings in the end. Denmead Striders were third and Lordshill Road Runners fourth. Not having a team of four, Bournemouth AC were automatically last for that fixture which left them in a mid table position after three fixtures.

Winchester Running Club were top with a third, a first and a second place finish. Alton Road Runners, Lordshill Road Runners and Denmead Striders all had the same league score for the season so far.

As well as Erin Willmers who was first female, Winchester Running Club had Vanessa Monteleone who was 14th female, Leanne Smith who was 16th and Sarah Witt who was 17th female. That was enough to give them a marginal victory over Liss in the women’s A1 division.

Although they are league fixtures, there tends to be quite a few athletes in the Hampshire road races not wearing club vests. The Hampshire Road Race League had become increasingly annoyed about this as it impacts the fairness of competition so they had decided to clamp down on it. As a consequence, Joshua Price was taken out of the results as he wasn’t wearing a club vest.

Callum Olden who finished fourth for Southampton was also taken out of the results, although Southampton don’t tend to take Hampshire Road Race League competition seriously and don’t usually care whether they have a team out or not.

Hardley Runners were the best of the men’s A2 division clubs and that took them above Vectis Academy who were top of the table. It was them who lost out when Joshua Price was removed. Hamwic Harriers were the best of the men’s A3 clubs at the New Forest 10 and they topped the division for the season so far.

Totton were the winners of the women’s A2 division at the New Forest 10 and they also topped the table for the season so far. In the women’s A3 division, Hamwic Harriers had won all three races so far so were top of the table.

Winchester Running Club were the lowest scoring team in the men’s B1 division at the New Forest 10, as they were at the Overton 5 and the Totton 10k as well. They were also top of the B2 division as well, although it was Ryde Harriers who got the win at the New Forest 10.

The next race of the season was the Gosport Half Marathon but with the Hampshire Cross Country League fixture in Aldershot on that same weekend, along with the Wimborne 10 in the Dorset League, resources for Bournemouth were very stretched.

They’d managed to get a strong team together for the cross country and it looked they might have a men’s team for the Wimborne 10 but the Gosport Half had sadly fallen by the wayside. Only Patrick Kingston, Sanjai Sharma and Max Yao had signed up, meaning they wouldn’t be scoring in that fixture either.

That could put their title challenge on the rocks, even at this early stage, as there were other races like the Ryde 10 and the Solent Half Marathon that have struggled to get a team out for in the past as well. It will certainly be a long hard season with many twists and turns to come but the yellow and blues will have to pull together and hope that the quality they have in the ranks shines through in the end.