Often a day for wind and rain and generally unpleasant conditions, it was back to that familiar car park in Portsmouth for the Victory 5. Who knew running round a cold, wet parking lot could be so much fun? But it had been a happy hunting ground for Bournemouth AC, with magnificent wins to look back in both the previous two outings. That had helped them go on to finish top of the table and either gain promotion or win the championship.

Last year’s race was perhaps the best quality field of all the Hampshire Road League events, with big hitters including Harry Smith, Matt Sharp, Jaymee Domoney and Joe Arundel all in contention. It turned out to be an enthralling race as well, especially when the front runners got taken the wrong way by the lead bike.

It had been proving a bit more of a struggle for Bournemouth to get a competitive team out for the races this season and they once again failed to field a full team of four. Unfortunately, they only had three men and one lady out, so it wasn’t going to be a fruitful enterprise for them.

James Hulbert was in the side though and he had competed at the Victory 5 in both the last two years, finishing in just over 30 minutes in 2023 and just under 28 minutes in last year’s race. He did the Overton 5 in 29:26 back in September, although that is a tougher, more undulating course.

Two weeks on from his 41:07 time at the Boscombe 10k, Tom Sclanders was back in action again at the Victory 5. He was hoping he might be able to get a little closer to his 5k pace at the Victory 5, since it was a flat course and 1.2 miles shorter than the Boscombe 10k.

Since it was a flat course, Tim Hughes was hoping to keep a fairly even pace throughout the race. He did the May 5 earlier in the year in a time of 38:04 and that was his fastest five miler yet.

Since she came back into the fold in September this year, Julia Austin has shown a willingness to race, wherever the location and whatever the standard. She ran the Overton 5 in 41:45 before going on to compete for the Bournemouth AC ladies team at the Southern Six Stage Road Relays in Aldershot.

She also did the Hampshire Cross Country League race at Kings Park and ran the Boscombe 10k in 50:25 a couple of weeks before the Victory 5. One of the great things about Julia is, she is a real team player and is always will to step in for the shorter distance races when needed.

Rich Brawn had signed up for the race but it transpired that he was going to be away that weekend so he was unable to do it. No one seemed to want to take his number though, so they were left with three men and one woman, so had once again failed to field a scoring team.

After finishing runner up last year, Harry Smith was back to see if he could go one better this time round. Joshua Price of Vectis Academy was also competing and he topped the standings in the men’s individual table for the season so far after winning the New Forest 10, finishing second in the Totton 10k and the Overton 5 and third at the Gosport Half Marathon.

Christopher Newnham of Ryde Harriers was also in the line up, as was Lachlan Wellington, the guy who won the recent Hampshire Cross Country League race at Kings Park. He stormed round the 10k course in 29:09 that day and was way ahead of anyone else.

He’d been training in America for many years and had done a 10,000m on the track in 28:41 and had ran a sub 14 minutes 5,000m as well.

Starting off fast, with a 5:37 for his first mile, James Hulbert then followed it up with a 5:53 and then a 5:59. He then went on to clock a 6:09 for his fourth mile and a 5:58 for his fifth. That saw him get to the line in a chip time 29:20, which put him in 71st place out of 706 runners.

His average pace for the run came out at 5:55 per mile. Although it wasn’t anywhere near as quick as his time from last year, there was quite a bad headwind in places and it was probably a fairly decent run considering how bad the conditions were.

Going out at 6:27 pace for his first mile, Tom Sclanders then registered a 6:32, followed by a 6:31. He then dropped to a 6:40 for his fourth mile before picking it back up to a 6:23 for his fifth mile.

That put his finishing time at 32:31 which placed him 189th and he’d finished 27th out of 49 in the VM40 category. The fact that his last mile was his quickest showed that it was a fairly well paced run from Tom and it was definitely another performance to be pleased with from his perspective. His average pace for the run was 6:29.

Usually very consistent with his pacing, Tim Hughes set off at 7:50 pace for his first mile. He then went on to clock a 7:54 before registering a 7:56 for his third mile.

Managing to sustain the pace well, he then put in a 7:52, followed by a 7:56 to finish with. That saw him get to the line in 39:30 which put him in 416th place overall and 21st out of 39 in the VM55 category.

Coming away with an average pace of 7:54, Tim had achieved his goal of getting consistent splits through out the run and he was happy that he was able to get under eight minutes for each mile.

Completing the course in a chip time of 40:44, Julia Austin came first out of 25 in the VW60 category and was 96th placed female out of 259. She’d come in in 446th place in the overall standings. That was an excellent result for Julia and she was over the moon with the category win.

It was Lachlan Wellington who got the win in the end, recording a phenomenal time of 23:58. Harry Smith had started at an incredible pace, with a 4:38 for his first split. That was probably a little bit too fast, even for an athlete of his calibre.

He then went on to register a 4:50 for his second mile and a 4:49 for his third. He then clocked a 4:53 for both his fourth and fifth miles which put his finishing time at 24:06. That was a tremendous effort from Harry but he had to settle for second place on this occasion.

Alex Smart of Cardiff AAC was third in 24:53 and City of Portsmouth man Ally Jones was the fourth man over the line, although he had a faster chip time than Alex Smart, registering a 24:52.

Christopher Newnham of Ryde Harriers was fifth in 25:03, with Jacob O’Hara of Aldershot Farnham & District taking sixth in 25:10.

Tobi Loughlin of Team Bath was 7th in 25:15 and Callum Crook was City of Portsmouth’s third runner over the line, taking 8th place in 25:21. Lachlan Wellington also runs for them.

Matthew Port of Winchester Running Club was 9th in 25:24, with Greg Wright of Fleet & Crookham taking 10th place in 25:42.

Dan Poynting of City of Salisbury took 11th place in 25:59 and it was surprising to see Joshua Price only finishing 13th with his time of 26:12. It really was an incredibly high standard field.

Rob Peters was City of Portsmouth’s fourth man home in 26:34 which put him in 15th place. That secured the win for them in the Men’s A3 division and gave them a way better score than any other men’s team in the league.

As well as Matthew Port finishing 9th, Winchester Running Club had Stan Parkinson who was 13th in 26:23, Henry Edwards who was 26th in 27:22 and Tamas Brown who came 27th in 27:26. That got them first place in the Men’s A1 division ahead of Ryde Harriers who were second.

In fact, Winchester Running Club had another four runners in the top 50 which put them first in the Men’s B1 division. It was a very dominant display from them.

Rachel Laurie of Chichester Runners was first female in 28:29 which out her 52nd overall. Erin Willmers of Winchester Running Club was second female in 28:55 which put her 61st overall. Emily Wicks of Aldershot Farnham & District was third female in 29:06 which put her 67th overall.

Former Bournemouth AC man Trev Elkins finished just in front of James Hulbert, although his chip time of 29:22 was a couple of seconds slower than James’s.

Emma Jolley of City of Portsmouth was fourth female in 30:31 which put her 111th overall and Matilde Bengtsson of Poole AC was 7th female and first junior woman in 30:46, which put her 120th overall.

Winchester Running Club were first in the Women’s A1 division comfortably, with Liss in second, Denmead Striders third and Farnham Runners fourth. That was also exactly how they are positioned for the season so far, with Winchester having three first places and one second place from the opening five fixtures.

The City of Portsmouth women actually had a better score than the Winchester Running Club women though and they were first in the Women’s A3 division by a long way.

Winchester Running Club were sitting pretty at the top of the Men’s A1 division after the first five fixtures with half the score of Denmead Striders who were in second. Another incomplete team meant the Bournemouth AC men dropped to the bottom of the table.

It was another first place for Southampton AC in the Men’s A2 division, after they topped the standings at the Gosport Half Marathon as well. Hardley Runners still led the way for the season so far though, with Vectis Academy in second.

Totton were the best scoring team in the Women’s A2 division ahead of Portsmouth Joggers and that is also how they are positioned for the season so far.

Hamwic Harriers are currently top of the Men’s A3 division, with Isle of Wight Runners in second. Although they only managed third at the Victory 5, Hamwic Harriers were comfortably top of the Women’s A3 division after finishing first in all four of the other races. Isle of Wight Runners are currently second.

After winning the first five fixtures in the Men’s B1 division, Winchester Running Club could be going for a clean sweep this season. They are also top of the B2 division as well, so that effectively be their C-team.

It was a fourth win of the season for Winchester Running Club in the Women’s B1 division so they were again, comfortably top of the standings there.

It was the 79th edition of the Victory 5 and it was the final time the event will be staged on the current Lakeside course. Next year it will be moving to the promenade, passing around the Mountbatten Centre and finishing back at Lakeside. It should still be a fast one but the scenery will be much improved from the car park location.

The next race of the season is the Ryde 10 and that’s another one that Bournemouth AC don’t usually field a team for. It could be that it turns out to be a season for consolidation for the Bournemouth AC men, where they just look to try and stay in the top division. The way it’s looking at the moment though, they will need to pull their finger out a bit just to do that.