Always a popular attraction with athletes from far and wide descending on the south coast for this annual feast of race running in its finest form. The Run Bournemouth event features a variety of distances to suit participants of all abilities and age groups as well. Being staged in Bournemouth, there is usually a healthy contingent of Bournemouth AC members out and about, either competing in the races or watching and supporting. This year’s event was no exception to that.

It was a big day for Sophie Read and her partner Jaymee Domoney. Originally aiming for a sub 1:45 time, Sophie set about training for the Run Bournemouth Half Marathon and building up her mileage in preparation for the event. Part of the process was to start coming along to training with Bournemouth AC where she soon began to flourish and increase her speed capacity and fitness.

Her boyfriend Jaymee Domoney runs for City of Salisbury but had since moved down to Poole and had been training with Dave Allen’s fast group alongside many other top level athletes. After finishing 2nd in last year’s Run Bournemouth Half Marathon to Ollie Garrod of Belgrave Harriers, Jaymee was hoping to get back onto the top step of the podium again. He tasted victory in the 2022 race, recording an unbelievable time of 1 hour 8 minutes.

Both Jaymee and Sophie featured at the Round the Lakes 10k over in Poole Park two weeks before the Run Bournemouth Half Marathon. That served as a good indicator of what sort of shape they were in. Jaymee finished 3rd in that race in a time of 31:50, with only Bournemouth AC pair Abdinassier Mohamoud and Joe Arundel able to beat him.

Finishing in 42:45 at Round the Lakes, Sophie got the confidence booster she was going for ahead of the big race. She’d improved dramatically since joining the club and attending all the interval sessions and had also been putting in some excellent long runs on the weekends. In fact, she’d already ran a half marathon distance in 1 hour 45 minutes the weekend before Round the Lakes so that target had already been achieved. It now seemed that a sub 1:40 might be the new goal to aim for but she didn’t want to put too much pressure on herself.

It was an unseasonably hot day at last year’s Run Bournemouth event and that prevented Rob Spencer from getting the time that he wanted, which was a Championship qualifying time for London. He still delivered a fine performance though, finishing 5th in 1:13:31. He was back again for 2024 and with the ability he has, was sure to do well again.

Rob did manage a 1:11 time at the Bournemouth Marathon Festival back in 2019 but his Bath Half Marathon time of 1:09 in March this year showed what he’s capable of at his best.

Perhaps the most improved athlete in the Bournemouth AC ranks over recent months has been James Hulbert. It’s been clear in training that his speed has increased significantly and he’d got his parkrun time down to 17:12. Managing a 36:32 at Round the Lakes and a phenomenal 4:50 mile at a Bournemouth AC track time trial, he was in a great position to produce a quick time in the Run Bournemouth Half Marathon.

There was also the Supersonic 10k taking place on the same day as the Half Marathon and the star studded field for that one included Thomas Corbin and Jamie Grose from Poole AC and Rob Arkell of Poole Runners. Bournemouth AC members Adrian James, Simon Hearn and Sam Brewer were also in action.

After recording a tremendous time of 36:44 in her first ever 10k race at Round the Lakes, Isabel Cherrett returned to a more familiar distance in the Supernova 5k. She finished 1st female and 4th overall in the Junior 5k race at last year’s event but now she had adults to contend with as well. That didn’t seem to be a problem for her at Round the Lakes though where she was 2nd female even though it was a Dorset Road Race League fixture.

Finishing 2nd to BAC teammate Oliver Canavan in last year’s Junior 5k, Riley Austin was competing in the Supernova 5k this time round. He’d won a Wessex League cross country race the weekend before and even won the Hampshire League cross country race at Kings Park earlier in the year.

Winning the Junior 2k race in 7 minutes 7 seconds last at last year’s Run Bournemouth event, Finley Hurst Atkins was hoping to emulate that success in the 2024 edition. He was joined in that race by eight other Bournemouth AC juniors.

Another nice aspect of the Run Bournemouth event is that it sometimes brings out some familiar faces from the past. Former Bournemouth AC man Pawel Surowiec was back down from Sheffield, where he now resides. Pawel was a regular at training for many years before heading up north so the club definitely felt a void when he moved away.

He’s kept close contact with some of his former teammates though and they came out to support him as he took on the Half Marathon. He’d put some hard training in for it though and had even hired a personal trainer to help him get in peak shape for the race.

There was also an appearance from Georgia Wood in the Half Marathon as well. Georgia was the fastest female athlete at the club when she was with Bournemouth AC around four a five years back and always had the ability to contend for the top positions in races.

In keeping with tradition, the Run Bournemouth event opened with a chance for the juniors to take centre stage. For the second year running, Finley Hurst Atkins came out on top in the Junior 2k, finishing in exactly 7 minutes. That was an improvement on his time from last year and saw him take an emphatic 22 second winning margin over his nearest rival.

Edward Davies was the next Bournemouth AC member to get over the line and he finished 8th in a time of 8:22. Arthur Turner finished 21st in 8:25 and Emily Brooks came 28th overall in 8:52. That made her 7th placed female in the race. Joshua Wells came 34th overall in 8:59 and Theo Savage took 48th place in 9:24. Jake Ransom finished 95th in 10:19 and Elizabeth Kuczera came 140th overall in 11:12.

Although it was open to adults as well, it was mostly the younger runners who shone in the Supernova 5k. Riley Austin recorded a brilliant PB of 17:28 to come in in 7th place overall and Isabel Cherrett was the fastest female in the race, clocking a time of 17:40.

Jacob Taylor came 15th overall in 18:37 and Ellie Taylor was 2nd female and 23rd overall in a time of 19:51. Aiden Blagden finished 26th overall in 20:04 and Laras McKenna was 4th female and 32nd overall in 20:39.

Jonah Shepherd came 36th in 20:48 and that put him two seconds ahead of Christy Murphy who often comes along to the road runners training sessions. Christy was 1st in the 50M category as well. Jessica Long was 5th female over the line in 21:02 and that put her 39th overall.

Crossing the line in 21:58, Leo Sims was 65th overall and father and daughter combo Jason and Emily Coltman came 80th and 81st in 22:43. That put Jason 5th in the 50M category and Emily was 12th fastest female overall.

Thomas Taylor came 198th in 27:02 and Oliver Jennings finished 538th in a time of 35:42. Colin Fry came 3rd in the 70M category in a time of 35:49.

It was a fantastic race for 1st place with Alex Knauf just about getting past Buddy Mitchell in the end to take home winning prize in 16:39. Buddy crossed the line just two seconds later and Theo Cobley reached the finish just a second after Buddy.

The Sunday began with the Supersonic 10k and that consisted of a point to point run from Hengistbury Head and finishing up at Bournemouth Pier. Sam Brewer had an outstanding run in that one to finish in 36:14 which put him 15th overall.

Steadily improving year on year, Sam ran 39:37 in the Supersonic 10k in 2022, then did 38:21 in 2023. He’d now taken over two minutes off that showing that his development at Bournemouth AC is going extremely well.

Also putting in a good performance, Adrian James clocked his fastest 10k time of the year so far, getting round in 37:11. That put him 22nd overall and earned him the accolade of topping the 45M standings.

Also topping the standings in his age group, Simon Hearn paced his run brilliantly to get over the line in 39:20 which put him in 36th place. Using it as a tune up for the Great South Run, which was supposed to be on the following weekend, it was a good confidence booster for Simon.

The Great South Run was a masters event so he’d be competing against other top athletes of his age group in that prestigious competition. Sadly his hopes for that event were scuppered by a storm that resulted in the cancellation of the event.

It was frustrating for Simon as he trains so hard for his target races and always puts together a block of well organised sessions to get himself in peak condition. Rather than wasting the fitness he’d accrued though, he decided to enter the River Thames Half Marathon instead, which was on the following weekend.

Chloe Burrows ran in the Supersonic 10k as well and she completed the course in 51:35 which put her 297th overall and 19th in the Under 35 Female category.

Exhibiting some fine form of late, Jamie Grose had the confidence to take the race on from the start in the Supersonic 10k. It proved to be the right decision as he managed to maintain that fast pace brilliantly to make it to the line in a tremendous PB time of 31:55. That was an average pace of 5:05 and put him a minute ahead of his Poole AC teammate Thomas Corbin.

Jon Pepin of Southampton took 3rd in 33:15 and Rob Arkell completed the top four in 33:35. Henry Cornish of Poole AC got a big PB to take 5th place in 34:33, just ahead of Luke McKenzie of Poole Runners. Luke Terry was Poole AC’s fourth runner in the top ten and he was 1st 40M in 35:10. After winning the Supernova 5k the previous day, Alex Knauf came 17th in a time of 36:35.

Delivering a sublime performance in the Half Marathon, Rob Spencer was grateful that the conditions were better than on that boiling hot day he did it in last year. He got round in 1:13:52 which put him in 6th place overall and his average pace for the run was 5:36.

Scott Cousins of Springfield Striders and Jaymee Domoney were was ahead of anyone else in the field. Scott had a healthy lead at one stage but Jaymee pulled it back to four seconds in the end. It wasn’t quite enough though and Jaymee had to settle for 2nd place again. Scott’s winning time was 1:07:54.

Christopher Newnham of Ryde Harriers was the best of the rest, completing the course in 1:10:46. Another previous winner who was back back again was Dom Willmore. He claimed top spot in 2021 in a time of 67:30. This time he had to settle for 4th with his time of 1:11:57. James Baker of Chichester was the only other man to finish ahead of Rob Spencer. He got over the line in 1:13:26.

Going for a sub 1:20 time, James Hulbert definitely had the speed to do it. It was just a question of whether or not he had the endurance to maintain it for the duration of the race. For the first 10k he was going at 5:45 pace. On the seventh mile he dropped to around six minute mile pace before tackling the climb up Boscombe Chine Gardens onto the overcliff.

That slowed him down to a 6:38 for that mile but he recovered well on the tenth mile to get back on pace as he dropped down onto the prom. For the last three miles he manged to hold a pace of just under 6:10 before rounding the pier for a fast finish. That took him to the line in 1:18:33 which was a huge PB for James and put him in 19th place overall.

His running has come and leaps and bounds of late and the way he’s been training it’s not surprising that he’d starting to see the fruits of that labour reflected in his race times.

Knowing how well her training had gone, Sophie Read felt a lot of pressure to get a good time and put in a performance that would justify her hard work. Her fitness was there though so it was really just a question of whether she had the discipline to run the race that she wanted. That meant not going off too quickly and risking a struggle in the later stages.

Her plan was to set off at quite a steady pace and then keep going at a comfortable effort level until she got to the last 5k. Then ramp it up. Starting off at roughly 7:30 pace, she soon found her rhythm and was looking very controlled in the early stages.

Keeping it going until she hit the hill in Boscombe Chine Gardens, she managed to negotiate that pretty well before upping the ante on her way back down onto the prom. She then ticked off one more mile at 7:30 pace before pushing on for the last two and a bit miles.

Ending with a 7:15 and then a 7:03, Sophie sped around the pier and into the finish for a time of 1:37:37. It was a really strong run and she’d executed her race plan perfectly. It’s probably fair to say that when she initially started training for it, she never dreamt she’d be able to produce a time that quick. She’d come in as 20th female as well which was a terrific result.

Although the half marathon distance is probably further than he would normally race, Karl Welch was competing as well and he delivered a decent performance to get round in 1:25:13. Since his weekly mileage is very low at the moment, that was a good result for Karl and certainly a good foundation to build from. Back in 2016 to 2017, Karl used to finish first in Poole parkrun virtually every week so he does have a lot of pedigree over shorter distances.

Also competing in the Half Marathon race, Sian Mcilwaine ran well to register a time of 1:49:46 and that put her 1,149th overall and she was 88th in the U35F category.

It had been a while since Sam White had done any racing. Probably since the Boscombe 10k last year in fact. She’d still been training a fair bit though and putting in some good long runs on the weekends. Completing the Half Marathon in a time of 2 hours 4 minutes and 48 seconds, Sam finished 2,455th overall and was 25th in the 55F category.

She’ll be doing the London Marathon next spring so it was handy for her to get an indication of where her fitness is before she starts her training for that. As it turns out, she’s in quite good shape and that half marathon run was a good foundation to build from.

Getting round in a time of 1:48:54, Simon Bartlett finishing 4th in the 65M category and came 1,073rd overall. Natalie Levin was in action as well and she managed to negotiate the course in 2 hours 1 minute and 18 seconds which put her 69th in the 40F category and 2222nd overall.

Remembering her way around the Bournemouth coastal roads, Georgia Wood ran brilliantly to clock a time of 1:22:36 which put made her 2nd placed female overall. That also put her 42nd overall and the only woman who could top that was Lucy Williamson of Mynydd Du who got round in 1:19:47.

Melissa Gibson of Ealing Eagles wasn’t far behind, getting over the line in 1:22:52 which put her in 48th place. Mary James of South London Harriers was 4th female and 58th overall in 1:23:59.

One-time Bournemouth AC member Helen O’Neile had a good run to complete the course in 1:24:22 which made her 5th female and put her 62nd overall. Anna Philps of Purbeck Runners registered a time of 1:25:25 which made her 6th female and 83rd overall.

Targeting a sub 1:30 time, Pawel Surowiec started off at around 6:45 pace. Managing to keep that going for the first seven miles he then had to encounter the hill in Boscombe Gardens. That knocked his pace down a lot for that mile but he managed to get back down to just under seven minutes for the following mile as dropped down onto the seafront at Bournemouth.

Unfortunately he didn’t quite have enough endurance to see it through though and his pace dropped significantly over the last 5k. Going over the line in 1:33:23, Pawel came 33rd in the 40M category and 262nd overall. He was massively disappointed with that as he had been hoping for better but had to accept that it just wasn’t his day. That can happen, even when you’ve put together a decent block of training which he had.

No doubt there will be other races to work towards in the future though and Pawel will bounce back and try to make it happen on the next one. A few minor tweaks in his training and he should be there or thereabouts.

It was great to see so many Bournemouth AC members out there smashing their targets and showcasing their talents in front of the watching masses. One of the best aspects of it is that if you’re wearing a Bournemouth AC vest, you get plenty of additional support which is always nice. What really does hit home though about the Run Bournemouth event is that running is for everyone. Not just finely tuned athletes who train day in day out.

Anyone can lace up a pair of trainers and get out there and achieve something amazing. And everyone should be judged by their own standards as there is such a varying range of ages and abilities out there. At Run Bournemouth, you see them all and that’s really the essence of what the event is all about.