The announcement that the Boscombe Seafront 5k was being brought into the Dorset Road Race League schedule had Rich Nelson and the Bournemouth AC hierarchy licking their lips. With the event being staged right on their doorstep, it was unlikely to prove difficult to get a team out. Also, with the distance being only 5k, it opened out the possibility for some of the club’s younger members to get involved, and they have some very fast ones in the ranks.

One of those younger members entering the fray was Oliver Canavan. He’d finished first in Bournemouth parkrun on three occasions recently, clocking a time of 16:20 in one of those and had even managed to finish ahead of serial first placer Stu Nicholas.

Will Moss was another of the younger members coming through the ranks. He’s more of an 800m or 1500m runner though and is producing times of 2:04 for 800m and 4:23 for 1500m.

It was exciting to have Oliver and Will on board and it would be interesting to see how the fared against some of the top senior athletes in the county.

Isabel Cherrett was competing as well and she’s also an under 17 athlete with huge potential. She won the Dorset Schools, South West Schools and South West Inter Counties Cross Countries earlier in the year and was 9th at the Southern Cross Country Champs.

She also finished first female in the Coombe Keynes 10k, setting a new course record in the process. Clocking a 17:47 at Bournemouth parkrun the previous weekend and has previously registered a 17:14 time at Poole parkrun.

Another of the young guns who has recently started training with the road runners group, Finley Hurst Atkins, was in action as well. He’d won his age group in the Junior Upton Summer Series for three consecutive years, getting his time down to 5:14 for the mile long route.

His best parkrun time thus far was a 17:48 at Poole in May and if he could replicate that sort of form, he’d do pretty well on the Boscombe 5k course. He’s still only 13 as well and there aren’t too many boys out there of that sort of age who are faster.

After winning her age category prize for the second consecutive year at the Upton Summer Series, Laras McKenna was also competing in the Boscombe Seafront 5k. She’s been getting pretty close to a sub 20 parkrun recently.

At just 17 years of age, Alex Knauf had been in some seriously impressive form since signing for Bournemouth AC. He’d recently managed to get under 16 minutes at Poole parkrun, clocking a 15:51 and finished 6th at the Totton 10k in a time of 34:05.

He had picked up a bit of a knee injury though and had done very little running in the week leading up to the Boscombe Seafront 5k. It was really frustrating for Alex as he’d been in such great form that he didn’t want to take any time out and lose any fitness.

After his third place finish at the Totton 10k, Rob McTaggart was in action again at the Boscombe Seafront 5k. He’d ran a 15:34 at the Standard Chartered Great City 5k in London a couple of months back and ran a 15:43 at Poole parkrun the weekend before the Boscome Seafront 5k.

Tag has a special affinity with the Bos Vegas 5k, as he calls it. It was in fact, his first ever race, when he rocked up in a pair of Nike Air Max Originals and clocked a 17:30. Ever since then, he’s developed a passion for running that has taken him on a quite incredible journey. Turning 40 in October, the Boscombe Seafront 5k would be one of his last races before becoming a vet.

Keenly pursuing all the Dorset Road Race League events this year, Josh Cole has been in fine form of late. Finishing 4th scorer at the Blackmore Vale Half Marathon and 3rd scorer at the Stur Half, Josh was well capable of being at the sharp end in any DRRL fixture.

Up until very recently, he’d never had a pair of super shoes either, so it would be interesting to see what sort of impact they would make when he finally laced up a pair of Nike Alphaflys or something equivalent.

Consistently under 17 minutes at Poole parkrun, Adam Corbin had been finishing first or second quite often at Bournemouth and Brockenhurst parkruns in times of around 17:30.

After finishing fourth scorer for the Bournemouth AC men at the Totton 10k in a time of 36:26, James Hulbert came in as first scorer at the Overton 5 in a time of 29:26. He was in action again at the Boscombe Seafront 5k, as was Rich Brawn who came 22nd at the Totton 10k, just scraping a sub 37.

After finishing second scorer for the club at the Overton 5 in 29:55, Jack Barwick was also in the squad for the seafront spectacular and he’d been on fire in training recently, often being right at the front during the speed intervals.

It appeared the Bournemouth AC would even have a strong ladies team out as well, with Katie Gunn also on the start line. She was 10th female at the Overton 5 in 32:02 but her recent Dorset League performances and yielded some superb results. She’d finished first female at the North Dorset Village Marathon and 2nd lady at the both the May 5 and the Purbeck 10k.

They also had Victoria Chapman in the line up as well. She finished 13th at the Hampshire County Cross Country Championships at the beginning of the year and was 4th female at the Lytchett 10.

They also had Kate Bowers who was well capable of a sub 20 minute time and Kitty Cook who had recently joined the club and finished 7th female in the Southampton Running Festival Half Marathon.

It wasn’t only Bournemouth AC members who were capable of being in contention though. Poole AC had some useful runners out including Dom Willmore who was 2nd at the Purbeck 10k and came 2nd to Jamie Grose in the Upton Summer Series.

They also had Callum Wadlow who was 12th in the Purbeck 10k and won the Romsey Beer 5 in June in under 28 minutes. They also had Theo Cobley who’s a very quick youngster, well capable of a 16:30 sort of time for 5k.

They also had a couple of the more seasoned campaigners in Adam Colbert and Luke Terry. Rob Arkell of Poole Runners was also competing and he’d just produced a 15:33 at a Friday Night 5k Under the Lights in Battersea Park.

After finished 2nd at Blackmore Vale and 6th at the Stur Half, Rich White of Dorset Doddlers was also a contender and Wimborne AC pair Louis Verdi and Mark Savage were also in the mix.

Emma Mogridge of Dorset Doddlers who was 5th female at the Purbeck 10k and 2nd lady at the Stur Half was on the starting line. As was Poole AC’s Rachael Haddow who came 2nd in the Southampton Running Festival 10k. Teresa Green of Egdon Heath Harriers and Gemma Bragg of Poole Runners were also competing amongst a strong looking women’s field.

The course for the Boscombe 5k is from the east side of Boscombe Pier, down towards Southbourne before turning round a cone and heading back to where they started. It’s essentially a simple, straight forward out and back.

The main fear for some of the Bournemouth AC runners was that it would be a windy day and they’d end up having to endure a massive headwind for half the race. It’s probably like that 90% of the time on the prom at Bournemouth.

On the day of the race, it was a Northerly wind though, which meant that it wasn’t really much of a headwind in their direction. That was a massive bonus for anyone hoping to clock a fast time. The only thing that could realistically slow them down would be sand on the prom in certain places. That wasn’t likely to be a major issue though.

The chip matt wasn’t very long so it was a bit tight trying to fit everyone in behind it before the race started. They all squeezed in though and once the race got going, the faster runners quickly moved to the front and settled into their stride.

When the race started all the big guns were up there and it looked like it would be a fiercely contested encounter. It was young Oliver Canavan who took the bull by the horns though and got into the lead. Dom Willmore and Josh Cole were giving chase and the rest of the field weren’t quite able to match that speed.

It was a tremendously strong run from Oliver Cananvan and he showed he’s ready to tackle the top runners out there and well capable of blowing just about anyone out of the water. Getting to the line in a lightning quick time of 15:24, he finished one second ahead of Dom Willmore.

Josh Cole had a brilliant run as well and at the age of 35, ran his fastest ever 5k time. Getting over the line in 15:27, it was a monumental performance from Josh and highlighted the progression he’s been making through sheer determination and consistency in training.

Josh has been a top level runner for quite some time and it was back in 2010 that he clocked his previous best 5k time of 15:41 but that was on the track. It had certainly been a long standing PB until he smashed it on the seafront.

It was only two days after Rob Arkell’s 15:33 PB at the FNUL so he had a slight tightness of the hamstring so took it cautiously at first. He was soon able to get up to the speed though and ended up with the 4th place finish in a time of 15:59. That made him first vet, since he’s in the 40 to 44 category.

Even though he hadn’t been able to train properly during the week, Alex Knauf ran well and crossed the line in 5th place with a time of 16:02. His average pace for the run was 5:10 per mile. It was a shame for Alex that he’d had that knee problem as if that hadn’t happened, he may well have been in line for a big PB on that course.

Unfortunately for Rob McTaggart, it was one of those days where it didn’t quite click and he never really felt good. He did manage to get through the first mile in 5:02 but dropped off a fair bit after that. He still managed to get to the line in 16:12, which is a good 5k time but he would expect to be under 16 minutes on a fast, flat route these days. It’s not really a bad position to be in though if you can class that as a bad day.

That was already four Bournemouth AC runners in in the top six. It wasn’t over yet though and Poole AC had Theo Cobley and Callum Wadlow taking 7th and 8th places in 16:17 and 16:19. With three runners in the top eight, they were certainly putting up a good fight.

Rich White came 8th in 16:28, with Wimborne AC pair Louis Verdi and Mark Savage coming in in 10th and 11th in times of 16:29 and 16:31 respectively.

The next man over the line was Adam Corbin though and that was a wrap for the Bournemouth AC men. They’d won the fixture, with Adam registering a time of 16:43 which put him in 12th place.

Darren Robinson was the next man over the line, arriving just a second later but it wasn’t enough for Poole AC. They’d have to settle for 2nd on this occasion. Luke Terry sealed that for them when he reached the finish in 16:47 which put him in 16th place.

Nick Reynolds of Twemlow Track Club was first in the 45 to 49 category when he reached the line in 16:53 which put him in 21st place. James Rogers of Littledown and Alessandro Zanconato of Purbeck Runners were also given the same time.

There are no B teams in the Dorset Road Race League so none of the other men were required to score for that but they would still score points for themselves in the individual table.

James Hulbert crossed the line in 17:11 which put him in 27th place, just a second behind Adam Colbert of Poole AC. Former Bournemouth AC man Trev Elkins got over the line in 17:18 which put him in 28th place. Poole Runners man David Penwarden finished in the same time and he was 1st in the 50 to 54 category.

One of the advantages of the straight out and back nature of the course is that you can see those ahead of you, all the way along, and you know whether you’re closing the gap on them or not.

Rich Brawn could see that he was gaining ground on Isabel Cherrett and Jack Barwick as they headed back toward the finish. He didn’t know whether he’d catch them or not but knew he just needed to concentrate on his own pace and keeping the tempo high.

In the end he caught Isabel near the end of the third mile. She still had some energy left though and was able to stay close to him. Jack had been just ahead of Isabel but slowed down to compose himself before going over the finish line. That meant that Rich and Isabel overtook him as they approached the chip matt.

Rich went over the line in 17:26 and Isabel in 17:27 and they were 31st and 32nd. That meant Isabel had finished first female by quite a considerable margin so that was a decent result for her. It was only 13 seconds off her best parkrun time as well.

Lee Dempster of Twemlow Track Club also managed to get past Jack and went over a line a second later but had the same chip time as Rich. Jack was 34th person over the line but got the same chip time as Isabel.

Former Bournemouth AC members Sam and Luke Jackson were racing but Sam must have pulled out during the race. Luke ran well though and got to the line in 17:45 which put him in 39th place.

Poole AC man John Bassinder was first in the 55 to 59 category. He completed the course in 17:46. Ben Arnold put in a strong sprint finish, which isn’t a surprise as he used to be a sprinter. He finished 41st in a superb time of 17:47 which meant he’d netted himself a new PB.

Purbeck Runners man Julian Critchlow was first in the 60 to 64 category in a time of 17:49 which put him in 42nd place. At the other end of the spectrum, Finley Hurst Atkins was first in the 12 to 13 category, clocking a time of 18:08. He came 52nd with the same chip time as Littledown Harriers man Mark Packer.

Leon Louis was next man over the line in a time of 18:12 which put him in 54th place. That was just about a PB for Leon, so a very good run on his part.

Completing the course in a time of 18:38, Katie Gunn was 2nd female and 57th overall. It was little way off her best form but she got a prize for finishing runner up so from that perspective it was a good result. Also, for the Dorset League individual standings, if she decided she wanted to go for that, she’s now had two firsts and two second places so she’s actually in pole position. She just needs to do three of the last four races.

Emma Mogridge of Dorset Doddlers was 3rd female in 18:47 which put her in 62nd place overall. Rachael Haddow of Poole Ac was 4th female in 18:58 and she came 68th overall.

For the majority of the race, Vic Chapman was ahead of Jason Christian but with just under half a kilometre to go, Jason caught her up and overtook her. He then set his sights on Littledown Harriers man Stephen Williams.

Putting in a strong sprint finish, Jason managed to overtake Stephen, gaining one more place before reaching the chip matt. Registering a time of 19:09, Jason was 72nd overall and 4th in the 55 to 59 category.

Filming his run on a headcam, Jason then uploads the video and posts it on his YouTube channel, Jason’s on the Pace, and that always makes for some good viewing.

By the end he’d build up a gap of 7 seconds over Vic and she reached the line in 19:16. That was enough to make her 5th placed female and put her 74th in the overall standings. She was third scorer for the BAC women, meaning they just needed one more to complete the scoring team.

Sharon Hutchings of Dorset Doddlers was 6th female and 78th overall in 19:26 and Gemma Bragg was first woman in the 40 to 44 category, going over the line a second later. She finished 79th overall and 7th female.

Dawn Andrews of Poole AC was next woman over the line in a time of 19:29 and that put her 81st in the overall standings. Teresa Green of Egdon Heath Harriers was first in the 45 to 49 category in a time of 19:44 which made her 9th female and 85th overall.

Getting round in a time of 19:49, Chris O’Brien finished 87th overall and was 7th in the 50 to 54 bracket. He wanted a sub 20 and, although he had to work hard for it, he did it, so that was a very pleasing outcome for Chris. It was also the fastest 5k he’d done since 2019, so represented some progress worthy of note.

Putting in a strong performance to seal the win for the Bournemouth AC ladies, Kate Bowers got over the line 19:55 which put her 89th overall and 11th female. She was also 2nd in the 40 to 44 category so earned herself a trophy for that achievement.

Mags Fietko wasn’t far behind, reaching the finish in an excellent time of 20:06 which put her 93rd overall and 13th female. It was a minute quicker than the times she’d been putting in at Bournemouth parkrun so a fantastic result for Mags.

Crossing the line just after Mags, Kitty Cook got the same chip time of 20:06, so again, it was a very good run from Kitty. Ideally, she would have liked to have got that sub 20 though and in a way it’s frustrating for her to know that she’s so close.

On other hand though, at least she knows she’s there or thereabouts. Just a tiny improvement should do it. Or better pacing even, as she did set off a bit too quick. That meant Kitty was 14th female and 94th overall.

Also hoping to get in under 20 minutes, Laras McKenna was disappointed to finish in 20:19. She was going pretty well for the first half of the race but wasn’t quite able to maintain it on this occasion.

Nevertheless, she did still get a trophy for finishing runner up in the 14 to 17 category, so that was at least one plus to take out of it for Laras. She was still 16th placed female out of 78 and 96th overall.

Completing the course in a time of 20:54, Neil Smith finished 108th in the overall standings. That was slightly off his best but still a fairly decent effort from Neil.

After netting a very good PB at the Totton 10k, Helen Beddoe went into the Boscombe 5k full of confidence. She was right to as well as she delivered a superb run to record a time of 21:06 which put her 110th overall. That made her 21st female and 3rd in the 40 to 44 category.

The next Bournemouth AC member over the line was one of the newer recruits, Clinton Taylor. He got round in 21:11 which put him 113th overall and 11th in the Male 45 to 49 category.

Another new member to the club, Ashley White, registered a time of 22:52 which put him in 137th place overall. From one of the recent signings to one of the longest standing members, Jud Kirk got over the line in 144th place, clocking a time of 23:23.

That put him 5th in the 65 to 69 category. It wasn’t quite as quick as the 23:01 he posted at the Guernsey Easter Festival in April but it was quicker than any time he’d produced at parkrun this year, although he’d only done the Bournemouth one.

Bournemouth AC road runners captain, coach and team manager Rich Nelson was next over the line in a yellow and blue vest. He got over the line in 23:42 which put him 150th overall and 12th out of 12 in the Male 50 to 54 category.

Rich has been putting in some of his own training sessions recently to try and improve his form but he’s still yet to see much improvement. He’s certainly good at getting the best out of the other athletes in the road runners faction though and ensuring they get the right training to help them thrive, as the results of this race prove.

Running her fastest 5k time since January 2024, Nikki McTaggart managed an excellent time of 24:33, which put her 162nd overall and 46th female, just after former Bournemouth AC member Debbie Lennon who did 24:07.

Able to keep her splits consistent at 7:55 pace, or 7:52 for the first one, it was a strong effort and she was starting to see results from the early morning solo sessions she’d been putting in.

Getting round in a time of 28:45, Ian Graham ran really well to finish 191st overall and made it into the top four in the 75 to 79 category, although there were only four in it.

It was 26 seconds slower than his fastest time of the year so far which was set at the Guernsey Easter Festival in April. It was quicker than any parkrun he’s done this year though and he’s a regular every week at the Bournemouth one.

It was tight between Poole AC and Poole Runners for 2nd placed ladies team but Poole AC got it in the end. Poole Runners still lead the way in the title race though having recorded three wins the three second places thus far.

It was great to see the Bournemouth AC women coming out on top though for the second time this season, after doing so at the May 5 previously. If they can emerge victorious at Round the Lakes as well, they’ll have a real chance of turning their season around, or at the very least, avoiding relegation. They will probably need to field a team in their last three races as well though and that has proved difficult for them at times.

Winning those last two fixtures has lifted the Bournemouth AC men off the bottom of the table If they could get a win at Round the Lakes, or even a 2nd place and then finish the season strongly, it could be the most miraculous turn around in history. It won’t be easy and they’ll need to dig deep but when you have the talent in your ranks that the yellow and blues possess, anything is possible.