With it not being a league fixture this year and being on the same day as the Salisbury 10 Hampshire Road League race, the Round the Lakes 10k garnered less attention than it otherwise might have. It was also on the last weekend before the tapering began for the London Marathon, so a last chance to get a good long run in.

That didn’t stop Rob McTaggart signing up for it though and making it into one of his inventive long sessions at a crazily fast pace as he added the final touches to his marathon training cake.

Tag finished 7th in the previous Round the Lakes race which was held in September last year. He clocked a time of 33:15 in that one.

After recently stepping up to the road runners group and looking to up her signature distance to 10k, Laras McKenna ran her first one at the Bournemouth Bay Run. It was a slightly tricky course as it included one of the zigzags that leads from the prom up to the overcliff but Laras did well to complete it in 44:04. That was enough to see her finish as fourth female.

With the Round the Lakes course not having that hill, there was the potential to go even quicker for Laras. The only problem with the Poole Park location is it’s usually very windy which can make it a bit tougher.

Also competing at the Bournemouth Bay Run 10k, David Crowther, Helen Beddoe and Emma Biggs were all testing themselves again over the distance at Round the Lakes. David ran 48:12 at the Bournemouth Bay Run and Helen managed 49:40. Emma was making her Bournemouth AC debut in that race and finishing in 1:02:45.

Jud Kirk had also been in action at the Bournemouth Bay Run but he did the Half Marathon with his niece Katie. He competed in the September edition of the Round the Lakes 10k last year and clocked a time of 48:27, which he then went on to beat at the Boscombe 10k in November.

Recording a PB of 48:56 at last year’s Round the Lakes race in April, Tim Hughes was looking to see if he could improve on that again. He’d been putting the work in in training to try to increase his pace so now it was time to execute that in a race environment.

It was a first race of the year for Louise Price but she’d ran quite a few 10ks last year. Her fastest was the Stubbington 10k at the beginning of the year which she did in 53:40. The most recent one she’d done was the Boscombe 10k which she completed in 57:36. Her last Round the Lakes race was in the summer of 2022 when she ran it in 54:04.

Primarily a sprinter in previous years, Ben Arnold had stepped up the distance having done a parkrun in 18:45 the previous weekend. Now he needed to double that distance at Round the Lakes.

Although it wasn’t a league race, the Round the Lakes 10k had still attracted some other star names. Following his Bournemouth Bay Run 10k victory, Jamie Grose of Poole AC was going for gold again. His Poole AC teammates Adam Colbert and Brian Underwood were also in the line up along with Twemlow Track Club man Chris Wood and Christian Rodiger Littledown Harriers.

The plan for Tag was to run 16 miles at 15 seconds faster than his marathon pace, with the Round the Lakes race making up the last 10k of that. He ran from his house to Poole Park beforehand for the five mile warm up, then launched into his faster paced miles on the circuit.

Most of his miles before the race started had been done at between 5:30 and 5:40 pace, with a couple of them slightly quicker. Then for the race he was going at between 5:25 and 5:30 pace, expect for the last one where he cranked it up to a 4:52. That was on the 20th mile of his run as well.

That saw him complete the Round the Lakes race in 33:57 which gave him the runner up spot. The only man who could beat that was Jamie Grose who had an outstanding run to complete the course in 31:36. His splits were very consistent at just over five minute mile pace and he didn’t slow down at all throughout the race. In fact, it was a negative split despite being way out in front on his own for the entire race.

Chris Wood finished 3rd in 34:01 and Adam Colbert claimed 4th in 34:09. Unattached runner Liam Openshaw came 5th in 34:17 and Brian Underwood took 6th in 34:21.

It was a monster run from Tag though and he’d completed 22 miles at an average pace of 5:46 per mile. Not many men out there would be able to do something like that as part of their marathon prep work.

Starting with a 6:27 for his first mile split, Ben Arnold went on the register a 6:35 for his second and then a 6:30 for his third. His pace dropped slightly for the next couple of miles to 6:41 and then 6:44 but he picked it up well for a 6:20 in his last mile before purring in a fast finish for the last third of a kilometre.

That put his finishing time at 40:32 which was enough to seem him take 29th place in the overall standings. It was a very good time from Ben and he really enjoyed the run.

The opening mile of the race was basically from the fountain, down to the cricket pavilion, round the cycle track and back, so it was probably the quickest of the race. Laras McKenna went through that in 6:37 before settling into a pace of around 6:53 for her next couple of miles. She then went through her fourth mile in 7:05 before upping it to 6:52 for her fifth mile.

It was a strong last third of the race from Laras and she managed to up the ante even further to 6:48 in her sixth mile before closing it out with a 6:05 paced last half a kilometre. That put her finishing time at 43:01 which was a huge improvement over her Bournemouth Bay Run time. In fact it was over a minute quicker.

That was enough to make her 3rd placed female and put her 47th in the overall standings. It was a remarkable run from Laras and she was already beginning to shine in her newfound favourite distance.

Another promising young lady by the name of Isabella Louth was first female in a time of 42:21, which put her in 43rd position overall. Lucy Hale was second placed female in a time of 42:49 which put her 11 seconds ahead of Laras and just one place in the overall standings.

The next Bournemouth AC member over the line was David Crowther and he clocked a time of 44:58, putting him in 54th place overall. That was a huge improvement for him over his Bournemouth Bay Run performance with it being over three minutes quicker.

It was only seven seconds off the time he produced in the previous edition of Round the Lakes which was the September one from last year.

Former Bournemouth AC woman Debbie Lennon ran her fastest 10k since 2023, registering a time of 45:52 and that saw her come in as sixth placed female. She was just ahead of current Bournemouth AC star Helen Beddoe who ran brilliantly to finish in 46:11.

That was a massive improvement for Helen over he Bournemouth Bay Run time, being 3 minutes 30 seconds quicker. She would have been very pleased with that result and she’d finished 2nd in the Female 35 category and 59th overall.

Katie Kirk was 9th female in 46:19 and she was just ahead of Heather Khoshnevis who came 62nd overall in a time of 46:29.

About a minute later, Jud Kirk arrived to take 65th place in a time of 47:31 and he’d finished 4th in the Male 60 category.

After going through the first mile in 7:31, Tim Hughes was able to keep his pace remarkably consistent for the rest the race, with all those miles being between 7:45 and 7:49. He then had enough left in the take to up the pace for the last quarter of a mile, taking him to the finish line in 48:10.

It was another big PB from Tim, taking 46 seconds off his time from last year. He was well chuffed to see that his training methods were working well and that he was progressing nicely. That put him 68th overall and 11th in the Male 50 category.

Finishing over 10 minutes quicker than she did at the Bournemouth Bay Run, Emma Biggs got round in 52:12 which put her in 79th place overall and she was 12th female. That was a good run from Emma.

Registering a time of 56:42, Louise Price finished 94th overall and was 19th placed female. That was good enough to put her in 6th place in the Female 55 category. That was a quicker time than she’d managed at the Boscombe 10k in the November so from that perspective it was a good result for Lou.

There were 111 runners in the field in total, with 33 of them being women and 78 of them men. Hence it was smaller in numbers than most previous editions of the race but still an excellent event that was enjoyed thoroughly by all who took part.