BAC‘s ladies again outshone the men (apart from the outright win by Jon Sharkey!) in the second of the revived Bournemouth 10 (mile) races organised by BAC, on Sunday 28 February, winning 1st and 2nd team prizes, along with numerous individual wins and PB runs. The race had been accepted as the third Dorset Road Race League fixture for 2016, and was a sell-out, with entries closing at 500, with 418 finishing on the day. Many thanks are due to the volunteers who turned out to marshal, officiate, hand out numbers, deal with the baggage, and carry out the myriad other duties without which the race could not have taken place. There has been considerable feed-back praising the enthusiasm of the marshals, amongst whom once again, at the water stations, was a contingent of Dorset ACF, who added a great deal to the atmosphere around the course. However, most of the thanks must go to Race Director Ian White, ably assisted by Sam Laws, whose lives have been dominated by the event for months, and whose attention to detail ensured its success on the day. Turning to the results, BAC‘s ladies virtually took over the ladies’ race, with Emma Dews winning overall, and Heidi Tregenza, third lady overall and Nikki Sandell (2nd VF) completing the winning Open and DRRL teams. Gemma Bragg, Cerri-Anne Santos (a useful new signing) and Caroline Rowley made up the second Open team, with Caroline closely followed by two more useful recent signings, Yvonne Tibble, (1st VF55) and Joy Wright,  with Louise Price, running her first 10  mile race, not far behind as 2nd VF45.  With much of BAC‘s strength competing elsewhere, well done to those BAC men who did run in this DRRL race, as race winner Jon Sharkey, Anthony Clark and Tom Paskins all had fine runs to finish as the second Open team, with the DRRL team completed by Adrian Townsend and Paul Consani, and, subject to confirmation, it is thought that BAC were the second DRRL team, thus keeping the challenge to retain the title for the eighth successive year on track.  Results (BAC) 1. Jon Sharkey 56.30;  8. Anthony Clark 59.09;  20. Tom Paskins 1.00.53;  23. Emma Dews 1.01.13 (PB);  29. Heidi Tregenza 1.02.19 (PB);  37. Adrian Townsend 1.03.14;  41. Paul Consani 1.03.30 (PB);  59. Gemma Bragg 1.06.24 (PB);  76. Cerri-Anne Santos 1.08.24;  80. Steve Cox 1.08.57 (PB);  94. Tony Hunt 1.10.09;  107. Caroline Rowley 1.11.49 (PB);  133. Yvonne Tibble 1.13.36;  135. Joy Wright 1.13.56 (PB);  153. Louise Price 1.15.51;  204. Estelle Slatford 1.19.48;  Russell Slatford 1.19.49.

More photos from the Bournemouth 10 below……………….

The day before, at Castle Donnington, Derbyshire, two athletes were flying the BAC flag at the National Cross Country Championships.  Of a massive field of 1730, David Long was 120th Senior Man, in a time of 47.03, showing what dedicated training (including in Kenya!) can produce.  Equally impressive was Josh King‘s run in the Junior Mens’ race.  Only recently recovered from a period of injury, Josh ran 38.55 to finish 22nd of a total of 152.

Returning to Sunday, 28 February, in the Heartbreaker Marathon in the New Forest, of 183 competitors, Steve Way was second in 2.36.49, Peter Thompson was third in 2.44.16 and Billy McGreevy was 11th in 3.13.46, and, further afield, Rob McTaggart was 29th of 8095 finishers in the Brighton Half Marathon in 1.15.58.

The week before, Sunday 21 February, a strong BAC team, who now are the top five in the Half Marathon Championship table, competed in the Wokingham Half Marathon.  Steve Way was 14th in 1.11.16, Peter Thompson 16th in 1.11.26 (PB), Toby Chapman 21st in 1.12.31 (PB), Simon Way 83rd in 1.18.21 and Sanjai Sharma 148th in 1.21.11 (PB).

Returning to the Bournemouth 10 ………………………………………..