Proving a successful staple for Bournemouth AC members over the years, the Bournemouth Bay Run event was back with its regular serving of seafront shenanigans in the form of 5k, 10k and Half Marathon races.

The man who performed the incredible deluxe double in 2023, Rob McTaggart was back for another helping. In that one he won the 10k race, carried on running during the interval before starting the Half Marathon race and winning that as well. In fact, he ended up winning it by over four minutes.

For most mere mortals that would be a dream scenario but for Tag, it was just another marathon training run that happened to yield a couple of shiny trophies to add to the collection.

Tag also won the Bournemouth Bay Run Half Marathon in 2022 and 2019 as well so his success rate at that event was miraculous. In last year’s edition, James Phillips finished second in the Half Marathon and Poole AC man Jamie Grose managed a delightful double of his own, winning the 10k and the 5k on the same day.

This year Tag wasn’t likely to have it all his own way as his Bournemouth AC compatriot Joe Arundel was competing in the Half Marathon as well. Joe had just recorded a 1:09:37 at the Bath Half Marathon. He also had the calibre to go a lot faster having run the Great Eastern Half Marathon in October in 1:06:41.

Joe exhibited some fine form last year winning the Broadstone Quarter Marathon at the start of the year, then later on in the year he won the Overton 5 and one of the Wessex Cross Country League fixtures. He also finished second to Abdinasir Mohamoud Elmi at Round the Lakes, the New Forest 10 and the Boscombe 10k in times that would have won those races in previous years.

There were a few other Bournemouth AC members doing the Half Marathon as well and they were Will Newbery, Jud Kirk, Sian Mcilwaine and Nick Pepin and there was a race debut for one of the club’s newest recruits Max Yao as well who had been very much enjoying the club training sessions since she started attending.

Combining the Half Marathon race with 54 minutes of running beforehand, it was really a marathon training run for Tag but he was hoping to do the race at marathon pace which would make a valuable exercise.

He’d ran just over eight miles before the race started. There was a hill up the Chines at the end of the first mile so that one was a bit slower. After that Tag registered a 5:25 before heading back down the hill and clocking a 5:13. He then went through the next mile in 5:18 before posting another 5:25 split.

Unable to keep the pace as consistent as he would have wanted, the rest of his splits fluctuated between 5:30 and 5:45 pace as the route went along the prom all the way back to Hengistbury Head end. It then ramped up and took a detour round the houses before heading back along the overcliff.

There was one more hill to contend with on the way back as well as the route headed out of Southbourne and then along to Boscombe. Dropping down at the Mariner, it then rejoined the prom at Boscombe Pier before finishing just before Bournemouth Pier.

Although his splits were variable, Tag still managed to complete the race in a time of 1:12:39 which was roughly what he was targeting. That gave him a 21.28 mile run in total with an average pace of just below 6 minutes per mile.

That was enough to secure second place in the race for Tag but it wasn’t enough to outrun Joe Arundel. Getting round in 1:11:37, Joe cruised in for the win. He hadn’t been feeling quite himself so far this year and wasn’t running quite at the levels that he would expect from himself. It was still a strong performance though and a decent race win so he couldn’t really feel too aggrieved about it.

Joe and Tag were over a mile ahead of anyone else, with Jack Galloway of Twemlow Track Club taking third place in 1:17:22. Lawrence Wickham was fourth in 1:18:17 with Peter Rowat taking fifth in 1:18:59.

Christian Rodiger of Littledown Harriers was seventh in 1:19:33 and Tom Andrews finished 10th in 1:19:53.

Will Newbery had a decent run to come in in 16th place with a time of 1:21:46. That put him fifth in the M40 category and his average pace for the run was 6:16 per mile.

Steve Goodman of Littledown Harriers came 12th in 1:20:46, Harry Lauste came 15th in 1:21:10 and Louis Verdi of Wimborne AC finished 18th in 1:22:01. Lonely Goat man Gavin Pritchard made it round in 1:23:17 which put him in 21st place.

Running it with his niece Katie, Jud Kirk completed the course in 1:48:34, finishing 284th overall and third in the M60 category. Katie was 33rd place female.

Sian Mcilwaine got round in 1:50:46 which put her 359th overall and she was 48th female. Her average pace for the run was 8:25 per mile.

 

 

 

 

 

Also doing the race with a family member, Nick Pepin ran it with Cait Pepin and they went over the line together in 2 hours 49 minutes and 56 seconds, putting them in 1,091st and 1,092nd positions.

Finding it a little bit tougher than she’d envisaged, Max Yao completed the course in 1:51:22 which put her 326th overall and saw her finish as 42nd placed female. She found the hills quite hard to contend with but enjoyed the race nonetheless.

Ruth Holloway of City of Salisbury was first female in 1:35:18 which put her in 95th place overall. Vicky Rutter was next woman in, getting over the line in 1:37:02 which put her in 106th place. Maria Everett of Littledown Harriers was third lady in 1:38:34 which put her in 125th place.

A total of 1,122 participants successfully completed the Half Marathon course with the last one of them taking 3 hours 34 minutes,

It was good to see a number of Bournemouth AC members out there representing the club in a local race and it was especially good to have two BAC runners way ahead of the rest of the field. The club has a proud history of possessing the very best runners in the area and that is still very much the case to this day.