A sensational win at the Wimborne 10 had brought the Bournemouth AC men to within touching distance of promotion back to the top flight in the Dorset Road Race League. But they needed a win in the season finale of the Boscombe 10k to achieve that outcome.

After securing an astonishing course record at the Wimborne 10, Abdinassier Mohamoud Elhmi was back for more at the Boscombe 10k, as was Joe Arundel who also managed an impressive top three finish at Wimborne. The pair were building up quite a reputation after finishing first and second at the Round the Lakes 10k and the New Forest 10 previously and there weren’t many athletes around who could contend with them.

It was a first race since becoming a father for Rob McTaggart and he formed part of a formidable front three for Bournemouth AC. Stu Nicholas was Bournemouth AC’s top man in the overall standings for the season in the Dorset Road Race League but he needed to complete the Boscombe 10k to reach the required seven race stipulation.

He was contending for a 4th place finish in the men’s individual table which would be a great achievement when you consider the talent pool that Dorset has at the moment. Stu’s former BAC teammate Jez Bragg was also in contention, along with Luke Terry of Poole AC and they were all competing in the Boscombe 10k.

After impressing in training, Louis Suggett was making his Bournemouth AC debut and judging by what he’d been able to produce on the club training evenings, he would be a useful addition to the squad.

The Men’s First Division title had gone down to the wire, with Poole AC and Egdon Heath Harriers neck and neck on five wins each for the season. It was effectively a winner takes all scenario for them at the Boscombe 10k.

Poole AC’s title bid was dealt a blow early on when Jamie Grose pulled out during the lap around the track just after the race started. He would have certainly been one of the main contenders for a top three finish after taking 4th place at the Wimborne 10.

They still had Thomas Corbin, Luke Terry, Benjamin Gibbons and Adam Colbert though so it was still a very strong side. Egdon Heath Harriers only really had Jonathan Churchill who was likely to be a lead contender but aside from that, they were lacking firepower.

The pressure was off for the Bournemouth AC ladies after they had already sewn up the Division Two win with their Wimborne 10 win. That was probably a good job as Debbie Lennon had pulled out through injury which had weakened the team somewhat. They did still have Kate Bowers though who came into it fresh from a first ever sub 20 minute parkrun.

After making her BAC debut in the New Forest 10, Helen Boddoe was back for more and she was joined by two veterans of the game in Louise Price and Sam White. They had both been club members for many years.

Purbeck Runners star Isabel Davis had the chance to seal a second place finish in the ladies individual table behind Vicki Ingham who had confirmed her status as individual champion with her seventh win of the season at Wimborne.

In truth, there was only ever going to be one winner and that was Abdinassier Mohamoud Elhmi. He was far too quick for anyone else. The only question was, what sort of time would he produce and would it be fast enough to net another course record. Not many of the onlookers knew what the course record was but there was one man there watching at Kings Park who did and that was Billy Nixon. That’s because he set it, many many years ago.

His time was 31:03 and no one had got anywhere near that in recent history. Over the past ten years the winning time has usually been over 34 minutes. The hill up Queens Park West Drive makes it not such a fast course and the underpass crossings when heading over to Queens Park and back again can be rhythm breakers.

Despite not fully knowing and where he was supposed to be going, Abdi was rocketing round at an unprecedented speed. There were a few occasions where he took a wrong turn and had to be called back by the marshals but nothing was going to stop him. After reaching the top of the hill up Queens Park West Drive the course then takes the runners back to Kings Park where they head back through the field and finish with a lap around the track.

Rich Nelson and Rich Brawn were there at the track waiting for the runners to come in to complete the race. Abdi emerged on the horizon well before the clock had ticked down to 30 minutes and it was clear that he was on for an incredibly fast time. As he reached the track, it became evident that he would be going under 31 minutes. The question was by how much. The answer was by almost half a minute as he went over the line in an astonishing time of 30 minutes 31 seconds.

The new course record had been set and Billy had been there to witness it. It really was quite a moment. Then it got even better from a BAC perspective when Joe Arundel arrived in 2nd place. He’d recorded a very fast time as well and as he hit the track it was clear he would be well inside 33 minutes.

Going over the line in 32:19, Joe had put in an exceptional performance and come away with a time that would have got him the win in each of the last nine years. In fact, if Abdi hadn’t been on the scene he would have had a few big wins to his name this year. 2nd to Abdi kind of felt like a win anyway really.

Now the race was on to find out who would be arriving in 3rd position. Would it be Tommy Corbin? Would it be Jonathan Churchill? Luke Terry had finished runner up in both the previous two years. Could it be him? In fact, it was none of the above. It was another Bournemouth AC vest heading through the field in the shape of Rob McTaggart.

He’d been running with Poole AC man Benjamin Gibbons for some of the race but had dropped him in the end and gone solo for the remainder of the race. Even though it turned into almost more of a tempo sort of effort, Tag kept the pace high and managed to make it the line in 33:57. It wasn’t as fast as the time he won it in in 2019 but it was only 11 seconds off and still an excellent time for that course.

With the top three runners in their ranks, Bournemouth AC had almost sewn up the Second Division title already. They just needed one more man in to confirm it. Benjamin Gibbons took 4th place in 34:44 and his teammate Tommy Corbin finished 5th in 34:59.

Jonathan Churchill was the next man over the line clocking a time of 35:10 and the battle for the First Division title was well under way, with Poole AC leading two to one. Luke McKenzie of Poole Runners was the next man over the line, completing the course in 35:19. Only just behind him though were another two Poole AC runners.

Luke Terry claimed 8th place in 35:24 and Adam Colbert took 9th in 35:27. That left Poole AC needing just one more finisher to confirm themselves as league champions. Unattached athlete Alexander Henderson finished 10th in 35:39 before Adam Jundi arrived to take 11th place in 35:56. Adam’s daughter Mabel runs for Bournemouth AC and is in the Under 11’s group.

Although he didn’t have one of his better runs and struggled to get in the groove, Stu Nicholas did enough to seal 4th place in the men’s individual table for the season, finishing ahead of Jez Bragg. Stu took 12th place in 36:04 and Jez was the next man over the line, arriving 21 seconds later.

Since Stu was fourth scorer for BAC, that meant they’d sealed the Second Division title and secured their promotion back to Division One. It was a fantastic result for the yellow and blues and that meant their goal for the season had been achieved.

Louis Verdi of Wimborne AC finished 15th in 36:36 and Mark Savage was 19th in 37:14 but it wasn’t enough for them. They had to settle for 2nd place in the Second Division and will need to go again next season.

Although he wasn’t overly happy with his run, Louis Suggett did well on his Bournemouth AC debut to register a time of 37:21. That put him in 21st place in the overall standings.

Gareth Hale rounded off the scoring team of five for Poole AC which confirmed they have won the league championship. It had been a remarkable season from them to overhaul last season’s winners Egdon Heath Harriers.

Purbeck Runners super vet Julian Critchlow had already sealed first prize in the 60 to 64 category of the Dorset League for the season but he still did the Boscombe 10k. First as 1st over 60, Julian came 25th in 38:07.

Completing the course in 38:17, Isabel Davis was 1st female and 26th overall. That secured her runner up spot for the season in the women’s individual table. Only Vicki Ingham could better her record.

Poole AC man John Bassinder topped the standings in the 55 to 59 chart after finishing 1st in the Male Vet 50 category at the Boscombe 10k. His time was 38:27 and he finished 28th overall. His rival in that category, Mark Packer of Littledown was 2nd Male Vet 50 in 38:33 and that put him 2nd in the 55 to 59 category for the league.

Still striving for that breakthrough sub 40, Leon Louis got round in 40:17 which out him 46th overall. Whilst it wasn’t exactly what he wanted, it was another step closer to the promised land and that had to go down as a positive. He was 12th in the Male Vet 40 category.

Dawn Andrews of Poole AC was lowest scorer out of any lady who didn’t do all seven races. She finished 2nd female at the Boscombe 10k. Swooping in to take 3rd female spot, Kate Bowers clocked a time of 42:22 which put her 71st overall.

It was quite a windy day since a storm had been passing over that day that almost forced the race to be cancelled. The organisers decided to go ahead with it in the end though and that turned out to be the right decision. Although she found the conditions made it tough going, it was a decent performance from Kate.

Taking his chance to seal the win in the 65 to 69 category for the league season, Stephen Hogarth finished 64th overall in 41:58. He won the 65 to 69 category in every race he did of the Dorset League season.

Egdon Heath Harriers star Teresa Green was 6th female and 1st Female Vet 45 in a time of 43:15 which put her in 79th place overall. She’d already sealed top prize in the 45 to 49 category for the season due to the high placings she’d achieved over the previous 11 fixtures and was 7th in the women’s individual table.

Finishing 7th in the Male Vet 60 category, Sanjai Sharma was the next BAC vest to appear on the horizon. The clock ticked down to 43:38 which put him 87th overall at the Boscombe 10k.

At 63 years of age, Sanjai was the most senior Bournemouth AC member competing that day. The next club member over the line was the youngest and that was 17 year old Alfie Stopler. He got round in 44:58 which put him in 111th place overall.

Eleanor Rollett of Dorchester RIOT was 1st in the Female Vet 55 category and 12th lady overall in a time of 45:38. That put her 119th overall. She’d already wrapped up 1st prize in the 55 to 59 category for the league by the first seven races and finished 6th in the women’s individual table.

Purbeck Runners man Hamish Murray was 1st Male Vet 70 in 46:05 and that was enough to net him the win in the 70 to 74 category for the league season, since it was his seventh race.

Former BAC member Heather Khoshnevis did all twelve of the Dorset Road Race League fixtures and won the 60 to 64 category ahead of Debbie Lennon who was Bournemouth AC’s highest placed lady in the final standings. Heather finished 8th lady overall for the season and Debbie was 12th.

Jud Kirk was the next BAC man in at the Boscombe 10k and he got over the line in 48:18 which put him in 173rd place overall and 18th in the Male Vet 60 category. He’d only done six races in the season but still finished 5th in the 65 to 69 category.

Completing the course in a chip time of exactly 50 minutes, Helen Beddoe was second scorer for the BAC ladies and she was 33rd female and 16th in the Female Vet 35 category.

The Boscombe 10k was Ian White‘s only race of the year and he made it round in 51:08 which put him 220th out the 521 who finished and he was 30th out of 62 in the Male Vet 50 category.

Kathy Fooks of Littledown was 1st in the Female Vet 65 category in a time of 52:43 and that made her 47th female out of 215 and 242nd overall. That was enough to see her crowned champion of the 65 to 69 category for the season as it was her seventh race.

Stu Nicholas’s wife Anna was running well until a lady fell over right in front of her. She stopped to help her up and walk her back to the nearest marshals as the lady appeared to have hurt her ankle. She was gutted to forego her race but under the circumstances it was probably the right thing to do and was an admirable act of kindness from Anna.

After that she pushed hard to try and make up the time but it must have cost her a good few minutes. In the end she reached the finish in 53:17 which made her 50th female and 250th overall. Had that incident not happened of course, the results would have looked a lot different for Anna.

Coming in as third scorer for the yellow and blues, Louise Price clocked a time of 57:36 which put her 15th in the Female Vet 55 category and 87th female in the race. Her overall position was 329th.

That put the Bournemouth AC ladies in 3rd place for the fixture, behind Purbeck Runners who won it and Wimborne AC who came 2nd.

It wasn’t too long before Sam White arrived to round proceedings off from the BAC perspective. She crossed the line in 58:05 which put her 18th in the Female Vet 55 category and 92nd female overall. Her position in the overall standings was 340th.

It was about four minutes off her time from last year but Sam is in for the London Marathon next year so this will classify as a good bit of ground work in preparation for when the hard work begins in January. Her target then will be a ‘good for age’ time for the next one, which for her is very achievable.

Littledown Harriers will be relegated from the Men’s First Division after finishing bottom of the five team table. They will replace Bournemouth AC in the Second Division. Lytchett Manor Striders will be relegated from the Men’s Second Division after they were cut well adrift.

Dorset Doddlers won their eighth race of the season in the Men’s Third Division at the Boscombe 10k so they had been very dominant at that level. They will spend next year in the Second Division.

Poole AC were the lowest scoring team at the Boscombe 10k in the Ladies’ First Division but Poole Runners had already won the league title. Poole AC were 2nd and Egdon Heath Harriers came 3rd. Dorchester RIOT will be relegated to the Ladies’ Second Division after finishing bottom of the five team table.

Like in the Men’s, Lytchett Manor Striders finished bottom of the Second Division and will be relegated to the Third. Ending the season with a win in the Boscombe 10k, Westbourne topped the Ladies’ Third Division table and will be promoted to the Second Division. Bournemouth Joggers finished 2nd in the Third Division.

With both the Men’s and Ladies teams gaining promotion from the Second Division, this would have to go down as a very successful season for the yellow and blues. Of course, much of that success can be credited to the road runners group captain Rich Nelson who gives up a lot of his time to steer the ship and ensure the club puts on structured training sessions that will help the athletes improve. Then he also has to ensure that the club has a competitive team out for most the league races, preferably one that is better than any other club can boast.

Of course, the emergence of Abdi has massively helped as he is liable to win any race he takes part in. Having Joe Arundel often finishing 2nd though is very important as it shows that they aren’t just relying on Abdi and they have other runners who can also vie for top positions. With the likes of Tag and Stu also on the books and so many other talented men, it’s now a stronger squad than they’ve had for many years and the future is looking very bright.

The ladies team is strong now as well with Katie Gunn showing she can be one of the fastest females in the county. Emma Caplan is always capable of being one of the top women when she races and Kate Bowers and Sophie Read are progressing well as well. Victoria Chapman is another recent recruit who could really help the team move forwards but with four ladies required for a team next season, they will need others to step up as well. If the organisation is in place though, the BAC ladies could be a force to be reckoned with in the First Division.

There is a lot to look forward to for the coming year but for now its time to reflect on and to celebrate their wins and take pride in what they’ve achieved in the 2024 season. It’s been another step closer to putting Bournemouth AC back at the top of the food chain and that’s where they fully believe that they belong.