Joe Arundel (luminous yellow vest) was in the line up for the Bath Half Marathon
For some it’s a step along the road to a spring marathon, for others it’s a target race. Either way, the Bath Half is often a race of huge significance for the competitors who go in for it. There are usually at least a couple of Bournemouth AC runners taking part and this year was no exception, with James Hulbert and Joe Arundel in the mix.
Currently training for the London Marathon at the end of April, James Hulbert was seeking certification that he’s in good shape and on course for a quick time.
The race gets underway
He had a good year in 2024, recording a sub three hour time in the Madrid Marathon. He then went on to produce some really fast times including a 36:32 at the Round the Lakes 10k and a parkrun time of 16:45. After that he registered a superb sub 28 minute time at the Victory 5. Then at the start of this year he set himself a new 10k PB of 35:09 at Stubbington.
James ran the Bath Half in 2023, clocking a time of 1:23:40 but he’s improved tenfold since then so he was always likely to go significantly faster than that.
The lead contenders set off on their journey
Joe Arundel came into it with great pedigree, having run a 1:06:41 time at the Great Eastern Half Marathon in Peterborough last October. He also finished runner up to Abdinasir Mohamoud Elmi in the Round the Lakes 10k, New Forest 10 and Boscombe 10k in times that would have easily won those races in previous editions. And he ran a 51:09 at the Wimborne 10 to take third place behind Abdi and Jonathan Cornish.
On top of that, Joe won won the Wessex Cross Country League races at Bryanston School and ran a 14:51 parkrun at Poole in the summer.
The first mile of the Bath Half contains a bit of downhill to begin with and a small incline at the end of the split. James went through that in 5:58 before moving onto the second mile which contained a nice downhill stretch. James went through that in 5:47 before settling into a rhythm of about 5:50 pace for the next few miles.
Jake Smith (orange cap) and Jonny Brownlee (white cap) were among the lead contenders
James was through the first 5k in 18:21, which is a 5:55 average pace. The sixth mile was slightly tougher with a small incline and James went through that in 6:05 before registering a 36:58 for the first 10k.
He followed that up with a 6 and then a 6:05 mile before tackling a notable incline in the ninth mile. That put him down to 6:14 for that split and he then followed that up with a 6:09, seeing him through 10 miles in 59:47.
That left 5k remaining and James went through the next couple of miles in 6:14 and 6:13. That last mile contains the toughest climb of the race and that goes on for the last third of the mile and then for a bit of the last 0.14 of a mile as well.
James dug in well to get through it in 6:30 before closing it out with a very fast finish. Reaching the line in a time of 1:19:35, James had come in in 170th place in a field of 11,127. That was a decent result for James in the midst of his marathon training and should put him on course for sub 2:50 marathon.
Joe (left) had the pedigree to be up there at the sharp end
That was pretty close to Poole Runners man Dave Tindall who got round in 1:19:15 which put him in 173rd place overall and 24th in the M35 category.
Setting off at lightening pace, Joe went through the first 5k in 15:18, putting the average pace at 4:56. He then settled down to a more confirmation but still very quick pace of 16:46 for his second 5k, which was an average pace of 5:24. That meant he’d hit 10k in 32:04, which is an extremely quick time, even for a 10k race.
His next 5k was similar, going through in 16:49 which was a 5:25 average pace. Then he registered a 17:01 for his last 5k which was a 5:29 average. That saw him cross the finish line in a superfast time of 1:09:37 which put him in 19th place.
James Hulbert dishes out the high fives as he goes past
It was a good result for Joe in very strong field which saw 22 men get in in under 1 hour 10 minutes. 14 men finished in under 1 hour 8 minutes, the fastest of which was Jake Smith of Pontypridd Roadents in a time of 1:02:20. That was just enough to consign Omar Ahmed of Birchfield Harriers to second place in 1:02:43.
Jake Smith comes in to win the Bath Half Marathon
Dewi Griffiths of Swansea Harriers took third in 1:03:03 so it was an incredible top three that were quite a way ahead of the rest. Dominic Nolan of Croydon Harriers was fourth in 1:04:49, with Alex Milne of Hercules Wimbledon taking fifth in 1:04:51. Sam Bramwell of Herne Hill Harriers came sixth in 1:04:53, with Peter Le Grice of Bristol and West coming 7th and first vet in 1:05:08.
Egdon Heath Harriers man Charlie Williams finished 36th in a brilliant time of 1:12:16 and a couple of his teammates weren’t far behind. They were Jonathan Churchill who was 48th in 1:13:35 and Matthew Underhill who came 51st in 1:13:42. It was a superb showing from the Egdon Heath Harriers trio.
Abbie Donnelly takes the first female spot in 1:09:54
There were some really fast women in the race as well and Abbie Donnelly of Lincoln Wellington was the quickest of them, producing a sensational time of 1:09:54 which put her 21st overall.
Natasha Phillips of Dundee Hawkhill Harriers was second female in 1:12:06 and she’s in the Under 20 category. She came 34th overall. Annabel Gummow of Herts Phoenix was third female and 38th overall in 1:12:26 and Oliva Tsim of Pontypridd Roadents was fourth female and 49th overall in 1:13:37.
There was one notable scalp that Joe took and that was that of famous triathlete Jonny Brownlee who finished 26th in 1:10:32. To be finished ahead of such a decorated Olympic athlete shows that Joe must be doing something right.