Featuring in the Bognor Prom 10k, Matt Brown was hoping to deliver a decent display on a fast, flat course
Swapping one seaside resort for another, recent signing Matt Brown made the trip to Bognor Regis for a fast, flat, 10k tussle. Matt wasn’t expecting to be in top form after suffering from a recent illness which had temporarily impacted his training. He was there to give it his best shot though and it was going to be interesting to see what kind of performance he could produce.
Just before his illness Matt was showing signs of some pretty good form, securing a superb 16:30 at Poole parkrun at the start of April. He also managed a 16:45 and a 16:46 in his last couple of races in the Boscombe Winter 5k Series.
Starting at West Park in Aldwick, the route for the Bognor Prom 10k heads along Bognor Regis esplanade and past Felpham before looping round and heading back to West Park along the seafront. The race was first conceived in 1994 and was now on its 26th edition.
Matt had proven pedigree to produce a very fast 10k time
Opening with a 5:41 for his first mile, Matt then followed it up with a 5:36 for the second mile before cranking it up a notch to 5:29 for his third mile. Going through the fourth mile in 5:25, Matt was going incredibly well at this stage.
Matt battles it out with a couple of other runners
The wind can come into play for the last couple of miles or so but Matt stayed strong to register a 5:40 for his fifth mile and a 5:37 for his sixth mile. Going on to reach the finish line in a tremendous time of 34:42, Matt took 10th position out of 1,207 runners.
With an average pace of 5:32 minutes per mile, It was a really solid display from Matt and he was pleased with that. It was his third fastest 10k to date, after the Newbury Racecourse 10k which he did in 34:05 and the Eastleigh 10k in 2021 where he recorded his incredible PB of 32:34.
Matt crosses the line in a time of 34:42, taking a top ten place
The winner of the race was Paul Navesey of City of Portsmouth a he romped round in 31:54, putting him six seconds ahead of Patrick Martin of Waverley Harriers who was 2nd in exactly 32 minutes. Matt McDaniel of Guildford & Godalming was 3rd in 32:28.
Kate Drew of Taunton AC impressed massively, crossing the line just a second behind Matt in 11th place with a time of 34:43. That saw her take the 1st female spot. That meant Cassie Thorp of City of Portsmouth had to be content with 2nd place in 35:37. She was the 18th person to make it over the line.
With a hunger to progress in his running, Matt finally made the switch to Bournemouth AC
The Bournemouth AC hierarchy were delighted Matt had decided to swap orange for yellow and blue and he is one of a number of potentially game changing signings to club have made recently. With the structured training sessions they can provide for Matt and the high standard of the running companions that come with it, the hope is that this will be an environment Matt can really thrive in and can help take him to the next level.