Returning to the calendar after a five year absence, the long awaited return of the Purbeck 10k garnered plenty of enthusiasm amongst the Bournemouth AC fraternity. Being staged on a Friday evening, the Purbeck 10k brings with it a unique sort of atmosphere and that’s partly what makes it such a special event. There is of course the lovely rural route as well, with its rolling hills and countryside views. There’s always a chance you might have to give an angry looking cow a wide birth as well which keeps it interesting.

No less than 15 Bournemouth AC members made their presence felt at the 2024 edition and they were all excited to see the race come back. Not least Rob McTaggart who had enjoyed the race previously and finished 3rd in the last running of the event back in 2019. That day Rob Spencer picked up the win and Tag got outdone by Matt Papa of Egdon Heath Harriers for the runner up spot in a somewhat controversial ending.

Also managing to find a yellow and blue vest to go with his tiger print shorts, Bryn Smith would be joining to squad for the big showdown. Returning to action after an achilles injury, Stu Nicholas was also in the line up along one his regular parkrun competitors Thomas Farwell. Rich Brawn, Adrian James, Barry Dolman and Sanjai Sharma were also getting in on the action.

After starting the Dorset Road Race League season really well, the Bournemouth AC ladies were out in force, with Emma Caplan, Katie Gunn and Debbie Lennon all featuring. Tamzin Petersen and Louise Price were also in the squad and there was also an appearance from Sian Mcilwaine. Plus a club debut for Kate Bowers.

With it being a league race, other clubs had brought strong sides to the table. Defending men’s champions Egdon Heath Harriers had Corey Stone, Matthew Underhill, Jonathan Churchill, Adam Davies and Giles Heaman in their squad.

Twemlow Track Club had a decent team out as well, with Chris Wood, Steven Rigby, Jack Galloway, David Jones and Lee Dempster. Current table toppers Poole AC had Dave Hicks, Luke Terry and John Bassinder.

After running the second fastest lap out of anyone at the Poole Festival of Running Relays the previous weekend, Rob Arkell of Poole Runners was a major contender. He finished 3rd at the May 5 and had been exhibiting some very impressive form of late. He had Luke McKenzie with him, just as he did at the Poole Festival of Running Relays. Luke came away with the 8th fastest time out of anyone that day.

With Vicki Ingham not running, there was an opportunity for another woman to shine on this occasion. Hayley Martin of Poole AC was a likely contender, as was Georgina Povall of Egdon Heath Harriers. Anna Philps of Purbeck Runners was there as well and she was in her natural habitat so that make the difference.

Not fancying a battle with anyone toward the end of the race, Rob McTaggart’s tactic was to go out hard and see if he could establish a good lead from the outset. The question was, would anyone want to go with him? And the answer to that was no. Not even Rob Arkell felt like he could set off at that speed, especially since it was uphill.

Going at about 5:30 pace for the first half a mile, Tag reached the top of the slope. Then he ran back down the hill at sub 5 minute mile page. That was enough to put his first mile split at a blistering 5:14. For a lot of his second mile he was going at 5 minute mile pace. The last quarter of the mile was uphill, resulting in a 5:08.

That got him through third mile 5:16, putting his 5k time at 16:07. The second half of the race was on more of an uphill trajectory with a few testing climbs but nothing too meaty. The first of those climbs came at 3.5 miles but that didn’t really slow Tag down too much and he still got through it in 5:27.

There was another tricky incline on the fifth mile and Tag registered a 5:36 for that mile split before tackling the sixth mile which was predominantly uphill. Doing well to power through it in 5:39, it was then onto the fast downhill finish which was around 500 metres. Blasting through that at 4:50 pace, Tag turned into the field and crossed the line for an emphatic victory.

With a time of 33:23, he’d built up a lead of close to a minute on Rob Arkell who arrived in 34:18 to take 2nd place. Although he had the Giants Head Marathon the next day, Matt Underhill still ran extremely well to finish in 35:07 which put him in 3rd place. He went on to come 2nd in the Giants Head Marathon which is contested on a very tough route incorporating over 3,250ft of elevation.

Finishing shortly after Matt Underhill at the Purbeck 10k, Jack Burrows of Wimborne AC and Luke McKenzie crossed the line at the same time but Jack was a second faster on chip time, clocking a 35:13. Corey Stone was with them as well and he went over the line a second later to take 6th place. That meant Jack had narrowly beaten Corey in the Male Under 21 category.

Luke Terry was the fastest vet, getting round in 35:21 which put him in 7th place and he was four seconds ahead of Jonathan Churchill who was Egdon Heath Harriers’ third man in. Dave Hicks was 1st in the 50 to 54 category when he completed the course in 35:36.

The second Bournemouth AC man over the line was Bryn Smith and he recorded a time of 35:50 which put him 10th on chip time, one second ahead of Chris Wood who was Twemlow Track Club’s first finisher.

John Bassinder was Poole AC’s third man over the line and he arrived in 35:56, with Twemlow Track Club pair Jack Galloway and Steven Rigby taking 13th and 14th place in 35:56 and 35:57. John was top of the Male 55 to 59 category.

Coming in as fourth scorer for Egdon Heath Harriers, Adam Davies claimed 15th place in 36:05, with Joe Godden arriving three seconds later to give Poole Runners their third finisher.

Completing the scoring team for Egdon Heath Harriers, Giles Heaman completed the course in 36:28 and that was enough to see them record the lowest score in the men’s first division.

Going well for the first 5k, Stu Nicholas got a stitch as he turned to head back and he never properly recovered from that. He’d gone through 5k in 17:10 but the return leg became a battle and his pace dropped significantly.

Crossing the line in 36:31, Stu finished in 18th place and it was a bit of a reality check for him. He knew he needed to get back on it and start training hard again so he can get back to kind of levels he would normally expect.

Rich Brawn was behind Thomas Farwell and Adrian James to begin with and he was going at around 5:40 pace for the first couple of miles. Once the hills came into play on the third mile though, he went past them and started working his way up the field. It was probably the first time he’d actually felt good in a race since his sub 2:45 marathon back in April. But he knew the hard work was still to come in the second half.

Going through 5k in 17:50, he hit the turning point and then continued to push on the way back. Even going up the hill, he felt strong and managed to keep his pace stable at 6:07 for the fourth and fifth miles. For much of it he was in a battle with David Jones of Twemlow Track Club but in the end he managed to pull away.

Toward the end of the race he was even catching Stu Nicholas up, which he was surprised about. As he raced down the road leading to the finish, the corner was so tight that Rich almost overshot it and ended up only going over one of the chip matts. Luckily it was enough to register his time of 36:43 though and he’d ended up just one place behind Stu in 19th.

That was enough to secure the lowest score in the second division for the Bournemouth AC men since only one runner from any other second division club had finished thus far and that was Jack Burrows of Wimborne. That meant Bournemouth AC had equalled Wimborne’s total of three wins so far this season.

Tony Roberts, who Adrian James and some of the other BAC runners know from Bournemouth parkrun, finished a few seconds after Rich but only a second in terms of chip time. David Jones crossed the line in 36:46 and was Twemlow’s fourth finisher in 21st place.

Mark Savage was Wimborne AC’s second scorer and he came 23rd in 36:48. Lee Dempster then completed the scoring team for Twemlow Track Club, finishing 24th in 36:51. That gave them a 2nd place finish in the men’s first division.

Usually pacing his races to perfection, Barry Dolman was the next Bournemouth AC man over the line. He went through 5k in 18:25 and kept a decent pace going over the second half to finish in 37:18.

That was a second faster than he managed at the Netley 10k on what should have been a much tougher course, which showed it was a tremendous run from Barry. He was 3rd in the 50-54 category, just behind Mark Packer of Littledown who was three seconds ahead of him. On the overall leader-board, Barry was 27th.

Scott Blakeway and Joe Cherrett completed the scoring team for Wimborne AC which put them 2nd in the second division behind BAC. It was very tight between the two clubs as they tussle for top spot, which each having three wins so far and Wimborne having three 2nd place finishes and Bournemouth AC having two.

Hayden Clarke and Neil Sexton completed the scoring team for Poole Runners, finishing 29th and 33rd. That was enough to give Poole Runners 3rd place in the men’s first division.

Hayley Martin of Poole AC was 1st female in a time of 37:39 and that put her in 31st place. The next lady to arrive at the finish was Georgina Povall of Egdon Heath Harriers and she got to the line 20 seconds later to take 37th place.

Following up her excellent sub 1:26 half marathon at Swansea where she gained a Championship qualifying time for London, Katie Gunn claimed 3rd female spot in 38:24. That put her in 44th place overall and earnt her a nice little trophy at the post race prize presentation.

Fading a bit over the second half of the race, Thomas Farwell was made to pay a bit for this fast start. He went through 5k in 17:50 but ended up finishing in 37:52. It was a good learning experience for him though and he will have plenty of scope to improve on that. Most of his competitive runs have been parkruns thus far so it was a step up in distance and difficulty level. Still a decent BAC debut though from Thomas and he came 34th overall and 4th Under 21.

Also being made to pay for his fast start, Adrian James found it a real grind over the second half which left him disappointed to come in in 38:13, which put him 41st overall. Again, Adrian is more used to doing parkrun though and 10k was the furthest he’d run for quite some time. He was 4th in the Male 45 to 49 category.

Julian Critchlow was 1st in the 60 to 64 category when he reached the line 7 seconds after Adrian and former Bournemouth AC man Sam Jackson got over the line a further eight seconds later.

Completing the course in a time of 39:21, Emma Caplan was 4th female and got a bottle of wine for being fastest in her age category, or at least the fastest behind Hayley Martin who overall women’s winner. Emma was 55th overall, just a second in front of Luke Jackson.

Anna Philps of Purbeck Runners was 5th female and 62nd overall in 39:52 and Gemma Bragg crossed the line in 40:09 which put her 68th overall. She was 1st in the 40 to 44 category.

Giving the Bournemouth AC women a brilliant team victory, Kate Bowers came in as 10th female and 2nd in the 35 to 39 category with her time of 43:10. She ran brilliantly for the first 5k, going through in 20:37. She blew up after though and held on as best she could in the second half.

It was worth it though as she, Katie and Emma got a bottle of wine each for the team prize and it also gave them their fourth win of the season in the ladies’ second division which they are currently bossing.

Next to arrive in a yellow was a very experienced campaigner in the shape of Sanjai Sharma. He was 5th in the 60 to 64 category with his time of 43:36, which put him 114th overall.

It was all going smoothly for Debbie Lennon up until, with about a mile remaining her foot suddenly seized up and she couldn’t put it down. It was quite painful but she somehow managed to soldier on to the finish, albeit with a much slower final mile than she otherwise would have.

Registering a time of 47:14, Debbie came 2nd to her former teammate Heather Khoshnevis in the 60 to 64 category. Heather went over the line as 24th lady recording a time of 46:44. Debbie was 29th female and 188th overall.

Debbie hasn’t had much luck lately with injuries and illnesses and a lot has happened to prevent her being able to get the same level of consistent training in that she did last year. That’s what’s made the difference really but hopefully once she gets back in her groove she’ll start getting her times down again.

Filtering in 22 seconds after Debbie, Sian Mcilwaine was next in for BAC. She came 192nd overall and was 32nd female in a time of 47:36. It wasn’t long before Tamzin Petersen arrived, going over the line in 48:05.

That put Tamzin in 199th place overall and she was 34th female. She’d had her problems with dogs in races before but the herd of cows the snuffling piglets that she encountered on route posed no threat.

Although she was dreading it, Louise Price shouldn’t have been as it turned out to be a really good run and was her best race of the year so far. Clocking as time of 54:12, she came 264th overall and was 65th female out of 166. She was also 6th out of 20 in the 55 to 59 category. A total of 424 runners successfully completed the race.

It was very tight at the top of the men’s first division table, with Egdon Heath Harriers equalling Poole AC’s record of three wins for the season so far. It could be an intriguing grudge match between them as the season progresses.

Even though they didn’t have Vicki Ingham, Poole Runners still got the win in the ladies’ first division and that was their 5th one of the season out of the six races so far. Poole AC were 2nd and Egdon Heath Harriers 3rd.

Dorchester RIOT got the win in the men’s third division and that was their third win of the season. They currently top the table ahead of Dorset Doddlers who were 2nd at the Purbeck 10k.

In the ladies’ third division, Westbourne picked up the win and that was their second victory of the season so far. Bournemouth Joggers were 2nd with Weymouth St Pauls taking 3rd. After their promising start to the season, Gillingham Trotters could only manage 4th for the second time in a row.

There wasn’t much turn around time before the Alresford 10k which took place on the Sunday of the same weekend. That was the penultimate race of the Hampshire Road League season so some of the Bournemouth AC members were in the double. Stu Nicholas, Rich Brawn, Adrian James and Katie Gunn were all set to appear at Alresford as well so they needed to hope their legs would recover in time for an even tougher 10k, with much steeper inclines.

The next race on the Dorset calendar was the Round the Rock 10k and that was held on the same day as the final race of the Hampshire Road League season, the Lordshill 10k. The Lordshill 10 provided a chance for the Bournemouth AC men to confirm their promotion to the top division as champions of the second division.

Portland is quite a tricky location to get to for most Bournemouth AC members so they often find it difficult to get teams out for the Portland races. Plus the there are some long tough climbs on the isle which make it a very challenging route. Hence, it was only Stu Nicholas that was signed up for Round the Rock. It’s only the best seven results of twelve that count for the Dorset League though so it shouldn’t harm their promotion chances if they didn’t field a team at Round the Rock.

With both the men and women getting the win at the Purbeck 10k, the season was shaping up very nicely for Bournemouth AC and they will be hoping that they can finish the year as second division champions in both the Dorset and the Hampshire League and if they can do that, it will be a marvellous achievement. There’s still plenty of hard work to be done yet though if they are to realise that aim.