With three wins, a second place at the Stubbington 10k and a seventh place at the Gosport Half, the Bournemouth AC men were in a good position going into the Salisbury 10. That was out of the seven of twelve Hampshire Road League races that had taken place so far. The failure to field a team for the Ryde 10 had left them needing to field a team for all five remaining races and ideally finishing high up in all of them as well.

Unsurprisingly it was Ryde Harriers who picked up the win at the Ryde 10 and that was their third victory of the season, putting their card almost on a level pegging with Bournemouth AC’s. If they could get a team out for the remaining five races, they would be the main threat for the First Division title challenge. Of course, being based on the Isle of Wight, it will be harder for them to do that than it will for Bournemouth AC, logistically at least.

It made a good result at the Salisbury 10 vital for the yellow and blues though. Luckily they had a strong team out for it though with Adam Corbin, Stu Nicholas, Matt Brown, James Hulbert and Jack Davis all in the line up. Of course, only four were required to score but they had enough runners to form a B team as well, with Jason Christian, David Pinney and Leon Louis also in action.

Ben Moss and Max Yao were in the line up as well in what had turned out to be a good showing from the Bournemouth AC squad in terms of numbers. Max is a new member, having made her debut the club at the Bournemouth Bay Run a couple of weeks earlier when she did the Half Marathon.

The Salisbury 10 race is staged on scenic countryside roads and contains some mild undulations including one fairly tough climb on the seventh mile. On the way back you go past the iconic Salisbury Cathedral with its spire in full view.

Getting away quickest out of the Bournemouth AC contingent, Adam Corbin went through the first mile in 5:31, even though it started off with an incline. He then followed that up with a 5:34 for the second mile before hitting the hill on the third mile which knocked him down to 5:52.

Going into it off the back of a very tough Feighan Fury 10 Mile race where he tackled 1,500ft of elevation, the undulations on the Salisbury 10 route wouldn’t have felt too bad to Stu Nicholas. He got through the first mile in 5:34 before following it up with a 5:29. He then tackled the hill strongly on the third mile, registering a 5:48.

The fourth mile was fairly flat and Stu went through that in 5:33 before taking on the next incline on the fifth mile. That wasn’t a problem for him and he got through that in 5:49 before posting a 5:39 for his sixth mile. Then it was onto the steepest climb of the race but after reaching the top there was a nice downhill stretch to come.

Getting through the seventh mile in 5:47, Stu then managed a 5:45 for his eighth mile. The last two miles of the race were flat and fast and Stu ended strongly with a 5:32 and then a 5:34. Finishing in a time of 56:37, Stu had ran brilliantly to finish in fifth place.

Recording a 5:38 for his first mile, Matt Brown then went on to clock a 5:35 for his second mile and then a 5:51 for the third. That was despite stopping for a wee at one point! Going through the fourth mile in 5:34, Matt then went to post a 5:47 for his fifth mile. That then led to a 5:37 for the sixth mile and then a 5:41 for the seventh.

A 5:44 for the eighth mile left Matt poised for a fast run in over the last couple of miles. Finishing with a 5:28 and then a 5:31, Matt was the next man over the line after Stu, claiming sixth place in 56:56. It was a really strong run from Matt, beating his Wimborne 10 time of 57:31 from November last year.

Managing a 5:36 for his fourth mile, Adam started to find the hills quite tough going after that. Registering a 6:03 for his fifth mile, he then went on to to clock a 5:50 for his sixth mile and then a 5:55 for his seventh mile. The last climb of the race put him down to six minute mile pace before he then went on to post a 5:39 followed by a 5:54 pace for his final split.

That put Adam’s finishing time at 57:59 and his average pace for a the run was 5:48. That was enough to give Adam 11th place in the overall standings. To get three men in in the top 11 was an impressive return for the Bournemouth AC boys.

In training for the London Marathon, the Salisbury 10 race would serve as a good sharpener for James Hulbert. He started off with a 5:49 for his first split. He then followed that up with a 5:59 before registering a 6:08 for his third mile which of course was slightly uphill. Recording a 5:56 for his fourth mile, James then went on to complete his next five miles at between 6:09 and 6:02 pace. He then upped it with a 5:45 to finish off.

That was enough to see James take 28th place in a time of 1 hour and 19 seconds. It was an impressive display from James given the undulations he had to face and he was certainly looking in good shape ahead of London. He then went on to run a further 11 miles later that afternoon.

Gary Marshall of Ryde Harriers got the win in 55 minutes 13 seconds, with Andrew Winterbottom of Winchester & District taking second place in 55:30. Henry Piper of Denmead Striders was third in 55:37 and Brandon Hough of City of Salisbury took fourth in 55:45.

Daniel Furmidge was Ryde’s second man in, in 10th place in 57:53 and Michael Beckett was City of Salisbury’s second finisher in 58:07 which put him 12th. Lordshill had also had two men in with Kevin Willsher taking eighth place in 57:27 and Josh Chivers taking 13th in 58:21.

Sarah Winstone of Southampton AC was first female and 14th overall in a tremendous time of 58:27.

Ben Saunby of City of Salisbury finished 21st in 59:34 and Danny White of Lordshill was 22nd in 59:45. They both had three finishers at that stage as well. Former Bournemouth AC man Sam Jackson ran well to get over the line in 1:00:08 which put him in 26th place.

Erin Willmers of Winchester Running Club was second placed female in a time of 1:00:50 which put her 32nd overall.

Ashley Wilson of City of Salisbury was 34th in a time of 1:01:14 and that meant they were the second club after Bournemouth AC to have four runners in. Leon Newnham then arrived to give Ryde their third finisher in 1:01:10.

When the scores were totted up, it turned out to be an excellent win for the Bournemouth AC men. They’d beaten City of Salisbury on their own patch which was quite some achievement. And it was without Abdinasir Mohamoud Elmi, Joe Arundel and Rob McTaggart, underlining the strength in depth that the club has.

Current table toppers Denmead Striders finished third, knocking Ryde down the fourth which made it an even better day for BAC. Last season’s champions Lordshill finished fifth in the end.

Emma Jolley of City of Portsmouth was third female in 1:02:18 which put her 43rd in the overall standings. Luke Jackson had a good run to finish 45th in 1:02:37. Tamsin Anderson of Winchester Running Club was fourth female, crossing the line in 1:03:29.

With the London Marathon in his sights, Jack Davis planned to run the Salisbury 10 at around his intended marathon pace. Starting off with a 6:23, he then followed that up with a 6:32 and then a 6:41. He then clocked a 6:29 for his fifth mile before registering a 6:22 for his sixth mile.

Turning in a 6:26 for his seventh mile, the then allowed himself to up the pace for the last few miles. That meant a 6:19 for his eighth mile, followed by a 6 and then a 5:49 for his last mile. It was a really strong finish to the race from Jack and confirmed that he was in pretty good shape ahead of the marathon.

That put him in 55th position in the overall standings with a finishing time of 1:03:36 and he’d ended up with a solid negative split and an average pace of 6:20 per mile for the run.

After missing out on 10k and half marathon PBs this year, Jason Christian now had the chance for a 10 mile one. His previous best time was 1:04:29 which he did at the Wimborne 10 in 2022. In last year’s Salisbury 10 he finished in 1:06:05 so that was another target he could aim to beat if a PB wasn’t looking on the cards.

Starting the race with a 6:18 and then a 6:19, Jason then went through the mostly uphill third mile in 6:30. he was then back down to 6:21 for his fourth mile. Facing another incline in the fifth mile, Jason then went through it in 6:35 before then registering a 6:26 for his sixth mile.

It was a pretty consistently paced run thus far by Jason. He then went through the seventh mile, which had the toughest hill, in 6:31 before registering a 6:28 for his eighth mile. Picking it up well for the last couple of miles, Jason then posted a 6:09 and then a 6:03 for his fastest two miles of the race.

That meant he’d nailed a fantastic new PB of 1:03:53 and that put him 61st overall and 9th out of 111 in the Male 50 to 59 category. With an average pace of 6:22, it was a run to be proud of for Jason and a well deserved one as well after all the hard graft he’d been putting in.

Tending to struggle a bit on courses of the more hilly persuasion, Leon Louis had finished in 1 hour 8 minutes at the Lytchett 10 earlier in the season. He had ran a 1:05:54 at the Wimborne 10 in November last year though so he had it in his locker to produce a better time.

Opening with a couple of miles at 6:14, Leon then followed it up with a 6:33 for his third mile. He then got back on pace with a 6:18 for his fourth mile before clocking a 6:40 and then a 6:35 for his fifth and sixth miles. He then had to face that last tough incline seventh mile, registering a 6:39 before managing a 6:29 for his eighth mile.

A strong finish saw him return to 6:18 and 6:19 pace for his last two miles. That gave him an official time of 1:04:54, putting him in 78th position overall and 20th out of 131 in the Male 40 to 49 category. With an average pace of 6:25, it was good, solid performance from Leon and one that he could definitely be pleased with.

Natalie Green wasn’t far behind Leon, going over the line in 1:05:02 which made her ninth female and 80th overall. She didn’t have her super shoes so wasn’t quite as quick she otherwise might have been but it was still a decent run from her.

Completing the scoring side for the B team was David Pinney who completed the course in a time of 1:05:08, putting him in 85th place. That was 48 seconds faster than the time he recorded at last year’s Salisbury 10. It was a pleasing performance from David and saw him come away with an average pace of 6:29 per mile.

That was enough for the Bournemouth AC B team to have the best score out of the Division Two teams by a long way. It was a third B team win of the season for Bournemouth AC. Every time they had had a B team out they’d finished either first or second, again demonstrating a good standard throughout the ranks.

The 10 mile distance was the furthest Ben Moss had ran for several years. He completed the course in 1:35:59 which put him in 589th place overall and he was 91st in the Male 50 to 59 category. Ben said of his run that he wouldn’t say the wheels came off, but he definitely had a slow puncture!

Feeling like she had a much better run than she did at the Bournemouth Bay Run, Max Yao didn’t find the undulations to be too much of a problem at the Salisbury 10. Getting round in a time of 1:22:56, she finished in 355th place overall and was 75th out of 350 women.

With an average pace of 8:21, it was a pleasing performance from Max and she thoroughly enjoyed the race. There were 820 runners in total who successfully completed the Salisbury 10 course.

Denmead Striders still lead the way in the Men’s A1 division by four placings. It’s incredibly tight behind them though, with Alton Runners, Ryde Harriers, Fareham Running Club, Lordshill Road Runners and Bournemouth AC all within two placings of each other.

It looks like Andover will be relegated to the second tier, along with either Farnham Runners or Stubbington Green Runners.

In the Men’s A2 division, Liss just pipped Winchester Running Club to the post at the Salisbury 10. They are neck and neck at the top of the table on league score so far for the season and look likely to be promoted to the top division.

Winchester & District look like they’ll be experiencing back-to-back relegations as they sit bottom of the A2 table. Isle of Wight Road Runners look likely to be going down with them.

Hardley Runners are proving they are definitely runners as they sit at the top of the Men’s A3 division by a long way. Vectis Academy won at the Salisbury 10 though and they are looking good for promotion in second place currently.

Fareham Running Club claimed victory in the Women’s A1 division at the Salisbury 10 with Lordshill in second. It’s tight at the top in that division for the season so far, with Denmead Striders currently ahead, Lordshill in second and Fareham in third.

Ryde Harriers look on course for relegation from the top flight but the battle for who goes with them looks like it could be an interesting fight with four clubs under potential threat.

Winchester Running Club have won every race in the Women’s A2 division this season so only need one more win to confirm promotion. The battle for who goes up with them looks interesting though, with Overton currently just ahead of Portsmouth Joggers and with New Forest and Stubbington Green also in the hunt.

Again, Winchester & District look to be crashing straight through the trapdoor into the A3 division  At the moment Eastleigh are in the drop zone but could yet dig themselves out of it if they do well in the remaining fixtures.

A win for Victory AC at the Salisbury 10 has put them joint top of the Women’s A3 division with Vectis Academy who could only manage fourth at Salisbury. They look likely to both be gaining promotion to the second tier.

Although they didn’t get as good of a score as Bournemouth AC in the Men’s B league, Winchester Running Club won out of the A1 division teams and are currently top of the table ahead of Denmead Striders, with Lordshill currently in third.

In the B2 division, which is the one Bournemouth AC are in, Portsmouth Joggers are currently top, with Hardley Runners in second. Stubbington Green are third and Bournemouth AC currently sit fourth, even though they’ve only had a team for four races.

The next race of the season is the Alton 10 and it has proved tough for the Bournemouth AC men to get a team together for that one with so many of the runners having only just done their Spring marathons. With Stu Bowers and Steve Ellerby signing up though it looks like they may now have a four, with Stu Nicholas and Patrick Kingston already on the entry list.

Every race will be crucial from now until the end of the season and points are at a premium. They must first ensure they have a team out and then secondly, make sure its as competitive as it can be to ensure a high placing. To go through back-to-back promotions and then win the top division of the Hampshire Road Race League would be a remarkable achievement for the yellow and blues and that fine victory at the Salisbury 10 has made it all the more possible.