It had been a bit of a damp squib of a season in the Dorset Road Race League for Bournemouth AC with both the men and women struggling to get off the bottom of their respective first divisions.

The challenge of needing five male scorers and four females had been one they hadn’t really had the strength in numbers to be able to rise to. Hence, they’d failed to field a full strength scoring team at a lot of the events.

Wins at the Stur Half and the Boscombe Seafront 5k had given the Bournemouth AC men a chance of survival. In fact, it had even given them an outside chance of winning he league. Failing to get a team out at the Weymouth 10 and the Wimborne 10 though had killed any hopes they had of climbing away from the drop zone.

The Bournemouth AC ladies also won at the Boscombe Seafront 5k, benefiting from home advantage. That was their second win of the season, after previously topping the standings at the May 5. They too had failed to field a team for the Weymouth 10 and the Wimborne 10.

Even though they would have only had a team out for six of the twelve races, the Bournemouth AC men still had a chance to survive relegation, if they were to finish first, second or third at the Boscombe 10k and finish ahead of Poole Runners as well.

That seemed achievable in a race that was essentially a home fixture for them, with Kings Park being the race HQ and the road route being one a lot of the runners were quite familiar with.

It would only be the fourth time the Bournemouth AC ladies had had a team out this season but incredibly, they could still survive the drop as well. They needed to win at the Boscombe 10k though and hope that Poole AC didn’t finish second. That was a tougher task as it wasn’t completely in their hands, even if they were able to come out on top.

Elsewhere it was in the ladies’ second division where the drama would be taking place. Dorchester RIOT could wrestle promotion away from Wimborne AC if they won the Boscombe 10k. Any other result would see Wimborne moving up to division one.

The relegation place still hadn’t been fully decided either and it was really a straight shootout between Dorset Doddlers and Westbourne to confirm who would be falling through the trapdoor and into the third division.

As predicted for a race in their own backyard, Bournemouth AC had a pretty strong men’s team out, including Stu Nicholas, Luke De-Benedictis, Matt Brown and Rich Brawn. They also had a welcome return from injury for Alex Knauf.

Alex had been in red hot form before he got injured, finishing 6th in the Totton 10k with a time of 34:05 and securing a parkrun PB of 15:51. He’d been training so hard though that there was always a risk of injury and unfortunately for him, it happened.

He hadn’t raced since the Boscombe Seafront 5k back in September so the Boscombe 10k was his comeback event. That would enable him to see where his fitness and speed was after the time out.

Coming off the back of a second consecutive Purbeck Trail Series victory, Stu Nicholas was at the top of his game. He’d been training for the Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon though which meant he’d had to fit his races around long runs at the weekend. In fact, he’d done a 17 mile run after parkrun the day before the Boscombe 10k so his legs weren’t going to be fresh by any means.

That was all part of the challenge though and that would make it into a strong marathon training run, trying to go fast with fatigue in the legs.

In the midst of his training block for the Valencia Marathon, Matt Brown was running it as part of a 20 mile training run so he’d done 12.5 miles at a fairly fast pace before the race even started.

It hadn’t been a vintage season for Rich Brawn by any stretch and he’d seen his form dip significantly. He was still able to produce a reasonable 10k time and had gone under 37 minutes and the Totton 10k and completed the Round the Lakes 10k in 36:38.

The ladies had Amelia Lawrence, Vic Chapman, Helen Beddoe and Sophie Read. Since she isn’t a first claim member though, Amelia couldn’t count in the league scoring. Sophie didn’t really want to race it properly either and had planned do it as part of a longer training run with a few miles before and a few after.

They did have Julia Austin, Max Yao and Emma Biggs doing it though so still had scope for a reasonably good team of four.

Although they had already sealed the Men’s First Division title, Poole AC still had a strong team out, with Jamie Grose, Thomas Corbin, Benjamin Gibbons, Callum Wadlow and Adam Colbert.

Men’s individual champion for the second year running, Chistopher Peck was in action for Egdon Heath Harriers. They’d had to settle for a runner up spot in the Men’s First Division in the end but it had been an enthralling battle between them and Poole AC up until the penultimate fixture of the Wimborne 10.

Lewis Clarke of Poole Runners had a chance to move into third place in the men’s individual table as it was his seventh race of the season. The meant he would knock Bournemouth AC member Josh Cole out of the top three and also deny him the category win in the 35-39 age group.

Rich White of Dorset Doddlers was also racing and he was 5th in the men’s individual table and Royal Manor of Portland star Salah Dahir was also competing. He’d finished third at the Weymouth 10 and had proved to be pretty useful in all the races he’d done.

The course for the Boscombe 10k starts on the track at Kings Park, heading through the field and down Kings Park Drive and out onto Christchurch Road. It then goes onto Harewood Avenue and over in the direction of Littledown.

Then, after crossing the road via the underpass, it then follows the perimeter of Queens Park Golf Course, including up the long hill on Queens Park West Drive at 3.3 miles. It then goes back through the underpass and heads back toward Kings Park, heading through the field and finishing with three quarters of a lap around the track.

Suffering from food poisoning in the week leading up to the Boscombe 10k, it wasn’t exactly idea preparation for Alex Knauf. He started off at just under 5:40 pace and sustained that for the first three miles.

The fourth mile is the one with the Queens Park West Drive hill but that didn’t really seem to slow Alex down too much. He still came away with a 5:45 split for that mile before getting back on 5:40 pace for his fifth mile. He then upped it to 5:25 pace for on his last mile, showing tremendous strength.

The amounted to a finishing time of 34:39 which put him in 9th place of 574 participants. It was really great to have Alex back in the fold and he will be a massive help in races going forward if he can steer clear of injury and illness. His average pace for the run was 5:37 per mile.

Only really intending to up it to marathon pace, Matt Brown didn’t quite have a discipline to follow the tariff and went rogue. He was going at around 5:40 pace and in the end ran a very good time of 34:43 which pretty much equalled his time from the Winchester 10k earlier in the year.

That put him in 11th place and he’d come away with an average pace of 6:31 for his entire 20 mile run. That was a great training exercise for Matt and the signs were positive for the Valencia Marathon.

Luke De-Benedictis started fast, with a 5:18 for his first mile which he then followed up with a 5:35 and a 5:32. He then of course had to fact the mile with the Queens Park West Drive hill in which put him back to 6:01. He then produced a 5:54 for his fifth mile before getting back on pace with a 5:37 for his last mile.

That got him to the line in 34:55 which put him in 14th place. That was actually a 10k PB for Luke, bettering his time from Round the Lakes in 2023 by four seconds. Luke’s another one who is bound to be a huge asset to the club in races whenever he turns out.

It was going to be interesting to see how Stu Nicholas fared after his parkrun first place and long run the previous day. He started off with a 5:17 before following it up with a 5:37 and then a 5:50 for his third mile.

He then had to face the hill on the fourth mile and that put him down to 6:12. He then went through his next mile in 6:06 before registering a 5:46 for his sixth mile.

That put him time at 35:29 which was enough to give him 19th place. It would have been good training as well for Stu running it on tired legs. His average pace for the run was 5:47 and he’d actually ran 19 seconds quicker than he did last year.

That was four men in for Bournemouth AC so they only needed one more to complete the scoring team. That meant it would be down to Rich Brawn to get the job done.

It wasn’t a surprise that Jamie Grose was the fastest man in the field, clocking a time of 32:42. That was an average pace of 5:20 per mile. That put him 17 seconds ahead of his Poole AC teammate Tommy Corbin who was runner up.

That meant Jamie and Tommy had been first and second scorers in both the last two races. Chris Peck took third place in 33:25, with Lewis Clarke taking fourth in 33:29.

Rupert Allison of Twemlow Track Club was 5th in 33:41 and Benjamin Gibbons was Poole AC’s third scorer in 34:15 and Callum Wadlow was 7th in 34:18, meaning Poole AC only needed one more man in to win the fixture.

Salah Dahir was 8th in 34:33 and Rich White crossed the line in between Alex Knauf and Matt Brown, taking 10th place in 34:41. He was second placed vet after Chris Peck.

Casper Jakobsen finished 12th in 34:45, with Littledown Harriers man Sam Shawyer taking 13th in 34:45. Steve Kellaway of Egdon Heath Harriers came 15th in 34:57 and he was 10th in the men’s individual standingds. Jack Murphy completed the scoring team for Poole AC, taking 16th place in 35:02.

That was a sixth race win of the season for Poole AC and rounded off a superb season for them in the best way possible. Louis Verdi of Wimborne AC was 17th in 35:14 and he’d finished 7th in the men’s individual standings for the season, just behind his teammate Mark Savage.

Lee Dempster of Twemlow Track Club was 18th in 35:17 and he’d finished 11th in the men’s individual standings for the season. Nick Reynolds of Twemlow Track Club came 20th in 35:33, with Adam Colbert finishing 21st in 35:34. He’d finished 9th in the men’s individual table.

Starting off with a 5:48 for his first mile, Rich Brawn then went on to clock a 6:07 for his second mile and then a 5:59 for his third. He’d looked at his splits from previous years so he knew roughly what he was aiming for and that was in the right ballpark.

He was feeling strong and as he worked his way up the hill on Queens Park West Drive, he found himself extending away from the pack he was running with, which included V60 superstar Julian Critchlow. He knew he had to keep on the throttle for the rest of the race once he got to the top.

Managing a 6:17 for his fourth mile, he’d gone quicker up the hill than he had in his previous Boscombe 10k runs which was a pleasing sign. He then followed it up with a 6:12 before getting back to 6:02 pace on his sixth mile.

Getting over the finish line in 37:16, Rich had produced a very similar time to what he did in his last appearance at the Boscombe 10k in 2022. That put him in 35th place. That put the Bournemouth AC men in second place for the fixture, just ahead of Twemlow Track Club.

That was enough to secure their First Division status and sent Poole Runners down to the second tier. It was a miraculous escape for the yellow and blues and that was definitely an outcome worth celebrating.

Unbeknown to Rich, Amelia Lawrence had been catching him up in the second half of the race. She’d started off with a 5:57 before registering a 6:09 and a 6:03. Even though the fourth mile had the hill in it, it didn’t seem to slow Amelia down much at all and she powered up it, completing the mile in 6:05.

She then continued with another 6:05 on her fifth mile and then a 5:57 for her sixth mile. It was a really strong second half of the race from Amelia and she had paced it extraordinarily well.

Crossing the line in 37:21, she’d taken 38th place in the overall standings and was first female. It was such a shame for Bournemouth AC that she didn’t count for the league scoring.

Julian Critchlow was first over 60 man over the line, clocking a time of 37:32 which put him in 41st place. He won the 65-69 age group for the Dorset Road Race League this season.

Former Bournemouth AC legend Pete Thompson made a surprise appearance, registering a time of 37:38, which put him in 43rd place.

Vic Chapman was second placed female in 39:11 but she was actually first scorer for the league. That was a brilliant run from Vic and it was definitely a plus point to have her back in the fold again after her injury woes. She’d come in 55th overall.

Rachael Haddow of Poole AC was third female in a time of 39:54 which put her 64th overall. Profiting from Katie Gunn’s absence, Emma Mogridge had already won the women’s individual trophy and she was fourth female and 74th overall in 40:21.

It was a frustrating outing for Chris O’Brien as he wasn’t quite able to hit the speeds that he would have wanted. Registering a time of 40:28, he came in in 75th place and 8th out of 74 in the 50-59 category.

It was 2 minutes 24 seconds faster than he did the Totton 10k in at the end of August and about a minute-and-a-half quicker than his last Boscombe 10k attempt in 2022. It wasn’t time that he was expecting though and he was massively disappointed afterwards.

Fighting his way back from long covid though, there were bound to be some bumps along the road but hopefully he’ll realise that he just needs to stick at it and his level of performance will be raised.

Abbie Hine of Wimborne AC was fifth female in 40:45 and that put her 78th in the overall standings.

The ultimate goal for Nathan Mearns was probably a sub 40 minute time. He’d clocked a 40:38 at the Lordshill 10k back in July so he wasn’t too far away.

Starting with a 5:56 for his first mile, he then followed it up with a 6:35 and then a 6:46. The fourth mile was of course the one with the hill and that put him back to 7 minutes. He then went on to register  7:08 for his fifth mile and then a 6:44 for his sixth.

That culminated in a finishing time of 40:53, so not quite a PB and not quite the sub 40 he was wanting. It’ll come soon though if he keeps working hard and training well. He came 81st overall and his average pace was 6:40 per mile.

The next member of the Bournemouth AC fraternity to cross the line was Patrick Kingston. He’d hurt his achilleas the previous weekend at the Gosport Half Marathon and probably shouldn’t really have ran at the Boscombe 10k. He didn’t want to miss out on all the fun though and still managed to get round in 40:59 which put him in 83rd place.

He’d clocked a 38:42 at the Round the Lakes 10k in September so probably would have expected to be a bit closer to that sort of time if he hadn’t had the injury. Instead, he had to play it cautiously. He was 32nd out of 92 in the Male Vet 40-49 category.

Opening with a 6:24 for his first mile, Tom Sclanders went on to clock a 6:37 and a 6:36 for his second and third miles. Facing the Queens Park West Drive incline on the fourth mile, he registered a 7:10 before posting a 7:02 for his fifth mile.

Finishing strongly, with a 6:33 paced final mile, Tom went over the line in 41:07 which put him in 87th place. He was 34th in the Male Vet 40 category. He was quite pleased with that time, since he’d done Bournemouth parkrun in 21 minutes the weekend before.

Teresa Green of Egdon Heath Harriers was 6th female in a time of 41:23, which put her 90th overall and she was first in the Female Vet 45 category. She’d taken second place in the women’s individual standings for the Dorset Road Race League season.

Vicky Rutter of Littledown Harriers was 7th female and 94th overall in a time of 41:33. That put her 94th overall and second in the Female Vet 35 category. She finished third in the women’s individual standings for the Dorset Road Race League.

It was a first ever 10k race for Callum Pearson and he ran pretty well for the first four miles. He had a really bad stitch though and slowed down a lot in the last couple of miles. He went on to complete the course in 43:17 which put him in 116th place overall.

Jenny Walker-Leach of Poole Runners was 10th female in a time of 43:18 and that put her 118th overall. She was third out of 60 in the Female Vet 45 category. She’d finished fourth in the women’s individual standings for the season in the Dorset Road Race League.

Sophie Swift of Wimborne AC was 11th placed female and 123rd overall in a time of 43:49. She finished 7th in the women’s individual standings in the Dorset League for the season.

Hamish Murray of Purbeck Runners was first in the Male Vet 70 category in a time of 43:55. That put him 129th overall. He won the 70-74 category for league this season.

Helen Beddoe was second scorer for the Bournemouth AC ladies team and she was 12th female in a time of 44:13. That put her third in the Female Vet 35 category and 133rd overall. It wasn’t quite up there with her times from the Totton 10k and Round the Lakes but the Boscombe 10k is probably a harder course so it may have been a similar level performance.

Getting round in a time of 44:36, David Crowther finished 137th overall and was 47th in the Male Vet 40 category. He’d clocked a 44:01 at the Run Bournemouth Supersonic 10k in October so that time for a much more hilly course was probably a good result.

Karen Mitchell of Dorchester RIOT was 13th placed female and first in the Female Vet 55 standings in a time of 44:48. That put her 148th overall. She came 5th in the Dorset League women’s individual standings for the season.

Jason Coltman had a pretty good run to get round in a time of 44:50 which put him in 149th place in the overall standings. That was his best 10k time since Round the Lakes last year where he finished in 44:36.

The next Bournemouth AC member to finish was Neil Smith who crossed the finish line in 44:56 which put him in 153rd place overall. He ran a 21:50 in the Run Bournemouth Supernova 5k so that was probably about where he should be for a fairly tough 10k. His average pace for the run was 7:20 per mile.

Kirstin Hay of Poole AC was 15th female and 4th in the Female Vet 35 category. She was 159th in the overall standings. She’d finished 6th in the women’s individual table for the Dorset Road Race League.

Former Bournemouth AC member Heather Khoshnevis finished first in the Female Vet 65 category in a time of 46:36 and she was 26th female and 183rd overall. She won the 65-69 category for the league and was 10th female overall for the season.

Stu Nicholas’s wife Anna Trehane was 40th female and 13th in the Female Vet 35 category in a time of 48:54. She’d won the Female Under 40 category in the Purbeck Trail Series so it had been a good season for her as she’s much more used to her husband bringing home the trophies.

Bournemouth AC legend Billy Nixon was running it as well and completed the course in 48:24. That put him 218th overall and 28th in the Male Vet 50 category. Billy held the course record for the Boscombe 10k for many, many years, until last year when it was finally beaten.

Another former Bournemouth AC member, Debbie Lennon got round in a time of 48:39 which made her 38th female and 7th in the Female Vet 55. She was 220th overall and won the 60-64 category for the league season and came 15th female overall. Considering she’d had a pacemaker fitted, that was a great result for Debbie.

The goal for Max Yao was to finish in under 50 minutes and her teammate Sophie Read stepped in to help her achieve that goal. She made it her mission to pace all the way through and help her get that sub 50 time.

It worked really well and Max managed to reach the finish line in 49:53 which put her 249th overall and made her 50th female. She was also 17th in the Female Vet 35 category. It was a great run from Max and a superb show of teammate unity from Sophie to help her hit her target.

It was a decent 14 mile training run in the end from Sophie and a rewarding one at the same time. They were third and fourth scorers for the ladies team and that was enough to put them third of the First Division ladies teams.

Sadly it wasn’t enough to save the Bournemouth AC ladies team from relegation and they will drop down to the Second Division next season. Poole AC got the best score of the First Division teams at the Boscombe 10k, with Littledown Harriers taking second. Poole Runners had already won the First Division championship, winning six of their races.

The next Bournemouth AC member to arrive at the finish was Jud Kirk. He clocked a time of 50:12 which put him in 255th place overall and he was 26th in the Male Vet 60 category. He’d finished 5th the 65-69 standings for the season in the Dorset League.

Next in was Julia Austin and she finished 10th in the Female Vet 55 category and was 53rd female and 261st overall. Her time was 50:25, which wasn’t a bad outcome for Julia.

Tom Sclanders’ wife Emma finished 295th in a time of 52:19 and she was 68th female and 23rd in the Female Vet 35 category.

Coming away with her second fastest 10k time of the year, Emma Biggs had an excellent run to finish in 56:27 which put her 377th overall. She was also 107th female. That was after running the Bournemouth Coastal Ten 10k the previous day, which she completed in 58:12.

Another former Bournemouth AC member, Jayne Wade was competing as well and she got round in 1:15:20, which put her 561st overall. She was 238th female and 58th in the Female Vet 55 category.

The Boscombe 10k was also the designated race for the Dorset County Championships which meant Jamie Grose took the gold medal, Thomas Corbin got the silver and Chris Peck took the bronze. For the ladies, it was Rachael Haddow who got gold, Emma Mogridge got the silver and Abbie Hine took the bronze.

For the Masters, Chris Peck got the gold, Rich White the silver and Louis Verdi the bronze. Then for the ladies, Teresa Green got gold, Jenny Walker-Leach took silver and Helen Beddoe got the bronze. It was a great way to cap off a tremendous season for Helen.

Littledown Harriers got their second win of the season in the Men’s Second Division, with Wimborne AC only managing second place for a change. They’d won 10 of the 12 races this season and will be promoted to the top flight next season. Purbeck Runners were relegated to the Third Division.

Wimborne AC were victorious in out of the Ladies Second Division teams for the fifth time this season and they will be take Bournemouth AC’s place in the top tier. Dorchester RIOT only managed third in the end so they will have to spend another season in the second tier.

Dorset Doddlers finished second in the Ladies Second Division at the Boscombe 10k and that ensured their survival, condemning Westbourne to relegation. They will be in Third Division next season now.

Lytchett Manor Striders won their seventh race of the season at the Boscombe 10k and they were promoted to the Second Division after a dominant campaign.

Lytchett Manor Striders also got the best score in the Ladies Third Division at the Boscombe 10k, with their title rivals Verwood Runners finishing second. That meant they both had the same record of six first places and one second place from their best seven. Looking beyond that, Verwood Runners had had more second place finishes so they were the ones who got promoted because of that.

With so many runners out, it had been a great showing from the yellow and blues and they’d turned out in droves to represent the club on that final day. Sadly that hadn’t been the case for enough of the Dorset League races this season and they’d left themselves a mountain to climb to survive the drop.

The great escape that the men’s team managed was dramatic way to end the season and to have survived after not getting a team out in several of the races was quite an achievement. They will be hoping not to have to repeat that next season and will be out in force for the first race of next season, which is the Junction Broadstone Quarter Marathon on New Year’s Day.