Often providing some of the younger Bournemouth AC members with a chance to take centre stage, the Supernova 5k was the first of the big races at this year’s Run Bournemouth event.

Finley Hurst Atkins and Aiden Blagden were among those featuring in yellow and blue and Emily Coltman, Laras McKenna, Ellie Taylor and Jessica Long were all competing as well in a very strong female line up.

Tasting success in previous editions, Finley Hurst Atkins had won the Junior 2k race at Run Bournemouth the past two years. At the age of 13, it was time for him to step up to the Supernova 5k at this year’s event. That meant he’d be facing athletes of all ages, as anyone can enter the Supernova 5k.

Finishing 26th in last year’s Supernova 5k in a time of 20:04, Aiden Blagden had been progressing really well over the course of the year and had got his parkrun time down to 18:23.

Finishing second to Isabel Cherrett in a Bournemouth AC one-two at last year’s Supernova 5k, Ellie Taylor was looking to go one better this time round. Her time then was 19:51.

Taking fourth female spot at last year’s Supernova 5k, Laras McKenna clocked a time of 20:39 on that occasion. She’d won the 14 to 17 category at the Upton Summer Series for the second year running.

In a race that the Bournemouth AC girls dominated, Jessica Long came fifth in last year’s Supernova 5k in a time of 21:02.

The Supernova 5k takes place in the evening, after nightfall so athletes are encouraged to wear head torches and coloured lights. It creates quite a spectacle seeing the mass of lights moving along the promenade once the race begins.

Starting with a 5:37 for his first mile split, Finley Hurst Atkins was leading the charge from a Bournemouth AC perspective, with Aiden Blagden not far behind. The route was from the east side of Bournemouth Pier, over to Boscombe Pier, round the turning point and back to Bournemouth Pier.

It’s then an out and back of the pier before heading to the finish. It was a strong run from Finley and he kept his pace going well, posting a 5:49 for his second mile and a 5:48 for his third.

Crossing the line in a time of 17:58, Finley finished 13th in the overall standings. The course came up slightly long, otherwise he may well have got a 5k PB as Strava had him down as 17:42. It was a promising performance from Finley though and showed that he’d moving in the right direction.

Aiden had an excellent run as well, recording a PB of 18:18 and he was next over the line after Finley so finished 14th. That was a five second improvement on his best parkrun time.

Imogen Beisley of Poole AC was the first female over the line but because a lot of the girls started a bit further back, it transpired that Ellie Taylor had actually recorded the quickest time, registering a 19:36 on chip. That was a superb run from Ellie and put her 32nd in the overall standings. Imogen’s chip time was 19:41, so technically Ellie was the fastest, although she may not have been given the official win.

Taking third female spot, Laras McKenna recording exactly the same chip time as she did in last year’s race, getting round in 20:39. That was 20 seconds off the time she produced at the Boscombe Seafront 5k the previous month where she finished second Under 20 Female. Since the course was slightly longer though, it was probably just as quick. She was 49th overall.

Jessica Long was fifth female again in 21:23, as she was last year, and Emily Coltman had a good run to come in as sixth female despite a lack of any speed training. She recorded a time of 21:38 which was a minute faster than she ran in last year’s event but not quite as quick as her 2023 time when she was in her top form.

Emily took 65th place overall with her dad, Jason, almost managing to keep up with her. He was 66th in 21:43 and was second in the 50M category.

Clocking his fastest 5k time yet, Edan Mulvey, who is still under 13 finished in exactly 20 minutes. That put him in 39th place in overall standings.

Completing the course in a time of 21:50, Neil Smith was 70th overall and 6th in the 35M category. That was almost a minute slower than the time he managed at the Boscombe Seafront 5k the previous month. Although he tried to push hard, his lungs just didn’t seem to want to cooperate.

Back in June Neil proved that he has what it takes to record a sub 20 5k though, registering a 19:57 at Poole parkrun. That was very close to the PB he set at Dulwich parkrun in 2016.

Recording a time of 23:23, Jacob Taylor took 113th place in the standings. That wasn’t in any way reflective of Jacob’s performances this year though. He’d managed to get his parkrun PB down to 17:34, showing that he possesses some serious speed on his day. He’s still only 15 as well so there will be plenty of room for further progression.

Julius Angwenyi finished 169th in a time of 25:05 and that put him 8th in the 45M category. Clark Bury who’s only 11 registered a time of 25:18, which out him in 178th place in the overall standings.

Improving on his time from last year by a minute, Thomas Taylor got round in 26:02 which put him in 209th place in the overall standings. He’s 13 years old and is primarily a hurdler and a long jumper. Crossing the line in 28:46, Under 11 girl Charlotte Taylor came 315th overall and was 44th in the U35F category.

Beating his time from last year by 6 minutes and 19 seconds, Oliver Jennings took 334th place overall in a time of 29:23. He’s 13 years of age and specialises in long jump, shot putt and javelin.

The last man listed under Bournemouth AC was Colin Fry and he finished 2nd in the 80M category in a time of 37:33 which put him 718th overall.

The Junior 2k race took place on the same day but earlier in the afternoon when there was still some daylight. Imogen Beisley of Poole AC was first female on both gun and chip time in this one. She got round in 7 minutes 18 seconds which was fifth fastest of anyone. She of course went on to sort of win the Supernova 5k even though she wasn’t as fast as Ellie Taylor on chip time.

Bournemouth AC girl Allegra Ramirez was second female and 8th overall in 7:22 and at 11 years of age, she could well be one to watch.

Winning the 1.5k race back in 2022, Edward Davies was competing in the 2k race for the third consecutive year. He set his fastest time yet, crossing the line in 7:20 which put him in 6th place. His best parkrun time so far is 19:24 at 11 years of age.

Running it way quicker than he did last year, Joshua Wells crossed the line in 7:32, showing he’d progressing well at the age of 11. He finished 9th. Edan Mulvey finished 10th in 7:33 before going on to complete the 5k in 20 minutes later that evening. Perhaps the 2k race was his warm up.

It was Arthur Turner‘s third consecutive year in the 2k race and he clocked his fastest time yet by 38 seconds, going over the line in 7:47. That put him in 18th place.

Beau Crump was 8th fastest female in 8:39 and she was 43rd overall. Imogen Davies was 10th female in 8:54 which put her 54th overall.

Improving on her time from last year massively, Elizabeth Kuczera was 20th female and 88th overall in 9:44. That was 1 minute 28 seconds quicker than her previous effort.

Brooklyn Bichage was the final Bournemouth AC member over the line in a time of 11:17 which put him in 163rd place overall.

The Bournemouth AC girls dominated the Junior 1.5k race, with three of them finishing in the top four. Hanalei Whittam was first female in 6:17, which put her 7th overall. Caitlin Turner was third female and 17th overall in 6:40 and Arden Ramirez was fourth female and 22nd overall in 6:46.

Only Cece Odlin of Reading AC could deny them a clean sweep as she finished 2nd female and 8th overall, just a second behind Hanalei.

Jesse Mulvey finished fourth overall in a time of 6:11, with the winner, Francis Khoury clocking time of 5:51. Jasper Walker was second in 6:03, with Dominic Drew-Hill taking third in 6:05.

It was good to see so many young Bournemouth AC members doing well at the Run Bournemouth event and under the stewardship of the BAC coaches from the junior development divisions, they should continue to thrive.