There is something to be said for good, old school, no frills racing. The type where you just turn up, run the race, eat some cake and go home – and that’s exactly what you get at the Wimborne 10.

It’s not about the goody bag, or the medal, or the t-shirt. The focus is all on the running and that’s exactly how it should be. You just put your belongings on the ground sheet and hope it doesn’t rain. And it’s produced some fantastic races over the years.

In fact, in both 2019 and 2018, the Wimborne 10 was the race where Bournemouth AC sealed the Dorset Road Race League title. The 2019 edition was won by Chris Alborough of Poole AC who narrowly pipped Dom Willmore to the post. Jacek Cieluszecki was 4th that day for BAC in a time of 55:27.

In the 2018 race, the front four took it all the way to the end and that included Craig Palmer and Rob McTaggart. It was Iain Trickett who came out on top that day though, just managing to outsprint Chris Alborough. Toby Chapman and Jon Sharkey ran well that day as well to finish 6th and 7th.

Of course with no league points at stake the race was perhaps slightly less of a draw than it usually would be but there was still a pretty contingent of runners at the top end who could potentially challenge for the win.

That included Rob McTaggart, who won the race back in 2016 and was back on the start line looking to repeat those heroics. He was joined by 2019 winner Chris Alborough and the consistently quick Ben Renshaw.

The man who finished second to JC in the Stickler recently, Chris Peck of Egdon Heath Harriers was also in the line up and with his recent performances he’d proved he would be well capable of being in the shake up.

Also in the mix was BAC’s very own Mr Consistency in the shape of Anthony Clark. Being local to Wimborne, Ant has been an ever present in the Wimborne 10 since 2017 and every single year he’s been under 58 minutes.

He was also the third man in the field to have actually tasted victory in the race, which he did back in 2014 when he was representing Poole Runners. That year he clocked his fastest ever 10 mile time of 55:06.

There were also several other top quality Twemlow Track Club runners in the field including former BAC man Jez Bragg, Lee Dempster, Harry Lauste, Jack Galloway and Richard Swindlehurst.

Brian Underwood and Rob Doubleday were also in the line up as well making it a real star studded affair.

Alex Goulding and Sam Jackson have both been demonstrating fine form of late as well and they were also ready to hit the scenic country roads and get in and amongst it.

It was also a return to action for Adrian Townsend, a man who hasn’t been on the scene for quite some time. He’d had four races cancelled this year including the Snowdon Marathon so he was glad to finally actually make it to the start line.

The Bournemouth AC women’s division were also well represented in the event with seven of them taking part. Tamzin Petersen, Estelle Slatford, Heather Khoshnevis, Helen Ambrosen, Sam White, Katrina White and Debbie Lennon were all present and correct for the countryside canter.

Showing some signs of very decent form of late, Rob McTaggart was soon out in front and looking like he was going to be man to beat. Tag came into the race off the back of a good performance in the Reading Half Marathon where he’d recorded a time of 1:10:48.

Before that he clocked a time of 53:44 in the Great South Run, which is also over a 10 mile distance, and recorded a 1:11:49 at the Run Bournemouth Half Marathon, where he took 3rd place.

With Chris Peck and Ben Renshaw hot on heels though, Tag couldn’t afford to let up, although he never really looked back to check where the chasers were.

The Wimborne 10 route starts with downhill stretch and finishes with with an incline for the most part of the last mile. There is also a fairly tough hill on the fourth mile which kills the pace a bit.

Taking no prisoners, Tag recorded a 5:02 and the first mile and a 5:01 for the second mile, laying down a marker that really stretched all the other contenders in the field.

It was a good honest run from Tag from gun to tape and he had the strength and mindset to maintain a good level of performance throughout. Making the most of the downhill sections to inject some speed in, he nursed his way up the inclines and sure enough, was the first man to make it to the finish.

With a time of 53:34 and an average pace of 5:21, it was a very impressive display from Tag. In fact, it even bettered his time from the Great South Run by 10 seconds and that’s a much flatter, faster course.

It needed to be quick though for Tag as he only had a 13 second gap over Chris Peck who took 2nd place in 53:47. Then it was Ben Renshaw sealing 3rd place in 53:48.

Those three were well ahead of the rest of the field and another two minutes had ticked by before Chris Alborough arrived on the scene to take 4th place in 56:10.

Daniel Goodway had a very good day to arrive at the finish in 5th place with a time of 56:15, before Ant Clark emerged to seal 6th spot in a time of 56:24.

Since his tremendous time of 2:27:35 in the London Marathon, Ant had been taking it fairly easy so for him, it was just nice to get out and have a run with his buddies from the Twemlow training group.

Jez Bragg was only four seconds behind Ant and he took 7th place, just ahead of William Trew of Swindon Harriers who came in in 8th place to upset the Twemlow applecart.

Harry Lauste and Lee Dempster finished in 9th and 10th place, with both recording a time of 57:02 before Brian Underwood reached the line in 11th with a time of 57:24.

Having not been running as much as he usually does lately, Jack Galloway was pleased to come in in 12th place in a time of 57:55.

Next it was the 3rd BAC man to complete the course and that was Alex Goulding. He got round in an excellent time of 58:34, putting him in 13th place. Alex doesn’t usually like to go beyond 10k sort of distance in races so this was a stretch for him but he managed it well.

The next man over the line was Richard Swindlehurst who clocked a time of 58:40 to take 14th place, with Rob Doubleday coming in in 15th in a time of 58:44.

Also putting in a decent performance, Sam Jackson registered a time of 1:00:55 to finish in 22nd place. Sam found the hills and the wind quite tough to contend with, as it was rough at times, but he gave it his best shot and that was all he could do.

On a faster, flatter course though, he’d surely be in line for a sub 60 time and that’s what he really wants and is well capable of.

Sam’s brother Luke has also been training with the club on Tuesday nights and he ran pretty well to finish in a time of 1:08:19. That put him in 69th place overall.

After running so many marathons recently, Heather Khoshnevis was quite looking forward to getting back to some shorter distances. That was until she got going though. Then she suddenly remembered that much more effort was required to attain speed and there is no warming into it. You need to be on it from the get-go and never stop pushing until the end.

She was in great shape though having represented England in the Yorkshire Marathon the previous month and securing a gold medal for her age group in the BMAF competition. Then before that she’d run the London Marathon and the New Forest Marathon on consecutive weekends.

Crossing the line in a superb time of 1:13:57, Heather was 19th fastest female and easily won the Female 60-64 category.

Adrian Townsend was running with his best mate Chris Duley and successfully managed to guide him to a new personal best. They completed the course in 1:15:39, putting them in 112th and 113th places.

Not long after that, a famous face from days gone by, Laszlo Toth arrived at the finish, recording a time of 1:15:55. Laszlo doesn’t do anything like as much running as he used to so is not currently in his best shape fitness wise.

It was  a strange experience for Lazslo as his body wouldn’t allow him to speed up but whenever he slowed down it felt unnatural and he soon got bored. That situation should improve though when he gets some more running under his belt.

Having been doing plenty of hill training over recent months, Tamzin Petersen was pretty well equipped to tackle the lumps and bumps of the Wimborne 10 course.

In fact, she maintained her pace remarkably well on the hills and managed to secure a brilliant new PB of 1:16:08. That was two minutes quicker than her previous best 10 mile time of 1:18:18 which was also set at Wimborne in 2018. That put Tamzin in 26th place in the female standings.

Following in shortly after Tamzin and taking 1st place in the Female 55-59 age group and 29th female overall, it was Debbie Lennon. She clocked a time of 1:16:25.

Since she hadn’t been feeling well in the week leading up to the race, Debbie was quite happy to get the time she did and to seal the age category win. It was her first 10 mile for 30 years so she hopes it will be a benchmark that she can build from over the next few years.

The last hill has a real kick to it though and Debbie certainly felt that one with the 9 miles of running already in her legs. She pushed through it well though and gave a performance to be proud of in the end.

One young woman who has been improving a fair bit over recent times is Katrina White. She’d done particularly well in the Upton Summer Series races which were held at the country park in Poole.

In the first race of the series she recorded a time of 27:30 for the 3.5 mile distance and by the final race she’d got that down to 26:16. Katrina had also ran a 10 mile race already this year and that was the Lytchett 10 back in August.

She recorded a time of 1:23:57 so that was the benchmark for her to beat at the Wimborne 10. She absolutely smashed it though, crossing the line in a terrific time of 1:20:23. That was a 3-and-a-half minute improvement and put her in 40th place.

The Wimborne 10 is one of Helen Ambrosen‘s favourite races. Like Heather, she’d also been doing marathons over the last couple of months and had also completed the Yorkshire Marathon and the New Forest Marathon.

In the Yorkshire Marathon she finished 1st in her age category and won a gold medal in the BMAF championship so that was a fantastic result for her.

She’d also competed in the Lytchett 10 in August and had brought back a silver medal in the BMAF championship as that was also a designated race.

That had also given her a benchmark of 1:30:07 to top at Wimborne. Helen likes to do a parkrun the day before a race to give her an idea of what pace to run at and that’s something she always finds helpful.

Completing the course in a time of 1:24:02, Helen was 58th fastest female and was 2nd in the Female 65-69 category. Jane Neal of Poole AC took that crown finishing in a time of 1:22:16.

Helen was pleased to be up there with and in front of some ladies who she knows run strongly but she felt that she did lose it a bit on the last mile, getting overtaken by some who she had passed earlier on. Overall she was happy with the run though.

Arriving at the finish just ahead of Helen, Estelle Slatford completed the course in a time of 1:24:06, which put her just behind Helen on chip time.

Estelle had successfully negotiated the Run to the Sea 50K, the previous month where she’d certainly demonstrated good endurance and strength of character.

She felt pretty good throughout the Wimborne 10 race and was relatively pleased with her run although she does seem to be getting slightly slower each time she does it.

Managing to keep to a reasonably consistent pace throughout the run, Estelle managed to stay strong at the end despite the tough hill she had to face.

Registering a fantastic new PB of 1:30:13, Sam White crossed the line as 93rd placed female which she was over the moon about. Her previous best time of 1:31:15 had been set at the Lytchett 10 in 2017 so it was a long time coming.

An improvement of just over a minute though showed that she’s progressing and on the right track which is always a good thing for an athlete to know.

Molly Rasch was 1st female, finishing in a time of 1:04:42, just getting the better of the Diana Leggott of Lonely Goat who was 2nd in 1:04:57. Jenny Lee Marshall of Purbeck Runners was 3rd in 1:05:02.

The 4th fastest female was Caroline Stanzel Poole Runners, with former BAC girl Gemma Bragg, now running for Twemlow, taking 5th place in 1:08:35

After his win at Wimborne, Tag was set for action in the Telford 10k, which is a very fast race with an extremely high standard field. Meanwhile, Sam Jackson and Debbie Lennon will be taking to the start line in the Christmas 10k in Christchurch.

Heather, Sam White and Katrina were all in action in the Boscombe 10k where Katrina would square off against her dad and BAC teammate Ian White. The pair are now a very similar standard so it was going to be intriguing to see who would come out on top.