With just three races of the season remaining, the Dorset Road Race League was moving into a critical phase. After wins at the Stur Half and Boscombe 5k, the Bournemouth AC men had managed to lift themselves off the foot of the table. That was despite only managing third place at the Round the Lakes 10k, with relegation rivals Poole Runners taking second.

Ideally they needed three good results from the last three races though, as did the Bournemouth AC ladies team who were still rooted to the bottom of the table despite winning the Boscombe 5k and taking second place at Round the Lakes.

Unfortunately for them, the next race of the season was one they never really seem to get a team out for. It was the Weymouth 10, which is a rather long way to travel. Only Debbie Lennon made the journey in last year’s race and the year before that, it was only Debbie and Patrick Kingston.

This time round, it was only Patrick and Emma Biggs who had signed up for it. There still didn’t seem to be much enthusiasm for it, even when First Division survival was at stake.

Poole AC’s dominant win at the Round the Lakes 10k had given them the edge in a title race between them and Egdon Heath Harriers that looks like it could go down to the wire. It tends to be quite territorial between the two clubs as well, with Egdon Heath Harriers generally surrendering the races that are in the Poole or Bournemouth area but targeting the races that are over the western side of the county.

The cancellation of the Round the Rock 10k in Portland and the Puddletown Plod Half Marathon hadn’t helped their cause but in the Weymouth 10, Egdon Heath Harriers knew they had a virtual banker for minimum points.

They had most of their big guns out, including Christopher Peck, Jon Churchill and Jonathan Cooper. With quality like that in their ranks, they were going to be very hard to beat.

Lewis Clarke was in action as well for Poole Runners and he’s a contender to win any local race he’s in. Salah Dahir or Royal Manor of Portland was also likely to be up there.

Wimborne AC pair Louis Verdi and Mark Savage were also competing and Twemlow Track Club had the Jackson brothers, Sam and Luke, and Haydan Clarke.

Emma Mogridge of Dorset Doddlers topped the standings in the women’s individual table for the Dorset Road Race League and she was looking for another good result that could bring her closer to achieving that goal.

Former Bournemouth AC member Gemma Bragg was also a contender for that accolade though and she was also featuring at the Weymouth 10, as were Teresa Green of Egdon Heath Harriers and Vicky Rutter of Littledown Harriers.

Conditions were atrocious on the day of the race, with the rain lashing down and a strong wind that made it tough going on the way back to the Pavilion end of Weymouth Esplanade.

The route was along the prom for the first two miles before entering into a double loop around Bowleaze, incorporating a couple of climbs of the gruelling Bowleaze Hill, before heading back along the seafront in the opposite direction.

Because of the strength of the wind and the direction, the first two miles of the race were the easiest. Patrick Kingston started off with a 6:14 for his first mile and then a 6:23 for his second. The third mile took him onto the Bowleaze loop and included the dreaded Bowleaze Hill climb. You then get to come down the hill afterwards though so there’s a bit of room for recovery there.

Usually quite strong on hills off the back of all his mountain ultra training, Patrick got through the third mile in 7:03. His last big event abroad was the TOR130 Tot Dret which is one of the toughest races in Europe. In that one, he ran 58 miles and accrued almost 25,000ft of elevation.

He also ran La Moins’Hard in Chamonix which was 70km with 5,600m of elevation and earlier in the year he completed the Ultra Trail Vipava Valley in Slovenia which was 110km in distance with 4,800m of ascent. Compared to the climbs he would have encountered in those races, the Bowleaze Hill would have been a mere bump in the road.

The fourth mile contained another small hill but Patrick was able to negotiate that one and get through the mile in 6:52. The next mile was all slightly downhill, enabling Patrick to up the pace and put in a 6:32 before then beginning the loop for the second time.

That time Patrick found it a bit tougher and it slowed him down more, putting him back to 7:20 for that mile. He then managed the next mile in 6:52, which was the same as he did the previous time for that section. Then it was the slight downhill section again which he got through in 6:31.

The last two miles were against the wind which made it a much tougher grind than on the way out. Patrick got through them in 6:54 and then 6:48, putting his finishing time of 1 hour 7 minutes and 24 seconds.

That was enough to earn him 31st position in the overall standings and he was 9th in the m40 category. That was slightly quicker than the time he clocked at the Alton 10 earlier in the year. It wasn’t as quick as his Weymouth 10 time from 2023 though. That time he got round in 1:04:18, although the conditions were much better then so it isn’t a fair comparison.

Starting right at the back of the field with the tail runners, Emma Biggs gradually worked her way up the field, finishing 226th in the end in a chip time of 1:49:36. That made her 87th female. There were 259 runners in total completing the race that day and 112 of them were female.

It was probably a good strategy for Emma to start slowly and build her way into it, even though the first two miles were less challenging than the last two. She hadn’t done anything over a quarter marathon since 2023 so it was a longer distance race than she was used to. She tackled it well though and got a good result out of it in the end so that should help boost her confidence a bit.

Unsurprisingly, it was Christopher Peck who picked up the race win in a time of 56:34. It wasn’t quite as quick a time as he’d done in the two previous years. In fact, it was a couple of minutes slower but the worser conditions were probably the reason for that. He had still managed to get under six minutes for every mile and came away with an average pace of 5:38.

Chris’s Egdon Heath Harriers teammate Jon Churchill wasn’t far behind, reaching the line in 56:52 and he was quite a way ahead of anyone else in the field.

Salah Dahir and Lewis Clarke were having a good battle for third place and in the end it was Salah who got it, by three seconds. His time was 57:42, with Lewis registering a chip time of 57:46.

Jonathan Cooper made it three Egdon Heath Harriers in the top five when he got over the line in 59:09, with Shaun Dixon of South West Vets taking 6th place in 59:27. He wasn’t a scorer for the league but Steve Kellaway was and he made it four Egdon Heath Harriers in the first six scorers, taking 7th place in 1:00:05.

Wimborne AC man Mark Savage came in shortly after to take 8th place in 1:00:09 before Jamie Barrington sealed a very comprehensive race win for Egdon Heath Harriers. He took 9th place in 1:00:38. It was a really impressive show of dominance from the reds who took full advantage of being in their home surroundings.

Completing the top ten, Louis Verdi got over the line in 1:00:59. Edward Rees of Dorset Doddlers was 12th in a time of 1:02:05, with Haydan Clarke taking 13th in 1:02:08.

Luke Jackson had another good run to take 14th place in 1:02:16 and Poole Runners did pretty well with Andrew Smith, Tom Andrews and Iain Ferguson finishing 15th, 16th and 17th, which was worrying for Bournemouth AC. They were in a battle for survival with Poole Runners and that second place finish was enough to lift them back above Bournemouth AC in the men’s first division standings.

It was Mark Peddle who sealed second place for Poole Runners, finishing 24th in 1:04:58. John Bassinder of Poole Ac was first M50 in 1:03:46 which put him just ahead of Patrick Dunn of Egdon Heath Harriers who came 20th in 1:03:57.

Sam Jackson was 22nd, Richard Swindlehurst 23rd and Dave Hicks 26th and that was enough to seal third place for Twemlow Track Club and that should help them stay above water and stave off the threat of getting sucked into the relegation battle.

Ella Allford of Egdon Heath Harriers was first female and 32nd overall in a time of 1:07:30 and she was the first person to cross the line after Patrick Kingston.

Louise Mills of Woking AC took second place in 1:08:06, although she wasn’t a scorer for the league. Gemma Bragg managed to finish ahead of Emma Mogridge by 13 seconds, with Gemma recording a time of 1:08:25. They were 39th and 40th overall.

Emma Mogridge was still favourite for the ladies individual title since Katie Gunn can’t make it to the Boscombe 10k which she would need to get seven races on the card. Gemma was still in with a shout though going into those last two fixtures.

Melissa Holmes was 5th female in 1:08:53, which put her in 41st place and Teresa Green of Egdon Heath Harriers was 6th lady and first f40 in 1:09:24. That put her 44th overall. Vicky Rutter was 7th female in a time of 1:11:40 which put her 53rd overall.

Egdon Heath Harriers got the win in the ladies first division at the Weymouth 10, with Poole Runners having to settle for second on this occasion. They’d already won the title though so from that perspective, it didn’t really matter.

It was a ninth win of the season for Wimborne AC who had been incredibly dominant in the men’s second division. Littledown Harriers took second place and that’s where they will end up for the season so they’ll have to face another year in the second division.

Wimborne AC also won in the women’s second division with Westbourne finishing second. The scores are very close between them and Dorchester RIOT though so it’s going to go down to the wire in the battle for promotion between those two clubs.

Royal Manor of Portland got the best score out of the men’s third division clubs, ahead of Dorchester RIOT and Weymouth St Paul’s Harriers. Lytchett Manor Striders have already done enough to seal top spot though and promotion to the second division.

It was really close in the women’s third division but Verwood Runners came out on top at the Weymouth 10, with Weymouth St Paul’s Harriers in second and Royal Manor of Portland third.

That was enough to seal the third division championship for Verwood Runners and they will be promoted to the second tier. Who they’ll be replacing still hangs in the balance though and it’s between Dorset Doddlers and Westbourne, who are currently neck and neck.

In men’s individual standings, the win brought Chris Peck a step closer to being crowned champion again. He just needs one more race now out of the last two to seal it. If Lewis Clarke does one more race, he’ll probably go above Thomas Corbin and Josh Cole in the standings and take the runner up spot.

The Weymouth 10 win lifted Egdon Heath Harriers back to the top of the men’s first division with Poole AC only managing fourth. It was really tight between the two of them though and will all hinge on the results of the last two races. Poole AC will expect to come out on top at the Boscombe 10k so the Wimborne 10 could well be the title decider.

If they could win the last two races, the Bournemouth AC men would still get out of trouble and they’d probably have a chance of surviving, even with one win. All is not lost yet for them if they can pull together and dig out the results they are more than capable of.

Without a team out at the Wimborne 10, the Bournemouth AC ladies look in grave danger of relegation. Bizarrely, they could still survive with a win at the Boscombe 10k in the last race of the season, but sadly it looks a very tall order.