Recent wins at the Stur Half and the Boscombe Seafront 5k had offered the Bournemouth AC teams a glimmer of hope amidst the bleak outlook of potential relegation to the second tier of the Dorset Road Race League. Both the men’s and ladies teams had spent the season rooted to the bottom of their respective tables until the win at the Boscombe 5k finally lifted the men up to fourth.

If they could get another good result at the Round the Lakes 10k, it would be starting to look a lot more rosy for the yellow and blues. In fact, in a five team division, with three races left to go and a best 7 out of 12 format, the men could even have an outside chance of winning the league. That’s how fine the margins are.

First thing’s first though, they needed to deliver at Round the Lakes and being located in Poole Park and organised by Poole AC, they were always likely to be favourites to come out on top.

Having devoted quite a lot of focus to the SEAA Road Relays the weekend before, Bournemouth AC didn’t have some of their top men available, including Josh Cole and Rob McTaggart. They did have Stu Nicholas, James Hulbert and Louis Suggett in the ranks though.

After an excellent run at the Road Relays, Jack Barwick was back in action again, as were Rich Brawn and Nicolay Rusnachenko. The four ladies representing the club at Round the Lakes were Isabel Cherrett, Katie Gunn, Emma Biggs and Helen Beddoe.

Isabel was first female at the Boscombe Seafront 5k and Katie was second so on that basis, the prospects for the Bournemouth AC ladies looked good at Round the Lakes.

Improving well throughout the course of the year, Helen Beddoe had come from being close to 50 minutes for 10k to a 43:29 at the Totton 10k, so that was a huge upturn. She’d got her 5k time down to 21:06 at the Boscombe Seafront 5k as well, so she was really hitting a purple patch.

Emma Biggs had done a few 10ks in London recently, with the first one being at Regent’s Park which she completed in 1:02:55. She then went on to do one at Hyde Park which she completed in 1:00:39 and then one at Greenwich Park where she recorded a time of 1:02:32. In her best form though, she would be more around the 50 minute mark than the 60.

Poole AC had a formidable looking line up out, with Jamie Grose, Dom Willmore, Thomas Corbin and Fred Harris in their arsenal. Jamie Grose won the April edition of the Round the Lakes 10k in 31:36 so he would have been hoping for a repeat of that in the September version.

Poole Runners pair Lewis Clarke and Rob Arkell were also in action, as were Wimborne AC duo Louis Verdi and Mark Savage and Dorset Doddlers star Rich White.

It often tends to be quite windy when the Round the Lakes 10k is on but on this particular day it was quite calm. That would help the athletes massively to keep the pace high on what was fundamentally a very fast, flat course.

It started to rain a bit before the race was due to start though and it wasn’t really forecast to do so so that caught a lot of the participants unaware.

It didn’t seem to bother Stu Nicholas much though and he was the closest to the front of all the Bournemouth AC runners. Opening with a 5:22 for his first mile, he then followed it up with a 5:32 and then a 5:27.

Staying strong for the second half of the race, all the rest of Stu’s splits were around 5:30 pace or just over, leaving him with just a quarter of a mile remaining.

The course started from the fountain and headed down to the cycle track round the cricket pavilion first before then heading over to the lake for a lap round the lake. Then it was two more laps of that but on the last lap, it finished just in front of the clubhouse on the cricket pavilion.

Upping the pace to 5:04 for the final lap around the cycle track, Stu crossed the line in 34:15 which put him in 9th place in the overall standings. That was a couple of seconds quicker than Stu ran at the Lordshill 10k in July making it his second fastest 10k ever. The only time he’d run faster than that was a 33:35 at the Stubbington 10k in 2024.

Amazingly, six Poole AC runners had already finished by the time Stu reached the line. Jamie Grose got the win in a time of 31:36, which was exactly the same time he produced when he won the Round the Lakes 10k in April. An identical chip time and gun time, which was quite incredible. His average pace for the run was 5:03.

Etienne Tillon was 2nd in 32:18, with Dom Willmore completing a Poole AC one, two, three when he took 3rd in 32:25. His average pace for the run was 5:11.

Lewis Clarke took 4th place in 32:50 with an average pace of 5:14. Taking 5th place in a time of 32:53, Rob Arkell nailed his first ever sub 33 minute time.

Tommy Corbin finished 6th in 32:58 and his Poole AC teammates Callum Wadlow and Fred Harris came in 7th in 8th in times of 34:07 and 34:12 respectively. Then Stu got to the line just a few seconds later.

Rich White of Dorset Doddlers was 10th in 34:32, with Andrew Smith of Poole Runners taking 11th in 34:53. Louis Verdi was 12th in 34:56 and Mark Savage came 13th in exactly 35 minutes.

Starting with a 5:32 for his first mile, Jack Barwick then went through the next couple of miles at 5:35. That was an impressive 17:19 for his first 5k. The question was, could he maintain it in the second half of the race?

Going through the fourth mile in 5:46, he then registered a 5:43 for his fifth mile. He’d dropped off a bit but was still managing to keep the pace fairly high, finishing with a 5:55 for his last mile split before racing through that last quarter of a mile.

Getting over the line in a tremendous time of 35:43, it was almost a breakthrough performance from Jack. He’d been threatening it for quite some but this time, he’d really unleashed a run that demonstrated what he’s truly capable of. That put him in 19th position.

Jack Galloway of Twemlow Track Club came 15th in 35:15 and Haydan Clarke was a second in front of Jack, taking 18th place in 35:42. Lee Dempster was Twemlow Track Club’s third man over the line in 35:45, with Trev Elkins taking 21st place in 35:53.

Getting through the first mile in 5:46, James Hulbert then went through the second mile in 5:48 before registering a 5:51 for his third mile. Keeping his splits pretty consistent in the second half of the race, James ran a 5:55 for his fourth mile before registering a 5:51 and then a 5:46.

A fast finish round the cricket pavilion saw him reach the line in 36:06 which put him in 22nd place. That was a second fastest ever 10k time for James after his 35:09 at Stubbington in January.

Going over the line just a second after James, Louis Suggett had an excellent run to come away with 23rd place and a time of 36:07. He was fourth scorer for Bournemouth AC, meaning they needed just one more man to complete their scoring team of five.

Alex Jones was Twemlow Track Clubs fourth finisher in 24th place with a time of 36:24. Treating it as a training exercise in preparation for the Great South Run, Rich Brawn was intending to try and run every mile in under six minutes.

He was quite a bit under for the first couple of miles, posting a 5:40 and then a 5:47 before then registering a 5:54 for his third mile. It started to get tougher in the second half of the race though and he began to slip a touch closer to the 6 minute mark.

Isabel Cherrett was the leading lady in the race and she was running with Rich the whole time. They seemed to be spurring each other on to keep pushing as they got more and more drenched from the persistent rain.

In the end Rich managed to open up a small gap over Isabel and that was just about enough to see him over the line first in a time of 36:38. Isabel followed him over the line a couple of seconds later to take 29th place in 36:40.

It was a really strong run from Isabel and she’d beaten her previous best 10k time set at the same race last year by four seconds. Lizzy Allison was second female in a time of 37:28 which put her in 35th place overall.

Although they were the second team to get five finishers in, it wasn’t enough to seal second place for Bournemouth AC. Poole Runners came away with a better score in terms of league points, since they had the 4th, 5th and 11th placed men. That was a huge result for Poole Runners in the battle for survival.

Julian Critchlow of Purbeck Runners was the first over 60 to reach the finish, getting round in a time of 37:01 which put him in 32nd place overall.

Nicolay Rusnachenko was the next man over the line for Bournemouth AC, posting a time of 38:13 which put him in 45th place. Ben Arnold made a really quick start, clocking a 5:35 for his first mile split. He then followed it up with a 6:01 and a 6:12, putting him at 18:30 for the first 5k.

He wasn’t able to replicate that in their second half of the race though and his pace dropped to 6:29 for the fourth mile and then a 6:22 and a 6:21 for his fifth and sixth miles. That saw him over the line in 38:21 which put him in 46th place.

That was still a pretty good 10k time, even if he hadn’t quite got the pacing right and it was over two minutes quicker than his time at Round the Lakes in April.

Louise Fox of Dorchester RIOT was third female and first vet, since she’s in the F45 category. Recording a time of 38:27, she finished 47th overall.

Although she was feeling a bit hungover, Katie Gunn still had enough to come in as 4th female and 51st overall in a time of 38:41. She paced her run pretty well on the whole, coming away with an average pace of 6:11. That was faster than she’d ran in any of her 10k races since Eastleigh back in March and put her 51st in the overall standings.

Patrick Kingston wasn’t quite able to match what he did for the first 5k in the second 5k and his pace dropped a touch. He did still have enough left for a strong last mile though and made it to the line in 38:42 which put him in 52nd place and 15th in the Male 40 category. That was 32 seconds quicker than his time from last year and six seconds better than his time from 2023.

Ella Allford of Egdon Heath Harriers was 5th female in 39:17 which put her 58th overall on chip time, with Emma Mogridge of Dorset Doddlers being 6th female with a chip time of 39:18, although she may have actually crossed the line before Ella.

Finishing as third female for Bournemouth AC, Helen Beddoe bettered he time from the Lordshill 10k by 10 seconds, going over the line in 43:38. That made her 16th female and 4th in the F35 category. It wasn’t quite as quick as the time she managed at the Totton 10k at the end of August but still a decent performance from Helen and she came 102nd overall.

For Helen, it was the weekend before she was due to tackle the Run to the Sea 50k and that was the same for Clint Taylor who was the next Bournemouth AC member in. He paced his run pretty well to come away with a PB of 43:58 which put him in 104th place. He was 26th in the Male 40 category.

Hamish Murray of Purbeck Runners was first in the Male 70+ category in a time of 44:04 which put him in 105th position overall.

Getting round in a time of 47:55, Jud Kirk was 24 seconds slower than when he did the April edition of Round the Lakes. That put him in 146th place overall and he was 15th in the Male 60 category.

Next in in Bournemouth AC colours was Rich Nelson and he completed the course in 50:23 which put him in 173rd place and 23rd in the Male 50 category. He would have liked to have been under 50 minutes but he’d only really managed that at the Stubbington 10k over recent times.

The penultimate Bournemouth AC man over the line was Ben Moss. He got round in 54:43 which put him in 205th place overall and he was 26th in the Male 50 category. That was nine seconds quicker than the time he managed at Round the Lakes in September last year so represented a small margin of progress.

Completing the scoring team for the Bournemouth AC ladies, Emma Biggs got over the line in a time of 56:17 which made her 69th female. That was over four minutes faster than any of the other seven 10k races she’d done this year so a great performance from Emma and showed she’s on the track towards getting back to her best.

Isabel, Katie and Helen notched the team prize for the race itself but for the league, it was four scorers counting which meant that Poole Runners got the win, with Bournemouth AC taking second. That was still an excellent result for the BAC ladies.

The final Bournemouth AC member to reach the finish was Manuel Stone. He got to the line in 57:54 which out him in 221st place overall and he was 7th in the Male 70+ category. That was 1 minute 27 seconds faster than he ran the Boscombe 10k in last November so a fairly decent display from Manny.

Wimborne AC had already won the Men’s Second Division and confirmed their promotion to the top flight but they recorded their eighth win of the season at Round the Lakes. Littledown Harriers were 2nd, with Westbourne in 3rd, which is how they are positioned in the table for the season so far.

Dorchester RIOT recorded their fourth win of the season in the Ladies Second Division, with table toppers Wimborne AC taking 2nd Purbeck Runners in 3rd.

Royal Manor of Portland got the win in the Men’s Third Division, with Dorchester RIOT taking 2nd and Weymouth St Pauls Harriers 3rd. Lytchett Manor Striders have already won the division though and will be promoted to the second tier.

Lytchett Manor Striders won the fixture in the Ladies Third Division, with table toppers Verwood Runners finishing 2nd and Weymouth St Pauls Harriers 3rd. Lytchett Manor Striders were still in with a shout of taking the promotion place though if they could get some wins in the three remaining fixtures.

Egdon Heath Harriers only managed a 5th place finish at Round the Lakes in the Men’s First Division but it was still very tight at the top between them and Poole AC, with Poole AC currently sitting in top spot. That was their fourth win of the season.

It was a fifth win of the season for Poole Runners in the Ladies First Division and that was enough to secure the league title for them. Even if Egdon Heath Harriers won the last three fixtures, they couldn’t really get a better overall scorecard.

Tommy Corbin leads the way in the men’s individual standings with Josh Cole in 2nd and Rich White 3rd. Chris Peck was still very much the favourite to win it though, with Dom Willmore, Rob Arkell and Lewis Clarke all looking like they will be right up there. Lewis Clarke is the only man who could really be a threat to Josh Cole in the 35 to 39 category.

Emma Mogridge topped the women’s individual standings with Teresa Green of Egdon Heath Harriers in 2nd and Vicky Rutter of Littledown Harriers in 3rd. It was looking good for Katie Gunn though as she was third scorer at the Round the Lakes 10k and that was her fifth race of the season, meaning she just needs to do two more out of the remaining three races.

The next fixture of the season was the Weymouth 10 and that was one where the Bournemouth AC men and women really needed a good result to aid their survival hopes. It’s a fixture that hasn’t really drummed up a lot of interest in the past though and this time proved to be the same, with Patrick Kingston being the only Bournemouth AC member to sign up.