Bourton Roadrunners

Bourton 10k

THE incredibly popular Bourton 10k, sponsored by High Bridge Jewellers, was held on Sunday in fine weather conditions.

All places for this race were taken within two hours of entries going live last year and it has become one of the top 10ks on the calendar.

Athletes from all over the country run in it, so it was great to see the top four places taken by athletes from local clubs.

The battle between the top three men was evident from the off, with Alex Lee of Cheltenham being the overall victor in 32.34. He finished just two seconds ahead of Cirencester’s David Bell; Alastair Campbell (Stroud) came third in 32.58.

Will Ferguson of CLC Striders in Cheltenham did superbly to finish fourth, after missing the start of the race and having to make his way through the field to finish in 33.22. Tegs Jones of Oxford City finished 5th in 34.15 and Bourton’s own Tim Carter had a superb run for 34.37 in sixth.

Rachel Felton of Shaftesbury stormed the ladies' race and never looked in danger of being caught, finishing two minutes ahead of her closest rival in a time of 35.11.

Chrissie Wellington (BRAT) finished second in 37.18, with Kate Wright (Stratford AC) third in 37.45. Cirencester’s Wendy Nicholls, returning after an operation, was fourth in 38.28.

The winning veteran runners put in some amazing times: MV40 Mark James (Cheltenham) 34.58; MV45 David Tame (Hook Norton) 36.31; MV50 Jeremy Mower (Gloucester AC) 36.49; MV55 Ian McDougall (Saffron Striders – who was requested to wear his old second-claim Bourton shirt so that locals could spot him) 38.02; MV60 Garry Payne (Nuneaton Harriers) 37.32; MV65 Arthur Daley (Gloucester) 40.47.

Lady veterans: FV35 Katy Barden (Bromsgrove & Redditch) 38.49; FV40 Lucy Walmsley (NCTR) 39.28; FV45 Fee Maycock (Cheltenham) 39.09; FV50 Rowena Verity (Bourton RR) 44.22; FV55 Kate Sackett (Cirencester) 43.14; FV60 Deborah Southgate (Angels RC) 51.20; FV65 Bea Brandish (Cotswold Allrunners) 55.09.

The first junior lady runner was Cordelia Halfhead (Abingdon) 45.40.

Bourton’s contingent all did well. Tim Carter led the club in sixth place. Darren Long ran his best 10k in a while with a time of 38.20 and he was followed in by Robin Goodwill 40.41, Steph Lane 40.53, Rowena Verity 44.22, Chris Lomax 44.48, Catherine Wheeler 45.08, Gill Carrick 52.24, Linda Edwards 53.25 and Alan Gibson 58.24.