Bourton 10k, 24 February, 2019
On a perfectly bright and calm February morning, 13 Striders joined runners from all over the region for the annual Bourton 10k, long established as the best test over this iconic distance in the early part of the year. With the winner clocking a time just outside 30 minutes, the quality of the field was, once again, very high – and Striders athletes did themselves proud, many of them achieving PBs along the way.
Jon Howes led the Striders home in a gutsy 46th place and a time of 37:36.4 – a great achievement, life having got in the way of the miles Jon usually puts in each week. Next home was a comfortable Will Pearce, using the race as part of a longer half marathon test run, in 49th place and a time of 37:40.4. Not too far behind the lead pair was Clark Lawson, bagging a massive PB in a time of 38:11.8 in 58th place
The next pair home were JJ Willson and Gareth Harries in 41:26.6 and 41:44.4 respectively in 138th and 144th places. First lady home for the club was Amanda Steer in 165th place and a time of 42:20.7. Not far behind her was Rachel Vines in 172nd place and a time of 42:45.8. Hedley Phillips was rewarded for his hard work at training over the winter, clocking a massive PB of 43:18.8 in 183rd place.
Gary Smith was 213th in a time of 44:45.8 and Ed Collier was 240th in 45:44.4. Helen Howes produced a lifetime best in 252nd place for a new, hard-fought PB time of 46:29.2. Mike Speke earned a PB time of 47:54.8 in 294th place, Dave Mayo was 393rd in 52:14.1 and Charlie Haward was 403rd in 53:03.9.