Course record falls at Yeovilton 10k

It is not often that a Somerset road race sees three GB internationals on the start line so when marathon men Richie Gardiner and Nigel Leighton were joined by cross country ace Frank Tickner the 11 year course record was living on borrowed time.

The early pace was set by Cardiff's Mike Johnson with the big guns tucked into the leading pack along with Pete Grist, Simon Anderson, Ed Knudsen and evergreen Gordon Seward.

By halfway the field was stretched out with Gardiner and Tickner side by side through 6km in 18.23 before heading out on to the flat final section which is part of the summer 5k course. With just under 2km to go Gardiner opened a 10m gap with a last big push. But despite his best efforts Tickner closed the gap and pulled away in the closing stages to cross the line in 30:30 to shave 3 secs from the record. A few seconds back Gardiner posted his best 10km result for some time which will give him great confidence as he starts his taper for the London Marathon on 26th April.

Holding on to 3rd place was Johnson after a lonely run. Pete Grist came home 4th ahead of Nigel Leighton and rounding out the top 10 was home club Yeovil's Tim Hawkins who knocked an impressive 33 seconds off his PB to clock 33.36

First lady home was Bath ACs Sarah Urwin-Mann with local road race specialist Jenny Moore taking 2nd place as she seeks to crack the 3 hour barrier for the first time in London and in 3rd was Royston's Michelle Maxwell.

Cardiff AC romped to the team title with 3 in the first 4 places.

Leading Results

1 0:30:30 TICKNER, Frank Wells City Harriers
2 0:30:41 GARDINER, Richard cardiff ac
3 0:31:29 JOHNSON, Michael cardiff ac
4 0:32:50 GRIST, Peter cardiff ac
5 0:32:56 LEIGHTON, Nigel Bristol
6 0:33:13 ANDERSON, Simon plymouth harriers
7 0:33:28 HOPKINSON, Mark Taunton AC Senior
8 0:33:29 KNUDSEN, Edward langport runners
9 0:33:34 MOSLEY, Philip bournemouth ac
10 0:33:36 HAWKINS, Tim Yeovil Town Road Running Club

Full Results

Super Fast Yeovilton 5k series returns

The annual summer 5k series returns to the super quick Yeovilton course on Wednesday 8th April. The series, organised by Yeovil Town Road Running Club, takes place on the second wednesday of the month throughout the summer and in recent years has seen race winners such as Frank and Ben Tickner, James Thie, Toby Lambert, myself and course record holder Rob Whalley. With conditions invariable perfect on the flat 1 lap course its no surprise that the course record stands at 14.04 and that many athletes have run 14.something over the years.

For athletes looking for an extra edge for this years series there will be a selection of Saucony race shoes on sale at the first event - ideal for 5k and 10k races !