An outstanding run by Oliver Blake saw him speed to victory at The Marches School Oswestry Olympians 10K (Sunday 27 February). He made the most of the closed road course around the market town at this well organised race. 

The race was hosted for the second time by Oswestry Olympians and included a Children’s 2K Fun Run as well as the 10K. The 2K started at 8.30am followed by warm up for the 10K at 8.45am, getting the joints moving and the heart rate up before the main event at 9am.

Oliver Blake was amongst nearly 300 runners who lined up at The Marches School waiting for the signal to start. Conditions were chilly and dry as they headed off on a historic tour of the town, past several landmarks that included St Oswald’s Church – possibly the oldest building in Oswestry and they were encouraged on their way by enthusiastic marshals.          

The town lies near the English – Welsh border but the only skirmishes today were of the competitive kind for the podium, male and female U20 and age categories. There were prizes to battle for.  

First prize went to Oliver Blake of Oswestry Olympians who won the 2022 race in 32:25. Kristan McKenna finished a minute and a half behind in 34:00 with Shrewsbury AC’s Daniel Husbands third in 34:07. 

Donna Morris dominated the women’s race and raced to first place in 37:03 – a gap of just over three minutes separating her and Bethan Jones of Oswestry Olympians who was second in 40:05. Helen Harrington of Cheshire Dragons was third in 41:32. 

View all the results via the runABC Midlands Race Listings page. 

Medal for finishers in the 2K: bespoke medal and t-shirt presented to finishers in the 10K. 

Image courtesy of Corinne Alex.