Life's A Beach For Stubbie 10K Runners
It's a full house again for the Stubbington Green 10K
The 37th Stubbington 10K produced some fast times as 1,764 runners completed the coastal course in 1:38:39 on Sunday 8 January. Keith and Claire Caunt were the final finishers in better than 10min/km as the searing pace of the leaders dragged 160 athletes under 40 minutes.
All 2,000 entries sold within 15 hours last September as the 'Stubbie 10K' as it is known continues to draw athletes from far and wide to the Hampshire village between Southampton and Portsmouth for this slightly undulating pipe opener from Crofton Community Centre to Hill Head Beach and back.
Stubbington 10K has a useful transfers Facebook page where runners can pass on numbers they are unable to use for any reason. This reduces the number of absentees considerably and is a popular feature of the race.
Towing the field along was Will Boutwood (Winchester & District AC, 31:29) from Harry Smith (City of Salisbury AC, 31:58) and Ant Gritton (Lordshill Road Runners, 32:13).
The women's race was of a similarly high standard with Cassie Thorp (City of Portsmouth AC, 34:52) – second last year – running the fastest UK W35 masters time of the year to win. The host club's Rebecca Lord (Stubbington Green Runners, 36:30) was runner-up and Rhiannon Dunlop (City of Portsmouth AC, 36:33 PB) finished third.
Genevieve Dady (Chineham Park RC, 1:06:12) spoke for many when she posted this on Facebook: "Thank you for a great event – my first at Stubbington but won’t be my last! Very well organised, good route and fab marshals who kept us on track and upped morale. Thank you to all involved".
Massage treatment was available by BodiWorks for a donation to Sophie's Legacy and Autism Hampshire charities. Last year £11,000 was donated to Alice's Arc in memory of Sophie Fairall. According to the host club the race is known as the 'friendliest on the south coast' and local community support this year was provided by Meoncross School and the Holy Rood Church.
Full results and previous reports are available at runABC South's comprehensive race listing here.
Image courtesy Stubbington Green Runners/Posbrook Pics.
