Brighton 10k – Race report

Written by Frontrunner – James Barron

Sunday 17th November saw several the Brighton and Hove Frontrunners participating and supporting the annual Brighton 10K. This iconic autumn 10km race has been held annually since 1984 and is a fast, flat course is ideal for runners of all levels and is held on traffic free roads. It is fully organised by the local Brighton and Hove Athletics club. As the Frontrunners participated in the race last year, we were very keen to run again so a good number of us signed up. The weather was on our side, with cool conditions, a light breeze and thankfully no rain clouds! Runners congregated on Madeira Drive from 8.30 and the bag drop, start area and signage made for a smooth and well organised experience as we arrived.

After dropping my bag, we had a quick chat with some of the London Frontrunners who had made the trip down from the capital to take part. After filing into our different starting pens, the gun fired at 9.30 and the runners headed out Westwards towards Hove.

The race was well planned and marshalled, and I made sure the volunteers got a thankful shout out as I ran past. The leading pack were fast experienced runners and some PBs were being sought. The race took us around the King Alfred Leisure centre and then back Eastwards towards the Pier, with beautiful views along the seafront taking in the Grand Hotel and the i360 tower. At around the half-way point we had a thankful shout out from Damian, John and Rosie who were supporting us with our now legendary Frontrunners flag!

As the race came back to the start area, came what, in my opinion is the hardest section of the race. We passed the start line again to continue and turn back on ourselves for the final 3K of the race. For myself this was the hardest section of the course, as you are running back out past the finish line, psychologically unprepared that you are only two-thirds of the way around. We were pushing hard trying to keep up the pace. The final turn and the last km was a challenging one, but it was as always made easier by the crowds lined up along the beach as the runners came home. Once we had all crossed the line, we were all a little surprised / shocked / tentatively amused to receive text messages with our results. We all had incorrect names and times! Luckily this was just a computer problem and our official results came through later in the day.

Paul Howard worked harder than ever before to secure a 10 seconds pb of 34.41. Richard Pineles-West got his second-best time ever, and fastest since joining frontrunners of 41.24, James Barron improved his Frontrunner best time to 43.16. Dean Sanders ran well with a 43.49 and Sonia improved her time to 47.11, hot on her heels with an absolute incredible improvement was Claire Alleguen with 47.23, proving those extra miles from marathon training have paid off. Andrew Smith clocked 56.27, and Ian Morris-Shek improved with 58.14, Steven Chantrey was back running dusting off his injury woes with 60.31, Glen Oswald McCready did massively well to finish in 77.35, and George Tester-Allen was suffering with injury and still managed 76.34.

Overall it was a great day for the club and the times above were celebrated with a slap-up brunch in Charles Street bar, along with some of the London Frontrunners who came to join us. We are looking forward to running again next year – early bird entries open soon so make sure you get in and reserve your place early!