Leighton 10 – 10 Days Later

 

One of the biggest fields of runners for a few years turned up on Sunday 17 September for the 36^th Leighton 10. With fairly miserable but good conditions for running, the pre-run set up and sign-up for the organisers and runners was spent huddling in the sports hall as much as possible.

A fine drizzle greeted those on the start line and after a few announcements and a quick round of Happy Birthday to one lucky runner who had the Leighton 10 as a present for his 70^th birthday, the race got underway.

Ian Kimpton (Luton AC) and Elliot Hind (LBAC) took up an early lead as the route steadily climbed up Vandyke Road away from the town. The course includes the main hills up Eastern Way, Brickhill Road, Bird’s Hill and Shenley Hill which certainly make the race interesting and can really tire those legs out!

Halfway round, Ryan Burling (Luton AC) seemed to wake up and slowly attack the front two, manging to catch Elliot Hind but not Ian Kimpton as Luton AC finished with a 1-2 on the podium. Elliot came home in third place with a very impressive run although Ian Kimpton did manage to claim the course record by over a minute with a time of 52:19. Ryan and Elliot finished in 54:04 and 54:45 which in previous years could easily have been enough to claim gold.

 

The ladies race had an exciting finish with first and second only 8 seconds apart. However, Nicola Bowerman (Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers) managed to just keep ahead of Wendy Walsh (St Albans Striders) with 69:11 and 69:19 respectively. Jenny Maddocks (St Albans Striders) completed the podium in 71:23.

The team prize was won by Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers helped out by Nicola and three men under the hour mark.

A few other Leighton Buzzard Athletic Club runners were able to run along with Elliot Hind, who led the way, with Sam Dear coming home in 66:33. Ruth Mitchell, who has recently returned to the club, was the first lady home in 84:08. Sarah Keane, Nigel Chesterton and Mariela Bandini also all ran great races over the hills of Beds and Bucks. Full results for all 305 finishes can be found at http://www.leightonbuzzardac.co.uk/Leighton-10 with the LBAC results below:

 

Position	Name	Time
3	Elliot Hind	54:45
41	Sam Dear	66:33
154	Ruth Mitchell	84:08
175	Sarah Keane	87:12
212	Nigel Chesterton	93:15
274	Mariela Bandini	1:45:35