The 34^th Leighton 10 took place on Sunday 20^th September with the 282 runners greeted with perfect weather, with the early morning mist and fog clearing to create some fine and cool conditions as they took to the start line.

Leighton Buzzard Athletic Club organise the event and this year had the largest number of finishers on the new route. The challenging, but rewarding course starts in Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire and follows the roads out into Heath and Reach, moves into Buckinghamshire and passes through Great Brickhill before returning back to Leighton Buzzard via Heath and Reach.

Members of LBAC were also helped by other local clubs including Leighton Fun Runners, Leighton Buzzard Triathlon Club and Leighton Buzzard Road Cycling Club, who turned out to assist in marshalling the course while spreading some much-needed encouragement to the runners up the hills.

This year, the fastest local man and the fastest local lady were recognised. Chris George (1:02:11) and Janice Brazier (1:10:50) took home the prizes donated by the Wharf Grill and Mama Rosa’s restaurants.

Overall there were 7 Members of Leighton Buzzard Athletic Club competing on the day, with Johanna Sharples the first home in 1:11:07, just missing out on a prize with a very strong run. Amy Inchley, Liz Peters and Fiona Towell all put in excellent performances, whilst Liz Miller’s efforts were rewarded with a new 10 miles Leighton Buzzard Athletic Club record of 1:41:10 for a V70 lady.

Sarah Lyon and Cherie Cunningham, as new members of LBAC, ran their first run for the club in what was also Sarah’s first ever race! Both have been taking part in the sessions on Tuesday evenings designed specifically for new runners or people who would like to improve.

Leighton Fun Runners were represented by no fewer than 28 runners, led home by Steve Harrison in 1:08:10, followed by Daniel Green and Jim Buttleman who both finished in under 70 minutes.

The overall race was won by Luke Delderfield of Tring Running Club in a time of 56:20, followed closely by Tom Comerford and Gary Blaber, both of Marshall Milton Keynes.

Nicola Sykes of Bournville Harriers was the first lady to finish, with a time of 1:04:42 with Rachel Robinson of Marshall Milton Keynes (1:06:50) and Janice Brazier of Leighton Fun Runners (1:10:50) finishing in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Gade Valley Runners took home the team prize with their 8th runner finishing in 72nd place.

Congratulations to all the runners, especially those who ran 10 miles for the first time, or achieved a PB. We’ll hopefully see you all next year!

Results are available at www.leightonbuzzardac.co.uk with photos on the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/LeightonRunning.