Tenth anniversary Bradley Stoke 10k Run springs a surprise

Last minute route diversion adds nearly 0.5km to course length.

A record field of 584 starters contested today’s tenth anniversary Bradley Stoke 10k Run, organised by Sole Sisters, on the final day of the 2015 Bradley Stoke Community Festival.

The tenth running of the race, however, turned out to be a little longer that the nine previous invocations, due to the need to make a last-minute change to the course in order to circumvent a police cordon that had been set up to protect an investigation scene in the Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve.

Instead of passing underneath the Bradley Stoke Way bridge, runners were directed up into Diana Gardens and then through part of Snowberry Close before emerging at the pedestrian crossing on Bradley Stoke Way. After crossing the main road, they followed the path down to re-enter the nature reserve on the other side of the police cordon. The organisers managed to cancel out some of the extra distance by removing the loop around the perimeter of the finish field at the Jubilee Centre, but runners carrying GPS devices reported that the race was still around 0.45km longer than the nominal 10km.

First home after completing the (extended) six-and-a-half mile course was Ciaran McQuade (Bristol and West AC) in a time of 37:18, followed by Soren Adams (Bristol and West AC, 37:41) and Nick Cutler (Running Forever RC, 38:20).

The first female to finish was Antonia Burt (Thames Hare and Hounds, 42:21), followed by Alice Doggrell (Bristol and West AC) 46:58 and Helen Tunnicliff (Portishead RC, 47:11).

The prize for the first Bradley Stoke resident to finish went to Martin Bartlett (38:32), who finished in fifth place.

Adam Wilson, another Bradley Stoke resident, who was featured in a recent Journal article following his call up to the Great Britain team at the Inas European Cross Country Championships, finished seventh (39:02).

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