The Bradley Stoke Journal

Another record field of 418 runners contested the 2010 Bradley Stoke 10k Run in fine conditions on Sunday (13th June), the final day of the town’s Community Festival.

As last year, the race started and finished at the Jubilee Centre in Savages Wood Lane, with the Jubilee Green being used for competitor car parking.

Bradley Stoke Mayor Ben Walker sounded the horn to start the race at 10am and promptly joined the field to take part in the event for the third successive year.

Running in aid of his mayoral charity, St Peter’s Hospice, Cllr Walker teamed up with his Conservative colleague Jack Lopresti, the newly-elected MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke, who ran the race in aid of the Stoke Gifford branch of the Royal British Legion.

The pair finished together (see photo) in a time of 63:46, placing them around the 350th mark.

Many other runners ran on behalf of the race’s official fundraising charity, the Nicola Corry Support Foundation.

Local residents turned out in force to support the runners as they followed the multi-terrain route along the pavements and tracks of  Bradley Stoke.

Read on for details of the race winners and photo links »

The Bradley Stoke 10k Run, which forms part of the coming weekend’s Community Festival, has registered another new entry record, with 370 forms already received by the organising club Sole Sisters.

The entry limit for this year’s renewal of the increasingly popular race has been raised from 350 to 500 after local police agreed to help out at two road crossings on the course.

Organiser Karen Walsh told The Journal that experience from previous years suggests that a further one hundred entries could be received in the final week, which would bring the total close to the 500 place limit.

Entries for the race can still be made by post (race packs for entrants in Bradley Stoke will be hand-delivered later in the week) and it will also be possible to enter at the Community Festival on Saturday (12th June).

Entries on the day of the race (Sunday 13th June) will also be accepted, subject to the entry limit not being reached.

Notable entries for this year’s race are said to include Bradley Stoke’s newly-elected MP Jack Lopresti and a squad from Bradley Stoke Town FC.

The race will once again start and finish at the Jubilee Centre in Savages Wood Road. Start time is 10am and the first finisher is expected to arrive at around 10:33am.

Read on for details of the race route and principal race sponsors »

Entries have now opened for the 2010 renewal of the Bradley Stoke 10k Run, to be held on Sunday 13th June as part of the town’s Community Festival.

The increasingly popular event, organised by local ladies-only running club Sole Sisters, will take place over the same route as last year – starting and finishing at the Jubilee Centre in Savages Wood Road.

The race route [map] takes in much of the Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve as well as including stretches along Brook Way and Bradley Stoke Way.

Popular with local joggers and fun runners, the race also attracts serious athletes from around the region. Last year’s winner was Gary Hope of Gloucester Club Severn AC, who completed the course in a time of 33:36, while Joanne Heuze of Cardiff club Village Vipers was the first woman home in 41:17.

Karen Walsh of Sole Sisters tells The Journal that the entry limit for the 2010 race has been raised to 500 (from 350 in 2009) thanks to the cooperation of the local police, who will be manning road crossings around the course.

The Nicola Corrie Support Foundation has been nominated as the official fundraising charity for this year’s race.

More information and related links:

• Bradley Stoke 10k Run 2010 Entry Form [PDF]
• Bradley Stoke 10k Run (The Journal)
• Bradley Stoke Community Festival (The Journal)

A record field of 334 runners contested the 2009 Bradley Stoke 10k Run in warm conditions on the final day of the town’s three-day Community Festival.

The race started and finished at the Jubilee Centre in Savages Wood Road and featured ‘chip’ timing for the first time in its short history.

Bradley Stoke Mayor Mark Forsyth got the race under way at 10am and the runners streamed out of the Jubilee Centre car park, along Savages Wood Road and down Brook Way before turning left onto the Three Brooks Path just before the Braydon Avenue roundabout.

The race route took the runners to the south of the town before they headed up Bradley Stoke Way and back into the nature reserve, where they passed the lakes once more before heading up to Primrose Bridge. From there the runners headed down Brook Way before turning right to rejoin the Three Brooks Path, which took them back up to the Jubilee Centre.

Victory in the race went to Gary Hope of Gloucester club Severn AC, national champion at 5000m in the 40+ category, who finished over a minute ahead of his closest rival in a time of 33:36. Second place went to Andrew Harrison of Team Moti (35:00), followed by Peter Morton (36:13).

The winner’s time was nearly two minutes faster than the winning time in last year’s race (held over a slightly different course as the race then started near the Leisure Centre).

First woman home was Joanne Heuze of Cardiff club Village Vipers in a time of 41:17, with Elizabeth Smith of Westbury Harriers second (41:57) and Naomi Eaton of Weston AC third (42.02).

In keeping with the community-oriented spirit of the race, the prize giving ceremony was held back until the last of the fun runners had crossed the finish line – in a time of around 90 minutes.

Organising club Sole Sisters estimates that two-thirds of the runners came from the local community. Full race results are expected to appear on the club’s website later today (Monday).

Take a look in our PicasaWeb gallery for nearly 400 photos of the 2009 Bradley Stoke 10k Run, taken at the start/finish and around the course.

Entries for the Bradley Stoke 10k Run, which forms part of next weekend’s Community Festival, have already broken the 300 mark, leaving just 40 places available before the race’s safety limit is reached.

Last year’s race had a limit of 300, with 290 runners taking part on the day. With just less than a week to go before this year’s race, 310 people have already signed up.

Race Secretary Penny Greenwood of organising club Sole Sisters told The Journal that the club is pleased that two-thirds of this year’s entrants are from the local community. She added that postal entries may still be made, providing they arrive by Wednesday (10th June). Thereafter, runners will be able to sign up for any remaining places at the Community Festival on Saturday (13th June).

In a change from previous years, the race will both start and finish at the Jubilee Centre in Savages Wood Road. Other changes to the race route will see runners going down Brook Way rather than Bradley Stoke Way in the latter stages of the race.

Another novelty this year is the introduction of chip timing, which allows race times to be automatically recorded as runners cross the finish line. A big screen in the finish arena will show live results and the system will allow the prize giving ceremony to be staged as promptly as possible.

The  Journal has produced an interactive map showing the revised route of the 2009 race together with recommended viewing points for spectators. The estimated time of arrival of the lead runners at each point is also shown.

Other sporting events taking place on Sunday (14th June) include a six-a-side cricket tournament (at Baileys Court) and a skate park competition (alongside the Leisure Centre).

Related Links:

• Bradley Stoke 10k Run (The Journal)
• Bradley Stoke Community Festival (The Journal)
• Community Festival Venues (The Journal / Google Maps)