Five trophy winners and 18 beginners’ course graduates among Bishop’s Stortford Running Club’s 78-strong entry for Takeley 10k

Autumn race season is off to a strong start for Bishop’s Stortford Running Club (BSRC), who had five trophy winners among their field of 78 members in the Takeley 10k.

Sidney Mortimer was first overall in 36 minutes and 31 second, while Paul Newton, who was second home for the club, finished fifth and was first MV40 in 38:04.

Eilidh Malcolm was the first woman home in green and gold as she finished third woman overall in 44:48. Sophie Barc won the FV45 category in 46:34 and Inese Stan won the FV35 category in 48:20.

The Takeley 10k was the target race for graduates of the club’s 2024 “10 weeks to 10k” course, which finished at the end of June. Eighteen of them took part, with this being the first 10k race for most of them.

Six of them beat the hour mark: Daniel Ansell clocked 51:10, Matthew Beckett 51:09, Caroline Lewis 58:04, Bryan Young 58:34, Alistair Young 59:17 and Michelle Sleeth 59:41.

The 12 other finishers were Chris Bennett in 1:02:37, Lisa Carter 1:02:50, William Hart 1:05:07, James Harvey 1:05:13, Casey Plummer 1:10:07, Rachel Ayres 1:10:08, Mark Holland 1:11:19, Bernard Ashpole 1:11:45, Janet Ashpole 1:13:04, Sarah Webber 1:15:42, Sam Worrell 1:16:44 and Anthony Kirby 1:29:56.

A spokesperson for the club said: “There was a great atmosphere, with supporters including the injured Paul Morrison on photographer duty, despite having one arm in a sling, and it was good to see so many cheering club members through the finish line.”

Two members of team green and gold swerved the Takeley 10k and opted for the iconic Great North Run, the largest half marathon in the world. Ben Spanos, another graduate of the 2024 beginners’ course, completed the course from Newcastle to South Shields in 2:02:32, with Andrew Wilson following in 02:30:11.

Vicky Simpson headed south for the Surrey Half Marathon, a training run for her next marathon in November, and ended up winning her age category as she finished 29th woman among a field of more than 4,000 runners as she recorded a PB in 1:33:08.

Photos supplied by Bishop’s Stortford Running Club