Colchester 10k 2016 Race Report

This weekend saw the eighth annual Colchester 10k with the largest field ever with over 606 registered runners and many first time entrants. After last year’s perfect running conditions this year saw glorious sunshine and soaring temperatures peaking at 25c, great for the spectators basking in the sun, but proved to be heavy going for most of the competitors. Water station were a welcome sight for the athletes along the route manned by our Marshalls with help from the Girl Guides and Scouts.

Traffic chaos on the A12 didn’t help with some competitors arriving too late to start and our finish line nearly not arriving in time to be erected.  Luckily the Gods were shining on us as well as the sun.

New for 2016 was the use of a Drone for aerial footage, kindly provided by GoHigh of Colchester which gave us a new perspective of the race. This proved to be quite a talking point and the results, along with other photographic evidence can be seen on the Colchester10k Facebook page

We would like to thank the MOD for continuing to allow us to use the Garrison Athletic Club and giving permission for the Drone to fly over their property as well as our Official Starter John Hyland and Adjudicator Diana Lee who have been with us since the start.

The course is a circular flat route, mainly run on cycle paths and tracks around the South part of Colchester, with a the final 2km around Abbey Field culminating in a final lap around Colchester Garrison Running Club track. This produced some spectacular sprint finishes in front of the cheering crowds.

Leading from the gun was last year’s winner Adrian Musset of Colchester Harriers in a time of 32:31 followed closely by Ramadan Osman of Colchester & Tendring AC (33:51) and Kevin O’Holleran of Cambridge & Coleridge AC (34:51).

Georgina Schwiening of Cambridge & Coleridge AC was the first female runner home (5th overall) in a time of 36:19 followed by last year’s winner Sarah Stradling (36:59) and Anna Whitfield (38:32).

We had lots of first time timers and a couple of female runners (Charlie Hastings & Hannah Johns) who ran the course with a 40lb Bergan backpack – a true feat in Sunday’s heat. The Army supported as well with 13 entries from the various local regiments some running with full Bergan’s and we appreciate their support.

There were a number of worthy charities being supported by the runners, including Headway, Addenbrooks, COHOC and St. Helena Hospice to name a few. This is in addition to the charities being supported by the race organisers – Rotary Club of Colchester Trinity.