Wimbledon Dash Race Report 2010

Belgrave's Paskar Owor, the Surrey cross country Champion, was a clear winner of the Surrey road 5k in good conditions but said to Runners Digest correspondent Alastair Aitken afterwards " If I had someone close to me in the race I would have run faster than 15:20"

    In the event on the 8th of August, after 800m covered in Wimbledon Park, the 204 finishers were led out on to the main road by Dave Clarke that' Very Great' cross country runner of the past, on his bicycle of course.

    The leaders had just gone passed the famous All England Tennis Club when Owor decided he would run hard up the hill and got rid of all of his challengers but, that is not surprising, if you consider he did three fast races in one afternoon at the British League on the 31st of July. 1:50.96 (800); 3:48.86 (1500) and 14:32.89 (5000).

    Phil Killingley, a previous Ranelagh half marathon Champion and a 2:28 marathon man plus American Paul Thistle, a 9:05 steeplechaser from Susqehanna Lanna University, Wissahickon, battled out the minor places through out the Wimbledon Dash. Thistle moved past Killingley to lead him up the big hill then Killingley, who likes downhill stretches put in a kick going down and went away from his rival. Thistle spent all the rest of his time trying to catch Killingley again and was only two seconds behind him at the finish.

Killingley (Ranelagh Harriers) holds off Thistle from USA

Louis Gomez of Sutton Runners, who  was 12th overall in 17:00, was the first veteran. Gomez came over from  Columbia in 1997 and ran 2:45 for the marathon in 1992 and last year 2:46 as a vet.

Vic Maughn of Herne Hill Harriers was the 2nd Vet at Wimbledon in 17:18 and was coming back  from injuries this Summer. He ran 16:37 last year!

Owor (earlier in the season) takes another Surrey win

    Physiotherapist, Antonia Burt, who has benefited over the last few  weeks by her sessions under her coach Robin Dickson, won the Women's race in a personal best of 18:40, three seconds ahead of Aldershot's  Beth Andrews.

Burt also put her good form down to the fact she has changed from 2 or 3 times a week training to six days a week and ran a personal best 10k int eh Richmond 10k (Dysart Dash) of 38:18. She hopes to do the Toronto Marathon in September and only came back to athletics in 2008 from doing triathlons.

First Ten men:- 1 Paskar Owor 15:20; 2 Phil Killingley 15:48; 3 Paul Thistle (Unattached) 15:50; 4 Nick Hodges (Dorking & Mole Valley) 16:15; 5 Sean Renfer (Elmbrdige Road Runners) 16:20;  6 James Ellis (Clapham Chasers) 16:22; 7 Sarwar Khan (Herne Hill Harriers) 16:23, 8 Bruce Harrold (Dorking & Mole Valley) 16:28, 9 Ben Paviour (Herene Hill Harriers) 16:48; 10 Ben Hurley (Belgrave) 16:51.

First six women 1 Antonia Burt (Thames Hare & Hounds) 18:37; 2 Beth Anderson (Aldershot & Farnham) 18:40;

3 Naomi Lenane (Aldershot Farnham & District) 18:51; 4 Anna Sharpe (Woking AC) 19:21; 5 Fiona Love (Clapham Chasers)  19:28; 6 Marie Synott-Wells (Ranelagh Harriers W45) 19:30.