Twenty Halesowen athletes had one final 10k blast this year at the Telford 10k.
Many were chasing PBs in a course renowned as the being one of the fastest in the country.
There were four race waves at Telford Town Park and Joe Rogers ran the quickest club time as HACC’s only representative in the elite Wave 1.
It was Joe’s first ever 10k and he finished 139th in 31:54.
Joe said: “It was absolute uncharted territory after the 5k mark.
“My legs and head started to go after 6k.
“That was maybe my first and last ever 10k!”
Peter Dear, who competed 24 hours earlier at the Worcestershire Cross Country at Warley Woods, was joined by Alex Taylor in wave 2.
Peter ran 33:32 to finish in 220th and Alex clocked 35:44 and was 386th.
Peter said: “My pacing was on point until the fade kicked in.
“I fought it once but couldn’t hold on after the second bonk.
“I was pleased to be pushing these times consistently and I only missed my PB by eight seconds.”
A number of Wave 3 runners did manage to finish higher up the field, with Joe Donkin finishing second behind Joe Rogers in 187th in 32:55.
Joe said: “I enjoyed the course changes and snuck under 33 minutes, Pleased to be within 30 seconds of last year.”
James Thomas was 272nd in 34:11.
James said: “I was a little disappointed but it was completely expected after two weeks of nasty flu and pitiful training.
“I’m not going to be too hard on myself, I know what I could’ve done if I’d been fully healthy.
“I’m pleased to have made it round without too much coughing.
“Fingers crossed for next time.”
There was a shiny new PB for James Hoult, who took almost two minutes off his previous best set in Birmingham in 2023.
James went sub-35 to finish 318th in 34:51.
James said: “It was a perfect run and race for me today at Telford.
“I’d like to thank my training buddies Pete, Matt and especially Ethan for great pacing, training and competition.
“To Geoff for great coaching and support.
“Your training has always has helped me produce the BEST running in my life.
“Up Owen and Dad, this is for YOU 
“
Ethan Jordan also set a new PB, beating his Benidorm 10k time by a single second!
Ethan was 349th in 35:20.
Matt Wilkinson (Jr) bagged himself a 29 second PB of 35:42 in 384th place.
Matt said: “It’s not what I wanted to run but it is what I expected to run.
“Looking forward to gaining more experience over the longer stuff in the coming years.”
Ben Russell also joined the PB train, finishing 437th in 36:25.
Ben said: “After doing XC yesterday I never expected anything close to what I got today.
With my Mom in my thoughts when the going got tough I kept grinding away.
A weekend to be proud of. 
Second home for Halesowen at the Worcestershire County XC and then today a BIG 10k PB at Telford.
“I have said it before and I will say it again. I am doing it all for her from this point on.”
Rob McWilliams also PBed in 480th in 37:04.
Rob said: “I was happy with that today.
“I went out of the gate too fast and unintentionally ran an outdoor 5k PB!
“I did fall apart at 7k but still got a 35 second PB so I can’t complain.”
David Lewis was 641st in 39:33 and Nick Hazelwood was 664th in 40:00.
Nick said: “I’m really happy and am so close to the sub 40 minutes target off 5 weeks of post-surgery recovery, which took way longer than I thought.
“The fifth mile was a struggle which cost me but this time last week I thought I was on for 42 minutes plus.”
Michelle Dale was first Halesowen lady in 777th in 42:58.
She also placed third in the Ladies Vets 45 age category.
The final batch of athletes set off in Wave 4.
Ben Dunlop was 728th in 41:46.
Ben said: “The target was 42 minutes so I am very happy with that!”
Milly Allen was 827th in 44:14 and Andrew Price was 869th in 45:27.
Ellie Griffiths got a new PB of 47:21 in finishing in 921st, taking four minutes off her previous 10k best.
Jamie Sircom was 1,052nd in 51:33.
Jamie said: “I was pleased with my run and happy I improved on my Benidorm time.
“Looking to improve my fitness and go sub-50 again in 2026.”
Keith Taylor was 1,118th in 54:06.
And after being schooled by 5 year-olds in the Run With Santa event the previous week, Adrian Dale brought the club home in 1,225th in 1:00:13.
Adrian said: “I was seven minutes quicker than Benidorm so am reasonably happy.
“It was great to see so many Halesowen vests around the course!”
A total of 1,359 runners took part across all four waves.
For full results from Telford, click the Event Chip Timing link below:
https://results.eventchiptiming.com/Results.aspx?CId=16202&RId=8419&EId=1
Finally here are a couple of video from the Wave 1 and Wave 2 starts.
WAVE 1
WAVE 2
#UPOWEN!
Athlete comments from Strava and Facebook.
Thanks to Jenny Taylor for race photos.
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