Vale was proud host to the Buckinghamshire 10k County Championships this week at their Stoke Mandeville Stadium base. Peter Hoare said “When Bucks AA approached us, we were very pleased to be involved and would be happy to repeat the experience. I believe this is the first time County Championships, excluding schools events, have been held at this stadium; it was a successful evening.”
The decision was taken to add a few more disciplines to the evening, starting with an Open Mile event which was won by Owen Stepney (U23) from Abingdon AC in 4:31:8. Vale’s James Davis (U23) finished in 2nd place in 4:45:7 and Max Perry (U15) 3rd in 5:02:7.
The main evening of the evening followed; 25 laps of the track in what were fortunately good running conditions. With some strong runners in the frame, Marshall Milton Keynes eventually took gold and silver positions with Jonathan Peters coming home to win in 34:14:3 closely followed by Tom Comerford with a time of 34:21:1. The bronze medal went to Elliot Hind from Leighton Buzzard AC (34:35:5). First Vale athlete to finish was Harri Kane in 7th place in a time of 36:06; he was also the only junior to compete in the race.
The final event of the night was the 3k Steeplechase which was a 1, 2 finish for Vale with James Davis taking top spot, followed by Will Ralston.
Photographs can be found in the Gallery.