A STAG party member won the half-marathon at Run Bournemouth with a blistering time of one hour and ten minutes.

Ollie Garrod, 30, is visiting Bournemouth from Ashtead on a stag do and was doing the run as ‘a bit of a jolly to see how the legs are doing’, before he tackles the ultramarathon world championships.

He was doing the event for the first time and said it was ‘brilliant’.

“I went off really hard with the guy who came second in the end, we got to about six miles in on about pace for six or seven minutes, so really quick,” Ollie said.

Bournemouth Echo: Ollie Garrod took the win in the Run Bournemouth half marathon

“Then the hill kicked in at mile eight, and then we tempered it from there.

“[There was a] superb atmosphere, the crowd was fantastic.

“I’ve never really been to Bournemouth either, so really nice to see the city a little bit and see the coast.”

He added: “I do ultras really, that’s my main thing. I’ve got the world championships coming up in a few weeks’ time.

“My PB is 67 minutes so 1hr10 is not super quick but it’s decent enough, given I was out last night and the night before.”

Bournemouth Echo: Olivia Tsim won the Run Bournemouth half marathon in her first attempt.

Female winner Oliva Tsim is in Bournemouth visiting her sister-in-law, who is at Bournemouth University, for her birthday.

The Pontypridd Roadents runner said the atmosphere was ‘amazing’.

“It was really hot today, so I knew it wasn’t going to be that quick and I raced Cardiff half marathon last weekend so I wasn’t sure how the legs were going to be feeling," the 28-year-old said. 

“It was really nice to be running somewhere different. I really liked that when you came out and back, the support from the other people running was amazing, everyone was high fiving each other, it was really good.

“The target was to come in in sub-80 minutes and I managed to do that so I was happy with that.”

Bournemouth Echo: Rob Spencer was the first over the line from Bournemouth Athletics Club.

Rob Spencer was the first across the line from Bournemouth Athletics Club.

He said the heat ‘completely destroyed me’ but that the event was ‘great and well run’.

“[The support] was great,” Rob said.

“Around Boscombe, around here, at the start it was great.

“I’ve got my two little boys here, so they were willing me on to the finish line.”

Earlier on Sunday, runners took on the supersonic 10k race.

Bournemouth Echo: Carly Ringrose was raising money for MYTIME Young Carers.

Carly Ringrose, 35, was part of a group of runners racing to raise money for MYTIME Young Carers, a Dorset charity that supports children and young people caring for family members.

“Collectively, we’ve raised £10,000, which is amazing, it’s an amazing cause,” she said.

“I’m not a natural runner, but when a charity like that comes along you can’t really say no. It was challenging, but I’ve done it, and sub one hour which I wasn’t expecting.

“We were going for finish lines not times but the crowd pulled us along so it was really lovely.”

Bournemouth Echo: Alfie Spurle and Marcus Lambert Pearson are both Bournemouth University alumni.

Marcus Lambert Pearson, 22, and Alfie Spurle, 21, travelled back to Bournemouth after leaving BU to take on the race.

Marcus, from Farnham, was doing his first running event.

“It was good, really good atmosphere, lots of people cheering us on as you go,” he said. “I thought I did alright, but I can come back next year to see what we can do.”

Alfie, from Bognor Regis, went ‘faster than I thought’.

“The atmosphere was brilliant,” he said.

“Every kilometre or so there was people cheering you on, it gives you that extra boost. I was pretty happy with today. A nice flat course, good for fast times.”

Bournemouth Echo: Ann Morgan was running as part of a group that met on Facebook during the pandemic.

Ann Morgan was running as a part of a group that met on a Facebook group during the pandemic.

The 56-year-old from Hedge End had run the half marathon in previous years but decided to do the 10k this year.

“It’s one of my fastest times,” she said.

“It’s been really good, good support from especially the team event people and the general public.

“During Covid, we met virtually through a thing on Facebook. This was our first meetup in 2021 and then we’ve continued to meet up every year, so it’s a bit of a social.

“There’s people from all over the country, come down as a part of this, because we met on Facebook.”