The Wheaton Aston 10k has long been a post-Christmas staple of the local running scene, and 2024’s edition saw 411 runners take to the lanes of western Staffordshire for their annual fix of the race. Starting and finishing at Wheaton Aston school, with race HQ in the sports hall, the route takes runners on an anti-clockwise loop, first of the village itself, then of the local lanes, which this year were shrouded in fog, but thankfully not flooded. 

Craig Pilsbury took the overall victory

Craig Pilsbury took the overall race victory, his time of 33 minutes, 42 seconds being enough to take the win by 13 seconds from Robert Meredith, who was second. The final spot on the podium went to Daniel Grounds (34:22), who beat John Mason of Telford AC by just 1 second in a close finish. 

Chloe Dooley won the women’s race

Chloe Dooley of Vale Royal AC took the win in the women’s race, stopping the clock at 36:24, and she finished 15th overall. Sarah Mackness of City of Stoke AC was second, and 27th overall, in 37:57, with her teammate Nia Nokes just 12 seconds behind her in third, and 29th overall.

There was some excellent fancy dress on display!

Host club Newport & District RC were well represented, and their members were led home by David Clarke, who was 23rd overall in 37:36. Alex Cochrane finished 48th in a time of 39:44, whilst Emily Pope was first NDRC female finisher in 40:12. Adam Higgins was 68th in 42:19, followed by Tom Pope, who was 77th in 42:47. Philip Hill finished 123rd in a time of 46:41, just ahead of Jonathan Pierce, who took 125th overall with his time of 47:01, just ahead of David Thomas, who was 134th in 47:28. 

Team NDRC (or at least, some of them!) before the race

Dave Evans clocked a time of 49:05 to finish 156th, just over a minute ahead of Amy Hughes, who was 172nd in 50:06. Carrie Stokes was 183rd with her time of 51:01, whilst Dale Fordham finished 227th in 54:15 and Phil Hardy was 238th with his time of 55:10. Oliver Stokes was 250th, stopping the clock at 55:38, whilst Selwyn Plant finished 264th in 56:29, and Jo Lutner was 273rd in 56:51. 

Dave Evans (left) and his nephew Alex Cochrane (right) both ran the race for NDRC, and are seen here modelling the hats that finishers and volunteers were given as a souvenir!

Ralph Humphries finished 303rd with his time of 58:58, whilst Louise Patterson set herself a new course PB by over 2 minutes as she finished in 1:01:28 for 322nd position. Liz and Bernie Holbrook ran together, finishing 366th and 367th in 1:06:12, whilst Matthew Humphries was 387th in 1:11:03.

These runners seemed to enjoy the race!

Full results: https://www.stuweb.co.uk/race/3oj

Photos taken at 1.4km (free downloads) can be found here.

Photos taken at 9.5km (free downloads) can be found here.

Photos from Bryan Dale’s Race Photos website (free downloads) can be found here.