MATT Ellis ran his fastest 10k since joining the veteran over 40 ranks in Chichester on Sunday.
The Westbury Harrier (pictured above with wife Robyn) clocked a time of 32mins 54secs to place 57th overall and ninth over 40 in a fiercely contested race, which was just his second of the year after a low-key parkrun event.
It put him fourth fastest in the South West Rankings in his age category.
The last time Ellis ran a serious 10k was in September 2018 when he ran 32:08 in Colomiers, France. His lifetime best remains the 31mins 15secs he clocked when finishing runner-up in the First Chance 10k on January 2nd 2011.
Not sure if Ellis will ever get close to that again but I wouldn’t bet against him getting a lot faster this year if he can avoid injuries.
Leading local runner in Chichester was Bristol & West’s Peter Le Grice down in 24th on 30:59. The honour of finishing top local runner went to Calne Running Club’s Simon Nott in 13th (30:15) while Bristol-based Jonathan Thewlis was 18th (30:27).
Team Bath’s Gary Dunstone ran a PB of 33:37 to place third veteran over 45, which should be good enough to secure him a place in the England team for the British & Irish Masters International later this year.