Teenan takes crown as RNLI race proves perfect 10

RNLI 10K: First Oliver Teenan, second Ashley Leigh and third Josh Carter

He took the victory in 34min 52sec ahead of Ashley Leigh (34.59) and Josh Carter (36.00) who finished second and third.

City of Portsmouth’s Emma Montiel showed her class with a fast run to finish first lady in 38.43 with Lynsey Carveth second (44.37) and Lucy Bartlett, of Fareham Crusaders third (45.06).

Along with the 10k the Southsea Pirates Pieces of Eight also provided a great spectacle with lots of fancy dress on show.

Left to right: Emma Montiel, Lynsey Carveth and Lucy Bartlett

Danny White won the eight-mile event in 47.08 with Naouele McHugh, who runs for Portsmouth Joggers, finishing first lady (53.49).

The seafront races are ideal preparation for many people in training ahead of the Great South Run on Sunday, October 22.

Organiser Rob Piggott was very pleased with the success of the two races and how things have evolved since the first event 10 years ago.

He said: ‘It’s a wonderful course and people enjoy the atmosphere. You get lots of great support.

‘We had nearly 900 finishers overall and the Pieces of Eight was sold out long in advance.

‘Around £2,000 was raised for the RNLI on the day. It’s important to help ensure people are aware of what they do here as well and this is a great event for the city.

‘We had more toilets this time which was a big thing because when we did the first event 10 years ago we had a complaint about not having enough.

‘Oliver Teenan was impressive and although Ashley Leigh was closing in on him in the final kilometre or so he managed to take the victory.

‘Emma Montiel was a long way ahead and one of the stand-out performances for me was from Tracey Lloyd-Jones who was first in the 50 to 59 age group and ran it in 46.36.’

White, who also won in 2016, fought off the challenge from George Little, (47.23) with Ben Terry (48.07) taking third place.

Denmead Striders duo Gary Armstrong (48.16) and Lee Mawson (48.44) finished fourth and fifth as they both ran well.

Simon Johnson, of Portsmouth Triathletes, was eighth in 50.09.

Baffins Fitclub had a great turnout for the races.

Lucas Fuller won the under-20 category with a good time of 50.50 and Xiaopei Lockwood finished second lady in 55.56.

Kirsty Bailey, of Denmead Striders, completed the podium spots as she finished third in 57.21.

Next up for Believe & Achieve events is the Ghost Race on Friday, November 3 and then the St Andrews Day run on Thursday, November 30.

In December it is the seafront Santa family 5k, 10k and mile and then the marathon festival.