Leanne Finch began the 2026 Sportlink Grand Prix Series in perfect fashion, producing a breakthrough performance to take victory at the Reedham Ten and achieve a long-held personal goal in the process.
The Bure Valley Harriers athlete stopped the clock on the hour mark, delivering a huge new personal best and securing the opening women’s win of the series in ideal racing conditions.
Finch admitted afterwards that the performance slightly exceeded expectations, but credited the conditions, the course and her preparation for helping everything fall into place on the day.
“I didn’t really have a plan going into it,” she told Sportlink TV. “I always want a PB, but I didn’t think I was going to get one. In the end, I just tried to run my 10K pace and hang on for as long as I could.”
That approach paid off as Finch settled into rhythm early and managed the undulating course impressively, even as the effort began to bite in the closing miles.
“I got to about eight miles and I was really feeling it,” she added. “But I managed to keep it together. When I heard it was an hour on the nose, I was absolutely chuffed. That’s about a minute-40 PB for me and exactly what I’d been aiming for.”
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Behind Finch, her Bure Valley Harriers club-mate Rebecca Moore claimed second place in 1:02:27, while Harriet Carr (Wymondham AC) completed the podium in 1:03:04, setting a new personal best.
A key theme of Finch’s post-race reflections was the impact of her training environment, with Bure Valley Harriers continuing to produce strong performances across the local road-running scene.
“We’ve got a really good group of runners,” Finch said. “A lot of us seem to be getting quicker and quicker. I just love running with them – it’s such a supportive group, the sessions are really good, and I’ve definitely improved since training with them.”
While Finch has yet to lock in a full race schedule for the year ahead, the Reedham result has opened the door to exploring longer distances.
“I’m normally more of a 10K runner, but I’m really enjoying this distance,” she said. “I like the half marathon too, so I’ll probably build towards some of those and see what comes up.”
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