Thorney 5

On Sunday 19th September 12 Grantham Running Club members made their way down to Peterborough to take part in the Thorney 5 which is held at Bedford Hall each year and organised by Thorney Running Club. This 5 mile road race covers the length of the village and being fast and flat had potential for personal bests for many. Thankfully the weather was somewhat cooler than previous weeks though there was a strong cross wind on the more exposed parts of the course, which being an out and back race, meant that it had to be dealt with twice. This made the mid-section of the race especially tough going.

First back for GRC was Matthew Atter, in his first 5 mile race, in 15th position overall and a time of 30:46. Richard Payne achieved a new PB by 7 seconds with his time of 31:37 and 19th place. Dean Riggall won his age category (MV40) with his time of 32:02 so came home with a trophy (which apparently wasn’t trophy-like enough according to his son!) and 23rd place overall.

Joaquim Jeronimo battled with a stitch after setting off fast which caused him to walk for a spell but still fought back to finish in 25th place and a time of 32:09. Robert McArdle came in next in 70th position with a time of 36:30. Russell Maksymiw was next back with a time of 37:24 and 79th place.

Suzanne Britz was first of the GRC women to finish with a time of 42:27 and 128th place. This was especially impressive as she had just had 3 weeks of holiday indulgence so found it more challenging than expected. Coming 4th in her age category was an added bonus. Next was Nichola Webster who set off fast and achieved a time of 43:20 and 137th place.

Sylv Hull arrived in a time of 44:53 and 153rd place in her second ever race.

Kathleen Gray achieved a time of 46:05 and 162nd place. Brendon Buckley was next and was very pleased to achieve a PB for 5 miles, beating his previous time, set at Bassingham 3 years ago, by almost 4 minutes. He came in at 47:41 and 170th place.

Kate Marshall, who reported that she was “broken” by the end of the race, having run a hard parkrun the previous morning, was happy with a time of 48:38 and 178th position.

The race was notably well organised, with great support from the locals and a splendid array of cake on offer at the end as well as a pretty weighty medal.  Definitely one for the diary next year.