Langtoft 10k Road Race

The thirtieth edition of the Langtoft 10k Road Race, held on Sunday 5^th May, attracted fourteen members of Grantham Running Club with the promise of a flat, fast course in the heart of Lincolnshire Fenland. Starting and ending in the village of Langtoft, the ‘P’ shaped course takes in the villages of Greatford and Barholm en route. Sunday dawned cool and calm, with the forecast predicting stronger winds later in the day. By 11:15am the race was held in favorable conditions, if a little cold for the time of year, in stark contrast to 2018’s hot and humid affair. The race attracted an impressive roster of running talent with elite runner Aaron Scott returning to racing after a six month hiatus and Grantham local Jake Richardson, returning to defend his 2018 win.

For GRC, an intriguing tussle between Matthew Williamson and Joaquim ‘Flash’ Jeronimo unfolded over the course of the race. Indicative of his moniker, Joaquim made a lightening start, holding Williamson off for the opening four miles. A determined effort from Matthew saw him overhaul the deficit then continued to power through to finish in a very respectable twelfth position - thrilled with a minute plus improvement over his old PB with 37:48. Joaquim was happy too with his efforts to place a similarly respectable sixteenth - 38:21 just ten seconds outside his PB set recently at Lincoln.

Next home was Gav Meadows who was delighted to finish in his second quickest ever 10K time of 39:28, a time he felt particularly happy with given his marathon specific preparations in recent months. Creeping inside the top fifty was Sam Jepson-Rivers who continued his recent ‘PB beating’ form by crossing the line in 42:31, an 11 second improvement from Gainsborough in March.

Nick Rossington pipped Paul Rushworth to the finishing line, with the former coming in at 43:11 – securing an excellent age grading of 74.57%. Paul crossed the line just 26 seconds behind, content at least that his 43:37 all but matched his time set at last November’s Leeds Abbey Dash. Next home, Paul Kelly was elated to record a new PB of 45:11, taking almost 2 minutes off his hitherto best 10k time. Enjoying the course, he has resolved to ‘break 45’ at his next 10k venture. Returning to Langtoft for his twelfth visit, Paul Jepson once again turned in a solid performance, having started in a reserved manner, to clock 51:42.

First GRC woman to finish was Suzanne Britz, who was pleased with her opening race performance of 2019 to cross the line in just 18 seconds behind Paul. Venturing into sprint triathlons of late, she returned to her ‘first love’ of road running with some aplomb to finish in exactly 52:00. The vastly improved Naomi Jepson-Rivers continued her excellent spate of results to record her fourth consecutive 10K PB of 2019; 53:16 was a 78 second improvement on her Lincoln 10K time set in early April.

A few minutes later, a trio of GRC ladies spurred each other on to some fine performances. Yvonne Buckley crossed the finish in 1:00:57, just a minute outside her longstanding PB. Two seconds later Suzanne Hardy improved on her debut 10K at Lincoln by nearly two minutes to clock 1:00:59, and just two more seconds followed before a jubilant Claire Fritz finished in 1:01:01, bettering her old PB by nearly ninety seconds and making a target of breaking the hour a distinct possibility.

Finally for GRC, Alexandra Platt ran her first ever road race to establish a 10K PB of 01:08:59. Having clearly enjoyed the thrill of racing, she promptly entered another event that same day!

358 runners completed the Langtoft 10K and were rewarded with a medal to mark the 30^th Anniversary of the race. The supporting 3K Fun Run proved nearly as popular, with 239 taking part.

The male winner was Aaron Scott, representing the newly affiliated Helpston Harriers, who broke the 25 year old course record with 30:57. The winning woman was Chloe Finlay of Peterborough AC in a time of 37:15.