Newton's Fraction Half Marathon

Thirty-nine members of Grantham Running Club took part in the Newton’s Fraction Half Marathon on Sunday 8^th September.  Hosted by Grantham Athletic Club, it is currently the only road running race to take place in Grantham. Starting and ending at the Meres Athletics Track, the course takes runners out via the canal path towards the Vale of Belvoir and brings them back to Grantham via the infamous Woolsthorpe and Casthorpe hills - which have broken many a competitor over the years.

3rd Place for Chris in 80:02

Having been rescheduled to September after the ‘Beast from the East’ postponed the event in March 2018, the race retained its September slot and benefitted from near perfect conditions - a far cry from the very hot conditions that saw the entire field suffer twelve months earlier. An unseasonably cool night with light winds and clear skies produced temperatures in the low to mid teens come the 10:30 race start, although the midday sun still made the going feel a little on the warm side when not in shade.

As in 2018 first home for Grantham Running Club was Chris Limmer, a runner who enjoys a hilly course and ran excellently to finish third in his quickest half marathon time since 2015. Agonisingly close to breaking 80 minutes with 1:20:02, after the race Chris commented to the hosts: “I’m slightly surprised to be on the podium, but I’m absolutely buzzing! I love the atmosphere and I love the hills!”

Team prize for GRC Ladies

Finishing behind Chris, Matt Williamson was pleased with sixteenth place in 1:27:19 with Tony Johnson completing the men’s team in 1:30:38, which was good for thirtieth place.  Annoyingly the team missed out on securing the men’s prize by one point. Had Matthew Kingston-Lee been able to actually race rather than run the course ahead of everyone else due to work commitments, his sub 1:22 performance would have secured the club the men’s team prize.

First GRC woman home was Catherine Payne who ran a season’s best 1:38:39. She was followed by Hannah San Jose, who made full use of the superior weather conditions to smash her existing half marathon PB (Set on her debut at the 2018 Fraction) by nine and a half minutes, clocking 1:47:14. She was closely followed by Caroline Davis who ran very well to finish just outside her PB in 1:47:30. This performance not only secured the GRC women a well deserved team prize, Caroline also won the V45 age category and moreover came home with a Lincolnshire Runner trainer voucher to the value of £120 having won the race’s spot prize! There was success too for Sarah High who won the V55 age category after clocking exactly two hours.

FV45 prize for Caroline in 1:47:30

Although a few runners from GRC used the race as a training run for upcoming autumn marathons, the race saw a number of personal bests and first time half marathon performances from the club. Joe Diggins moved closer to breaking ninety minutes with a fine 1:30:59 thirty seven seconds quicker than his previous best. Cameron Hoggan was over three minutes quicker than his 13.1 mile debut at Newark in August with 1:43:07. Michelle Parczuk saw a very impressive near eight minute improvement on her previous half marathon effort in 2018 with 1:48:37. Chris Matsell recorded his first official race finish with 1:49:01 and Paul Kelly completed his first half marathon not far behind in 1:50:15.

It was a debut half marathon for Matt Fryer too, who finished in 1:56:69 and the first recorded half marathon finish for Richard Smith (1:57:23). Naomi Jepson-Rivers (1:58:38) ran well to break two hours on her half marathon debut. Steven Green was exactly ten minutes quicker than at his half marathon debut in 2018, clocking 2:02:03. Sylv Hull (2:09:09) put in a fine performance to better her half

FV55 prize for Sarah in 2:00:00

marathon PB by over four minutes.

Dale Towning completed his first half marathon in 2:09:13 and Catherine Wallace completed her first race of any kind after ten months of regular outings at Belton House parkrun, clocking 2:09:17. Clare Martin recorded her first race performance with 2:10:05. Claire Piggott completed her first half marathon in 2:13:56 and Victoria Hardy was another to make their race debut at the Fraction, completing the race in 2:14:34.

The race was won by local runner Jake Richardson of Lincoln Wellington AC who came close to predicting his finishing time of 1:12:12 on a GRC training run a few days before the race. The women’s winner was Nora Battermann of West End Runners in 01:29:45. There were 318 finishers.

GRC Results:

Name	Time
Chris Limmer	80:02
Matthew Williamson	87:19
Tony Johnson	90:38
Joe Diggins	90:59
Richard Payne	93:31
Nick Rossington	96:57
Samuel Jepson-Rivers	98:34
Catherine Payne	98:39
Cameron Hoggan	1:43:07
Simon Smith	1:43:54
Hannah San Jose	1:47:14
Caroline Davis	1:47:30
Gav Meadows	1:47:49
Michelle Parczuk	1:48:37
Stuart Reader	1:48:54
Chris Matsell	1:49:01
Paul Kelly	1:50:15
Sam Dodwell	1:50:40
Martin Rodell	1:52:55
Ben Mason	1:53:48
Matt Fryer	1:56:59
Richard Smith	1:57:23
Paul Jepson	1:58:17
Katie Bland	1:58:26
Naomi Jepson-Rivers	1:58:38
Jack Dodwell	1:58:45
Sarah High	2:00:00
Mark Edwards	2:00:11
Steven Green	2:02:03
Martin Carter	2:06:57
Sylv Hull	2:09:09
Dale Towning	2:09:13
Catherine Wallace	2:09:17
Claire Martin	2:10:05
Carole Pigott	2:13:56
Vicki Hardy	2:14:34
Tracy Webb	2:15:47
Kate Marshall	2:15:52
Belinda Baker	2:19:44