Stilton Stumble 10K

On Sunday 13^th October the sell-out Stilton Stumble 10k took place, for the second year running, in horrendously wet and rainy conditions. The race, which starts and finishes in Cropwell Bishop, features a mostly flat and fast course but the sheer volume of rain that has fallen in recent weeks and on the morning of the race itself meant that much of the course was riddled with deep puddles.

Undeterred, fourteen members of Grantham Running Club were tempted by the annual reward of Stilton, sourced locally from the Cropwell Bishop and the neighbouring Colston Bassett, which the course runs through. Finishers also received a medal for the first time since the race’s inception in 2013.

Wendy Smith

With arguably the performance of the day Michelle Parczuk made light work of the poor conditions, coming home first GRC female finisher with a new PB of 49:08. This took twenty one seconds off her previous best set in June’s Summer Solstice 10K.

Stefan Latter was first GRC male finisher in 44:20, around half a minute off his season’s best. Not far behind were Aaron Smith and Ben Stafford, who had set themselves a target of breaking 45 minutes for their first ever 10K race. They both managed to do this, crossing the finish line together in 44:48. Another notable performance came from Wendy Smith, who clocked 1:08:46 in her first ever race.

Performing admirably to even finish in the poor conditions, the other Grantham Running Club finishers were: Stuart Reader, 46:30; Paul Kelly 48:25, Stuart Baty, 50:05; Paul Jepson, 52:14; Tommy Napier, 51:40; Naomi Jepson-Rivers, 53:52; Jacquline Anderson, 58:27; Vivien Durham, 1:05:16; and Simon Hartley, 1:07:00.

The men’s race was won by Philip Nind of Holme Pierrepont RC in a time of 35:00 with Emily Smith of Barrow Runners the women’s winner in 38:58. There were 481 finishers.