Western Power Distribution Derby 10

Against all odds the Western Power Distribution Derby 10 Mile road race was held successfully on Sunday 17^th November and saw thirty one members of Grantham Running Club take part in what was for them the penultimate round of their club’s Grand Prix Series. 

The well documented flooding that has struck swathes of the region badly affected Derby and rendered many parts of the original Derby 10 course impassable, including its passage through Elvaston Castle Country Park. With the rain in Derby unrelenting in the days leading to the race, in particular on the Thursday when the traffic was brought to a virtual standstill with major roads closed, many were convinced that the race simply couldn’t go ahead.

Undeterred the Derby 10 Race Team announced on the Friday evening that the race would indeed take place. Having worked with closely with Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council, they declared they’d be using the ‘sixth contingency route’ which they incredibly managed to get officially measured with less than 48 hours notice so that the race would be recognised for British Athletics Power of 10 profiles. 

Although the course, in the words of the Race Director, ‘would not be favoured by all’ featuring an abundance of out and back sections with numerous tight hairpin turns on the mostly footpath based course that was narrow and muddy in a few flood affected sections, the overwhelming majority of those who raced appreciated all the efforts of the organisers, marshals, and volunteers who, on top of everything, had to cope with one final downpour of rain that began thirty minutes before the race began and persisted in some form for the majority of the event. 

Setting off outside Derby Arena in the first of nine staggered start waves, implemented to minimise congestion on the course, Matthew Kingston-Lee was first home for Grantham Running Club. Not feeling quite 100% following his lengthy lay off with a heavy cold, he struggled particularly in the final third of the race but, spurred on by the support of virtually the entire ‘Green Army’ whose paths he crossed on numerous occasions en route, he was pleased to finish eighth overall and just thirty seconds outside his 10 mile PB in 57:50, collecting the prize for first V40 as a result.

Next home for GRC was Matthew Williamson, who ran excellently to finish in 1:03:00, just twenty seconds slower than his PB set at the 2018 Derby 10 held on arguably a quicker course. Third to finish for the club was Rob Howbrook, who put in an incredible performance to better his ten mile PB by just under a minute with 1:06:14. Any tinge of disappointment in finishing second in the V60 age category may be dissipated with his age grade of 83.81% seeing his slender one point lead in the Club’s GP Series nearly trebled thanks to out-scoring title-rival MKL, who could ‘only’ muster 82.98% in the tricky conditions.

First GRC lady home was Holly Durham who, in her first outing since the heroic 99 mile solo effort at the Equinox 24 Hour Race, reaped the benefits of the training and subsequent recovery period to finish fifteenth female in a fine 1:10:40. This was some two and a half minutes inside her previous 10 mile best set at Heckington in July and just two seconds off the time she set at the same race in 2018 which was subsequently declared short due to a course error. Holly was followed by Catherine Payne who, in her first ten mile race in over two years, ran a solid 1:13:47, with Holly’s sister Penny Hodges coming home next for GRC in a very respectable 1:16:16.

Personal bests at the Derby ten mile were set by: Peter Bonner (1:07:39) who was pleased, given the course and conditions, to better his PB by 25 seconds; and Kate Marshall, who beat her previous best set at Derby twelve months ago by an impressive five and a half minutes with 1:36:13. There was a distance best of nearly nine minutes for Rick Dobbs (1:27:52) who had previously run 1:36:49 at the multi-terrain Tadworth 10 in 2016. 

Those making their debut over the fairly rarely staged (in modern times at least) ten mile distance were: Aaron Smith, 1:12:24; Kevin Kettle, 1:16:54; Michelle Parczuk, 1:20:12; Paul Kelly, 1:20:26; Stuart Baty, 1:24:38; Caroline Davis, 1:25:25; Dale Towning, 1:26:21; Rick Dobbs, 1:27:52; Nicola Cottam, 1:29:38; Martin Carter, 1:30:54; Vicki Ball, 1:33:05; Kathleen Gray, 1:36:40; Suzanne Hardy, 1:48:55; Tracey Gell, 1:48:55; Vicki Platts, 1:48:57; Angela Carr, 1:49:16; Sara Pask, 1:49:18; and Samantha French, 1:58:52. There was disappointment for Tommy Napier, also making his ten mile debut, who had been on course to run around eighty six minutes, but unfortunately tripped and fell at just after seven miles and pulled his hamstring. He limped home in 1:37:53.  

Of the other finishers, Gav Meadows (1:08:28) succinctly described the race as ‘A6 – how inspiring!’ Stefan Latter, finishing in 1:13:36, was full of praise for the race, enjoying in particular the free pre-race massage. Rob McArdle ran well to break 70% on age grade with 1:17:36. Sarah High (1:26:24) completed her first ten mile race since 2013 and Nichola Webster (1:37:42) had taken part in the race last year and will definitely sign up to run it again. Finally Louise Kennedy went one better than Nichola and signed up for next year’s race just hours after completing the 2019 edition in 2:10:52.

The race was won by Ben Connor of Derby Athletic Club in 49:42 with Alice Thackray of Charnwood AC the winning woman in 1:02:56. There were 1623 finishers.