Peterborough New Year’s Eve 10K

Four members of Grantham Running Club celebrated the end of 2019 by participating in the Peterborough New Year's Eve 10K at the scenic Ferry Meadows area of Nene Park. Heavy rain and flooding in preceding weeks had deposited lots of debris and left paths on the planned multi-terrain course unsuitable for racing, leading to a last minute change of route to avoid flood risk areas. The switch to a road-certified course meant that the route was run entirely on tarmac, albeit it muddy and slippery in places.

The new course took in the varied landscapes of the large country park, and the first question on everyone's lips was soon answered - yes, the famous bouncing bridge still featured on the amended route! Although the course was road certified, results have been currently officially classified as multi-terrain, making the race not eligible for 10K Personal Bests on the Power of 10 website.

Fastest 10k for Kate

The December weather was kinder than in recent weeks, with runners enjoying a dry, crisp and bright morning for this enjoyable race. First home for the club was Tony Johnson in a time of 00:41:25. Having had a busy month of racing, Tony enjoyed seeing the year out at Ferry Meadows and was pleased that the mud wasn't as bad as he had feared upon reading the course description.

First woman home for the club was Kate Marshall, whose time of 00:57:17 represented her fastest 10k race time to date. Claire Fritz was next home in 01:00:28, again a fastest recorded time over the distance. Tracy Webb completed the trio of GRC ladies in a time of 01:01:07.

Runners were rewarded for their efforts with goodie bags, T-shirt's and medals. The GRC runners enjoyed celebrating the New Year at this well organised and engaging race, and look forward to racing in the beautiful surroundings of Ferry Meadows again. The race was won by James McCrae of Hallamshire Harriers in 00:31:24, with Beth Pascall of Belper Harriers the winning woman in 00:37:24.