North Midlands Cross Country League fixture 4 - Wollaton Park

Sarah in action

First trophy in this league

Grantham Running Club's cross country captain Sarah High brought the cross country season to a triumphant conclusion by winning her overall age category for this year's competition. GRC were represented by a strong team on a technical and testing course at the fourth and final fixture of the North Midlands Cross Country League which took place at Wollaton Park, Nottingham. Sarah lead home the ladies team with Caroline Davis, who was donning her spikes for the first time after injury, closely followed by Nicola Cottam, who had competed in all four races in this seasons league.

In the longer men's race veteran Rob Howbrook was the first man home just ahead of the fast finishing Peter Bonner, who like Daniel Howson and Kevin Kettle had also chalked up all four races. Other finishers in order were Chris Toon and Andrew MacAllister.

Nos Galan Races

On New Year's Eve, Grantham Running Club's Andrew Pask competed in the prestigious Nos Galan Races in Mountain Ash, South Wales. The event which commemorates the life of legendary runner Guto Nyth Brân who died tragically during a race in 1737 draws athletes from across the UK and 10,000 supporters to the streets. Each year excitement builds for the arrival of a mystery runner who’s always a famous person from the world of sport. This year there were two - former Wales rugby captain Colin Charvis and former world champion boxer Nathan Cleverly were given the honour. After the children's races, torch lighting ceremony and fireworks Andrew Pask in the elite race was anxious to get the 19:00 start underway. In a national standard field, Andrew finished the three lap 5k race in 132nd with a time of 20:00. 

Speaking after the race he said ‘As always it was a privilege to line-up in such a high quality, national standard field. It was tough and I had given up hope of hitting my target of a sub 20min race until I saw the race clock on the finish straight. I raced to the line narrowly missing my target by 1second.’

Andrew then sportingly joined his sister and over 1,000 other for the mass race running exactly the same course.

Position	Time	Name		Category		Grading	Ranking
132	20:00	Andrew Pask		MV35		66.30%	N/A

Nottingham Christmas Marathon

Lucinda's first marathon

The first Sunday of advent took a handful of Grantham Running Club members to Holme Pierrepont for the Nottingham Christmas Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K. The event involved running laps of the rowing lake ranging from one lap for the 5K to almost nine laps for the marathon. It's a very flat course and the weather conditions were good - a nice mild day. There was live music and a grandstand finish as well as a bespoke Christmas medal and turkey sandwiches for all finishers.

Taking part in the marathon was Lucinda Gamble who only started running 18 months previously & is a graduate of GRC's '10 weeks to 10K' programme. She built up gradually to this race progressing from 5K parkruns to a half marathon race before taking on the full marathon distance. She finished in 5:27:48 - a fantastic achievement for her first attempt at running 26.2 miles. Regular marathon runner Nick Payne also took part crossing the line in a solid 4:05:21.

Running the 5K were Peter Bonner and Louise Kennedy. Peter came home in 20:26 finishing 10th overall in a field of 200 runners. He also placed first in the Male Veteran 40 category. 'Couch to 5K' graduate Louise, who is new to racing, crossed the line in a very respectable 34:20. She will, no doubt, be looking to beat this time in the future and maybe even make the step up to 10K further down line.

Position	Time	Name		Category		Grading	Ranking
120	4:05:21	Nick Payne		MV40		52.17%	N/A
201	5:27:48	Lucinda Gamble		FV35		42.45%	N/A

Hoka One One Stockport 10

Two members of Grantham Club took part in the Hoka One One Stockport 10 mile road race in South Manchester on Sunday. The undulating course provided a stiff early winter test, mainly on the road, but with a short 1½ mile muddy off road section. There were two challenging climbs at 5 miles and 8½ miles. The course, although well marshaled was not traffic free and runners took responsibility for the their own safety and awareness of hazards along the way. This year's event was run in dry conditions however it was wet underfoot after significant rainfall the previous week. 994 runners finished the race. Paul came home in 160th position in a time of 1:10:00. Lizzie Potter, racing the distance for the first time, finished in 1:38:38.

Position	Time	Name		Category		Grading	Ranking
160	70:00	Paul Rushworth		MV 40		67.49%	744
848	98:38	Lizzie Potter		F SEN		50.37%	N/A

North Midlands Cross Country League - Fixture 3 Heanor

A total of twelve runners from Grantham Running Club made the trip to Shipley Park in Heanor on Sunday to take part in the third fixture of the North Midlands Cross Country League. The course was challenging to say the least with constant undulations and sticky mud which was no doubt made worse by the wintry weather during the week. The weather on the day was mild and overcast with very little wind.
The ladies raced first and
& tackled a two lap course of approximately 6km. They had no choice but to embrace the mud from the start. First home was Sarah High in a time of 37.40. Justyna Gill put in a good run and was second lady back in 45.28. Nicola Cottam and Nicola Fahy, both nursing injuries, brought home the team in 46.00 and 46.06 respectively. The team are now 9th in the veteran ladies league with one more fixture remaining.
Next the men took on a course of approximately 10km (closer to 6 miles) consisting of one short lap & two long laps. By this time the course was even muddier thanks to the men's race being last on the schedule. Veteran Rob Howbrook led the way for GRC with a fine performance. He recorded a time of 43:30 and was closely followed by Dan Towey (43:37) & Gav Meadows (43:50). Next home was Matthew Williamson (44:41) who was disappointed with his run after suffering the effects of a stitch throughout the race.
Peter Bonner finished in 46:15 and commented afterwards that he may have started the race too fast and paid the price. He was followed by Kevin Kettle (51:06) and Daniel Howson (54:45). Last but by no means least was Andrew McAllister who finished in 57:59. Despite having four female and eight male runners taking part, GRC are struggling to be competitive across the different age/gender categories due to more numbers being required.