Sleaford Half Marathon

Twenty five members of Grantham Running Club made the short journey to Sleaford to take part in the town’s half marathon on Sunday 5^th May 2019. A year on from the 2018 edition that took place in the midst of a heatwave, this year’s event took place in conditions that were chilly even for a typical Bank Holiday weekend, although thankfully runners, marshals, and spectators were spared the hail storms and the worst of the arctic winds that swept through the region on the Saturday. While more sedentary folk may have bemoaned the cool conditions, they provided a catalyst for an extraordinary day of success for the GRC, with no less than fourteen setting new personal best times.

First to finish for the club was 2018 Sleaford Half Marathon runner-up Matthew Kingston-Lee. Not quite able to match the achievement this time around, third placed Matthew had a somewhat lonely race minutes ahead of the nearest competition but not quite able to keep up with the second placed finisher after they had run the opening three miles together. Blaming post Manchester Marathon fatigue after the race, Matthew’s finishing time of 1:16:22 is a season’s best but surprisingly slightly slower than his 2018 time, held in much tougher conditions. 

Holly

Tony Johnson (and others to follow) made a mockery of Matthew’s excuses when he finished a superb ninth overall and first V50 runner, clocking a season’s best 1:24:04 just a week after running 2:59 at the London Marathon. With the race being the sixth round of the club’s Grand Prix Series, Tony will move considerably up the standings with his gold standard 81.75% being his highest ever age grade with the club.

Third home for GRC was Peter Bonner (1:27:21), who came away from the race very pleased with a 30 second PB, was partly inspired by battling with Lincoln Wellington AC competitors for a team competition that turned out to not actually exist! Matt Kidd was equally pleased to better his old PB by over three minutes, his 1:28:20 comfortably under the magic ninety minute barrier. Joe Diggins (1:31:36) may have been just outside that landmark time, but his huge fourteen minute improvement from his HM debut at the 2018 Sleaford race suggests that barrier is imminently beatable. Andy Atter, who boasts a 1:27 half marathon PB, was pleased to see his recent form continue to improve - 1:32:41 was thirty seconds quicker than at the recent Belvoir Half.

Holly Durham was the first GRC female to finish, coming home an excellent fifth in the women’s race with 1:34:42, over a minute faster than she ran in March’s Retford Half Marathon. Just as at Retford, she was followed by Joss Smith (1:37:41) who was a fine sixth in the women’s race. Kevin Kettle (1:37:58) finished shortly after, claiming fiftieth position overall and bettering his PB by 93 seconds. Simon Smith (1:39:09) whose previous PB, like Kevin’s, came from the 2018 Worksop Half Marathon, also benefitted from the flatter, quicker course, to better his old best by nearly three minutes.

Stefan Latter was not in the best of health suffering from a chest infection and began to struggle from

the seven mile marker. Nonetheless his 1:41:50 was a minute quicker than his previous PB. He was one of many to praise the slick organisation from the hosting club Sleaford Striders, who deserved to receive greater participation than the 301 runners who finished the race.

Caroline Davis is another runner who has raced extensively in 2019 and has shown no signs of slowing. Just a week on from the London Marathon, her second marathon in April, Caroline stormed around the Sleaford course in 1:47:05, an improvement of over a minute on her old HM PB. Very much a novice in comparison, Martin Rodell followed Caroline in 1:49:37, a near five minute improvement on his debut half marathon at Boston three weeks prior.

Behind Martin, Nicola Cottam (1:51:55) ran very well four weeks on from the Manchester Marathon to better her old PB by over four minutes. In quite possibly her first ever race, Kate Bland ran well to break two hours, clocking 1:55:41, 42 seconds ahead of Julie Gilbert (1:56:23) who was ‘chuffed’ to smash that barrier and her PB by over five minutes, despite running both the Manchester and London Marathons.

Rachel Pattison bettered her old PB by some sixteen minutes with a fine 2:05:04 and Hazel Dunthorne (2:05:33) was nearly two minutes up on her old best. Tracey Smith (2:07:45) showed no ill effects from her marathon debut at Peterborough in April with a pleasing four minute improvement on her old PB. Henrietta McCabe finished closely behind on her half marathon debut in 2:08:25, with Kate Marshall next to cross the line in 2:10:41, nearly two minutes faster than her previous best HM time.

Completing the compliment of GRC runners were: Nicola Fahy (2:13:44); Belinda Baker (2:16:01); Ros Sadler (2:17:19); and Louise Kennedy (2:32:40), who was able to celebrate a seventy second PB in her second ever half marathon at the club’s well attended ‘Beer ‘n’ Bling’ event later that evening.

The race was won by Wayne Lathwell of Lincoln Wellington AC in 1:13:11 with Emma Hodson of Cambridge University Hare and Hounds the winning woman in 1:20:01.

The Beer and Bling evening

GEAR 10K

Clive George and Julia Hallam of Grantham Running Club headed to King’s Lynn on Sunday 5^th May to take part in the ASDA Foundation Run For All GEAR (Great East Anglia Run) 10K, a popular event with over 2300 finishers who enjoyed a flat, scenic course and pleasant conditions for racing.

Clive enjoyed the experience as much as you can in a hard run 10K, clocking 47:24. Julia had a fine run to take over 90 seconds off her previous 10K best set in April’s Lincoln 10K, clocking 1:04:42.

The race was won by Adrian Mussett of Colchester Harriers AC in 32:46 with Kathryn Matthias of City of Norwich AC the winning female in 38:42 and Kate Craven the first gender non-binary finisher in 58:30.

North Lincolnshire Half Marathon

Three members of Grantham Running Club travelled to the north of the county on Sunday 5^th May to take part in the North Lincolnshire Half Marathon. The well regarded race hosted by Tape2Tape began at Quibell Park in Scunthorpe and sent runners along a fast and flat course aided by near perfect weather conditions, albeit the light breeze blowing was a little troublesome at times with little shelter along the country lanes.

Rob Howbrook was the first GRC finisher to cross the finishing line, securing the V60 age category prize by just ten seconds based on gun time in a hard fought affair with Garry Perkins of Wolds Veteran RC. Continuing to show the superb form that earned him multiple club championship titles in 2017, Rob’s chip time of 1:28:35 was his fastest half marathon since he ran seven seconds quicker at the same event two years ago.

Following Rob, Hayley Staff put in a fine run to not only smash her PB by over fourteen minutes but to break the two hour barrier, clocking a chip finish time of 1:58:02. She was followed by Nichola Webster, who benefited from kinder conditions than at the 2018 Newton’s Fraction to take over ten minutes off her half marathon PB, clocking a fine 2:05:28.

The race was won by William Strangeway of Lincoln Wellington AC in 1:07:53 with Laura Kaye of the same club the winning female in 1:23:09. There were 1543 finishers.

Thames Path 100

On Saturday 4^th May, Grantham Running Club’s Chris Limmer lined up, for the second year running, on the start line of the Thames Path 100 mile race in Richmond, South West London.  In 2018 a combination of insufficient training and the extremely warm conditions meant that he was forced to retire at halfway, vowing to return in 2019 physically and mentally better prepared to complete the entire 100 mile course.

The race, which had just over 300 starters, commenced shortly after the 09:20 pre-race briefing and pack check to ensure possession of mandatory kit. The first few hours of Chris’ race were largely uneventful. Sticking to a strategy of taking short walking breaks after every 20-30 minutes of easy paced running meant he arrived in Staines at 20 miles looking and feeling fresh. It was here where he first met up with his brother David, who would be running with Chris much later in the race.

Miles 20-50 were made more eventful by the unpredictable weather. Although the race began pleasantly mild and breezy, there were no less than three hail storms in the afternoon and early evening which saw competitors scurrying under bridges and doorways to retrieve their waterproof coats from their packs. This section of the race saw Chris pick up the pace, climbing from 200^th at mile 12 to 59^th place when he arrived at the halfway point in Henley - psychologically a crucial juncture for it was here where Chris through in the towel twelve months earlier.

At this checkpoint Chris had a bag waiting with a change of clothes and some hot food to help replenish himself. From Henley to the race finish in Oxford competitors were permitted to have someone run alongside them. University friend Emma was the first of several who helped pace Chris, reaching the 58 mile checkpoint in Reading in eleven hours as darkness fell and the head torches came on for the long run into the night and beyond.

GRC’s Adrian Walker took over pacing duties at just after 66 miles. With a third of the race still to run (a ‘mere’ marathon and a few miles more) Chris was still able to maintain a steady pace and was beginning to feel confident of not just completing it but doing so in less than 24 hours.  The 12 mile section with Adrian contained some of the toughest terrain to run on with numerous rutted sections and littered with trip hazards as well as a number of surprisingly steep climbs given the generally flat nature of the Thames Path.  Having suffered so badly with the heat in 2018, it was perhaps ironic that now nighttime temperatures close to freezing point were now making keeping warm a real concern. Chris found that keeping going, no matter how slowly, was the best solution to this unexpected problem.

Chris met his penultimate pacer, brother David, at mile 79, with Chris, it is safe to say, not looking quite as fresh as he did when they were last together 13 hours and 59 miles earlier. For Chris this would mentally be the toughest section of the race for the walking breaks were getting longer and the running pace was slowing. With lots of long grass and yet more ruts to contend with Chris had to waste precious reserves of energy lifting his feet up to avoid a slip or a trip.

Chris and David arrived at the 85 mile checkpoint at 3:15am. After 18 hours on foot, the effort was taking its toll on Chris and he spent longer than planned at the checkpoint before resuming in the cold Oxfordshire countryside to tackle the final 15 miles.  This is a distance Chris and his brother can comfortably cover in an hour forty five, Chris knew that those nighttime miles could easily take double that time.

With the encouragement of his brother, after a couple of miles Chris began running more regularly, listening intently for David's watch to bleep to indicate the end of another mile and another mile closer to the finish of the Thames Path 100. By Abingdon at mile 91, as the sun began to slowly rise from the east, Chris was close to exhaustion.  Chris’ final pacer Ed had the unenviable task of persuading Chris to the finish line. This he attempted with a little tough love and friendly nagging to try and coax an unwilling Chris to try and keep running for sustained periods. 

An hour or so later and just a couple of miles from the finish, Chris’ walking pace barely slower than his running pace. As a result, he decided to walk the final stages as briskly as he could. Passing the last few bridges on the approach to the finish, the emotions pent up over the course of the race began to bubble up - the first tears of pride and exhaustion beginning to form.  Turning left and off the Thames for the last time he finally approached the finish line. The welled up tears began to fall from weary eyes as Chris mustered one final run to the end, cheered on by many of his support crew, who had barely slept themselves.

Crossing the finish line just before 7am, 21 hours 24 minutes and 56 seconds after the start, Chris was quickly handed his finishers’ buckle before being reunited with his crew. Overwhelmed and thoroughly exhausted, Chris had done it! Not only had he defeated the race which had badly beaten him up twelve months earlier, he finished in a highly respectable fiftieth place overall.

The race was won in an incredible 14:36:25 Ian Hammett of Bedford Harriers, just 26 minutes outside the course record. GB International Ultra Runner Debbie Martin-Consani  won the women’s race in 17:40:08, finishing tenth overall. Of the 309 starters 225 finished, with 123 being awarded a special 100 miles in 1 day belt buckle.