Queens Platinum Jubilee 10k RAF Waddington

Thursday 7th April provided an unusual mid week lunchtime start for almost 100 runners taking part in the race to raise funds for the RAF Benevolent Fund. The event was split into 5k and 10k categories, with a well marshalled course starting from the playing field and passing a Vulcan XM607 before heading out onto the roads around the RAF Station.

Daniel Pearce was running for the first time in the green and black of Grantham Running Club, and ran 2 laps to complete the 10k distance in a time of 42:32. This led to a top 5 finish and took 1 minute 16 off his previous best set during a very wet Lincoln 10k last October.

Having been a non-runner prior to the lockdown in March 2020, it has been a couple of years of rapid improvement, and despite having to personally put the hard work in to earn the reward, it has only been possible with wonderful support from fellow runners and GRC members, proving to be a very welcoming community.

A massive thanks goes to Stefan Latter for being so encouraging and helpful. Hopefully the efforts in this run did the GRC proud.

 

London Landmark Half Marathon

Two members of Grantham Running Club took a trip to the Big Smoke to take part in the London Landmark half marathon on Sunday 3rd April. Organised by the baby charity Tommy's, as the name suggests, it was all about the views of the city landmarks while runners got to explore the capital.  It is also the only half marathon to go through both the City of London and the City of Westminster,

Starting at Pall Mall, the route took runners across the city, passing iconic landmarks including St Paul’s Cathedral, The Tower of London, Bank of England, Tower Bridge, Shard and the London Eye.  The finish line was on Downing Street .

The event had a party atmosphere with the route adorned with musical performances, DJs, dancers, charity cheer stations and so much more!

GRC members Suzanne Angeloni and Vicki Geeson ran for Tommy’s charity - raising over £800. It was a fantastic day with an incredible atmosphere, super well organised with 17,177 finishers.  Though they didn't grab a PB on the day, they crossed the finish line together at 2.49.06 and had a truly memorable race.

 

Manchester Marathon

Grantham Running Club had 14 members join the 24,000 strong field for this year's Manchester Marathon which doubled up as the English Commonwealth Games trials. Starting and finishing at the Old Trafford Cricket stadium, the race began in cold, near freezing temperatures. Setting off in waved starts, the growing piles of discarded clothing that runners were ditching as they ran through the start was evidence of the unusually cold temperatures on the day. However, as the race got going runners had the full benefit of ideal racing conditions with no wind to hamper their progress. Heading into the city centre for the early miles, runners then ran southwest towards Sale and Altrincham, before turning around to head northeast towards the finish at the famous cricket ground. 

The fastest on the day was the ever-improving Joe Diggins. After finishing last year's race an agonising 8s beyond the magical 3hr mark, he put this year's race in no doubt. Being less cautious, he attacked the race from the off and just ran as he felt. Blasting through halfway, well ahead of target, he ran a brilliant 2nd half to secure an outstanding PB time of 2:56:49. This placed him 3rd on the all-time GRC list. 

Next was an outstanding debut run from the talented Russel Whittaker. On his birthday of all days, a confident sub 3hr run was never in any doubt. Russel finished with 2:58:13 and will certainly go faster in races to come.

Next up in arguably the story of the day was Sam Jepson in what was supposed to be a taster marathon where he dropped out at halfway. Passing his planned dropout point, the untrained and underprepared Sam just kept going to see how he felt. Claiming the 2nd half of the race to be a complete blur, he just kept running and running. Knowing an unimaginable sub 3hr race was on the cards, he sprinted the finish straight to make it certain, eventually crossing the line with 2:59:50. Food for thought for Sam who’s never seriously considered marathons before. 

Then came seasoned marathon runner Andrew Pask, who loves the longer distances. Hoping to go close to the 3hr mark he struggled from 30k and had to grind out the remaining distance to clock 3:06:42, his 2nd fastest marathon. 

Richard Brewer was next with an outstanding 12min PB time of 3:11:32 in only his 2nd marathon. Darren Harley followed in his first marathon in at least 15 years. Darren, who isn’t a frequent racer, used his years of experience to pace a race well, clocking 3:16:25.

Impressive marathon debuts were made by; Peter Bonner – 3:19:17, Rick Dobbs – 4:20:44 and Phil Crowcroft – 4:33:39.

Veteran marathon and ulta runner Chris Limmer decided to race this event for Bliss, a charity that raises money for research into still born and premature babies. Dressed as Tinkerbell, Chris was frozen to the core at the start but soon warmed-up as the race got underway. Not totally marathon fit, Chris enjoyed his race and clocked 3:19:41, raising well over £600 for his chosen charity. 

Sam Dodwell, a man who’s clearly enjoying his running, clocked an impressive 3:26:09. This was nearly a 15min PB. Sam’s solid training block clearly paying off. 

The first GRC lady was the talented Hannah San Jose. In her 3rd marathon, Hannah’s experience over the distance is clearly starting to show. Pacing a brilliant race, Hannah clocked a brilliant 3:47:19, which is a 9 min PB. 

In the performance of the day, Sarah High smashed the London Marathon Good for Age qualifying time and would have done for someone 10 years younger. Her eye-watering 3:55:27 was the highest age graded score of the day with 78:46% which is near national standard. Sarah is showing no signs of slowing up, running her fastest marathon for 5 years. 

Richard Payne was glad to be back racing again after a 3-year break. His 3:56:02 was testament to the long hours he’s been enjoying on the road.  

Sylv Hull completed a successful day for GRC with a whopping 15min PB, clocking 4:34:33 in only her 2nd marathon. Learning with every race, Sylv enjoyed the conditions and the support from the GRC supporters crew who were stationed at various points around the course. 

 

 

Bourne Run in the Woods 10k

 

On Mothering Sunday, 27^th March - five members of Grantham Running Club ventured to Bourne Woods to run the ‘Run in the Woods’ hosted by the Rotary club of Bourne. The event hosted a 3k and 10k option, with all five GRC’ers opting for the 10k.

As the name suggests, it’s an off-road looped route through the woods on fairly undulating compact trail. Whilst not terribly technical (indeed most of the field elected for road shoes, with one intrepid bod running barefoot!) the stony track and logging debris provided one or two patches of tricky terrain to traverse.  First home for GRC was Samuel Jepson, placing 2^nd overall, he was happy enough with 37:25 off-road.  Next home, Cameron Hoggan was delighted to finish under 45 minutes for the distance for the first time! Clocking 44:47, his slightly quicker start clearly paid dividends as he ticked off a time he’s been working toward recently. His strong finish making sure he went under his desired time.

Paul Jepson was rightly chuffed with his 49:59 as he continues to build fitness and race sharpness after a winter of injury, niggles and illness. In doing so, he surpassed his own expectations and predictions.
In perhaps the performance of the day, first lady past the post was Melissa Hetherington – again, despite the nature of the course she was able to clock a fabulous hour-busting; 57:36, her fastest time over the 10k distance!
She was especially pleased given the challenging undulations throughout and her hitherto best times were on “much quicker road courses in 2018”.
Again, keeping it in the family, Melis’ mother Amanda rounded out a fab day for the household as she completed her run in a very commendable 01:05:02.

The race was won by Peterborough & Nene Valley athlete, Ben Heron in 33:55.
First lady was Katie Arnold of Stamford Striders in 43:35.  

 

Burghley 7

 

Eleven members of Grantham Running Club joined a field of over 1400 taking part in the Burghley 7 road race on the 13th of March.

A sensational course linking Burghley and Stamford which started and finished within the grounds of Burghley house. The event allowed incredible access to the private areas of the Burghley estate, a traffic free St Martins High Street and a 7 mile course that explores countless beautiful and unique locations following an undulating route.

The first GRC runner to cross the line was Robin Atter, finishing in 47:23; a new PB beating his time in 2020 by 8 minutes. Second home for the club and first lady back was Rachel Hamilton finishing in an impressive 53:15, closely followed by Clive George finishing third for the club in an equally impressive 54:09. Also coming in under the hour, Martin Rodell finished strong in 56:44.

Next, we saw several club members finishing within minutes of each other. Marj Spendlow who has been focusing on longer training runs ready for her first half marathon later in the year finished within her target time crossing the line in 01:00:36. Following on from an impressive month running a month of Miles for Diabetes UK, Nichola Webster finished in 01:03:48. Only a week after running the Cambridge half marathon Kate Marshall tackled the hills to come back in 01:04:05.

Rachel Deans was next home for the club in a great time of 01:07:34. Joni Goodband ran the race with an injured ankle but still impressed with a time of 01:07:54.  Tracey Webb finished in a great time of 01:13:59, closely followed by Yvonne Buckley 01:15:05.

The men’s race was won by Aaron Scott in 37:20. The women’s event was won by Hannah Rounds in 45:39.

All runners received a medal and free event photos, the race also provided a great opportunity for club members to meet together both pre and post-race on the day.