Volkswagen Prague Marathon 2016

Grantham Running Club's Neil Emerson continued his European tour of Marathons last Sunday by competing through the beautiful city of Prague. An anterior knee injury three weeks prior to the race meant he had no hope of matching his recent time in Barcelona which was just as well as race day turned out to be a very hot one and the course included a lot of long straight switchbacks which don't suit him. After an initial painful attempt at racing Neil relaxed back to run the route with his sister and save his body for the next one in Berlin finishing in 5:02:29 almost an hour outside his best.

Clawson 10K Challenge Report

GRC's Gav Meadows made the short trip to Long Clawson in the Vale of Belvoir to
compete in the Clawson 10K Challenge. The low key event is held annually to
raise funds for the village hall. It boasts a very testing cross country course
over rough terrain with a total climb of 375 feet.

Gav said 'This was by far my toughest 10K to date. The rough terrain & hills
were testing enough but the baking hot weather made it even tougher! I was
surprised not to see any of my club mates at this race. A real test that's only
15 miles away - what's not to like? I can only recommend it for next year!' He
finished 17th in a field of 154 with a time of 52:12.

Eye 10k and Bosworth Half

Eye 10k

Members of Grantham Running Club braved the unseasonably hot temperatures to compete in this years Eye 10k. The flat course in the east of Peterborough attracted a field of nearly 600 runners aiming for an early season personal best. Despite the hot conditions Holly Durham produced an incredible performance to finish as fourth lady with a time of 42:13. Next home was Chris Armstrong with a solid 46:15 then Paul Durham, 50:26 and Martin Carter, 58:40. All runners were presented with a commemorative bottle of beer at the end and Martin Carter joked "I hope the beer is worth the sunburn".

Photo: Holly Durham, Paul Durham, Martin Carter and Chris Armstrong.

Bosworth Half Marthon

Chris Limmer travelled to Market Bosworth for this year's Bosworth Half Marathon.  In very hot conditions and over a notoriously undulating course Chris ran an incredible 1:24:04, placing him 7^th overall. He said "I was really happy to be in 2^nd place until about 7miles in when the wheels fell off because of the heat. I'm happy with 7^th place though."

Langtoft 10km

Six Grantham running club runners competed in the Langtoft 10km on Sunday in a record breaking field of 310 runners. Ben Hodgkin in his first race for the club led home his team mates in 21st place recording an impressive 39:12. Close behind in 24th was super veteran Rob Howbrook in a superb time of 39:27. Gavin Meadows, who had raced a Marathon only one week before was 34th in a creditable 40:25, with Chris Armstrong two places behind recording 40:52. Martin Carter recorded a new PB of 51:30 as he continues to improve. Evergreen Brendon Buckley who had run the London Marathon only one week ago ran a highly impressive 59:33.

Photo: Chris Armstrong, Rob Howbrook, Gavin Meadows and Ben Hodgkin after the race.