Humber Half, Seabank Marathon and Nev in the USA

Seattle Solstice Run 10k

Unable to compete in his hometown Solstice Run as he continues his coast to coast trip of a lifetime in the USA GRC's Nev Chamberlain ran the Seattle Solstice Run 10k, a trail run held in the city's Magnuson Park finishing in a time of 50.53 and placing 6th overall. Although the lakeside course was fairly flat the humidity and steady return from injury meant his target of finishing under 50 minutes was just out of reach. (Picture: Nev at the finish)

The Humber Bridge half marathon

Nick Rossington was Grantham Running Clubs sole representative at the Humber Bridge half marathon on Sunday.  The testing road race attracts nearly 2,000 runners and the route provides splendid views as the course crosses the Humber Bridge twice.

Nick commented:

"I was feeling pretty comfortable and confident of getting close to the 1 hour 30 mark until I hit the toughest challenge of the course.  Labelled Cardiac Hill by many – it is a 1 mile climb past the 9 mile post, with the St Johns Ambulance stationed at the top just in case of difficulty – and though I survived it, my time certainly suffered!  After a short period of easier running, the return journey over the Humber Bridge was the next challenge.  The Bridge is not flat and the rise towards the centre span was another testing part of the course, coming as it did towards the end of the race.  It was, however, a thoroughly enjoyable run."

Nick's finishing time of 1 hour 32 minutes and 22 seconds was just outside his personal best but was good enough to secure an overall position of 83^rd, and a placing of 4^th in his age category.

Seabank Marathon

Grantham Running Club's Gav Meadows took part in the Seabank Marathon on Sunday. The annual charity event raises money for McMillan Cancer Support & starts in Boston market place. The coastal, mixed terrain route then runs predominantly along the Seabank all the way to Skegness. The route is actually about a mile longer than a marathon at just over 27 miles.

He said 'As soon as I found out that the course was slightly longer than a marathon I made the decision to run until my watch showed 26.2 miles then walk the last mile or so as a cool down. I didn't want to do any more than necessary after recent injury concerns & also had next Sunday's Potteries Marathon in mind.'

'I was never going to treat this event as a race but it was still incredibly challenging nonetheless. Despite the landscape being pretty flat, the ground was very uneven with long grass in places making it almost impossible to run at times. A different type of challenge but definitely amongst the toughest I've taken on to date.'

This was Gav's 5th marathon in as many months as he continues his personal challenge of running 1 marathon per calendar month for 12 months. He completed the marathon distance in 4 hours 14 minutes followed by crossing the official finish line in 4 hours 30 minutes.

Parkruns

With the Belton option not available this week GRC's runners had to travel. Chris Limmer was first home at the Rutland Water one in 17:10 on his debut. There were powerful performances from Adam Jacobs, Jacqueline Jacobs and Andy Barradell all setting PBs whilst Sara Pask made her debut. At the event in Melton there were more great performances with Rob Howbrook beating his own age category record in a time of 19:21, and Holly Durham finishing as first lady in 21:16 closely followed by husband Tom. Brendon Buckley took on the picturesque Clumber Park run to finish in 28:58 whilst further afield John Blair finished 37^th at Ballarat in 28:48.