5 miles and 5k's and St Ives

 St Ives 10k

 Grantham Running Club's Catherine Payne picked up her third age category place win in 11 days following up her prize at the Notfast 10k with a season's best over the same distance at St Ives and a lifetime best at the Peterborough Grand Prix. The St Ives 10k is an out and back course taking runners up rural lanes to loop the taxiways of RAF Wyton airfield before returning to the outdoor leisure centre and as the event incorporated the Cambridgeshire 10k County Championships it attracted a number of high quality runners in the 700 strong field. Catherine was sixth lady home in a time of 43:29 with teammate Robert McArdle coping less well in the heat finishing in 47:22 as third in his age group on a tough day that saw many runners pulling out before the end.

Peterborough 5k  Grand Prix

Ferry Meadows was the venue for the latest leg of the Peterborough Grand Prix 5k with hosts Thorney opting for the full loop course. Despite it being one of the hottest evenings of the year there were still over 200 runners trying to score points. Catherine's time of 20:48 was not only a PB but it the first time she had exceeded the 80% WMA score at this distance, Robert McArdle's time of 22:05 was also a season's best and good enough score over 70%

Notts 5 Mile Road Race

This race, which comprises of two laps around the Victoria Embankment, is widely regarded as being flat and fast. This year, however, the humid conditions provided an additional challenge yet the Grantham Running Club contingent still posted some excellent times. First home in a GRC vest was the evergreen Rob Howbrook, with a time of 32.48, scored a magnificent age grade of 78%. Close behind was Scott Jones who suffered in the latter stages from his very fast start yet still managed an excellent time of 33.09. Andy Atter again paced his race perfectly to finish in 34.14; Daniel Howson dipped under the forty minute mark with a time of 39:23 with Nev Chamberlain just outside in a time of 40.20. Nick Rossington succumbed to stomach cramp and was forced to drop out.

Lincoln Wellington 5k - Tuesday 26th July

Chris Armstrong and Nick Rossington represented Grantham Running Club in the July race of the Lincoln Wellington clubs 5k series. The run comprises of 3.5 laps along the cycle path around Yarborough Sports Centre. On a fairly humid night with a stiff breeze, Chris paced his race to perfection with a time of 19.14. Nick learned from his recent pacing issue at the Notts 5 miles to record a time of 19.46 in his first 5k road race. The next race in the series is on 23rd August.