Nos Galan Races

On New Year's Eve, Grantham Running Club's Gav Meadows and Andrew Pask competed in the prestigious Nos Galan Races in Mountain Ash, South Wales. The event which commemorates the life of legendary runner Guto Nyth Brân who died tragically during a race in 1737 draws athletes from across the UK and 10,000 supporters to the streets. Each year excitement builds for the arrival of a beacon which is carried by a famous mystery runner from the world of sport. This year there were three - recently retired former Wales and Lions rugby captain Sam Warburton was joined by former 10,000m world record holder Dave Bedford and Paralympian Rhys Jones. After the children's races, ceremony and fireworks Gav and Andrew in the elite race were eager to get the 19:00 start underway. In a national standard field and on a revised course for 2018, PB hunting Gav was first over the line with a time of 19:02, missing his target but showing a great return to form. Andrew finished the four lap 5k race with a PB time of 19:47, a 13 second improvement on his 2017 time.

Speaking after the race Gav said ‘The new course was nowhere near as fast as I was expecting but I’m still happy enough with the time and I gave it everything out there. I loved the event though and I’m already considering coming back for another go next year’. 

Gav and Andrew then sportingly joined Andrew's sisters and over 1,000 other for the mass race running exactly the same course.