Nottingham 5k Winter Series, Race 2

Lured by the prospect of a potentially quick course to clock a fast time at the end of the year, seven members of Grantham Running Club headed to Victoria Embankment in Nottingham to take part in the second race of the Nottingham 5K Winter Series on Thursday 6^th December. The race was held in good conditions, cloudy and very mild for a December race beginning at 7:30pm. While the course was certainly flat, three tight U-turns proved taxing, as did the slightly underwhelming street lighting that made it hard to pick out the numerous ripples in the pavement, caused mostly by tree roots.

First home for GRC was Matthew Kingston-Lee. Leading from the gun, he found there were no volunteers to help share the pace. Reducing the lead pack to just two, Patrick Townsend proved impossible to drop. Resolutely sticking to Matthew’s shoulder, Patrick finally took over the lead with around 300 meters to run. With Matthew racing again a few days later he didn’t contest the sprint finish, allowing Patrick to pull clear, winning in 17:01. Matthew was content to finish second and first in his age category, with a time of 17:16 earning himself a bottle of wine for his efforts.

Grant Davies followed in a fine fifth place, clocking 18:41, under half a minute outside his PB. Joe Clarke finished eighth in 19:21 and Matthew Atter was pleased to break 20 minutes, finishing twelfth in 19:52. Both established personal bests as they ran a 5K race for the first time, although both have run over a minute quicker at parkrun.

Jack Dodwell also ran his first 5K race and did well to clock 21:05, finishing nineteenth and just twelve seconds slower than his fastest parkrun time. The GRC men’s team were clear winners of the men’s team prize, earning themselves more wine for their efforts.

Penny Hodges finished sixth woman and second in her age category in a time of 22:03. Although disappointed with her performance and failure to break the 70% age grade barrier, it was a run that actually equalled her PB set earlier in the year, although she is another runner with a parkrun PB over a minute quicker.  She was followed by Sarah High who didn’t quite achieve the objective of a 70%+ age grade but did establish a 5K PB time of 26:32 which earned her another bottle of wine for GRC as first finisher in her age category. The women’s race was won by Gabrielle Coveney of Holme Pierrepont Running Club in 20:26.

In addition to the half dozen or so bottles of wine awarded to the club, all finishers were presented with a gargantuan Christmas themed medal and mince pies were offered to those who wanted them.