CUHH Boundary Run 26.2 miles

Catherine and Robert going through half way in 1:48:55

Three of Grantham Running Club’s endurance runners took part in last weekend’s Cambridge University Hare and Hounds Club’s Boundary Run to sharpen up for the April road marathons and beyond. This 26.2 mile route traverses roads, footpaths and trails, and incorporates some beautiful and not-often-seen areas of the city. It has about a third of the distance a very muddy off road and there are several reasonably sized hills on the course - significant enough to surprise those who are used to the flat terrain of Cambridge. One of the highlights is always racing against the rowing eights along the banks of the Cam. With a record entry of just under a twelve hundred runners taking part with the option of stopping half way all the GRC athletes opted for the full challenge. The strong wind was a bonus again this year in drying some of the muddier fields to just merely sticky.

Nick enjoyed the run

Nick Payne finished in 4:10:06 just inside the top 200 and afterwards said "I do enjoy this run as the course is a good mixture of pavement, field edges, trail and park path - it keeps it interesting!   It did get very congested near the start when the course narrowed which delayed me by a few minutes, but overall was well organised.  the running conditions were decent, with the promised bad weather never materialising. I used the run to get some more time on my feet without pushing myself. I was fairly pleased to better last year's time by around 10 minutes. I avoided the temptation to push myself to get under 4 hours by not looking at my watch at all during the run - I didn't know my time until I finished.: 

Meanwhile the other GRC runners Catherine Payne and Robert McArdle ran as a pair for the first 24 miles treating it as a reasonably hard training run passing through the half way point in 1:48:55 before working their way through the field especially between 21 and 24 miles. At that point Catherine decided to shift up to race pace on a uphill gravel section to move past some fading runners and secure a finish well inside the top ten ladies with a time of 3:44:45 with Robert keeping his pace constant to clock 3:46:49. Both were a few minutes inside their 2018 times.