The Belvoir Challenge

Twenty members of Grantham Running Club took part in The Belvoir Challenge on Saturday 2^nd March, a sell-out event that sees participants following footpaths and tracks through the Vale of Belvoir and the Belvoir Estate in Leicestershire. The hilly, challenging event, famed for its checkpoints stocked with cakes, sandwiches, cheese and biscuits, is a firm favourite with many runners returning year after year to complete either the 15 or 26 mile route.

The food gets a thumbs up!

A characteristic of the Belvoir Challenge is that the route is changed each year to keep it fresh and interesting for returning entrants especially. A side effect of this was that this year a bottleneck at the first stile reached by runners resulted in a lengthy delay of twenty minutes or so for most taking part. For the majority however finishing times and positions were not of particular importance, with most stopping to savour the hospitality at checkpoints and taking time to enjoy the scenery on a fine March morning. 

Mark 5:25:18 for the 26

In the 15 mile race the first home for GRC was Daniel Howson in a time of 02:25:20, followed by John Southwood in 02:43:58. Penny Hodges was the first GRC woman to finish the 15 mile route in 02:45:20, followed by Julie Braker in 02:58:21. Among the other GRC finishers Rosalind Sadler, Jacqueline Jacobs, Nicola Cottam, Nicola Fahy and Julie Gilbert ran the entire race together, thanking afterwards the marshals, volunteers and endless cake supplies for making it such an enjoyable event.

The performance of the day arguably went to Chris Limmer, who used the event as a long training run for the upcoming Thames Path 100 mile ultramarathon. Chris was the first of six GRC runners to finish the 26 mile race in a time of 04:15:37, a feat made all the more impressive by the fact the Grantham resident ran an additional 26 miles to and from the event that began and ended in Harby. Chris managed to beat fellow GRC ultra-runner Nick Payne, who finished in 04:47:01.

Daniel in confident mood

Caroline Davis (04:53:56) was the first of two GRC women to finish the 26 mile course. The second, Hayley Staff, chose the tough event to complete her first ever 26 mile distance. Like many other runners Hayley was severely delayed at the bottleneck and chose to take full advantage of the tea and sandwiches at the checkpoints, finishing the event with an official chip time of 07:04:17.

The 15 mile race was won by Grantham's Rupert Jordan of Hyde Park Harriers in 1:43:18 with Chrissie Dover the winning woman in 1:50:58. The 26 mile race winner was John Orgill of Birstall Running Club in 3:05:30 with Debbie Stevens the winning woman in 3:44:22. A total of 1094 finished either of the two distances.

15 mile GRC results: Daniel Howson 02:25:20, John Southwood 02:43:58, Penny Hodges 02:45:20, Julie Braker 02:58:21, Gordon Geach TBA, Kristofor Blake 03:06:57, Lucy Worthington 03:39:27, Julie Riggall 03:48:07, Rachel Varela 04:02:27, Justyna Gill 04:02:27, Rosalind Sadler 04:17:13, Julie Gilbert 04:17:14, Nicola Fahy 04:17:15, Nicola Cottam 04:17:16

26 mile GRC results: Chris Limmer 04:15:37, Nick Payne 04:47:21, Adam Wasiolka 04:51:15, Caroline Davies 04:53:56, Mark Hillson 05:25:18, Hayley Staff 07:04:17