Sunday, 30 June 2019
Wednesday, 26 June 2019
The Nottingham 5k Summer Series - Race 2
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| Prize Winners Tommy and Caroline |
| Pos | Gun Time | Name | Club | Gender | Cate | Gen. Pos | Cat. Pos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | 24:05 | Caroline DAVIS | Grantham RC | Female | FV45 | 9 | 1 | |
| 25 | 23:43 | Tommy NAPIER | Grantham RC | Male | MV55 | 18 | 1 |
Round 3 takes place on 24th July and is £12 for entry on the day, this race does not have a UKA road license and will not appear on Power of Ten as a PB
Tuesday, 25 June 2019
Lincoln Wellington AC 5K Series – Race 2
The second race of the Lincoln Wellington AC 5K Series, held
on Tuesday 25th June, saw another impressive turnout of sixteen runners
for the low-cost, no-thrills, multi-lap race held on the footpaths around the
LWAC HQ at the Yarborough Leisure Centre in Lincoln. After a day of heavy rain
that finally relented three hours or so before the 7:30 race start, heavy cloud
cover and cool temperatures provided very good conditions for running, with
only a light to moderate breeze hindering progress over certain sections of the
course.
Matthew Kingston-Lee and Chris Limmer, the first two
finishers for GRC, went into the race decidedly downbeat over their prospects
but both came away very happy with their unexpectedly strong performances.
Matthew eased himself into the race with a moderately steady opening mile and
then accelerated prog
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| PB for Andy |
Chris Limmer, who is beginning to reap the benefits of the
preparation put into running May’s Thames Path 100 mile long race, was on the
heels of Matthew for much of the race and only dropped back when Matthew
accelerated in the closing stages. His time of 17:22 was fourteen seconds
quicker than his May effort at Lincoln and his quickest 5K time in five years.
Ahead of Matthew for the opening small lap of the race was Joaquim Jeronimo,
who opted for the ‘go out hard and hang on as best you can’ strategy. Although
this predictably saw ‘Flash’ slow steadily over the course of the race, he
showed considerable determination to control the fade in the closing kilometre
to finish in an excellent 18:05 – 23 seconds quicker than the PB he set in the
opening race of the series and with the same finishing position of 36th.
Rob Howbrook who, as in the May race, took part in the
preceding Memory Mile, where he matched his time of 5:38, couldn’t quite match
his outstanding 5K performance a month earlier where he broke his PB, but his
time of 19:10 was still good enough to comfortably come first in the V60 age
category. Peter Bonner, who had a great Memory Mile run, finishing fifth in
5:22, bettering his May time by 18 seconds and setting a new fledgling club
record, finished the 5K very close to Rob in 19:13, 23 seconds down on his 5K
PB set at Eye in the ARC sanctioned race in June.
Andy Atter, who is in the opening stages of preparation for
the Chester Marathon in October, was pleased to better his official 5K PB by
one second with 20:04, although he has broken 20 minutes on three occasions at
parkruns. He was closely followed in 20:09 by a seemingly rejuvenated Jack
Dodwell, who broke his 5K PB by an impressive 56 seconds just a month after
running 21:06 at the May LWAC 5K.
Another runner who went home from Lincoln very happy having
arrived with low expectations was Stefan Latter, who bettered his official 5K
PB, set at May’s LWAC5K, by 25 seconds, clocking 20:25. Sam Jepson-Rivers was
next to finish on his official 5K debut, clocking 20:39 half an hour or so
after he had run 5:49 in the Memory Mile. Nick Rossington had also run the
Memory Mile, bettering his May time by 22 seconds with 6:02. He was then nearly
two minutes quicker than his May LWAC 5K time with 20:46, approaching his 2018
season’s best of 20:30. Nick was pushed hard to the finish by Sam Dodwell
(20:48), who continued his impressive improvement over the course of the year,
improving on his May LWAC 5K time by 36 seconds.
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| Holly's first ever mile race |
Holly Durham was next to finish, first of three GRC women to
take part in the race. Having run the
Memory Mile in 6:24, Holly put in a solid
performance to clock 21:07. Paul Kelly was another to clock a 5K PB, bettering
his May LWAC 5K time by 23 seconds coming in at 21:59. In his first official 5K
race Wayne Baxter ran well to clock 24:41, which is quicker than any parkrun he
has completed this year and only 19 seconds off his best parkrun time, set at
Rutland Water in 2018.
Completing the GRC contingency was Sarah High, who notched
up a 5K PB on her Power of 10 profile, bettering her December 2018 time by over
a minute with a fine 25:27, and Tracy Webb (28:12) who, two days after racing
in Peterborough, ran well to finish just two seconds slower than she had at
Lincoln a month earlier.
In an impressive display of depth and quality, hosts Lincoln
Wellington AC all but dominated the top ten, with Joe Wilkinson leading the
first of nine consecutive LWAC finishers with a time of 15:11. The club also
won a quality women’s race courtesy of Abbie Donnelly finishing in 16:50. There
were 156 finishers.
Sunday, 23 June 2019
Grimsthorpe Gallop
On Sunday June 23rd twelve members of Grantham
Running Club made the short trip to Grimsthorpe Castle to take part in the
third Grimsthorpe Gallop. As is typical of an SBR Events fixture, the event
comprised a variety of different distances and disciplines held over a multi
terrain course, ranging from 5K up to half marathon, some of which included a
Canicross category and some open too to Nordic Walkers. With all races
beginning and ending at the castle, the courses took competitors past various
delights within the private grounds, such as a lake, tree lined tarmac avenues,
ancient woodland, and a Victorian railway culvert.
Katie Bland was the solo GRC representative in the Half
Marathon coming home in 2:02:49
The 10 mile race featured four GRC members. First home was
Mark Edwards in 1:32:20, followed by Nicola Cottam (1:34:06), Vicki Ball (1:36:51),
and Nicola Fahy in 1:53:43.
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| Sam finished runner up in 21:01 for 5k |
Three GRC runners took part in the next race – the 5K. Second
overall was Sam Dodwell in 21:01. His first top three finish, he was awarded a
trophy for his efforts. He was followed by Louise Kennedy in 34:36 with
Samantha French finishing not too far behind in 35:27.
Four members of Grantham Running Club took part in the 10K –
the final event of the day. Stuart Baty was the first GRC finisher in 56:22. Dale
Towning (1:00:48) and Howard Rudder (1:08:04), two recent graduates of the
club’s recent ‘10 Weeks to 10K’ programme, were next to finish with CJ Walker crossing
the finish line in 1:22:42.
The male and female winners for each race are as follows:
5K: male - Connor Ely (Bourne Town Harriers) 18:39; female - Amber Wilkins (Heanor RC) 23:22.
10K: male - Nicholas Cooper (Unattached) 42:09; female - Danielle Smith (Heanor RC) 46:02.
10 mile: male - Mark Page (Sleaford Striders) 1:09:11; female - Paula Downing (Mablethorpe RC) 1:11:24.
Half Marathon: male - Philip Boak (Unattached) 1:21:10; female - Caroline Woods (Yaxley Runner & Joggers) 1:32:44.
Ferry Meadows Midsummer 10K
Five
members of Grantham Running Club took part in the Ferry Meadows Midsummer 10K
on Sunday 23rd June. The race began and ended in the the heart of Nene Park in
Peterborough. Officially classified as a multi-terrain course, the run took
place on a hard standing, mainly flat, course. Runners could take in the varied
and beautiful landscape around the parkland on what turned out to be a very hot
and humid hot day, which hampered some of the performances.
With experience of a 10 mile race at the same venue, Tracy
Webb, who had taken part in the Long Bennington Summer Solstice 36 hours
earlier, was the first GRC runner to cross the finish line in 1:02:11. She was
followed by Neil Jameson (1:06:25) with Vicki Geeson coming home in 1:11:23,
just ahead of Gillian Cardus (1:12:44), who had raced the day before. Amanda
Mumby, who had the misfortune of suffering the twin effects of the heat and a
headache, did well to finish in 1:13:04.
The Sublime Racing organised event was praised for its
supportive marshals, great finishers’ t-shirt, medal, and goodie bag. The race was won by David Hudson of BRJ Run
and Tri in 33:35 with Rhiannon Baxter of Wreake Runners the winning female in
40:05. There were 623 finishers.
Friday, 21 June 2019
Notts 10 Mile Road Race
 |
| Tony with his beer |
While Grantham Running Club’s attentions were focused on the
Long Bennington Summer Solstice 10K on Friday 21st June, Tony
Johnson was the sole GRC representative at the Notts 10 Mile Road Race, which
took place on the same evening.
The race, which features two anticlockwise laps of the
National Water Sports Centre rowing basin and surrounding roads in Holme
Pierrepont, reverted to being held in June having moved to mid August in 2019.
The race has developed an unfortunate knack of clashing with other local events
that had already declared their race date. In 2019, as in 2016, it clashed with
the Summer Solstice 10K having been staged on the same day as the Sleaford 10K
in 2018.
It’s a pity that a race of such heritage, now in its 48th
consecutive year, struggled to attract more than the 145 finishers, especially
as the race winner Ben Connor of Derby AC with a time of 49:25 came very close
to breaking the course record of 49:01 set way back in 1993 by Alan Jackson
(Stourport) and the women’s winner was Great Britain international Gemma Steel
of Charnwood AC in 57:41.
In his first 10 mile road race since the 2017 Notts 10, Tony
was pleased with his time of 1:04:00 that earned him twentieth place overall
and third V50 finisher. Unusually for a race held at Holme Pierrepont,
conditions were ideal for racing, reasonably cool and just a slight headwind on
the stretch on the furthest side of the lake.
Finishers were of the Notts 10 were rewarded with a bottle
of beer from Nottingham Brewery for their efforts.
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