Heckington 10

Nine members of Grantham Running Club took part in the Heckington 10 Mile Road Race on Saturday 27^th July. First held in 1965, the 54 year old event is considered to be the oldest running race in the Midlands. It forms part of the Heckington Show, the largest village show in England, which was celebrating its 152^nd edition in 2019. The show’s main ring, where the 10 mile race starts and ends, is packed with activities over the two days of the show – Saturday alone seeing athletics races, grass track cycling events, a parachute display, horse board racing, and much more.

The race, which sold out months in advance despite increasing the number of places available by 30%, has seen itself quietly modernised by introducing measures such as chip timing and fully closed roads whilst retaining the feel of an old fashioned village show race. The £600+ prize fund ensures a high quality field year after year especially in the veteran categories.

Having traditionally taken place in the mid afternoon, the race moved to a 9:30 start this year. This would have been an inspired move had the record breaking 36°C temperatures two days prior continued into the weekend. As it was the mercury through Saturday barely reached half those figures and while the race got off to a good start with a double lap of the arena, shortly after heading out and through Heckington itself a torrential rain storm began that was to last all the way through the race and indeed much of the weekend. The accompanying wind proved to be the biggest hindrance to runners; the combination of both wind and rain proved to be extremely challenging for the volunteer marshals and organisers, and unpleasant for those attempting to spectate. The conditions and the change of start time may have contributed to some issues that created a confusing and sub-optimal finish experience for a small number of runners, including a member from GRC. Organisers have already stated they will look to address these issues for the 2020 race. 

Joe Clarke was the first Grantham Running Club finisher in fourteenth position overall. His time of 63:51 was impressively only fourteen seconds down on a PB set when he did not have to contend with heavy rain being driven into him by strong headwinds on parts of the course. Matthew Williamson was next home in 66:12. Returning to one of his favourite races less than a week after completing six gruelling 10K laps at the Thunder Run 24 Hour Race, it was no surprise that his legs were a still a little fatigued.

Next in was the experienced Rob Howbrook in an excellent 67:57, picking up the prize for first MV60 in the process. Making his debut at the distance, Sam Jepson-Rivers was delighted with his time of 69:54 as it represents a positive marker in his goal to run a sub 90 minute half marathon in 2019. Not far behind was Jack Dodwell, whose 71:39 reflected that last week he too completed five laps in GRC’s fastest team at the TR24.

First lady home for GRC was Holly Durham, for whom the ten miles was exactly 10% of the distance she is training for in preparation for an attempt in the autumn to complete 100 miles within 24 hours. Despite many miles in the legs, her time of 73:19 was good for a fine tenth place in the women’s race. Like her husband Sam, Naomi Jepson-Rivers was also making her debut at this distance having never raced further than 10K before. Achieving 88:46 was a huge confidence booster encouraging her to look at even longer distances in the coming months.

The GRC performance of the day came arguably came from Tracy Webb who nabbed a PB of 98:24 despite the wind and rain, which strongly suggests her current half marathon PB could be under threat this autumn. The final GRC finisher was Louise Kennedy, who was also making her 10 mile debut and came home in 1:55:19.

The winner of the race was Aaron Scott of Helpson Harriers, who cruised to victory in 53:12, allowing himself the luxury of an extra 45 second loop in the race yet still won by over four minutes. Emma Hodson of Cambridge University Hare & Hounds was the women’s winner in 60:45. There were 326 finishers.