Lincoln Wellington 5K Series and Memory Mile

‘Biblical’ thunderstorms following a rare August Bank Holiday heatwave failed to prevent some very fine performances from many of the Grantham Running Club members taking part in the fourth and final round of the Lincoln Wellington 5K Series and the supporting Memory Mile event, held on Tuesday 27^th August. 

Extra pressure was placed on the eight GRC members who chose to play their ‘Joker’ for the club’s Grand Prix Series – this being a one-off opportunity to add a scoring event from a race outside of the twenty official fixtures. The evening’s races were made all the more interesting as they took place in the midst of thunderstorms breaking over the city. Runners were seen running for cover shortly before the mile and 5K races as the rain hammered down. The races though were held in dry, albeit sultry conditions, with temperatures still in the mid to high twenties Celsius for the evening races.

First of fifteen GRC runners home for the club in the 5K race was the ever-impressive Rob Howbrook who, despite clocking his slowest 5K of the series with 19:33, did enough to win the V60 age category on the night and the V60 prize for the series. Arguably the performance of the evening came from Sam-Jepson Rivers who smashed his month old 5K PB by 42 seconds, clocking 19:38. He was paced by Joaquim Jeronimo, who finished just behind with the same time.

Claire Williams was the first ‘first claim’ GRC woman to finish in her first official 5K race, running well to clock 24:54. Julie Gilbert was next home in 26:46 with Tracy Webb following in 29:43.

Dale Towning finished his first 5K race in 26:26 and Dona Hall, running with husband Richard, bettered her 5K by 32 seconds, her time of 30:01 agonisingly close to breaking 30 minutes.

The race was won by Joe Wilkinson of Lincoln Wellington AC in 15:07 with club mate Abbie Donnelly the winning woman in 16:28.

The Memory Mile attracted nine GRC runners in a field of thirty-one. Ian Williams finished fifth in 4:56, bettering the club record, previously held by Chris Limmer, by four seconds.  Joaquim Jeronimo was next to finish; clocking 5:12 at his first attempt over the distance with Peter Bonner next home in 5:31. Jack Dodwell bettered his PB by nine seconds with 5:42. Matt Fryer, close behind in 5:44, improved on his previous best by twenty six seconds and Sam Dodwell broke six minutes in his first attempt at the distance with 5:57.

The mile was won by Philip Nind of Holme Pierrepont in 4:41 with Lucy Thornton of Lincoln Wellington AC the winning woman in 5:41.

5K GRC Results:

Name	Time
Robert Howbrook	19:33
Samuel Jepson-Rivers	19:38
Joaquim Jeronimo	19:38
Stefan Latter	20:42
Peter Bonner	21:10
Nick Rossington	21:46
Paul Kelly	22:29
Claire Williams	24:54
Paul Jepson	24:57
Dale Towning	26:26
Julie Gilbert	26:46
Tracy Webb	29:43
Dona Hall	30:01
Richard Hall	30:02
Louise Kennedy	31:16

Memory Mile GRC Results:

Name	Time
Ian Williams	04:56
Joaquim Jeronimo	05:12
Peter Bonner	05:31
Jack Dodwell	05:42
Matt Fryer	05:44
Robert Howbrook	05:44
Sam Dodwell	05:57
Nick Rossington	06:09
Samuel Jepson-Rivers	06:36