The Nottingham 5k Winter Series - Race 1 2019

On Wednesday 6^th November, fifteen members of Grantham Running Club took part in the opening round of the Nottingham 5K Winter Series hosted by Nice Works. The race was also a late addition to the club’s GP Series, acting as a replacement to the cancelled Great Eastern Half Marathon in October.

The low-key evening race takes part on the pathway alongside Victoria Embankment in Nottingham. A flat course sees its potential for quick times tempered somewhat by three tight hairpin turns made more difficult at this time of year with slippery leaves that have fallen from trees, and some ‘romantic’ street lighting that in places makes seeing where you were putting your feet difficult if you weren’t wearing a head torch. 

First GRC finisher was Joaquim Jeronimo who ran well to just finish outside a podium spot, coming home fourth in 18:17. Peter Bonner dipped inside twenty minutes with 19:52 earning him first place in the Male V40 category. Next to finish were the Dodwell brothers. Jack claimed bragging rights beating Sam with a very fine run to miss out on his 5K PB by just two seconds and the twenty minute barrier by a mere twelve with 20:11. Sam himself ran well to finish fifteen seconds outside his PB with 21:08.

Penny Hodges was the first GRC woman to finish coming home twelfth in the ladies race with 22:33. She was immediately followed by Kate Yates, who ran excellently on her debut race with the club and first ever 5K race to clock 22:40 – an improvement of 36 seconds on her best parkrun performance. Michelle Parczuk also made her 5K debut and finished second in her age category, clocking 23:42. 

Other notable performances from the evening came from: Sylv Hull, who bettered her 5K PB by 80 seconds with 25:27; Kate Marshall, who was just twelve seconds outside her PB with 28:34; and CJ Walker who bettered her old PB by 74 seconds with 33:11.

The race was won by Owen Thomas of University of Nottingham AC in 16:22 with Natalie Bunce of Holme Pierrepont the winning woman in 19:14. There were 101 finishers.

Pos		Chip Time	Athlete	Surname	Category	Cat Pos	Gen Pos	Gender
4		18:17	Joaquim	Jeronino	SM	3	4	M
10		19:52	Peter	Bonner	MV40	1	9	M
12		20:11	Jack	Dodwell	SM	9	11	M
22		21:08	Sam	Dodwell	SM	11	18	M
24		21:19	Russell	Maksymi	MV 40	5	20	M
37		22:33	Penny	Hodges	FV 40	4	12	F
38		22:40	Kate	Yates	SF	5	13	F
42		23:42	Michelle	Parczuk	FV 45	2	16	F
49		24:13	Stuart	Baty	MV 45	4	30	M
55		25:27	Sylv	Hull	FV 40	5	22	F
69		28:34	Kate	Marshall	FV 40	9	34	F
71		29:23	Tracy	Webb	FV 50	5	35	F
74		31:04	Claire	Fritz	FV 40	10	37	F
77		31:14	Yvonne	Buckley	FV 55	2	39	F
86		33:11	Cj	Walker	FV 40	12	46	F