Fourteen members of Grantham Running Club headed to
Biscathorpe in the Lincolnshire Wolds to take part in the 2020 Lincolnshire
Cross Country Championships, held on Sunday 5th January.
Perhaps surprisingly for a county not blessed with an
abundance of hills or demanding terrain, the constantly undulating course has
earned something of a fearsome reputation. Local athletics photographer Adrian
Royle, who once again based 
himself at the infamous crossing of the
particularly swollen River Bain, describes it as an ’awesome course… truly the best
in the country - really tough, proper XC!’ The former world class distance
runner is better placed to pass judgement than most and few who ran the course would disagree with his assessment.
Four GRC ladies took part in the women’s races. The Vets race was run with the U17 boys and girls and the U20 women. First home and in a fine seventh place was Michelle Parczuk, followed by Caroline Davis, ninth, and Sarah High twelfth. As a team they finished third on 28 points, just four behind the winners Louth AC. Sarah Chynoweth, who has been injured of late, took part in the separate Senior Women’s race and finished twelfth. There were 24 finishers in the Vets race and 19 in the senior race.
Nine GRC men took part in the men’s races. In the Senior
race Jonny Palmer coped better than his nearest rival through the river
crossing, putting in another stellar performance to finish third. Behind Jonny,
Grant Davies finished ninth, Chris Limmer recovered from literally losing one
of his shoes early in the race to finish tenth, and Samuel Jepson-Rivers
finished thirteenth. Even without Chris’ result, which is officially recorded
as ‘Unknown’ currently, the club claimed the Men’s Senior Team Competition.
There were eighteen finishers.
The Men’s Vets race was comfortably the best attended of the
morning with 58 finishers. First home for GRC was Joaquim Jeronimo in twelfth,
followed by Gav Meadows, eighteenth, Peter Bonner, twentieth, Barny Stretton,
thirty-first, and Chris Toon, forty-second. Joaquim, Gav and Peter completed
the Vets team that finished fifth. In the U20 race Barney Stretton ran well after
being one of the many victims at the river crossing to finish fourth, one place
behind the talented Will Tucker of GAC.
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Action images used with the kind permission of Adrian Royle.
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