 |
| Season's best for Louise |
| POS | DORS | NOMBRE | CATEGORIA | POS CAT | TIEMPO | PROMEDIO | TIEMPOREAL | |
| 1169 | 3157 | KENNEDY, LOUISE | VETE | 76 | 1:15:09 | 7,31 | 1:14:04 | |
Saturday, 29 February 2020
Sunset running race in Benidorm city 10k
Albert Park Leap Year Trot 6K
Taking advantage of an extra day in the year which happened
to be a Saturday, two runners from New Marske Harriers set up a one-off race over
the rarely-run distance of 6K. Grantham Running Club’s Peter Bonner took part
in the Leap Year Trot charity event for SeeAbility (The Royal School for the Blind), which took place in Albert Park,
Middlesbrough.
The course utlilised the traffic-free paths inside the perimeter
of the park, using the same route as the two lap weekly parkrun, except running
three laps anti-clockwise to finish at the visitors’ centre. To ensure the
exact distance, the start was a few metres away from the finish.
The windy conditions combined with the slight hills in the
park to leave the odd kilometres noticeably slower than the even ones. Many of
the participants chose to enjoy the race rather than race at full speed. This
lack of competitiveness gave a very friendly feel to the race, with lots of
support from the marshals and other runners on different laps.
The race was chip-timed, but unfortunately suffered from
computer issues which delayed the start. The lack of experience from the Race Director
showed at this point, leaving the runners shivering on the start line rather
than communicating early and allowing people to wait inside. Once the race
started however, everything went smoothly.
The race was won by Keith Bindoff of Middlesbrough &
Cleveland Harriers in 22:49 with GRC’s Peter finishing second in 23:36, with Michael
Meggs third. Both Keith and Peter had run parkrun earlier that day, with Keith
having been round Albert Park in the opposite direction in 19:11 whilst Peter
had a much more scenic jog round the quays on the Tees Barrage parkrun. The
first female home was Isobel Nicholls, an U15 runner from the City of York AC.
She was recovering from illness but still managed 26:29. There were 66
finishers, all completing in under an hour and with an average finish time of
37½ minutes.
The goody bag after the event included a stamped medal, food
and drink, a Middlesbrough FC pencil and some cooling foot lotion. Speaking
afterwards Peter said that he really enjoyed the race and would do any future
events in that series, though would prefer it to have been a little closer to
home.
The Belvoir Challenge
A memorable 2020 Belvoir Challenge, held on Saturday 29th
February, certainly lived up to its moniker as an intrepid group of 33 members from
Grantham Running Club braved the elements to complete the undulating, mostly cross
country race, remarkably with all footwear present and correct, despite almost
knee-deep mud in places!
Starting and finishing in Harby village, both the 15 and 26
mile routes followed footpaths, byways, tracks and minor roads through the
beautiful Vale of Belvoir, and with the kind permission of the Duke of Rutland,
included land in the Belvoir Estate. Annual variations to the routes ensure
variety for returning participants.
Organised by the parents and friends of children attending
Harby Primary School, the popular and well-supported event raises funds for the
school's extra-curricular activities. Runners need not fear running out of
energy on the challenging route, as the event is famed for its well-stocked
rest stops, with participants enjoying copious quantities of cake and
sandwiches en route and much-welcomed hot food served at the finish.
 |
| Phil went sub 2:00:00 |
After a false start, the race finally got under way and it
was Phil Devine who was the first GRC finisher, coming home fourth overall in the
15 mile event in an extremely impressive 1:59:32. Phil enjoyed the race,
although noted that some vague course markings had nearly sent him off route in
the closing stages of the race. In an act of great sportsmanship Phil actually
waited for the third place runner to return to the course having headed in the
wrong direction, only returning to the correct path thanks to Phil’s verbal
intervention.
Dean Riggall was next home for the club with a very
respectable time of 2:08:29, which earned him fifteenth position. Paul
Rushworth was third GRC male home, completing the 15 mile route in 3:02:59.
First woman home for GRC was Claudette Joint, who ran well in
the muddy conditions to clock 3:09:51. Sinead McDonnell was the next GRC
female to finish, doing so in 3:42:54, with Claire Martin following in 3:57:22.
Five brave GRC runners braved the multiple miles of mud to
complete the 26 mile course. Caroline Davis was first home for the club, finishing
in a time of 5:37:18. Mark Hillson followed in 6:21:10, closely followed by
Sarah High in 6:21:26. Hayley Staff enjoyed the experience, despite the
conditions, to finish in 7:03:51 with Justyna Gill doing well to complete a
very tough course in 8:54:07.
Even though the muddy course and changeable weather made for
a demanding race, many participants commented that it had been an enjoyable, friendly
and sociable event, with much positive comment on the organisation and support
from marshals. Although for many there was not much running to be had, so tough
were the conditions, the excellent refreshments were much applauded. Most said
they would enter again in the future, albeit hoping for kinder conditions!
Oliver Matharu won the 15 mile event in a time of 1:48:13, with
Chrissie Dover the winning female in 2:01:47. Chris Cope won the 26 mile
distance in 3:24:28, with first female, Verity King, finishing in 4:12:29.
Also completing the 15 mile event for GRC were:
Name
|
Time
|
Daniel Howson
|
3:10:46
|
Sam Dodwell
|
3:43:43
|
John Southwood
|
3:44:00
|
Gordon Geach
|
3:59:11
|
Michelle Parczuk
|
4:10:49
|
Kate Marshall
|
4:11:08
|
Sylv Hull
|
5:22:46
|
Jacqueline Jacobs
|
5:23:16
|
Nicola Fahy
|
5:23:17
|
Nicola Cottam
|
5:23:32
|
Martin Carter
|
5:23:51
|
Rosalind Sadler
|
5:23:07
|
Julie Gilbert
|
5:23:31
|
Kathleen Gray
|
5:57:50
|
Yvette Taylor
|
5:57:51
|
Sue Swann
|
5:57:55
|
Angela Carr
|
5:58:19
|
Amanda Mumby
|
6:03:20
|
CJ Walker
|
6:03:15
|
Vicki Geeson
|
6:15:06
|
Vicky Willan
|
6:16:41
|
Nick Payne
|
7:41:42
|
Sunday, 23 February 2020
St Valentine’s Stamford 30K
 | |
| Some of the starters before the race |
Taking
place a week after Storm Dennis forced its postponement, thirty seven members
of Grantham Running Club successfully completed the St Valentine’s Stamford 30K
on Sunday 23rd February - the second round of the 2020 GRC Grand
Prix Series. The popular pre-marathon training race is considered a real test
of form and character with virtually no flat terrain on a constantly undulating
course. Considering the logistical difficulties associated with a postponement
the hosts Stamford Striders did a fantastic job to put on another superbly
organized edition of the race.
 |
| New Club record for MKL |
Heavy early
morning rain and blustery strong winds threatened a repeat of the conditions
that led to the race’s postponement; thankfully though the rain passed through
to reveal partially blue skies and pleasant racing temperatures for much of the
race. Despite fears over flooding on the course the only really large puddle
was circumnavigated by the field early on in the race and the somewhat wet and
muddy section along Salters Lane was arguably not as grim as in previous years.
The strong winds remained for the entirety of the race however. Although there
were some tough sections of headwind runners did enjoy an extended section in
the second half of the race with a favourable cross / tail wind. The infamous
finish on the Welland Academy playing fields did though feature a brutal headwind
to the finish line that saw some runners almost stopped in their tracks!
 |
| Joe improved on his 2109 time |
First home
for Grantham Running Club was Matthew Kingston-Lee. After successfully
practicing his marathon start procedure over the opening three miles, Matthew
ran a controlled race that saw him gauge his effort a little under what he
hopes to run at the forthcoming London Marathon. Making his way through the
field, first he first passed Chris Limmer, who was very pleased with his ‘run
to feel’ 35th placed 2:00:59 finish, and then 24th placed
Jonny Palmer who finished fifteen seconds inside his 30K PB with 1:57:12 feeling
in his legs the effects (like quite a few in the field) of a tough National
Cross Country Championships race the previous day. Running the second half of
the race a minute quicker than the first, Matthew was pleased to finish 20th
in 1:55:53, breaking the old 30K club record by thirteen minutes.
Following
Chris home with arguably the performance of the day was Joe Diggins, who
despite finding the course ‘brutal in places’ stormed around to smash his 2019
30K PB by just shy of fifteen minutes, clocking 2:10:20 – the seventh best
performance over 30K by a runner in a GRC vest. Given the average pace for this
performance is not far shy of his half marathon PB, it’s reasonable to assume
his marathon PB of 3:52:40 could be seriously revised if all things continue to
go well this spring.
 |
| Catherine finished 16th lady |
Leading the
way home for the GRC ladies was the ever impressive Catherine Payne who, with
2:21:05, was just fifteen seconds outside her 2017 PB performance and scored
the highest ever GRC age grade for this distance with 82.06%. Her efforts earned her 16th lady overall and second
place in her age category. A couple of minutes behind Catherine, Holly Durham
(18th) ran well to better her 2019 time by over two minutes with 2:23:23to also be runner up in her age group and Sarah
Chynoweth put in a solid performance in her 30K debut having completed in the
National XC Champs the day before to finish in 2:30:53.
Among the
other GRC performances there were 30K personal bests for: Caroline Davis, whose
2:40:16 bettered her 2019 time by over ninety seconds; Craig Drury, who smashed
his 2019 PB by just under eleven minutes with 2:31:30; and Warren Stark, very
nearly seven minutes quicker than in 2019 with 2:46:15.
Taking part
for the first time over the infrequently raced 30K distance Russell Love
finished in 2:19:18. Also racing 30K for the first time Sam Dodwell clocked
2:34:42; Joanne Moore ran 3:00:20; Mark Edwards 3:02:21; Belinda Baker 3:36:03;
Tracy Webb 3:43:03; and Vicky Willan 4:04:37.
There were
several GRC runners taking part in their longest ever race to date. They
included: Joaquim Jeronimo, who finished in 2:28:46; Kate Bland (3:00:20); Dale
Towning (3:02:40); Sylv Hull (3:12:25); Carole Pigott (3:24:54); Kate Marshall
(3:32:51); and Rebecca Angel (3:54:24).
Taking part
in his first ever race for GRC (and his first to appear on his Power of 10
profile) Mikey Brain ran well to finish such a demanding race in 2:38:47. The
race saw a higher than usual quota of GRC runners not making it to the finish,
although no serious issues thankfully were reported.
 |
| Rob was runner up in his age group |
The race
was won by William Strangeway of Lincoln Wellington AC in 1:41:31 with Samantha
Cullen of Eye Community Runners the winning woman in 2:04:12. There were 561
finishers.
GRC
Results:
|
Name
|
Time
|
|
Matthew Kingston-Lee
|
01:55:53
|
|
Jonathan Palmer
|
01:57:12
|
|
Chris Limmer
|
02:00:59
|
|
Joe Diggins
|
02:10:20
|
|
Tony Johnson
|
02:10:54
|
|
Robert Howbrook
|
02:17:34
|
|
Russell Love
|
02:19:18
|
|
Matthew Williamson
|
02:19:39
|
|
Catherine Payne
|
02:21:20
|
|
Joe Clarke
|
02:22:05
|
|
Holly Durham
|
02:23:23
|
|
Joaquim Jeronimo
|
02:28:46
|
|
Sarah Chynoweth
|
02:30:53
|
|
Craig Drury
|
02:31:30
|
|
Robert McArdle
|
02:31:42
|
|
Sam Clark
|
02:32:58
|
|
Sam Dodwell
|
02:34:34
|
|
Simon Smith
|
02:37:48
|
|
Mikey Brain
|
02:38:47
|
|
Caroline Davis
|
02:40:16
|
|
Ben Mason
|
02:45:14
|
|
Warren Stark
|
02:46:15
|
|
Sarah High
|
02:50:27
|
|
Neil Emerson
|
02:55:41
|
|
Sinead McDonnell
|
02:58:36
|
|
Gordon Geach
|
02:59:51
|
|
Katie Bland
|
03:00:20
|
|
Joanne Moore
|
03:01:11
|
|
Mark Edwards
|
03:02:21
|
|
Dale Towning
|
03:02:40
|
|
Sylv Hull
|
03:12:25
|
|
Carole Pigott
|
03:24:54
|
|
Kate Marshall
|
03:32:51
|
|
Belinda Baker
|
03:36:03
|
|
Tracy Webb
|
03:43:46
|
|
Rebecca Angel
|
03:54:24
|
|
Vicky Willan
|
04:04:05
|
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