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| Nim inside her PB |
An
impressive 55 members of Grantham Running Club took part in the opening event
of the club’s 4 race series. With no races on the horizon due to COVID-19
restrictions the club has looked for other ways to motivate its runners and the
virtual series has proven a popular solution. Tasked with the unusual prospect
of ‘racing’ alone, members were given a two week window to cover the distance
as fast as they could on a course of their choosing. Not allowed to
choose routes in the town centre or along the canal towpath where social
distancing is difficult, most runners opted to run along the surrounding lanes
of Grantham.
The
outright winner was the ever impressive Johnny Palmer with a time of 16:33,
over a minute ahead of his nearest rival Grant Davies (17:38). Despite running
the course around 4seconds long by his watch, Johnny was pleased with the win
and to be running fast again. Grant, running for his 2nd club was
delighted with his time which was well ahead of his official PB set in 2018.
Also
running for her 2nd club was Jenny McBain who opted for a course
near her home in Bicester. Jenny was the standout performer, claiming
maximum points, snatching the Outright Ladies, Age Grade (79.98%) and the VF40
age category. Her time of 19:12 was a massive return to form despite
struggling with a persistent hip injury which is hampering her speed
training. Taking the
number 2 spot outright was Holly Durham who was
pleased with her time of 21:27 which is within range of her 2019 best. Then it
was the fast improving Naomi Jepson-Rivers who stormed to a 22:55, nearly a
minute ahead of her official best and clearly reaping the rewards of her recent
high training mileage.
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| Great time for Jonny |
Age
category winners were Dean Riggall (VM40, 19:30), Caroline Davies (VF50,
23:34), Gerry Hyde (VM50, 19:40) and Paul Jepson (VM60, 23:19).
Other
results; Phil Devine (18:27), Matthew Williamson (18:59), Joe Diggins
(19:01), Andrew Pask (19:09), Sam Jepson-Rivers (19:21), Ben Hatherly (19:39),
Andy Atter (20:09), Jack Dodwell (20:12), Stefan Latter (20:12), Gav Meadows
(20:41), Alan Carley (21:08), Richard Payne (21:19), Paul Rushworth (21:22),
Stuart Pick (21:27), Sam Dodwell (22:14), Mark Hillson (22:55), Warren Stark
(22:57), Hannah San Jose (23:57), Chris Armstrong (24:01), Antony Boyle
(24:52), Vicki Ball (24:53), Helen Brown (25:25), Sarah High (25:29), Tommy
Napier (25:33), John Nevard (25:37), John Southwood (25:49), Peter Storey
(26:03), Jacqueline Anderson (26:11), Sylv Hull (26:36), Alison Clark (26:56),
Fraser Marshall (27:30), Stephen Fay (28:13), Mark Rice (28:21), Hayley Staff
(28:27), Kate Marshall (28:55), Emma Duncan (29:35), Henrietta McCabe (30:08),
Sara Pask (30:10), Tracy Webb (30:17), Diana McDonald (31:06), Vicky Willian
(32:10), Edina Burns (33:12), Emma Fleet (33:28), Yvonne Buckley (35:16), Becky
Rice (35:37).
Next
up for runners is the daunting prospect of ‘racing’ a 10k alone where another
round of points will be all to play for.
