GRC Virtual Series Round 3 – 1 mile

An impressive 49 members took part in the penultimate challenge of the GRC Virtual Series bring total participation so far to 71 members. The challenging and teasing classic distance of the mile allowed members to really open up the pace without worrying too much for endurance. With most runners choosing a point-to-point course, many fell victim to the strict no greater than -30ft descent rule meaning they had to go again on another route. Having two weeks to complete the distance, runners were often seen having multiple attempts at the challenge.

Grant Davies stole the overall win with a track attempt during the final hours of the challenge with a national standard 4:40.  In second place was the rapidly improving Matthew Williamson in a time of 5:07 followed by Sam Jepson-Rivers in 5:21, running what would have been a PB had it been an official race.

As with the previous two rounds, the first lady was the incredible Jenny McBain in a time of 5:40. This was enough to cement 2nd place in the points leaderboard for the round and secures her positon at the top of the overall standings after 3 rounds. The next fastest lady was GRCs Ultra lady, Holly Durham with an impressive 6:15, a time Holly was rightfully proud of. Then it was the very fast veteran Caroline Davis in 3^rd with a jaw-dropping 6:48.

Some standout performances from further down the results include Vicki Ball and Julie Gilbert. Vicki, a graduate from GRC’s 2018 10 weeks to 10k course continues to improve at an impressive rate. Her 6:51 for the mile was a giant leap in standard and just reward for all of her ‘lockdown’ training. Julie competing in the VW50 category was anther to show a giant leap in form with her impressive 7:27 and finishing 8^th lady and clearly delighted with her time.  

Next up is the final event of the 4 race series, the 5 mile challenge. The same rules on social distancing will apply as per previous events.

Overall results: 1 Grant Davies SM 04:40, 2 Matthew Williamson SM 05:07, 3 Sam Jepson-Rivers SM 05:21, 4 Joe Diggins M35 05:29, 5 Gav Meadows M35 05:40, 5 Jenny McBain W40 05:40, 7 Gerry Hyde M55 05:45, 7 Andrew Pask M35 05:45, 9 Jack Dodwell SM 05:48, 10 Ben Hatherley M40 05:49, 10 Cameron Hoggan SM 05:49, 12 Richard Payne M35 05:58, 13 Sam Dodwell SM 05:59, 14 Alan Carley M50 06:02, 15 Stefan Latter M45 06:03, 16 Holly Durham W35 06:15, 17 Paul Rushworth M40 06:25, 18 Mark Hillson M50 06:27, 19 Warren Stark M45 06:38, 20 Caroline Davis W50 06:48, 20 Craig Drury M45 06:48, 22 Naomi Jepson-Rivers SW 06:51, 22 Vicki Ball SW 06:51, 24 Michelle Parczuk W45 06:52, 24 Paul Jepson M65 06:52, 26 Keith Measures M65 06:57, 27 Tommy Napier M55 06:58, 28 Helen Brown W40 07:10, 28 Ben Mason M40 07:10, 30 Stuart Baty M45 07:11, 31 Edward Jepson M35 07:21, 31 Kristofor Blake M35 07:21, 33 Mark Rice M40 07:22, 34 Anthony Boyle M50 07:23, 35 Fraser Marshall M45 07:25, 36 Julie Gilbert W50 07:27, 37 Rosalind Sadler W45 07:31, 37 Jacqueline Anderson SW 07:31, 39 Rachel Pattison W50 07:35, 40 Vicki Hardy W35 07:39, 41 Phillip Crowcroft M45 07:46, 42 John Nevard M45 07:55, 43 Stephen Fay M55 08:20, 44 Kate Marshall W45 08:34, 45 Tracy Webb W50 08:51, 46 Sara Pask W35 08:53, 47 Yvonne Buckley W55 09:45, 47 Becky Rice W40 09:45, 49 Simon Hartley M50 10:52.0

After three rounds the series leader board is as follows..

1 Jenny McBain W40 599 points,

2 Gerry Hyde M55   595 points,

3 Paul Jepson M65 581 points