 |
| Joe - Outright winner |
Grantham Running Club got 2021 off to a flyer with their 4-week 5k series. Determined to test themselves despite the latest lockdown restrictions, runners were challenged with improving their 5k times week after week in this virtual series. Often running alone this testing distance provided a good excuse to rediscover some much-needed speed after months without official races.
The series outright winners were Holly Durham (21:15) and
Joe Diggins (18:27). Both runners reaching the county level standard for their
age grade with Joe running a time which would easily be an official PB.
The challenge was to improve, and two runners caught the GRC
team captains’ eye more than others; Vicky Hardy and Peter Storey. Both runners
perfectly captured the spirit of the series with week on week improvements.
Vicki who’s all four times represent a giant leap in form, going from 25:41 in
week 1 to finish off with 24:41. All times would represent a PB in an official
race. Peter is another who’s enjoying his running, using this series as
motivation to kickstart his running since Christmas. His week 1 time of 26:06
was impressive for his Veteran 60 age category, but that was just a marker of
the improvement to come. Finishing with an outstanding 24:34, Peter is one who
will be looking forward to official races starting again.
A total of 38 members were lured into the friendly
mid-winter competition when often the weather was against them. Many of them
have clearly been working hard to get those times down. Here’s the breakdown of
the category winners:
Outright Winners
Ladies – Holly Durham (21:25, week 2)
 |
| Holly - Outright winner |
Men – Joe Diggins (18:27, week 1)
Veteran 40
Ladies – Penny Hodges (22:10, week 1)
Men – Ben Hatherley (19:27, week 4)
Veteran 50
Ladies – Tracy Webb (30:36, week 4)
Men – Alan Carley (21:15, week 4)
Veteran 60
Ladies – Yvonne Buckley (30:19, week 2)
Men – Paul Jepson (23:35, week 1)
Most Improved
Ladies – Vicki Hardy (25:41-24:41, improved each week)
Men – Peter Storey (26:06-24:34, improved each week)
Age Graded Winner
Ladies – Holly Durham, 70.46%
Men – Joe Diggins, 73.78%
Had this race been official, the following runners would have run times good enough to beat their best – Joe Diggins (18:27, week 1), Sam Clark (18:46, week 2), Aaron Smith (18:56, week 2), Mikey Brain (19:39, week 4), Rick Dobbs (21:43, week 3), Wayne Baxter (23:42, week 2), Vicki Hardy (24:41, week 4), Sylv Hull (25:11, week 2), Kate Marshall (28:06, week 3), Louise Kennedy (29:02, week 3), CJ Walker (29:50, week 4).
Special mention goes to Ben Hatherly (19:27, week 4) and Ben Mason (21:21, week 1) who both ran their fastest times for around 7 years.
Other results: Andrew Pask (20:08), Sam Jepson-Rivers (20:29), Matthew Atter (20:54), Sam Dodwell (21:42), Naomi Jepson-Rivers (23:19), Michelle Parczuk (23:52), Tommy Napier (24:56), Vicki Ball (25:01), Kristofor Blake (26:21), Nic Webster (27:38), Kathleen Gray (27:50), Ros Sadler (28:19), Yvonne Buckley (30:19), Julia Hallam (31:48), Sara Pask (32:38), Tracey Gell (33:26), Becky Rice (34:35)
