5k Series

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)