Virgin Money London Marathon

Wayne Baxter produced a 12 minute PB with 4:45:18

Twenty-two members of Grantham running club joined 40,000 runners in the 2021 Virgin Money London Marathon on the 3^rd October.  It’s been 889 days since the last mass participation of the race in the capital with last year’s event being restricted to the elites and many others taking part virtually.  In near perfect conditions the legendary 26.2 mile route produced some great performances from the green and black army.

In his first marathon, Piers Pye-Watson was first back for GRC with a sublime time of 2:57:18.  He was followed by another debutant, Aaron Smith who put all his hard training to good use to clock 3:06:31.  Matthew Atter gained his place through the club ballot and a fine run earned him a 6 minute PB of 3:11:28 beating his previous time set in Edinburgh and over £1000 in sponsorship for Don’t Lose Hope, a mental health charity.

Sarah Chynoweth was very happy with her pacing to clock a PB of 3:28:48 and on only 5 weeks’ notice Tom ‘Trev’ Johnson gained a place raising money for Save the Children.  An eventful race earned him a 15 second PB of 3:38:23 and £1,600 in sponsorship.

A group of GRC runners all crept under the 4 hour mark with solid runs; Catherine Payne 3:52:31, Rob McArdle 3:54:41, Craig Drury with a seasons best 3:54:50, Caroline Davis 3:56:17, Warren Stark 3:58:26 and Nicola Ruston with 3:59:25.

Wayne Baxter produced a 12 minute PB with 4:45:18 and described the whole day as perfect with the crowds being phenomenal. Zoe Wragg raised money for the Children’s bereavement centre; she took part in the real London Marathon for the first time after completing it virtually last year. She went through all emotions during the race but was delighted to clock 4:57:17.

Next to cross the line was Kathleen Gray who was taking part in London for the second time in 5:36:14 alongside debutants Alison Clark 5:36:13 and Sue Swann 5:37:11. The three ran together the whole way and commented on how tough the last 8 miles were but were made easier by seeing some friendly GRC faces in the crowd.

Carole Pigott raised over £2,000 for The Guide Dogs Association with a time of 5:58:27. Neil Jameson was lucky in the club ballot but suffered a few weeks before with injury and found it hard on the day but battled round in 6:05:36 and described it as a great experience.

CJ Walker took part virtually last year and was happy to finally make it to the capital.  She loved the atmosphere and clocked 6:17:58, closely followed by Vicky Willan with 6:22:24.

Finally, two second claim runners finished with strong performances; an unbelievable 2:37:46 from Jonny Palmer and Kirsty Dickens was delighted to go under 4 hours with a 12 minute PB of 3:59:44.

All runners commented on how supportive the crowds were all the way around and gave them a massive boost with particular highlights at Cutty Sark and Tower Bridge.