Lincolnshire League Cross Country Round 1 - Stroxton

On 30th October 10 members of Grantham Running Club took part in the first round of this year’s Lincolnshire Cross Country League. The event was hosted by Grantham Athletic Club at Madges Farm, Stroxton. The four round series will also see events taking place at Lincoln, Louth and Boston. 

The course at Stroxton undulates its way around three fields that are normally occupied by a flock of sheep, keeping the grass short and ideal for running. The weather on the day was cool and dry, and the course was generally firm under foot with only a couple of muddy areas to negotiate. 

The 6.06km senior and veteran women's race consisted of one medium and one long lap of the course, with the senior and veteran men completing an extra medium lap making a race distance of 8.64km.

First to run were the men and quickest out of the blocks for GRC was Peter Bonner. The field quickly became spread out and the race for many was a solitary one. At the end of the first lap Martin Carter was forced to retire as a precaution after picking up a niggle.

Peter Bonner was the first of the GRC contingent to cross the finish line in a fine 8th place, despite a fall in one of the slippery sections. Following on with some solid running was Peter Jennings 25th, Paul Davis 29th, Andrew MacAllister 33rd and Craig Drury 35th.

Next it was the turn of the ladies, and it was Michelle Parczuk who stroked to the front of the GRC quartet. The smiling team seemed to be making light work of the course until what seems to have been an unfortunate marshalling error sent some of the leading ladies, including Michelle, around an extra loop adding an estimated 800m to their race distance. 

Leading GRC across the line was Vicki Hardy in 16th position followed closely by team-mates Paula Ebbins in 21st, Andrea Ward in 22nd and an unlucky Michelle Parczuk in 25th place.

As always with cross country events, the camaraderie shown between club members and between the various clubs participating, created a warm atmosphere that many more runners should experience for themselves. Some would say racing in its purest form.

 

 

Worksop Half Marathon

A trio of runners travelled to Worksop to participate in the 40^th anniversary of the Worksop Half Marathon. The event is accompanied by a distinctly spooky theme, with some participants dressing in traditional Halloween costumes.  Caroline Davis donned her best witch outfit and had to make sure the trail from the cape did not trip her up as the stiff breeze blowed the fabric about her legs. Paul Rushworth and Gav Meadows decided to wear more traditional attire, both running in the easily identifiable vibrant green of Grantham Running Club. The event takes place over 13.1 miles, including a stiff climb in the first mile. The course encounters spectacular autumnal colours as it passes through the golden-brown leafy trails of the historic Clumber Park. The cool overcast conditions on the day were ideal for distance running. Gav Meadows had a strong run finishing in 1:34:21. Next home for Grantham Running Club was Paul Rushworth finishing slightly disappointed in a time of 1:40:40. Caroline Davis came home without her broomstick in 2:00:19.

 

City of Lincoln 10k

Sunday 30th October 2022 saw 21 of the green and black army of GRC descend on the city of Lincoln for the annual 10k race. Thankfully this year’s weather was slightly better than 2021 where there was torrential rain and a boat would have been handy.  This year there was a gentle breeze with outbreaks of sunshine through the clouds.

The relatively flat course saw over 2,000 runners start on Riseholme Road and run along the likes of Nettleham Road, Yarborough Crescent and Queen Elizabeth Road, before arriving at Lincoln Cathedral for the big finish.

Unfortunately like previous years, the start suffered with being congested as runners were in narrow pace pens, so some runners were held up and unable to get into their stride early on.

First home for GRC was Sam Dodwell in an impressive time of 40:48. While this wasn’t a PB, he was happy to beat last years’ time by 1min 9secs. Sam was closely followed by Robin Atter in 41:10. Robin felt a little deflated about his time due the congested start causing him to have to make up time which cost him in the last 2k as he struggled to keep up the pace.

Daniel Pearce came home in an impressive time of 41:18, a 19 second PB and 2 and a half minutes off the same course from last year. He was very pleased with his result.

Anthony Boyle came home in a time of 49:38 which was a 2 sec PB.

Robert Howbrook continues to impress with a fantastic time of 41:29 which put him second in his age category and his fastest 10k this year.

Marj Spendlow was first back for the ladies GRC in an impressive 52:00 beating her last previous time of 56.29. Even though it wasn’t a PB Marj was really pleased with her result as she wasn’t expecting to beat her previous time by some margin.

Fraser Marshall, after three weeks out recovering from an injury, had no intention of racing but offered to support some recent graduates of the club’s Develop Your Running programme in their first 10k.  He enjoyed running the entire distance with Clare Mitchell who was making her debut to come home in 1:04:47, a couple of seconds behind Clare (1:04:45).  Also from the Develop Your Running group were Davina Honeywood who made a fab debut time of 1:01:29 and Jo Oliver who crossed the line in 1:08:23. Hopefully we will be seeing more from these guys!

Rachel Pattison came home in an impressive time of 54:02 which was a new PB by over a minute, and she really enjoyed the race.

 For Kate Marshall, the 10k is not a particularly favourite distance but she PB’d by almost a minute in 55:25.  She commented that she enjoyed it more than last year and was very proud of the DYR gang.

Rosalind Sadler came home in a time of 57:07, a season’s best for her.  Laura Piggott was pleased with her time of 59:37 which was the fastest she has run this year. Emma Duncan crossed the line in a time of 55:38 which was a PB by 1 minute! Emma Ran in memory of her Grandad and raised over £600 for St Barnabas.  Well done Emma!

Natalie Hardwick was thrilled to beat her previous PB by nearly 2 minutes and break the 1-hour barrier in 59:41.

Yvonne Buckley came home with a time of 1:03:58. Though it wasn’t a PB, she was happy to beat her previous time from 2014, despite being 8 years older.

Times forall 21 runners. Superb times were accomplished.

Sam Dodwell. 40:48
Robin Atter 41:10
Daniel Pearce 41:18
Robert Howbrook 41:29
Alan Carley 44:04
Robert McArdle 46:17
Anthony Boyle 49:38
Marj Spendlow 52:00
Chris Smith 53:48
Rachel Pattison 54:02
Mark Rice 54:17
Kate Marshall 55:25
Emma Duncan 55:38
Rosalind Sadler 57:07
Laura Pigott 59:37
Natalie Hardwick 59:41
Davina Honeywood 1:01:29
Yvonne Buckley 1:03:58
Clare Mitchell 1:04:45
Clare Smith 1:04:46
Fraser Marshall 1:04:47
Wendy Frazer 1:08:15
Jo Oliver 1:08:23

Winner overall was Lewis Jagger finishing in a time of 30:32.  Abbie Donnelly won the female race in a time of 32:51.

 

Great Eastern Run

 

On Sunday 15^th October 13 members of Grantham Running Club took a trip to Peterborough for the Great Eastern Run half marathon.  This event returned to the city after the disastrous 2019 event which had to be cancelled following a security alert and provided the 14^th round in the club’s Grand Prix series.

More than 2,304 runners lined up for the half marathon in much better conditions than previous years where lashing rain was a feature. 

The fast, flat course took its usual route through Peterborough City Centre, with reportedly fantastic support along the way.

Big PB for Hannah

In a day of notable performances, several members scored big PBs.  First back for GRC was Joe Diggins with a new PB of 1:24:03.   Hannah Whittaker obtained a brilliant new PB of 1:37:35 and found out she had qualified for a good for age place in the London Marathon.

Penny Hodges also scored a huge PB with 1:37:24, as did Sammi French with 2:06:05.  Sarah High scored a national ranking of 145 with her performance which was even more impressive given that she ran in a cross-country event the previous day, as did Peter Jennings.

 Joe Diggins:  01:24:03

 Peter Bonner:  01:27:30

 Daniel Pearce:  01:30:36

 Penny Hodges:  01:37:24              

 Hannah San Jose:  01:37:35          

 Robert McArdle :  01:43:17           

 Peter Jennings:  01:44:58              

 Paul Davis:  01:49:26

 Sarah High:  01:51:48

 Craig Drury:  01:55:09

 Stephen Fay: 02:04:35

 Sammi French: 02:06:054             

Tracy Webb: 02:24:55

 

Yorkshire Marathon

Grantham Running Club had four runners in this year’s Run for All  Yorkshire Marathon and despite the tough nature of the course several were rewarded with well-deserved PB’s. First home for GRC in his best performance in over 20 years of running was Dean Riggall, his PB of 3:00:54 was a 34 second improvement on his 2021 Manchester Marathon and capped a fantastic season for him in the MV45 category. Next home was Cameron Hogan in 3:36:17 in only his second marathon slicing 25+ minutes off his 2019 debut in London.

Turning the clock back was experienced marathon runner Warren Stark with a time of 4:00:16 left pleased with his time but slightly regretting he had not found those few extra seconds somewhere on the course to return to sub 4 hours. The final runner back for the club was Simon Smith with a time of 4:34:20 in his third marathon but his first in the MV55 age category

 

North Midlands Cross Country League Fixture 1

 

Grantham Running Club had teams in both the Women’s and the Men’s events at Markeaton Park in Derby last Saturday afternoon with team Captain Sarah High first home for the ladies closely followed by Caroline Davis and first timer Nicci Whittaker. In the men’s race first home was  Rob Howbrook with debutant Peter Jennings performing well. Making up the team of four were Craig G Drury and Andrew MacAllister