Sleaford Summer 10K

The Sleaford 10k which take place on a Friday evening has long been a big favourite of the members of Grantham Running offering a potentially fast local course mixed with judging at the cake tasting competition and with a medal to all finishers it attracted well over forty entrants from the Green and Black Army. There is always a serious side to the business of racing and with PB’s for the more experienced runners difficult to achieve due to a strong headwind from kilometre eight onwards it was more about position than elapsed time. First home for GRC and in second position overall was Ian Williams, outside his best but delighted to be on the podium. He was closely followed by a strong contingent of teammates headed by Chris Limmer, back to his best, Joaquin Jeronimo and Sam Jepson Rivers both recording their best times ever. Holly Durham was the first lady home for GRC picking up the final place on the podium as well as first veteran followed by Hannah San Jose and Caroline Davis. Rosalind Sadler and Julie Gilbert both bagged personal best times but the  stand out performance of the night was Alison Clark setting a PB to dip under 60 minutes for the first time! Angela Carr was the final PB of the evening knocking more than 45 seconds off her previous mark. Full local results below.

Place		First Name	Last Name	Chip Time
2		Ian	Williams	36:08
5		Chris	Limmer	36:35
9		Joaquin	Jeronimo	37:43
20		Samuel	Jepson-Rivers	42:07
25		Andrew	Pask	42:29
39		Sam	Dodwell	44:32
43		Stewart	Pick	45:17
44		Holly	Durham	45:24
47		Russell	Maksymiw	45:27
55		Cameron	Hoggan	47:10
56		Kevin	Kettle	47:22
62		Matt	Fryer	47:46
63		Hannah	San Jose	48:27
71		Ben	Mason	49:49
81		Caroline	Davis	51:15
82		Martin	Rodell	51:36
86		Nev	Chamberlain	51:53
88		Paul	Jepson	52:03
101		Tommy	Napier	53:24
104		Claire	Williams	53:34
105		Naomi	Jepson-Rivers	53:49
109		Rosalind	Sadler	53:51
118		Nicola	Cottam	55:01
120		Julie	Gilbert	55:12
121		Jacqueline	Anderson	55:20
134		Sylv	Hull	57:30
139		keith	measures	58:18
142		March	Tremain	58:32
158		Sue	Swann	59:28
159		Alison	Clark	59:50
160		Carole	Pigott	59:50
163		Tracy	Webb	1:00:10
165		Kate	Marshall	1:00:26
166		Nicola	Fahy	1:00:22
168		Jacqueline	Jacobs	1:00:38
180		Vicki	Ball	1:03:06
181		Neil	Jameson	1:03:04
187		Angela	Carr	1:03:39
188		Amanda	Hetherington	1:04:11
189		Yvette	Taylor	1:04:16
199		Tracey	Gell	1:06:09
206		Lisa	Richardson	1:07:09
207		Yvonne	Buckley	1:07:31
208		Melissa	Hetherington	1:08:10

Notts Summer League 6

Richard Dobbs 6 Miles Multi Terrain  52:19 - Position 361

Indian Queens Half Marathon (MT)

Chris was 24th in a chip time of 83:43

On Sunday 4^th August Chris Limmer made the most of a holiday in the south west by taking part in the Indian Queens half marathon just outside of Newquay.

Described as the flattest half marathon in Cornwall the course was anything but! It featured gentle undulations with a couple of steeper inclines and descents notably just after the half way mark. Though this did allow some stunning views of the local countryside and out towards the coast itself. Chris is someone who loves a hilly course and he set off at a comfortable pace this allowed him to be able to gradually start over taking people as the runners headed up to the highest point at the 7 mile mark where he found himself around 20^th place. With his body feeling the strain from the tough first half Chris’ pace slowed somewhat and he dropped a few places as the course flattened out along the Goss Moor Trail a few miles later. However, with a couple of miles to go Chris redoubled his efforts to not lose too much time and gritted his teeth for one final climb back into the village that gave the race its name. Chris crossed the line in 1:23:43 and 24^th place out of more than 600 runners. 

The race was won comfortably by talented under 20 athlete Sam Goodchild in an impressive 1:11:20 a 12minute improvement on the previous year. The womans race was won in 1:23:03 by 49 year old Emma Stepto, one of the fastest british masters athletes in history!

Dovedale Dipper and Ramble

Full report to follow

North Downs Way 100 Mile Race

100 up for Nick

On Saturday 3^rd August 2019 Nick Payne of Grantham Running Club successfully completed the North Downs Way 100 Mile Race. This event is run by Centurion Running who specialise in organising 50 and 100 mile events in the south of England. The North Downs Way 100 begins at the start of the North Downs Way in Farnham in Surrey with the event finishing in Ashford in Kent. The course is undulating with over 10,000 feet of elevation.  The terrain is mainly on trail including woodland, over tracks and through fields. 

The event was very well organised, with an aid station on average every seven miles, each serving a mini buffet including sandwiches, sausage rolls, crisps and cake as well as energy drinks and coke. 

The weather conditions were not too warm considering the race is run in the middle of summer, with a top temperature of 24 Celsius in the day, dropping to a minimum of 14 degrees at night.

Nick completed the first 50 miles in 10 hours and 45 minutes. An injury in the second half of the race slowed Nick’s progress however and he finally finished in 28 hours 50 minutes and 36 seconds, which placed him 157^th out of 188^th finishers.  The drop-out rate was 34%. Even though the injury did not allow Nick to complete the course in the time he was hoping for, he still completed it around 7 hours quicker than his previous 100 mile best.  Nick received a belt buckle and also a T-shirt for completing the event.

This was also Nick’s one hundredth official marathon/ultra marathon which allows him to become a full member of the prestigious 100 Marathon Club.   Nick was presented with his 100 Marathon Club shirt at the finish by one of his running heroes, James Elson who has represented Great Britain at ultra-marathon events.

Nick commented: “I was really pleased to finish the event, even though the injury I suffered after 65 miles did not allow me to complete the course in the time I was hoping for.  It was a real test to finish the race as I was in a lot of pain.”

The 2019 North Downs Way 100 was won by Mark Darbyshire in a new course record time of 15 hours 18 minutes and 41 seconds.  The first lady was Karen Hacker who finished in 20 hours 40 minutes and 38 seconds. 

Sublime TWENTY4 - 12 & 24 hour race

GRC's Martin Carter took part in the Sublime twenty4 12 hour night race. Afterwards he commented "Not a bad event really I managed 6 laps of the 10.7k course before I called it a day at 7 o'clock this with sore feet which was good enough for 11th overall and 4th solo". There were 24 teams taking part, the winner was Grantham Rundercats with 139km

Formula One Castle Rock 10K

153

50:41

Michelle Parczuk

PB

V45

W

Grantham RC

50:41