Eleven members of Grantham Running Club competed in the 10th edition of the Derby 10 Miler which started and finished at the iconic Derby Arena. On a crisp bright morning with little wind and better than expected underfoot conditions considering the recent leaf fall and heavy rain there was an opportunity for those in good form to impress with their times. The course was only flooded in one place after a couple of miles but apart from that grip was better than in previous years.
First home for the club was Peter Bonner in 63:27 securing a 2:58 minute PB, which he modestly described as a “soft one”, if he tops that next year in the MV50 category no one will be describing that as “soft”!
First lady home for GRC was Catherine Payne in 73:38, her fastest 10 mile time since 2017, to win her age category, earn an over 85% age grading and grab a spot in the top 50 in the runbritain rankings. Not far behind was Rob Howbrook in 74:34, his best time in three years showing signs that his best form is almost back only fading in the last two miles.
Next in, turning the clock back to 2014, was Ben Mason with a stunning 76:42, he is able to put this in the book as a DB (Decade’s Best) Close on his heels was Peter Jennings, not quite a SB but faster than he had run this particular course in the past.
In her first time tackling the 10 miler since 2019 Michelle Parczuk was second GRC lady home in 1:23:45 earning a prestigious Silver Ranking from the club. Running with her for most of the race was Sarah High who was a bit frustrated not to be able to hold her target pace to the end coming home in 1:25:43, like her training partners Peter Bonner and Rob Howbrook she still scored over 78% for the club Championship.
For Jo Grace this was her first official outing for GRC at the ten distance and her time of 1:27:43 was a good benchmark for the future. Due to the number of runners a wave start system was in operation which unfortunately meant that some of the athletes in the Purple start were held for a couple of minutes to allow a convoy of trucks to pass but despite this delay Anne Fleming was still also able to notch up the second PB of the day for GRC with 1:35:57, four seconds faster than last year. Katherine Thompson secured a Season Best with 1:37:27, 42 seconds quicker than she completed the Heckington 10 during the summer.
Report c/o Robert McArdle