On a thoroughly chilly, but thankfully sunny January day several members of Grantham Running Club trekked North to Biscathorpe near Louth for this season’s Lincolnshire Cross Country Championships. The technical and testing course had something for everyone including hills, several stream crossings, and lots of hard, frozen ground and, as always, presented a challenge – the going in places was extremely difficult.
First up was the 9.5K men’s race which consisted of 1 small and 2 large laps of the course. Setting the pace for GRC was Joaquim “Flash” Jeronimo who had an excellent run finishing first for the GRC men in 39.13 and first in his age category.
Peter Jennings was next back in 50.04, with Rob Howbrook not far behind him in 50.34. For their efforts Peter was second in his age category and Rob was first in his.
Putting in a determined effort, Russell Maksymiw had a good race with seemingly little trouble navigating a route through the water and finished in 52.14.
Kev Wallace, who was making his debut at the Championships, had a much better race than he predicted and completed in a time of 52.38.
Craig Drury, who claims Biscathorpe is his favourite course, brought the team home with a solid performance in the difficult conditions and in a time of 1.02.25.
Then it was the ladies turn. In their 5.7K race which consisted of 1 small lap and 1 large lap of the course, Rachel Hamilton, who had just come off a night shift and had very little sleep, led the GRC charge from the start making light work of the challenging conditions and finishing in a time of 28.37. Rachel was fourth overall in the race. Harriet Morgan put in a strong run to finish next for GRC and was pleased with her time of 30.40. She was followed by Sarah High in 33.43, and then Sylv Hull, who was also making her debut at the Championships, in a time of 35.24. Rachel’s, Harriet’s and Sarah’s performances earned them each first place in their respective age categories.
The ladies appreciated the support of our men’s team and, despite the conditions, it was agreed that we all enjoyed the event overall.
The chilly temperature meant that there was no hanging about afterwards with everyone hot footing it back to their cars to try and get warm. That said, we will be back to take part again next year.
