West Glebe Park in Corby was the venue for the second North Midlands Cross Country League fixture. On an unseasonably mild, sunny afternoon GRC was represented by a ladies’ and a men’s team. The men’s 10K race was first which demanded the completion of one small lap followed by three large laps of a course which was fairly flat with the exception of a wooded section which provided the technical and hilly difficulty.
Up against strong competition, first home for the GRC men was the ever impressive Rob Howbrook who finished in a time of 42:01 securing him second place in his age category. Paul Davis followed putting in a strong performance to finish in 49:20. Chasing Paul was ultra runner Andrew MacAllister who finished fourth in his age group. Craig Drury, returning to running fitness, brought the team home with a determined performance.
Then it was the ladies turn with a 6K distance consisting of two large laps of the course. Competing against a large field with a wide range of ages from Seniors upwards, Caroline Davis and Sarah High battled it out to finish within 3 seconds of each other, Caroline taking the lead from Sarah in the last 400m to finish as first GRC lady in a time of 30:34, and Sarah in 30:37, which secured her third place in her age category. Bringing the team home was Hayley Staff who put in a sterling effort in her first race for the club in a long time following knee surgery.
Following this event the men’s team is currently lying in eleventh place in the league and the ladies’ in twelfth place.