Sunday 9th March saw a small selection of Grantham Running Club members make the short trip up the A52 to the home of Robin Hood, Nottingham to take on the newly formed 10K for its second year.
Beginning in the picturesque market square, the sun began to shine on the green and black. The route started by moving up through the Lace Market, towards the Nottingham Trent campus, before leading down into the Forest Recreation Ground.
As competitors followed the paths around the park, they were joined by the budding runners of the junior parkrun. On the exit of the park, the inclines increased and continued to increase. The course resembled a rollercoaster, up and down!
Winding around to the Motorpoint arena, the home of the Nottingham Panthers and Nottingham Forest Netball, runners saw the sights of the newly refurbished Broadmarsh. The final stages of the race led into the Park Estate and from 8km, the long inclines really tested all runners.
This was followed by a steep drop down towards the Castle, allowing everyone time to catch their breath and allow the calves to stop burning. With 400m left on the home straight, it went up, up and up, with the finish leading into Nottingham Castle.
There was some superb running from all wearing the Green and Black. The first runner to cross the line in an impressive 39:10 was Brian Hawkins who also scored 22nd place. For anyway wishing to experience the hills from the safety of your armchair, head over to Hawkins Running on YouTube and see Brian tackle the hills.
Next to cross the line was Sam Caton with an impressive 6-minute course record PB hitting a strong 50:33.
Nick Thorpe ran the race in a dubious celebration for his birthday with Wendy Smith, Vicki Geeson and Emma Church all accompanying him on his hilly adventure. Wendy also used the race to support her training for the London Landmarks Half. Wendy came in at 1:11:29, followed by Nick in at 1:12:12.
The GRC finish train continued with Emma Church with 1:13:48, then Vicki rounding off with 1:15:54. Gillian Cardus completed the course with the group in 1:15:00.
There was an overriding feeling of a possible hiatus from the Nottingham 10K in the future for our runners due to the hills.
