On Sunday 29th September 2024, four members of Grantham Running Club made the trip to the village of Great Shelford in Cambridgeshire for their annual 5k race organised by the parish council to raise ยฃ5,000 for their local charities.
On a lasso shaped course going through both Great and Little Shelfords and in perfect running weather, Peter Bonner (left) was first home for GRC in 18 minutes dead, his fastest 5k to date. He had been hoping for a PB having bagged one at his 500th parkrun earlier in the month but he was blown away by his time, cutting 23 seconds off his previous best. Having had the foresight to play his GRC Grand Prix Joker on this one he was also rewarded with an 80% Gold age grading for the first time.
Next back was Catherine Payne (below right) also setting a new PB taking 21 seconds off her existing one with 20:10 to finish as 7th Female in a quality field, Catherine also played her Grand Prix Joker.
Incidentally this storming performance broke the club age grade record, with a phenominal 92.39% which is ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ.
Third back was Robert McArdle (above) in a seasonโs best of 23:14 to secure fourth position for the team as the third counter.
The final runner for the Grantham club was Sarah High (right) in 25:10. She was able to bag third in her age category, a remarkable run considering she had run the equivalent of a marathon at the Equinox 24 the previous weekend.
Report by Robert McArdle
Photos c/o Sublime Timing