A warmer-than-average October Saturday morning saw 31 members of Grantham Running Club travel to Watermead Country Park in north Leicester for the second of three parkrun meets in the club’s Grand Prix schedule. Mindful of the impact of the Green and Black Army arriving en mass unannounced, we gave advance notice and even provided a volunteer – Kate Marshall – to support them.
The course consists of one loop around John Merrick’s Lake, named for a late Olympic sailor that learned his craft in the area, then two around the King Lear Lake, an artificial fishing basin named after the mythological monarch that is supposed to have founded the city of Leicester (we’re learning as well as running, right?). The surroundings are extremely pleasant and the largely flat course made for some great times, though the first half a kilometre is a little crowded if you don’t start at the front.
The club certainly made an impression, taking four positions in the top ten, as well as numerous course and actual PBs, plus season’s best performances.
First home for the Club, in third place overall, was Gavin Potter in 17:17, a PB more than a minute quicker than his previous at Yarborough in August, and just seven seconds behind the first runner home. Next, in fourth place was Joaquim ‘Flash’ Jeronimo in 17:27, who was leading the pack until he took a wrong turn and lost momentum. Russel Whittaker came fifth in 17:32, his second fastest parkrun of the year. Samuel Jepson completed the GRC top ten entries in 17:50, a course PB.
Hannah Whittaker was first GRC woman home, in position 25 and a time of 21:36, a season’s best at parkrun by more than two minutes.
Nicci Whittaker was delighted with a 22 second PB, coming home in 22:52. Marj Spendlow celebrated her birthday by achieving a 33 second PB of 24:11, 49 seconds faster than her road 5k best, while Zoe Wragg did similar, achieving 24:26, 15 seconds faster than her road time. Sylv Hull achieved a 9 second parkrun PB with 25:09
Daniel Pearce, Paul Davis, Stuart Baty, Julie Gilbert, Ros Sadler and Fraser Marshall all achieved course PBs.
The first finisher overall was Peter Stockdale with a PB of 17:09, an impressive 80.76% age grading. Kate Griffiths was the first woman with her parkrun PB of 20:57
Full GRC Results
| Postion | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Gavin Potter | 17:17 |
| 4 | Joaquim Jeronimo | 17:27 |
| 5 | Russel Whittaker | 17:32 |
| 7 | Samuel Jepson | 17:50 |
| 17 | Daniel Pearce | 19:49 |
| 18 | Sam Dodwell | 219:56 |
| 25 | Hannah Whittaker | 21:36 |
| 29 | Christopher Limmer & Rupert | 21:56 |
| 35 | Paul Davis | 22:19 |
| 41 | Richard Payne | 22:36 |
| 47 | Nicci Whittaker | 22:52 |
| 51 | Stuart Baty | 23:03 |
| 54 | Mark Carter | 23:11 |
| 55 | Russell Maksymiv | 23:35 |
| 69 | Marjorie Spendlow | 24:11 |
| 76 | Zoe Wragg | 24:26 |
| 77 | Tommy Napier | 24:30 |
| 78 | Jacqueline Anderson | 24:34 |
| 79 | Daniel Wallace | 24:38 |
| 85 | Julie Gilbert | 25:03 |
| 87 | Riley Maksymiw-Magan | 25:07 |
| 88 | Sylv Hull | 25:09 |
| 92 | Holly Wragg | 25:24 |
| 102 | Sarah High | 26:08 |
| 102 | Stephen Fay | 26:19 |
| 118 | Rosalind Sadler | 27:17 |
| 136 | Catherine Wallace | 28:34 |
| 137 | David Lewis | 28:40 |
| 146 | Wayne Baxter | 29:17 |
| 152 | Fraser Marshall | 29:32 |
| 163 | Julia Hallam | 30:19 |
| 169 | Rebecca Harper | 30:49 |
| 213 | Simon Hartley | 33:51 |