The Midland Cross Country Championship held last Saturday at Prestwold hall saw ten Athletes from Grantham Athletic club compete.
The day started bright and sunny but with a cold strong wind that would challenge all the runners.
Under 13 boys Ewan Rodell and Harry Denton where first to race running 3km against a field of 91 competitors. Both boys ran extremely well, against a very high standard. Despite a shaky start Ewan Rodell pulled up through the pack and finished in a fantastic 7th Place, a mere 20 seconds behind the winner, a massive achievement. Harry Denton got off to a flying start and continued to race confidently, coming home in 25th place, just 37 seconds behind team mate Ewan, brilliant result.
Next up where our two Under 13 girls, Ella Rose Hobday and Ffion Trundell, dipping their toes into larger races for the first time, both girls where nervous but raced with determination and spirit. Ffion finished in 55th place in 15:52 and Ella Rose 97th in in 17:56, a real achievement considering both athletes are still recovering from recent illness.
Rori Rodell our only Under 15 Male athlete raced against eighty-eight runners over the 4km distance and had the race of his season so far, coming home in 14:17 in 25th place. He passed three athletes in the last 50 meters, showing real determination for those precious three places, another amazing result for GAC. The hardest part of the race for Rori was avoiding the dog that managed to get onto the course at the start!
Sixty-five Under 17 male athletes took to the start line next and joining them from GAC were Team mates Aaron Hunt and George Hatton. The 6km race tested them both and they did extremely well with Aaron Hunt coming home in 39th place with a time of 20:51 and George Hatton in 54th place with a time of 22:22. For both these athletes it is their first year racing this age category.
Last to race for the girls was Isabel Hobday for the U15 category, covering 4km and racing against a field of 94 girls. A good start saw Isabel in the top twenty for the first half of the race but after a week of illness she dropped a few places and finished the race in a respectable 34th place, one she should be proud of.
Two senior Grantham Athletes competed in the 12km male race, Arthur Short had a great race coming home in a time of 65:45 giving him position 204th Stephen Hobday also ran for the club and came home 294th place in a time of 72:49. After the race Stephen Hobday admitted that he should not have run as he was still recovering from flu, lesson learnt!
Grantham Athletic Club are extremely proud of all our athletes that raced on Saturday, their team spirit and attitude towards racing was commendable and I know on reflection they will all be extremely proud of their achievements and will be able to take a lot from each of their performances.
We wish all of the athletes racing on Saturday 4th Feb at the Anglian Schools the best of luck and look forward to hearing about their endeavours’!
Lastly a huge thanks to parents, younger siblings and friends for showing your support and encouraging all of the GAC team on the day. Your support really does make a huge difference.
