Last weekend was the Lincolnshire County XC Championships. The venue was Biscathorpe, near Louth. The course has the reputation for being a ‘proper XC’ one, with its tough hills and water crossings.
Numerous athletes from Grantham AC were competing as they pitched themselves against the best. The event kicked off with the U11’s ‘unofficial’ race. Meriel Sheard and Lara Hindmarsh continued to impress with ‘gutsy’ runs finishing 5th and 3rd respectively.
Next to take to the start line were the U20, senior and Veteran Men and with 3 laps for the 10km race this meant numerous trips through the water crossings. GAC were represented by William Tucker and George Hatton (U20’s) and Stephan Hobday (VM).
William and George continued their great season to-date, with George finishing 5th and William 1st, taking the County Champion title. Stephan picked his way through the field during the 3 laps and six water crossings to finish in 8th place. Meanwhile the U13 boys took to the course with 3.5 km ahead of them.
GAC athletes Thomas Broadley and William Hindmarsh, both in their first year of competition at this level, battled hard to finish 11th and 13th.
In the U15 girls race Ella Rose Hobday and Amy Crook couldn’t wait to take on the 4.5 km route which again included the three river crossings and gruelling hill climb through the trees to the finish. Both looked very strong as they came in 16th and 10th.
In the U17 men’s race there was a very strong field, within which was Rori Rodell who came 9th.
This was followed by the U17 ladies with GAC athletes Isabel Hobday and Savannah Brook. Both girls ran intelligent races as they paced the run well to finish in 5th and 3rd places respectively. Savannah’s third place was impressive bearing in mind she took a tumble through the difficult route amongst the trees.
Amongst the senior woman, GAC had Joanna McGrath. Joanna skipped over the water crossings like a ballerina staying remarkably clean compared to the runners around her, as she completed the 6.5 km route.
Last to run were the U15 boys, Harry Denton, Ewan Rodell and Connor Nutley representing GAC. The thick mud/bog at the first corner swallowed Harry’s spikes, but this did not stop Harry who ran the next 4 km in socks, finishing 8th! With Ewan (6th) and Connor (10th) having great runs this placed all three in the top 10.
Overall a successful event giving runners confidence for more success during the rest of the season.
– Mark Tucker
