Part of the Run For All series, the Grand East Anglia Run or GEAR 10K as it is known is a challenging run taking on the twists and turns of Kings Lynn town centre, the park land and river side within its six mile route. Starting at the Tuesday Market Place where a race village was installed almost 2500 runners gathered and snaked their way around the edge of the market place from the start line. It took almost 5 minutes for all the runners to cross the start line but as it was chip timed your individual time started when you crossed the start line. The runners headed out on to the front of the riverside via the South Quay initially before heading back towards the pedestrian shopping areas, wending their way through a beautiful park known as The Walks, around Red Mount Chapel and Gaywood River before heading back along the roads heading out of the town. Eventually the runners took a right turn leading them onto a cycle path overlooking and running alongside the Great River Ouse. Once more back into the built up shopping areas before a final turn and the finish line was in sight, back where they started. Eight members of the Boston Community Runners took part. Wearing club colours for the first time Sarah-Jane Eggleton had a very quick run and managed a PB time of 52.58 still looking fresh when she crossed the line! Next back was Dianne Houghton who ran as part of the Asda Foundation team, one of the races main sponsors. Dianne finished fast in 55.02 just ahead of Neil Goodwin who put in another solid performance coming home in 55.18 saying he felt strong at the finish. Finishing next came Matthew Eggleton, again wearing the Black and Yellow for the first time and pulling a PB time out of the bag by finishing in 57.03 and looking forward to the challenge of getting into the 56 minute bracket! Fran Mills followed Matthew in, the pair had run together round the course. Fran was pleased with her time of 57.11 and thoroughly enjoyed her first time at this event. Emma Cook was next home. After her exerts at the London Marathon she was delighted to finish in a time of 58.40. Sarah Burton crossed the line in 1.00.27 and Jackie Hallett managed to knock some more off her 10K time. Finishing in 1.02.42 gave her a new PB record as she gets closer to that sub 1hr.
In a different direction, Clare Teesdale was the sole club representative at the Langtoft 10k. Just south of Bourne the community puts on the race and fun run to raise funds for the village and although the field of runners was smaller than Kings Lynn it was another sell out. Clare had a fantastic run in perfect conditions and she smashed her PB time by a long way coming home in a sub hour time of 59.20. Clare has been putting the miles in and is a regular at the Boston parkrun and it paid off with a time that left her beaming!
The weekends are full of events now and runners, joggers and jeffers are out and about enjoying the early summer weather. Boston Community Runners members were out there too taking part. Karen Hindle was representing her home town club for the first time at the Sleaford Half Marathon. Having a very comfortable run on what is a very scenic route, mostly on road with just one section on a track, Karen put in a superb time smashing her PB time by coming home sub 2hr for the first time. Clocking 1.50.35 as she crossed the line gave her a massive new personal best.
Neil Goodwin took advantage of a few days away by taking part in the Great Yarmouth Promanade 5 Mile Race. Hoping for a time of around 45 minutes Neil decided to push himself and see what he could do. Starting in the sub 45 pen he got off to a fast start and surprised himself by managing to keep the momentum going crossing the line in 42.56 for his fastest 5 mile run.
Not far south of Boston the Eye 10k and fun run was taking place. Dan Simpson ran the fun run with his son Alfie before tackling the 10k run. The warm up must have done him good as he finished the 10k in a sub hour time of 58.09 – his fastest 10k of the year so far. Claire Teesdale and Jackie Hallett were back in action too. Claire was just over the hour this time coming home in 1.02.02 with Jackie just behind her finishing in 1.04.50
It was also the Skegness Triathlon which comprised of a swim of 400 mtrs which was 16 lengths of the pool. After the swim, the bike ride journeyed along Drummond Road, between the Holiday Park and Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve on a relatively flat and straight 19k course which was just under 12 miles. Finally the run element was a 5k (3 mile) trail run from Richmond Holiday Park and along a private road to the Skegness Eco Coastal Centre. It turned out fairly warm but Claire Tunnard put in a super performance and was very pleased with her transition times. This is how long it takes to go from swimming to cycling and then cycling to running! Although still awaiting the official times Claire felt she had progressed from her last Triathlon.
It's not always about Personal Best times and perfect weather condition for the Boston Community Runners, although there has been plenty of both just lately for the Black and Yellow stripes! This weekend was a more relaxed one, that is if you can say an obstacle course that evolved from the army PT training is relaxing! Not for the faint-hearted, the Tough Mudder event held at Belvoir near Grantham is a test for both mind and body. Tackling an array of obstacles the nine mile course must have felt like twelve for Boston Community Runners Tanya Knight and Katie Cooper. From rope climbs to mud slides the ladies tackled a new challenge at every turn with the quagmire seeing them almost shoulder deep in mud at one point! Both completed the course and the challenges and got filthy saying it was brilliant fun!
Beth Lines travelled to Wisbech to take part in the Brinks Colour Run. These popular charity events are something the whole family can be part of and get their name because at certain points along the route contestants are bombarded with coloured powder. By the time they cross the finish line they are every colour of the rainbow. The coloured powder used is of course totally safe, biodegradable, easily wash-outable and very very colourful! Participants are usually required to wear white clothing to better show off their coloured selves later. Beth and son Theo thoroughly enjoyed the relaxed fun atmosphere and helped raise funds for more good causes.
A beautiful day with high cloud and light winds attracted more than 300 runners to The Rotary Club of The Deepings’ Annual Charity Run on Sunday May 19th, the thirty-third time the event has been held. Although the sun came out during the race and made things a bit too warm for the runners conditions were still good and the men’s winner came within ninety seconds of beating the course record which was established ten years ago. The Deepings is the third of their local “Spring Treble” of 10K races following similar events at Langtoft and Eye in the two previous weeks. All of these races are particularly popular with both local runners and ones from further afield because they all have fast level courses, giving serious runners the chance to put up personal best times. Claire Teesdale represented Boston Community Runners and had a good run. Finishing in 1.02.30 she was pleased with her performance.
Steve Roberts took part in Latvias Riga Half Marathon. The course lies in the very centre of Riga City and runners enjoyed the charm of the largest city in the Baltic States. The course took the runners on both sides of the Daugava River, the largest river in Latvia and with the help of Vanšu Bridge they were able to enjoy some of the most beautiful spots in Riga – the Art Nouveau district, the amazing panorama of Old Riga and Pārdaugava, as well as the paved streets of the Medieval Hanseatic Old Town and wooden architecture of Ķīpsala Island. With nearly 33000 participants and again beautiful weather the race was certainly a highlight for Steve who is a regular runner at the Boston parkrun and ran a sub 2 hr race crossing the line in 1.59.03
Kerry McCrainor took a last minute entry into the Liverpool Rock n Roll Half Marathon. Part of various running events being held over the weekend it is becoming one of the most favourite, fun weekends of running in the UK. With bands and local entertainment at every mile along the way the route started at the Albert Docks and went through the many iconic Rock n Roll landmarks in Liverpool before finishing at the Exhibition Centre on the Waterfront. It was cooler this year with rain as well but that didn't dampen the party atmosphere. At the finish the runners were treated to a concert too with Toploader being the headline act. Kerry had a super run, even though she hadn't been able to get as many training miles in as she had hoped, but crossing the line in 2.38.54 was good enough to put a huge smile on her face.
