Race Date Sunday 2^nd June 2024

Driving back from London on 21^st April, a flash in the rear mirror on the A14 somewhere south of Huntingdon was a sure sign that our excessive mph had caught the attention of a speed camera. The next couple of weeks was spent waiting for a letter asking who was driving but it never arrived. Dodged a bullet there. The next few weeks were also spent recovering from the London Marathon but the bullet of the next race, if “just to see where you are”, couldn’t be avoided. A bit of spam mail was advertising this event: fast, flat and far enough away to get in and out without being spotted.

When entering a race it’s useful to know when the start time is so, on Sunday morning at 7am, a final read of the race instructions informed that the race starts at 9am. Google maps says that it takes 80 odd minutes to get to Grimsby which is cutting it fine. A brother whose job involved prodigious hours of driving used to say “only speed when you have to” but the A14 affair had definitely changed behaviour. The logbook after a session on the previous Wednesday stated “… perhaps some race day adrenaline and cheating shoes will help…” Prophetic words as, with adrenaline already depleted, on arrival at Grimsby at 8:30 it was discovered that the racing shoes were still by the front door. The back up was a manky old pair of ASICS GT1000 dating back to at least 2017 which were now used mainly for the gym. These are silly errors, akin to starting off too fast, but we never learn from the mistakes that we make again and again.  In other words, ill prepared. The coach would say do the simple things right and the difficult things will follow.

So, to the race itself. After marshalling outside the Town Hall competitors were brought down the road to the start. 3-2-1 go and nothing happened as the start itself was narrow so that once crossed everyone was spat out like toothpaste being squeezed out of a tube. After that, on wide, closed roads all was well. The course was pancake flat as advertised, with long straight stretches and with good weather (already warm at 9am so perhaps not so welcome for those taking longer) this was indeed an opportunity to get a good time. There were three water stations providing sustenance in paper cups. At the finish all were offered more water in a paper cup, a bright yellow t-shirt, a medal and a doughnut although personally chips with ketchup on them might have ben preferable. This is an excellent track and although some distance away from Sheffield is worthy of inclusion in our Road Championships at some stage.

Usually, it’s good to be able to do a reconnaissance of the start and finish of a race but on this occasion this wasn’t possible which is the excuse for a ridiculously quick final 400m. Otherwise, splits were bang on, a function of the flat, wind free course but, even though not disgraced, the overwhelming feeling was of disappointment knowing that with half decent shoes could have possibly run a minute quicker.

Winner was Ryan Page (Lincoln Wellington) 31:21 with fellow clubmate Natalie Burns first woman with 35:57. The last of the 2259 finishers crossed the line in 1:59:16. Full results Orsted Great Grimsby 10k

Results and early photos were already available within a couple of hours.

There were six Steel City finishers whilst Ady Good ran as the 65 minute pacer so doesn’t appear in the results. It would be interesting to learn how their day went.