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Date: 5th March 2023
Report by: Amanda Towers
Fortunately the weather gods were looking down on Scunthorpe on the morning of 5th May: cold, clear and not too breezy meant that conditions were as near to perfect as could be hoped.
The course itself is flat, and I mean really, really flat. Apparently Boston in Lincolnshire is even flatter but for Dronfield/ Sheffield folks, where flat normally means anything less than vertical, it is uncannily even, other than a couple of bridges to cross the major roads in the area. This does mean that runners can see for literally miles whilst on the course, which can be a bit demotivating when you are trying to run a long way as hard as possible and there are lot of people in front of you, but it still lends itself to some pretty quick running if you can avoid going off like it’s a parkrun.
The overall male winner was Daniel Haworth from Matlock AC with at time of 1:06:56 and the first lady was Sarah Kemshall of St. Theresa’s AC with a time of 1:16:58.
There was a small swarm of 7 bees in attendance, with Kristoff Boyton coming in first in 49th place overall with a chip time of 1:17:25. Apparently Kristoff was just happy to get around, but I’d say that’s a pretty good placing in a competitive field.
The next bee in was Collette Gains with a chip time of 25:55 in position 178, bagging her second fastest half, with Sue Atkinson close behind in position 201 with a time of 1:27:07. Another great achievement from some of DRC’s fastest ladies.
Rob Holehouse was the next bee, finishing in position 362, with a time of 1:34:50, closely followed by Josh Garton with an amazing 20 minute pb of 1:45:49. There were a nail biting few hours when it seemed like Josh’s timing chip had failed but it looks like Tape to Tape have got it sorted – phew!
Representing the VW40s were Kate Tetley in position 818 with a time of 1:54:35, beating an 18 year pb, and Amanda Towers close behind in position 849, with a time of 1:55:49 and a pb of 15 minutes and 1 second. Both are over the moon to have bagged their DRC silver grades.
All in all, North Lincs half is a down-to-earth, traditional tear-up if you are on the hunt for a half pb: well-organised without too much fuss but with all the essential elements for a great race day
