It is my pleasure to share with you the race report from the Fradley 10K, relating to the eight event of the 2021 Grand Prix.
Historically, our most popular supported local Grand Prix event. After a delay from the original March date and continued uncertainty about whether the race would happen, it was great to see our club runners back out in a ‘real life race’. For those who haven’t entered before, Fradley 10K is a flat and fast two lap course through Fradley village and the lovely Staffs countryside. Weather conditions permitting, it usually makes a good opportunity to try for a PB, however I think this year everyone was probably just happy to be out racing again!
Well done to all of our members who participated in the run. We had 20 club members in the Grand Prix event and this consisted of 8 male and 12 female runners. There were some excellent improvement times with 25% of runners exceeding 70% in the age rankings. A particular shout out to Jo Turrell who not only was just shy of 73% in the age grading but was also first Vet 50 female back for our club runners. Well done Jo, brilliant effort. Also, it was great to see Paul Keighley out on the course, our only male running for Vet 60 and bringing home a very respectable time of 49:27.
The race to first place is always exciting and our first three runners back were hot on the heels of one another with Dave Sanders finishing first in 38:50, Ryan Simms just over twenty seconds behind in 39:03 and then Owen Davies coming in at 40:42. Strong running by all.
Sarah Hayman ran extremely well to come home as first lady in 43:29 and then it was good to see Alexandria Evans in second and Olivia Bradley in third place, finishing in 48:52 and 50:36 respectively. Alexandria hasn’t had too much rest since participating in the London Landmarks run (and getting a very large and well deserved medal!) and Liv is getting stronger each time as she steps up running after recently coming back to the club. Well done to you all.
Overall, the race had a good spread of our club runners from all ages which is really encouraging to see everyone getting involved. Looking forward to kicking off the season next year (all things being well) with a March 2022 Fradley – which can sometimes be freezing cold! – and also hearing the shouts of our loyal club supporters who, if they are not racing, usually line the course to keep us all going! Happy times ahead.
Results for club runners are below:
