Gravesend Road Runners and Athletics Club

PBs for Captain Kevin

Posted on 20 September 2023

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July and August are typically sparse months for races.  Something to do

with holiday seaspn and maybe warmer temperatures.  So there has been

little to report on recently.

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Having said that there have been a couple of notable performances

by club captain Kevin Crockford (pictured opposite in his 'team' photo

after the Larkfield 10k).  In July Kevin scored a PB time of 20:38 in the

Standard Chartered Great City 5k race.  Then, he followed that up with

another PB at the Larkfield 10lk last weekend.  Finishing 67th out of 

a field of 330 runners in a time of 42:17.  Congratulations to Kevin on

both PBs.  Next target for Kevin is a marathon PB at Beachy Head.  He

will be joined in that race by Ben Thompson with both hoping to beat

last years times.

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Wye King Challenge

Posted on 16 July 2023

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Our club captain was a one man band (team) at the inaugural

Wye King Challenge.  Held in the beautiful but excpetionally

hilly countryside aroundWye (the one between Ashford  and

Canterbury  not on English/Welsh border).  Despite getting

slightly lost and falling over and battered by  unseasonal strong

winds gusting to 50 mph, Kevin finished in a creditable time of

just over 2 hours for a tough trail half marathon.

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Mob Match - 11 July 2023

Posted on 16 July 2023

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The popular annual mob match with Istead & Ifield Harriers and Larkfield AC took place on the evening of Tuesday 11 July at Nurstead Court.  A big thank you to everyone involved who made it such a fun evening.  Special mention to the marshals and club members who gave up their time to ensure the event ran smoothly.   GRR as always had the smallest team of the 3 clubs and so came 3rd on the total points scoring.  But there were tremdous performances with 7 out of the top 20 finishers being GRRs.  A revised points scheme is called for.  Since on average points per runner GRR would actually have won the match.

 

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North Downs Run - 26 June 2023

Posted on 16 July 2023

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It was a sweltering hot day for the annual North Downs Run.  Perhaps fortunately only 5 GRRs were running this year.  Think it is fair to say that everyone suffered with the heat but for the winner, Ed Bovingdon (formerly of Istead) who set a new course PB!  All 5 GRRs completed the course which is more than an achievement in itself given the less than favourable temperatures.

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London Marathon

Posted on 25 April 2023

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Congratulations to the two GRRs (Annabelle Stearns and Paul Moss) who completed the London Marathon on Sunday 23 April 2023.  The weather was  not kind to the spectators but was relatively good for the runners.  Although, it was a cold start to the day and there were a couple of torrential showers to contend with. 

 

Annabelle missed out on her hoped for sub 3 hour target but finished in a creditable 3:01:52.  Paul suffered significantly in the last 10km having been on course for a sub 4 hour.  But still did admirably to finish in 4:21:48.  Both of our incredible marathon runners are pictured below.

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London Landmarks

Posted on 3 April 2023

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The popular half marathon around London Landmarks was  attended by 5 GRRs.  Finishing times are available in the race results section.  There were PBs for Trisca Bannister and Kevin Crockford and a debut half marathon by Katie Walker.  Katie deserves a special mention as she ran this when nearly 6 months pregnant!  Another special mention too for Lucy Wright (David's daughter) who completed her first half marathon.  Well done Katie and Lucy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bromley Vets 5 Mile & Smugglers 10k

Posted on 3 April 2023

 

                                             Congratulations to Richard Lees on his run at

                                             Smuggler's 10k on a damp March morning at

                                             Minnis Bay.  And to Kevin Crockford and Robin

                                             Heel who enjoyed (or endured) a very wet 5 miler

                                             race organised by Bromley Vets.

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Lesnes Abbey 5 Mile - Ray Marshall Memorial Race

Posted on 30 January 2023

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There were 4 GRRs who attended the inaugural Ray Marshall Memorial Race organised by Plumstead Runners at Lesnes Abbey in Abbey Wood.  For those of you who thought that Abbey Wood was just a train station in the midst of a concrete jungle then think again.  The ruin of Lesnes Abbey is set in beautiful but brutally hilly woodland.  The start of the race was delayed because some of the marshals got lost.  Now this was going to be a theme for the race.  

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The race begun and even within the first mile there

was a massive steep uphill section which most

ordinary mortals couldn't run.  This was a recurring

theme during the supposed 5 miles.  Now to the

distance the faster runners (including our own

Kevin Crockford) appear to have done a course

which is pretty much spot on 5 miles.  Whilst the

slower runners including the 3 other GRRs ended

up doing nearly half a mile more!  

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Nonetheless we all had a great time and said that it is definitely worth a go especially with a very cheap entry fee.  And it is good to support a fellow club in a race in honour of their founding member.

 

 

Announcement on Club Fees for 2023/24

Posted on 30 January 2023

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Following the AGM meeting here is the latest update regarding membership fees. From now on the memberships will be running from April to March in line with England Athletics. 

 

For those members who do not wish to be England Athletics affiliated the fee for the year is £24.  For those members who do wish to be affiliated to England Athletics the membership fee will be £40 (including £17 for EA).

 

Can all members please pay the fees before the end of March so prompt payment can be made to England Athletics.  Please pay into the club account as per details below:-

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Account number 42031583

Sort code 60-09-10

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Club AGM

Posted on 30 January 2023

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The Club AGM was held on Tuesday 24 January 2023 at Nurstead Court.  Despite the low turnout we were just able to muster a quorum.  An enjoyable evening with some lively discussion followed by drinks and sandwiches  (thanks to Annabelle for organising).

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The following were elected to the committee

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John Crockford - President

Annabelle Stearns - Club Secretary

Francis Mahon - Treasurer

Robin Heel - Membership Secretary

Kevin Crockford - Club Captain

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Many thanks  to James Gostick (better known as Warsmith Gos) for his three years service as club captain.  He has stepped aside for Kevin Crockford to take over.

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Kent Fitness League Update

Posted on 23 January 2023

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Two fixtures came up on consecutive weeks early in the New Year.  Fixture 4 was  at Minnis Bay where once again Warsmith Gos stole the show ably supported by Rachel Dellafera.  Both making good use of the muddy dykes.  With the latest fixture at Betteshanger Park, Deal where we had quite a good turnout especially given the distance involved.  Full results of both fixtures are in the race results section.

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Latest race results

Posted on 28 December 2022

 

December has been a a very lean month for race results.  The snow

and ice caused the postponement of the new KFL fixture at Allhallows

(now re-arranged for Sunday 12 February 2023) and there have been

no other race results under post Christmas.

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Kevin and John Crockford took part in the Saltwood Boxing Day fun

run  and then Kevin was joined the following day by Sally Kyle at the

Cambridge Harriers Joydens Wood 7.5 mile cross country race.

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Results are up in the race results section.  A reminder for anyone

who takes part in races to share their race results with John Crockford

and/or Annabelle Stearns.  Some of the annual awards given are

based on race times so it is in your interests to share.

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Kent Fitness League Update

Posted on 24 November 2022

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The first 3 fixtures of the season have come and gone in the last month.  With probably the favourite one - Oxleas Wood - last weekend.  The usual suspects have turned out for cross country and there have been some good performances.  So much so, in fact, that we're not bottom of the ladies league table.  Last weekend for Oxleas Wood there was early torrential rain and accidents on A2 but by race time it was bright blue sky and very shiny - as you can see from team photo below.  Swanley, on the other hand, was very misty and murky.

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The next race is a new course at Allhallows.  The race is to be held on Sunday 18 December on the morning after the club Christmas dinner and prize giving at Darnley Arms - could be interesting!   

  

See link at top of page for results and further KFL information

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Beachy Head Tour 22 Oct 2022

Posted on 29 October 2022

 

A group of GRRs made the trip to Eastbourne with an

overnight stay for the popular events at Beachy Head. 

There were five runners doing the marathon and two

who had sensibly chosen the 10k option.  Great weekend

with special mentions to Katie Walker and Kevin Crockford.

Katie took part  in her first competitive race. and

completed the challenging 10k course in a time of 56:12

and finished 63rd out of a field of 359.  Kevin completed his first marathon in 5hrs 4 mins and was 316th out of 1192 finishers.  As the pictures show we were blessed with fabulous weather for late October.  The weather really makes such a difference to the experience at this event.  Yet it still doesn't make the relentless ups and downs any easier!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Great South Run 16 Oct 2022

Posted on 29 October 2022

 

Congratulations to Lisa and Chris Chiswell who

made the trip to Portsmouth for the Great South

10 Mile run.  Both finishing in highly commendable

times.  Pictured here together post race.

 

 

 

 

President's 10 Mile 16 Oct 2022

Posted on 29 October 2022

 

Many thanks once again to Annabelle Stearns for organising the annual club handicap race.  Unfortunately we didn't have any female runners this year.  In the men's race, Warsmith Gos came home in 1st place.  Having started first with the President, he hung on comfortably to win followed by James Mullan.  The times are shown below with the gap between each runner and the individual's running time in brackets.

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1st Warsmith Gos: 1:33:01:72 (1:33:01.72)

2nd James Mullan: +1:46:37 (1:22:48.09)

3rd John Crockford: +1:49:19 (1:36:37.28)

4th Oliver Northern: +4:05:42 (1:18:42.70)

5th Ben Thompson: +0.:20:48 (1:15:03.18)

6th Kevin Crockford: +2:03:53 (1:21:06.71)

7th Robin Heel: +3:52:33 (1:38:59.04)

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Chelmsford Marathon 16 Oct 2022

Posted on 17 October 2022

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Massive congratulations to George Whittaker on a huge

PB in completing the Chelmsford Marathon in 3:19:21

George finished in 54th place overall out of a field of 450. 

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George's PB before was from the London Marathon in 2016 

which he completed in 3:38.  So a whopping 19 minutes 

taken off that time.

 

 

 

London Marathon 2 Oct 2022

Posted on 17 October 2022

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The club had 3 members taking part this year.  Ben Thompson,

James Mullan and Andy Cobb.  With minimal training due to

injury Andy finished in a creditable 4:43 with James and Ben

finishing 4:30 and  3:47 respectively.  James and Ben both hit

the wall at around 20 miles suffered with quad pain for last

few miles.  Great effort all round.

 

Ballot is already closed for next London Marathon in April 2023.

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