Gainsborough parkrun celebrates its 100th birthday

Mat Huteson, winner of the 100th Gainsborough 5K parkrun. (PHOTO BY: John Rainsforth).

Since its launch behind the leisure centre in May 2015, a total of 905 runners have completed more than 18,500 kilometres, which is the equivalent of travelling from Gainsborough to Christchurch in New Zealand!

Fifty-two tackled the 100th run, and no fewer than 18 of them, including eight members of Gainsborough Striders, added to the celebrations by coming away with personal-best (PB) times.

For the 27th time, first past the post was Mat Huteson, whose time of 18.23 minutes was not only his best on the hilly course but also the fourth fastest ever.

Youngster Thomas Sweeting was next to nab a PB in 21.16, which was a course record for anyone under the age of ten and only three seconds off the female record.

Fellow Striders Steven Gaffney and Lee Creed bagged top-ten finishes in PB times of 21.54 and 22.56 respectively, while Miia Wren’s 26.54 was an improvement by more than half a minute.

Carla Wragg’s time of 23.40 made her the first female finisher, for the third time, and husband-and-wife Ian (26.27) and Rachel (33.28) Haldenby also obtained new PBs.

The success even spread to the Scunthorpe parkrun, where Strider Lottie Lindley’s time of 26.02 was her best ever.

Tomorrow night (Friday), the club holds its annual awards evening when the winners of 11 titles, including club person of the year, best newcomer, most improved runners, runners of the year and veterans of the year, will be announced.