Ponton Plod success for Boston Runners

Boston Community Runners sent a strong contingent to tackle the Ponton Plod races with members taking part in the 12 mile and the 10k distances and picked up two wins.

The 12 mile distance started at 9.30am with three club runners taking part.

Kelvin Clements took an early lead and could not be caught.

Not only did he lead the black and yellow stripes home but he led the whole 12 mile field in first place in a time of 1.43.16.

Simon Jackson finished in 1.44.42 and helped fill the top three places with a well deserved third place.

The club’s other 12-miler was Bridget Wood who set herself up for this off road challenge while training for a half marathon and was very pleased with her time of 2.42.54.

The 10k was the last distance to set off at 10am with 21 club runners involved, and it was Sharon Houghton leading the Boston runners and walkers back in a time of 54.24 taking sixth place overall and first in her age category.

Trevor Byng was just a few steps behind in 54.27 and then came Rob Buswell finding his form once again in a time of 1.03.03.

Micheal Corney was next back in 1.08.30 and was followed in by Emma Wright who keeps going from strength to strength.

Emma finished in 1.09.57. Terri Robinson enjoyed her run, finishing in 1.14.21 just half a minute ahead of Paul Houghton in 1.15.04. Tracie Charles and Jill Rymer had a super run together (with Otis the dog) and stopped the clock at 1.15.09.

Jayne Clements and Georgina Wilde also stayed together and crossed the line in 1.17.48.

Louise Clayton was the next Boston finisher with a great time of 1.20.55 with husband and wife, Nick and Mary Turner finishing in 1.28.31.

Carole Page had a super run with a time of 1.58.36 and was followed in by Clare Teesdale and Sarah Burton who both came in, in 1.33.59.

Lesley Buswell clocked 1.35.17 and she was followed by walkers Jayne Ashton (2.01.22) Sally Bridgeman (2.01.24) and Andy Ashton (2.03.38).

The Ponton Plod was started in 2007 by Stuart and Kath Ashley with a choice of two distances, 17 or 27 miles and attracted an entry of 89 which was a reasonable number for the first year.

In 2009 it was decided to introduce a shorter 12-mile route to try and attract more local walkers who may not want to do a longer distance.

Although this attracted a few local walkers it attracted a lot of club runners.

Since then entry numbers have increased most years and saw the largest in 2019 with 273 entrants, about 70 per cent of these were runners.

Since 2017 the event has been organised by Notfast Running Club and 2024 saw just over 300 runners and walkers taking part with the inclusion of a 10k event as well. This year there were 239 that completed the four courses.

The event starts and finishes at The Village Centre, Great Ponton, near Grantham and all routes use footpaths, bridleways, tracks and minor roads towards the Vale of Belvoir, the longer routes passing through several picturesque villages including Denton and Harlaxton.

Boston Community Runners are a running club for all abilities and distances.

For further information visit www.bostoncommunityrunners.co.uk or search Boston Community Runners on Facebook.