Rose Nicholson made it back-to-back wins in the Sportlink Grand Prix Series as she took victory in the women’s race at the Dereham 10.
The Waveney Valley AC runner won the 10-mile race in 1:02:35, adding to her victory at the Great Yarmouth Half Marathon two weeks earlier.
Katie King of Saint Edmund Pacers finished second in 1:03:12, with Rachel Cooke of Buckingham & Stowe RC third in 1:03:15 after a close battle for the women’s podium.
The Dereham 10, organised by Dereham Runners, was race 12 and the final event in this year’s Sportlink Grand Prix Series.
Starting at Dereham Neatherd High School, the race heads out into the surrounding countryside along quiet roads before returning to the school for the finish.
Nicholson goes hard from the start
Nicholson’s win followed a similar pattern to her victory at Great Yarmouth, with the Waveney Valley AC runner deciding to commit early and try to hold on.
“The tactics were the same as Yarmouth, really,” she told Sportlink TV.
“Go out hard and try to hang on.
“It was quite close behind me today, but if I’d waited and been with the other girls going up the uphill drag at the end, I think I’d have lost out.
“So it was the right tactics. It felt like quite hard work, but it was good.”
Two wins in two weeks
Nicholson’s victory brought the curtain down on her Sportlink Grand Prix Series campaign in impressive fashion.
Having won the Great Yarmouth Half Marathon in hot conditions earlier this month, she returned to take another strong victory at Dereham.
She said the performance was especially pleasing because it came during a heavy training block.
“Two weeks ago, I tapered to the race. This week, I’m back into my last training block for the marathon.
“So it felt good to still be quite race sharp after a big long run last weekend and a couple of hard sessions too.
“It’s going well.”
Yorkshire Marathon next
Nicholson will now turn her focus to her autumn marathon plans, with the Yorkshire Marathon in mid-October her next major target.
She is not putting a time prediction on the race yet, preferring to make that decision closer to the day.
“I’m not going to predict a time just yet. I’ll decide on that a few weeks out.”
The Sportlink Grand Prix Series is supported by Sportlink, a Norwich-based running store run by runners for runners, offering expert gait analysis, specialist running shoes and trusted advice for runners across Norfolk.
Article supplied by Mark Armstrong Media.