Firework 5
Does what it says on the tin - this was an explosive 5 mile race held on the Sunday nearest to the 5th November. Initially it was staged around the streets of Grantham but then moved to Belton Park. A ladies 3000m race was added in 1977. The last race is thought to have been in 1979 and then Stamford AC took the fixture over.
We have very little in the way of results for the 'Firework 5' so if you have any archive material you can share with us please email it to us.
Results
| Year | Course | Winner | Club | Time | The town centre course was a 3 lapper starting
in East Street and then along Avenue road, Sandon road, Red Cross street
area and Castlegate back.
The races attracted a quality field from all over the country. The club also had a quality athlete by the name of Jonathon Mitcham, who as a Junior, came 12th in the 1977 race with a time of 26:00. |
| 1975 | Town | Grenville Tuck | Cambridge & Cole | 25:04 | |
| 1976 | Town | Steve Kenyon | 24:53 | ||
| 1977 | Town | Alwyn Dewhirst | Airedale & Spen | 24:48 | |
| 1978 | Belton | Ken Newton | Sheffield | 24:39 | |
| 1979 | Belton | Ken Newton | Sheffield | 27:41 | |
| 1977 | Town | Glynis Penny | Camb H | 10:39 | |
| 1978 | Belton | Angela Creamer | Rotherham | ||
| 1979 | Belton | Angela Creamer | Rotherham | 11.00 |
A report which featured in Athletics Weekly on the 1977 race submitted by Bob Tristram can be seen here. Bob, organiser of the races, was also an accomplished runner himself posting times that some of us can only dream about. He was also our club Secretary for many years and coached all our young athletes on grass long before we had a stadium.
This picture was taken in 1975 not long after the club was formed. The view is East Street in Grantham with the river Witham and Grantham college just behind. The race was the Grantham Fireworks 5 which our club used to organise. Grenville Tuck of Cambridge and Coleridge won the above race and Ron Hill is in there somewhere - can you see him?
If you have any other pictures of our club in it's early years please send them to us for inclusion on the website.