Grzegorz Kazaniecki at the Elblaski Bieg Piekarczyka

It was a return to his hometown of Elblag for Grzegorz Kazaniecki as he donned his Bournemouth AC vest along for the 10k race

Back in his native country of Poland and in fact, making a return to the town he was born in, Grzegorz Kazaniecki was in situ for the Elbląski Bieg Piekarczyka. It was 10km road race consisting of two laps of a 5km circuit. It was a popular race, with 635 people taking part in the 10k and a further 291 competing the 5k race.

Grzegorz Kazaniecki after the Elblaski Bieg Piekarczyka

Grzegorz completed the race in 39:25

It was a few weeks on from Grzeg’s appearance at the Netley 10k in the Hampshire Road League race where he finished in 39:21. That was his first race back after a tremendous run at the London Marathon which saw him record a new PB of 2:54:35.

Much of the route for the Elbląski Bieg Piekarczyka was on square cobblestone which was quite tricky to run on. Going through the first 5k in 19:32, Grzeg then completed the second lap in 19:53 putting his finishing time at 39:25.

Grzegorz Kazaniecki with his trophy after finishing 3rd M40

Grzeg with the trophy he was given for finishing 3rd in the M40 category

That was enough to put him in 25th place overall and also sealed 3rd place in the M40 category. That earnt Grzeg a nice little trophy, making his return to his hometown even sweeter.

The race was won by Jakub Ossowski in 32:36, with John Meade of Cork taking 2nd in 33:38. He runs for St Finbarr’s AC. Beata Niemyjska was 1st female in 37:18.

Grzegorz's trophy for finishing 3rd M40 in the 10k race

One for mantlepiece: A great memento to bring back to Bournemouth

On a slightly more unfortunate note, Grzeg ended up picking up a calf injury which may have been caused by running on the cobblestone. He’s now focused on recovering from that and preparing to begin his training for the Chicago Marathon which he’ll be lining up for in October.

Grzegorz Kazaniecki after completing the Elblaski Bieg Piekarczyka

It was a successful return to his roots for Grzeg