On 5th August the Bassingham Bash took place. This flat, fast five mile race always attracts a high calibre field of runners and this year was no different.
The day started off with typical British weather of rain and more rain, but this had subsided by the start of the race leaving perfect running conditions, enabling the seven runners from GRC to produce some good times.
The race was well organised and had a village atmosphere to it due to it being held alongside the annual village fair where there was plenty of cake and live music playing.
The first to cross the finish line was Joaquim “Flash” Jeronimo in a time of 28:10 which is over a minute PB for him. He was followed by Sam Jepson who, despite still feeling the side-effects of a bout of sinusitis, achieved a 56 second road PB and came in at a time of 29:28.
Peter Bonner deliberately set off too fast to see if he could keep the pace going but discovered he couldn’t! He still completed the race in a time of 30:48 which is nearly a 50 second PB over the distance.
Matthew Atter finished in 32:21, Daniel Pearce in 33:06 and Alan Carley in 34:07, giving him a 44 second PB.
Hannah Whittaker was the first (and only) GRC lady to complete the race in a time of 35:08 which is a 45 second PB.
The race also doubled up as the 2023 Lincolnshire Athletic Association 5 Mile Road Running County Championships.
Rather splendidly, our own Hannah Whittaker continues delivering unbelievable results and as such is now the Road Running County Championships silver medal winner for the V40 category, to go with her silver in the 5K County Championships.
Also on the honour roll was Joaquim Jeronimo who claimed his first County Championship medal, winning bronze in the MV40 age category.
The race winners were Jordan Skelly in a time of 23.28 mins, setting a new course record and Gemma Steel in 26.05 mins.
Group photo c/o Colin Wright