The 5th edition of the ever-popular GRC 5K race took place at Harrowby Hall Lane on 04 July 2025. In near perfect conditions, the race which doubled up as Round 13 of the GRC GP Series attracted a bumper 76 runners, made up of regular club members and members of this years Begin to Run programme. The out and back course is challenging but suited to fast times and we were delighted to see masses of PBs or first time 5k race performances.
In the men’s race Russel Whittaker took the race on from the offset having already set a PB this year, muscling out the trailing field with a very consistent 17:33 and another 80% age grade. Trailing Russel where the battling pair, Gavin Potter and Joe Clarke with the same time of 17:49 but with Gavin getting the nod from the race referee. Joe’s time was enough for a 6s PB and his first ever Silver+ club standard.
The ladies’ race was led by Nicola Ruston-Litchfield, clocking an impressive 21:06, narrowly missing out on a PB but scoring a massive 77.57% age grade. Then came club legend Holly Durham with a solid 21:28, followed by the consistent Hannah Whittaker with 21:46.
Further down the field some standout performances include; Andrew Goddard who clock an outrageous 18:41 beating his previous best by over 1min and scoring 78.95%. Scott Jones put himself out there with his first road race in over 7 years. Scott clocked 20:44 and scored 71.14% in his first ever 5K race. Issac Broomfield from this year’s Begin to Run programme turned some heads with his 23:57, a time which points at obvious potential.
In the ladies’ field, a confident Zoe Wragg ran a 21s PB with her 24:18. Sally Pygott asked the question and the answer was and unconditional ‘Yes’, clocking 25:50, nearly a 3min PB. Jacqueline Anderson returned to form with 26:22 in her first ever 5k race.
Huge credit goes to the 12 runners from GRC’s Begin to Run programme who all completed the distance with most of them pinning on a race number for the very first time.
Huge thanks go to the 12 volunteers who made all of this happen.
Results:
