Bassingham Bash 5 Mile

 

The organisers of the Bassingham Bash went to great lengths this year to host a race under strict COVID-19 conditions, capping the field to 150 (Actual finishers 89), with a maximum finish time of 37mins for men and 41 mins for ladies. With the usual emphasis on fast times, the race attracted top athletes

Big PB for Matt

from all over England, including 4 of our very own from Grantham Running Club. Starting in pods based on predicted finish time runners were in good company from the very start.

 

First off was the rapidly improving Matthew Williamson running for his 1st claim club Newark AC. After a mile, Matthew suffered a shoelace malfunction but luckily his shoes held tight to allow him to kick-on into the strong wind for the final 2 miles. Matthew was delighted with his time of 28:54, a PB of over 1min and finishing 5s ahead of international athlete Gemma Steel.

 

Sub 30 for Chris

Next was Chris Limmer who was also representing his 1st claim club Hinckley RC. Chris starting from the pod behind Matthew in his first race for 6 months declared that he was rusty but really glad to be back racing again. His time was some way off his best but Chris was pleased to dip under 30mins with 29:43.

 

63rd spot for Aaron

Next up were the GRC green vest wearers Aaron Smith and Andrew Pask. Aaron starting in the pod ahead was away 10s sooner but within 1 mile Andrew was chasing him down. Andrew was chipping away at Aaron's lead until the final mile when Aaron realising he was on for a gigantic PB kicked-on to finish strong. Clocking a huge 5min PB, Aaron’s time of 31:49 was just reward for all of his hard training during lockdown. Andrew finishing close behind with 31:52 was also pleased with an unexpected 24s PB in the challenging conditions.

 

The race was won by Alastair Watson of Notts AC (24:00) and Cloe Hubbard of Newark AC (27:11).