Race Date: Saturday 2nd August 2025

Having previously run here thirteen times since 2006 this event illustrates perfectly how performances have declined over the years. Flat and fast, it’s the sort of club race that I love although the attraction may also be Race Director Bill Taylor’s post event BBQ complete with hand pulled ale and bouncy castle for the children. Both are still a feature although the bouncy castle is for grandchildren these days. My best experience was back in 2010 when the lead bike took the first nine competitors off course resulting in my getting four bottles of beer as top M50. It felt a shame to drink them as I so rarely trouble the scorers.

After a mile loop through the village the course heads north onto quiet country lanes. So quiet in fact that in some places there’s grass growing down the middle of the road and the authorities haven’t deemed it necessary to repair the potholes making life a little awkward for those wearing their carbon plate shoes. Unhelpfully this is between three to four miles just when maximum concentration is required. The finish is on the rec where the Bassingham Gala is in full swing with music, stalls, games, and a vintage motor vehicle display. Warm, humid conditions greeted competitors this year and whilst there was a slight headwind on the return this didn’t seem to be that apparent on the way out.

Although starting at what I thought was the correct pace my mile splits mimicked the above chart, the continual decline inevitably leading to another personal worst. It’s the Newark Half Marathon in two weeks and while today’s result was unpalatable it provides a useful pointer on how to approach the longer distance where the penalties for poor pace judgement can be severe. Chris Ireland was another who bemoaned having set off a little too quickly, possibly with cash consequences, as this may have cost him position as first M60 who was eighteen seconds ahead.

With small fields, this year only 168 finishers, the race has always packed a punch with Ed Buck and Pat Jackman (both Newark) winning in 23:57 and 28:14 respectively. Along with good prizes the race also awards training bursaries for the leading U23 athletes whilst this year it had the added attraction of being the Lincolnshire Five Mile championships. Chip timing meant that a text with your result together with your photograph as you crossed the line was already on the phone by the time you got back to the car. Due to the size of the field there’s no need for a timing mat at the start so everyone gets gun time.