LSARRC News 14th July 2014

Wesham's BNFL, Salwick race marks the over half-way point of the Inter-Club Grand Prix road series and already trends are evident.  Preston Harriers is the dominant club leading in the Open, Vets and V50 categories; Wesham has a clear lead in the Vet 60s and Blackpool Wyre & Fylde AC has edged ahead of Wesham in the ladies results.  LSARRC's highest position is third in the Vet60s and is lying fourth in the other veteran categories and the women's and fifth overall.

Wesham's ICGP takes an undulating course around the rural lanes west of Kirkham and while there are no steep climbs, there are several long inclines, exposed and sapping in hot or windy conditions.  Against recent weather trends, the evening of Monday 14th was mildly wet throughout the race luckily missing the heavy downpour soon after the finish.  A high-class field of 211 runners from the six clubs competed.  True to form, Preston further consolidated their place at the top of the table with runners in 1st and 2nd positions.  David Rigby, second at Blackpool and Lytham, bested club-mate and winner at Preston, Rob Affleck by 8 seconds, 23:05 to 23:13.  Next best was Blackpool who was second in the Open and won the Ladies.  Host club Wesham was third overall and second in the Ladies.

Lytham's twenty-strong team came fifth in the Open and Ladies.  Leading for the Club was Joe Greenwood in one of his best ICGP finishes, 11th in 25:20.  Ten competitors make up the open team and following Greenwood for LSARRC they were Peter Cruse, also counting in the Vets' and Vet 50s' in 33rd in 27:32; Graham Webster, the best Vet 60, 47th in 28:37; Neil Tate, 58th in 29:32; Mark Selby, finishing 67th in 30:12; new-comer Justin Allitt, 71st in 30:28; Terry Hellings and Oliver Hirsh, neck-and-neck 84th and 85th in 31:10 and 31:12 respectively; Dave Dunn, 103rd in 32:35 and Richard Storey 116th in 33:37.  A strong team of Webster, Hellings and Roy Stevens, 133rd in 34:49, scored well for the Vet 60s for Lytham's highest placing of the evening, 3rd.  Laura Ashworth headed the five-strong ladies team in 134th position and 34:50.  Completing the team were Julia Rolfe, 148th in 36:04, marginally ahead of Dawn Bloor, 149th in 36:08; Fiona Geldard , 165th in 38:14 and Karen Lanigan, 196th in 43:35.

 

Other members of the Lytham contingent were Alex Wiggins, 126th, narrowly beating Greg Oulton, 127th in 34:22 by a couple of seconds with a finishing sprint, Jeremy McCandless, 189th in 41:35 and Dawn Lock, 209th in 55:56.    

Greg Oulton continued in his quest to add as many fell races to his tally as possible travelling mid week to the evening 8.8km and 335m climb Bull Hill Fell Race.  Slowed by narrow section preventing passing and encountering a varied terrain of mud, tracks, thick heather, tall grass and rocks, Oulton nevertheless passed several to finish 167th in 58:17, two places and a few seconds ahead of team-mate Julia Rolfe, 169th in 58:36.

Sunday saw the third running for the Windmill Half Marathon from Fairhaven Lake in clear sunshine tempered by sea breezes.  A field of 481, including three Lytham runners, attempted this flat course encompassing several rounds of the lake in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions interspaced with two trips to the far end of Lytham Green.  Delighted to make an under 1 hour 30 minute finish for the first time and notching up a several minutes' improvement on previously, Neil Tate finished in a high 34th place in 1:29:51.  Felicity Wolohan has been training hard for her half marathons and managed 1:44:51 and 134th position. Sylvia Gittins finished  353rd in 2:09:24 to take the first FV60 prize.

Another Lytham prize-winner was Peter Cruse, MV50, taking third place in the Pilling 10K in an excellent 37:11 in this relatively new race held on Sunday 13th.

LSARRC's Mini-Fun Run held annually in Ashton Gardens as part of the St. Annes Carnival attracted over 200 under-fourteens.  The course incorporates incorporates jumps, slalom, climbing a grassy slope and balancing an egg and spoon and the fastest club time was achieved by nine-year old Simon Holt.