LSARRC News 2nd September 2014

LSARRC fell runners at Harrock Hill

Wednesday night saw the final race of 4 of the Harrock Hill Fell Race Series which was also used as the final race of 4 in the Inter Club Fell Race Series.  This popular race over 5.3 miles with 900 feet of ascent attracted 222 runners.  First home for Lytham St Annes was Joe Greenwood in an excellent 11th place and a time of 37:54.  Joanna Goorney was 35th and 3rd female in  40:21with Terry Hellings in 95th place and 45:52.  Debbie Cooper finished 167th in 52:55, Greg Oulton was 169th in 53:33, Julia Rolfe was 181st in 55:28 and Pam Hardman was 192nd in 57:08 and 1st female vet 55. 

The club's monthly handicap on Thursday evening was run in fine conditions producing  some notable performances over the 4.35 miles rural course.  The clear winner was Karen Kidner who looked exhausted as she reached the finish but was amply rewarded with an improvement of over two minutes for her best time of the summer and a first-ever handicap victory.

Behind her was a closely fought contest to decide the next three places where a determined Alan Elstone in second held off third-placed Brian Porter who in turn just edged ahead of James Waller in a frenzied final dash to the line.  Further good times were posted by the next two finishers, Alex Wiggins and Jeremy McCandless; each running PBs and with McCandless extending his lead on the annual points table as his closest pursuers Kev Ashworth and Neil Tate were somewhat off the pace this time.

Handicap winners: centre Karen Kidner 1^st;
left Alan Elstone 2nd; right Brian Porter 3^rd.

Full results and times: 1 Karen Kidner, 40.46; 2 Alan Elstone, 34.25; 3 Brian Porter, 34.13; 4 James Waller, 40.43; 5 Alex Wiggins, 32.58; 6 Jeremy McCandless, 39.22; 7 Karen Lanigan, 41.14; 8 Pam Hardman, 36.23; 9 Graham Webster, 6.00, 27.40; 10 Neil Tate, 27.51; 11 Laura Ashworth, 33.48; 12 Kev Ashworth, 30.58; 13 Fiona Geldard, 35.20; 14 Greg Oulton, 36.58; 15 Dawn Lock, 60.02,

Leading points scores after 5 races: Jeremy McCandless 149; Kev Ashworth 125; Neil Tate 118; Alex Wiggins 114; Laura Ashworth 107; Dawn Lock 106.

There was more action on the fells on Saturday morning in East Lancashire as Debbie Cooper and Greg Oulton took on the challenge of the Pendle 3 Peaks Fell Race.  The race starts in Barley heading up Pendle Hill 3 times, covering a distance of 9 miles and 2707 feet of ascent.  Debbie finished in a time of 2:11:04 finishing 66th overall and 13th female while Greg completed the course in 2:31:35 in 81st position, his toughest and longest fell race to date.

It was the final Mid Lancs Track and Field Meeting of the season and also the Medal Meeting on Saturday afternoon at Stanley Park Arena, Blackpool.

The junior section of the club was well represented by 4 young athletes.  Ella Moulding made a very impressive debut in the 3000m finishing first U15 girl in 11:14.1 and there were personal bests for Hollie Winstanley and James Nicholas. Hollie competed in the U13G 1500m and finished 6th in 5:43.50 and James ran in the U13B 100m finishing 13th overall in 14.20.  Chloe Norman continued her good form finishing 5th in the 800m in 2:36.10 and 6th in the Long Jump with 4.17m which was her best ever performance in the Mid Lancs. league and her second longest ever competitive jump.

Graham Webster receiving his medal from
British Hammer Thrower Sophie Hitchon

Graham Webster was LSARRC's only senior representative. Graham competed in three races and picked up three medals.  First race for Graham was the 800m finishing in 2:37.9 for a silver medal. Graham also took gold in the 1500m in a time of 5:20.6 and silver in the 3000m in 11:13.8.

Ness Horne and Mark Willett

Sylvia Gittins

The Blackpool Hilton 10k on Saturday saw a field of 249 runners with the winner James Mcllroy finishing in 32:58.  Vet 65 Sylvia Gittins finished in 149th place in an excellent time of 55:40 while Mark Willett accompanied his partner Ness Horne around the course to finish in a time of 57:53 and 168th and 169th places respectively as they prepare for next week's Great North Run in aid of The Christie.