LSARRC News 29th November 2016

Lytham ladies at the Wesham 10k

This Saturday 26th November saw a number of Lytham Road Runners taking part in 2 events with fantastic turnouts for each.  First was the annual Wesham 10k race organised by Wesham Road Runners which saw 10 of our club members on the start line. It was a chilly morning, but beautifully still with no wind and bright sunshine.  The route was fairly undulating, along some lovely country lanes.  There was quite a bit of frost still on the ground which made it a little slippery underfoot, catching out a couple of competitors.  It was a very well organised event, with good signage and lovely marshals.

First home for the club was Thomas Howarth in 24th out of 462 overall in 37:08 followed by Justin Allitt in 36th position in 38:17, Neil Baynton-Roberts came 78th in 42:17, Roy Stevens in 48:10 to take 168th place. Our first lady home was Kirsten Burnett in 219th place (35th female) in 51:26, followed by Ruth Wheatley, making a great comeback to running following a long layoff running due to injury, in 53:01 and 246th position. Laura Byrne completed the course in 58:06 for 326th, followed by Sarah Bradshaw in 1:03:118 for 384th, Ruth Bye in 1:03:32 for 388th and Sarah Bagshaw in 1:05:59 for 404th. Well done to all!

Saturday also saw the Mid Lancs Cross Country League held at Sefton Park. The day started with thick fog reducing visibility to approx 20 yards at times when the first race commenced. Being the British Athletics Cross Challenge, these races had athletes from the whole country competing, indeed the Senior Men's race reportedly had the highest number of competitors ever.

The Under 11 Girls and Under 11 Boys started their race together. Lytham's Sophie Bohannon, running in only her second XC and her 4th ever race for the club, came home 2nd in 7:25, just a few seconds behind the winner's 7:20. Next home for Lytham were Amara Thorpe in 9:20, Hebe Tierney in 9:32 and Jessica Ramsden in 9:36. In the boys' race George Denye came a very close 3rd, in 7:21 followed by Eric Wrigley in 9:12. The next race was the Under 13 Girls. Lytham's sole entrant in this age group was Sydney Ramsden, who finished in 13:54. The under 13 Boys also saw just one Lytham runner, Louis Eunson, who finished in 12:05. The final Junior race for Lytham was the Under 15 Girls, with Laura Bremner (14:16) and Lucy Bohannon (15:35) representing the club.

Olivia and Rachael in their first cross country race for the club

Next came the Senior Ladies' Race, by which time the fog was thinning out, just. Lytham had eight runners in this race of just over 5 miles (8.1km). First home for Lytham was Joanna Goorney, in 33:24. 9th overall, but 2nd FV45. The following Lytham runners were Barbara Holmes in 38:25 (2nd FV55), Louisa Denye (40:39), Julia Rolfe (42:28), Sylvia Gittins (49:40, 3rd FV65), Olivia Johnson Allen and Rachael Wignall crossed the line together in their first ever XC in 52:46. Last home for Lytham was Dawn Lock in 1:05:39. The team effort saw the ladies A team achieve 12th overall team out of 32, and the B team achieve 30th, whilst also achieving 5th place in the ladies over-35 category out of 13 teams, and 3rd in the over-45 category out of 10 teams.

Joe Greenwood

The final race of the day saw the Senior Men's 6.1 mile (9.8km) race. By this time the fog was lifting, though it came and went in waves before the race finished. Being the last race of the day the frozen ground had started to thaw and turn to mud in patches under the pounding feet of all the previous runners, making for a tough race.
First home for Lytham was Joe Greenwood in 35:36, closely followed by Chris McCarthy in 35:54, who had been ahead of Joe for a while, though Joe's youth won the day in the end. Next home were Neil Tate (41:12), Graham Webster (42:47 3rd V60), Terry Hellings (43:49, 4th V60) and last but not least Greg Oulton crossing the finish line in 56:32 to complete Lytham's men's Mid Lancs team.

Some fantastic achievements in tricky conditions and great representation of the club by all the juniors and seniors that attended and participated!

Sunday saw the club represented at a further 2 events. The juniors were well represented at the Lancashire sports hall league at Stanley Park in Blackpool, with six members competing in a variety of disciplines including sprinting, throwing and jumping. The club was represented by Ted Thompson, Sophie Tate, Amara Thorpe, Caitlin Holderness, Mathew Rawlinson and Samantha Rawlinson.

4 of our seniors attended the Best 5k (Run for Rory) at Moor Park Preston. After the icy conditions of Saturday’s races, the weather was perfect for running around this beautiful park. Still, dry and sunny. Representing the club was Claire England who finished the race in 24:08 (33rd) which saw her achieve 1st vet 50, well done Claire!  Second finishing for the club, and not far at all behind Claire, was Sue Hawitt in 24:19 (37th). Jim Whitworth finished in 27:07 (56th) and Dawn Lock in 38:13 (100th).