LSARRC News 10th January 2017

Lancashire veteran women silver medal winners

Lancashire AA Cross Country Championships 2017

Lytham St. Annes RRC had an excellent start to 2017 when they won team silver and seven individual medals across all age categories from U11 to V70 at the Lancashire Cross-Country Championships on Saturday.

Twenty-five members of Lytham, up from fifteen from last year, made the trip to Witton Park and were rewarded with one of their best medal hauls yet.

Windless mild 8o temperatures and less mud than in previous years made for good running conditions but didn't counteract the toughness of the multiple hill climbs, rough grass and foot-turning patches. Heavy mist hung over the northwest for the entire day jeopardizing the Isle of Man team's flight into fog-bound Liverpool but with the help of delayed starts, Manx Harriers, always staunch supporters of the Lancashire Championships, were able to take the Women's title from Blackpool with a convincing 15 points to 44.

Dawn Lock and Sylvia Gittins

Most successful of the day were the Veteran Women, all five of whom took home medals. Joanna Goorney, 27:59, 20th overall and sixth vet; Melanie Koth, 31:42, 36th overall and 14th vet and Kirsten Burnett, 39:07, 56th overall and 31st vet, won the Women Vets' team silver medal: a real boost for the Club. Koth also won V40 individual gold and Goorney the V45 silver. In addition the club's two V70 Sylvia Gittins in 45:25 and Dawn Lock in 53:25 took silver and bronze respectively in their age group.

Senior Men

Lytham fielded one of it's strongest men's teams in the final race of the day, the physically demanding 9.8k four-lap Senior Men's, but with the high standard they did well to finish 9th. In a neck-and-neck battle Salford Harriers on 97 points took the title from Blackburn Harriers on 99. Comprising the men's team were Joe Greenwood, 41st in 37:15; Thomas Howarth, 68th 40:03; Neil Tate, 71st 40:29; Paul Veevers, 89th 42:59; Ross McKelvie, 100th 44:18 and Terry Hellings, 106th 45:44. Mark Selby finished 121st in 47:23. Hellings ran very well to win bronze in the V60.

There were successes too for the Juniors who gained two medals. George Denye won silver in the U11B with 6:36 for 1.8K field loop. Both Morgan Pritchard, 18th in 7:15, and Eric Wrigley, 44th in 7:54 ran well.

U11 Girls

On the same course 15 minutes later the U11G managed a very good team 4th place, just outside the Lancashire medals. Making up the team were Sophie Bohannon, whose 3rd in 6:58 earned her the second junior medal; Hebe Tierney, 33rd in 8:17; Amara Thorpe, 35th 8:21 and Clemmie Tierney, 37th 8:23. Jessica Ramsden was 42nd in 8:31.

George Denye - U11 silver medalist

Older juniors were represented by Sydney Ramsden, 37th in 14:52 and Rebecca Tate, 53rd in 17:21 in the U13G 3k race which included a climb over the Saucer while Laura Bremner, 19:39, Lucy Bohannon, 20:06 and Holly Anderson, 20:59 finished close together in the U15G 3.8K race which also included the Saucer.

Terry Hellings - V60 silver medalist

The following day four Lytham members tackled the hilly Garstang 10k in unseasonably warm conditions, including two men who had also competed in the cross-country the day before.

The course route took the competitors around the back of Garstang High School before a lovely downhill stretch (the calm before the storm) leading onto the hilly loop around the lanes of the village, over rivers and motorway bridges before running back uphill to the school, just what tired legs needed for the sprint finish!

First home for the club on the back of the tough cross country race the day before was Tom Howarth, 20th place, in 38:07 followed by 34th place Paul Veevers in 39:13. First lady home for the club, and 8th female overall out of 190, was Michelle Hook equalling her 10k record to the second in 43:48. Completing the club representatives was Lorna Cragg, who finished in 1:17:43.