LSARRC News 17th October 2017

Another busy weekend for LSARRC and a new Senior Club Marathon record for Felicity Wolohon and the Lytham Men impress at the first Mid-Lancs cross country fixture.

Saturday 14th October saw the first Mid-Lancashire cross country fixture take place at Cuerden Valley Park in Bamber Bridge, Preston.  There are 6 fixtures throughout the year starting in October through to March.  The course was very challenging after heavy rain meant the ground was very muddy, wet and the hills were

Joe Greenwood, 1st counter for LSARRC at Mid-Lancs Cross Country

Shortly after the under 11s boys race was underway. In the category Lytham had 3 competitors.  Eric Wrigley was the first to finish in a time of 6:42 (22nd), closely followed Lewis Bentley 6:45 (23rd), Archie Tate 7:01 (31st).  Overall the team were placed 6th.

Next to follow was the under 13 girl.  In this race, the club was represented by Sophie Bohannon, Sydney Ramsden and Rebecca Fisher.  This was Sophie’s fist cross country race after moving up an age category to the under 13s, last year she placed first in the under 11 category.  In difficult running conditions, she coped well with the longer course and gained 6th position overall in a time of 13:30.  Second home was Sydney Ramsden in 16:25 (39th) and Rebecca Fisher who was a fist timer in 18:09.  Overall the team achieved 9th position.

In the under 13 boys race LSARRC had 2 competitions, Morgan Pritchard and Jake Balshaw.  Morgan achieved a time of 17:17 coming 44th and Jake Balshaw who completed the course in 24:06 coming 57th.

Laura Bremner, Emily Balshaw and Lucy Bohannon represented the club in the under 15 girl’s category.  The team were placed 6th overall.  Laura Bremner completed the course in 18:05 (20th), Emily Balshaw ran 18:18 (24th) and Lucy Bohannon in 21:11 (34th).

In the ladies over 18 race Lytham fielded two teams.  In difficult running conditions Mel Koth ran supervbly to finish in 28:04 to gain 47th position, out of 148 competitors.  Alexandra Everest was next home in 31:39 and Julia Rolfe finished the course in 32:11. Overall the team finished 22nd.  The second team for Lytham consisted of Kirsten Burnett (33:47), Pamela Hardman (34:58 and Dawn Lock (49:49).  In the Ladies over 35 category the Lytham team secured 11th, 9th position in the over 45 category and 5th in the over 55.

In the senior men race the Lytham runners did not disappoint and the team gained 4th position overall.  This was a fantastic result and the best for many years, they faced good opposition and were able to beat five of the seven clubs in the division above.  The first 3 of the Lytham team came in the top 30 out of over 200 runners.  First home was Joe Greenwood in 40:17 (21st), followed closely by Mike Toft in 40:34 (26th), and Christopher McCarthy in 41:30 (31st).  Not far behind Christopher was Andrew Draper in 41:33 (33rd), then Neil Tate 44:17 (57th) and Paul Veevers in 44:31 (58h).  Other runners for the club included:  Thomas Howarth 46:08 (80th), Terry Hellings 52:03 (154th V60 8th), Gavin Stanfield 52:22 (157th), Chris Bowker 1:00:04 and Greg Oulton 1:07:32. 

At the Lytham Hall Park parkrun on Saturday 14 October 15 Lytham members ran the course.  First home for Lytham was Mark Selby in 20:38, achieving 5th position overall.  Gill Draper was the first female runner for Lytham, in 7th position overall in a time of 20:58.  Other runners included:  Darran Ames 21:58, James Buckley 22:35 50th run, Kev Murray 22:49, Sue Hawitt 25:25, Pamela Hardman 26:28, Jennifer Hill 27:20, Robert Parker 28:07, Laura Byrne 28:46, Ruth Bye 29:43, Michelle Sheridan 31:17, Graham Young 31:40, Gillian Oliver 34:16, and Jeremy McCandless 34:27.

Neil Bayntun-Roberts of LSARRC completed the Barclay parkrun in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire and achieved a time of 21:37 and came 5th overall.

Last Sunday saw the annual running of The Great West Run in Exeter Devon.  A well-established road race and one of the ultimate favorites in the South West running calendar.  This popular half marathon takes a route through the heart of Exeter and the beautiful lanes towards Stoke Woods.  With 3000 runners competing over this hilly course in exceptionally warm conditions LSARRC’s only entry 65-year-old Graham Webster ran a 1 hour 34.56 seconds to win first vet 65 in position 215th in this maximum field.

At the Amsterdam Marathon on 15th October Felicity Wolohan made the journey and competed in the race.  The race starts and finishes in the Olympic Stadium, in front of of the grandstand.  Felicity ran a fantastic race and achieved an impressive time of 3:08:01 which sets a new Senior Lady’s Marathon record for the club.

On the same day 4 Lytham members competed in the Manchester Half Marathon.  The well-organized race was traffic free through the city with a great atmosphere.  With good running conditions Melanie Koth ran the course in 1:38:52 846th overall, 20th v20 and 79th lady.  Kevin Murray achieved 1:44:48 1475th overall.  Christine Walker managed the course in 2:11:26 and Ian Balshaw in 2:11:26.

Also on Sunday 15th October 6 juniors completed the Park View junior parkrun in Lytham, the course was a little muddy in parts but the rain held off.  Morgan Pritchard was first home for the cub in 8:00 and 2nd overall.  Other results included:  Lewis Bentley 8:51, Jayden Richardson 9:14, Charlotte Fisher 9:47, Blair Selbie 11:00 and Jack Greaves 11:16.
relentless.  First off were the under 11 girls, Lytham had 5 runners in the race and all ran exceptionally well in very difficult conditions.  Amara Thorpe led the way for the Under 11 girls finishing in a time of 7:35, coming 22nd.  Jessica Ramsden and Clemmie Tierney were not far behind in 29th 7:45 and 33rd 7:51, respectively.  There were a couple of first times for the club in this category, Leoma Gill (8:26) and Ella Wiseman (8:30).  Overall the team were placed 8th.