LSARRC News 18th January 2022

Lytham men at Blackpool XC

Cross Country was the main event for Lytham St Annes Road Runners, with the local fixture of the Mid-Lancs League attracting a strong turn-out from both the junior and senior teams.

And there were some excellent performances from the 29 athletes who headed to Blackpool's Lawson's Field, with top ten finishes from both the men's and women's teams.

Joanna Goorney was Lytham's stand-out performer, finishing 10th in the 6km ladies' race and 1st FV50.  Goorney is part of Lytham's over-35 and over-45 teams, both along with Catherine Carrdus (35th, 27:34) and Mel Koth (38th, 28:22), who finished second on the day in both categories and sit top of both Mid-Lancs Leagues with now un-assailable leads with just two fixtures remaining.  The trio also finished 5th team overall to sit third in the season's division one standings.  Also top of the pile for the season so far are the club's female over-55s, with Barbara Holmes finishing 1st FV60 at Blackpool in 28:49 (46th) and Sylvia Gittins first FV75 in 41:15. Julie Wiseman (37:17) completes the team, who celebrated their third victory of the season at Blackpool.  The ladies B team of Clare Taylor (61st, 30:10), Maddy Markham (73rd, 31:12) and Claire Markham (75th, 31:39) finished 14th overall, while Kirsten Burnett (104th, 36:13) completed the ladies line-up.

Mel Koth at Blackpool XC

There was a strong turn-out of 14 Lytham runners for the 10km mens' race, and Ross McKelvie was the first green runner home, 23rd in 35:54, followed by Joe Greenwood in 36:53 (34th).  The rest of the A team. Jonathon Tuck (54th, 38:28), Andrew draper (61st, 38:41), Dominic Garrett (72nd, 39:17) and Alex Tate (39:28) followed home in quick succession to secure 8th place for the team.  The B team was made up of Thomas Howarth (42:52), Mark Hughes (45:44), Dan Gregson (46:34), Richard Storey (48:21), Neil Tate (52:16) and Paul McAllister (53:56), and finished 22nd overall.   Peter Thomson (54:18) and Greg Oulton (58:14) also finished for the greens.  Tuck, Draper, Hughes and Gregson combined to secure a 9th place finish in the vet 40 category, while Storey, McAllister and Thompson were 12th in the vert 50 category.

In the junior races, five of the club's youngsters competed.

First up was Georgina Andrews who finished 20th in 2km under-11 girls race in 9:34, while in the under-11 boys race, Archie Belfield ran 8:38 over the same distance to finish 10th.

Lytham had two representatives in the 3km under-13 boys race, with Adam Jackson (26th in 14:03), getting the better of team-mate Freddie Markham, who was just behind in 15:07 (32nd).

Finally Oliver Thomson's run of 16:19 was good enough for 20th place in the 4km under-15 boys race.

At parkrun, Lytham's stand-out performances this weekend came from Gill Draper who ran a new PB at Blackpool parkrun to finish 1st lady in 19:33, while Neil Tate was first home for the club at Lytham Hall, 5th in 20:36.

At Sunday's junior parkrun Joe Alker and jack McNiven took first and second in 8:20 and 8:26, while Evie Alker was first girl in 9:43.  Joshua McAfee ran a new PB of 10:00, while Reuben May (9:02) and Jessica McNiven (10:49) also ran.