LSARRC News 7th July 2015

Nigel Simpkin, Alan Elstone and Roy Stevens

Last Tuesday night saw the 4th race in the 2015 Inter Club Series.  The race was hosted by Thornton Cleveleys Running Club who are new to the league this season.  The 5 mile race started between Little Bispham and the Norbreck and headed up to Gynn Square along the cliffs before returning on the promenade.  The story of the night was the heatwave conditions causing most runners to be quite down on their normal 5 mile times, some had to resort to walking.  An excellent buffet was put on by the club afterwards at the new Norcross Social Club in Bispham.  Rob Danson of Wesham Road Runners kept up his excellent winning streak to win by over a minute in 26:04.  First lady was yet again Emily Japp of Blackpool Wyre and Fylde in 31:33 and 28th place.

Graham Webster

First home for Lytham St Annes was Joe Greenwood in a superb 6th place and 28:15 whom after his recent fell race win, has found a new confidence.  Joanna Goorney was 3rd female in the race in 47th place overall  in 33:53.  Graham Webster was first vet 60 in 34:29.

Debbie Cooper and Pam Binns

Overall in the team competition, LSA finished 6th team in the Open, 7th in the vets category, 6th in the vet 50s and 4th vet 60s.  The ladies finished in 5th place.

Results: Joe Greenwood 6th 28:15; Tom Howarth 19th 31:00; Simon Denye 27th 31:40; Joanna Goorney 47th  33:53; Graham Webster 51st 34:29; Justin Allitt 63rd 35:54; Richard Storey 84th 37:23; Claire England 106th 39:02; Alan Elstone 119th 39:39; Dawn Bloor 130th 40:18; Roy Stevens 131st 40:19; Nigel Simpkin 146th 42:13; Fiona Geldard 156th 43:01; Greg Oulton 166th 44:25; Pam Hardman 169th 44:38; Jeremy McCandless 177th 45:09; Debbie Cooper 188th 47:17; Sue Hawitt 189th 47:42; Pam Binns 200th 49:15; Dawn Lock 249th 65:26;

On Thursday night, Neil Tate made his debut on the fells at the Tockholes Evening Fell Race.  Normally known just as the Tockholes Fell Race, the name was changed due to the normal course not being accessible due to work on the dam. So instead of starting in Tockholes, for this year only, the race started at the bandstand in Sunnyhurst Park, Darwen.  Organised by Darwen Dashers, the course was 7.5 km with 363 m of ascent.  Although the weather was good, the midges were also very annoyingly out in force! The race was won by Chris Holdsworth of Clayton le Moors in 33:15.  Neil finished in 20th place in 39:36 whilst Greg Oulton was 79th in 51:46.  There were 95 finishers.

The 3rd Mid Lancs Track and Field fixture took place on Saturday afternoon at Salt Ayre, Lancaster.  Five juniors and four senior made the trip.  First event of the day was the senior men's hammer where Jeremy McCandless threw 14.17m for 9th place.  Jeremy, along with Greg Oulton, also competed in the discus with distances of 15.69  and 11th place and 14.22m for 12th place respectively. Jeremy and Greg scored more points for Lytham in the javelin with 12.9m and 12.6m respectively.

On the track, Graham Webster completed the 1500m in 5:33.1 for 7th place.  Then in the 3000m, Graham  was 7th in 11:44.7, Terry Hellings was 8th in 12:45.9, Greg Oulton was 9th in 14:37.2 and Jeremy McCandless was 10th in 14:51.2.  In the 3000m team race, LSA 1st  place and 7 points.  The last event of the day was the 4 *400m relay and "fresh" from the 3000m Graham (74s), Terry (84.1s), Jeremy (100.6s) and Greg (101.8s) took the maximum 7 points.

The juniors were just active as the seniors.  James Nicholas had an excellent run in the Under 13 Boys 100m Heat 2 to finish 1st in 13.8s whilst in the 200m (Heat 1) he finished in 3rd in 29.0s.  Simon Holt also ran the 200m (Heat 2) finishing 3rd in 30.5s.  He also ran the 800m for 12th place in 2:46.1 and took part in the Shot Putt throwing 6.04m for 4th place.  In the under 13 girls 1500m, Holly Winstanley was 3rd in 5:30.  Georgia Norman was 2nd in 31.4s in the Heat 2 of the under 13 girls 200m, 11th in Heat 1of the  800m in 3:08 .6 and 8th in the long jump in 3.69m.  Chloe Norman ran the under 15 girls 800m to finish in 3:32:.8 for 5th place.  In the long jump she was 10th with 4.31m and was 2nd in the high jump with 1.35m

It was the Blackpool Hilton Half Marathon on Sunday morning.  The race was won by Peter Lighting of Kent AC in 1:16:05 and had 146 finishers.  The club's sole representative was Neil Tate who finished in 11th place in 1:29:34.

LSARRC News 30th June 2015

Last Wednesday night was the 2nd race in the Harrock Hill Fell Race series.  It was a hot and muggy evening with a bone dry course this month.  First home was James Toohey of Liverpool RC in 32:42 while Debbie Campbell of Horwich was first lady in 41:20.  Lytham St Annes had four runners representing the club with Felicity Wolohan making her debut in a fell race and christening a new pair of fell shoes.  First home for the club was Terry Hellings in 62nd place in 43:43, Greg Oulton was 118th in 51:44, Jeremy McCandless was 144th in 57:39 (in only his second ever fell race) and Felicity Wolohan was 147th in 58:14.

The June club monthly handicap was on Thursday night.  The overall winner was Pam Binns who ran an excellent PB for the 4.35 miles course precisely two years after her previous best while further down the field Neil Tate and Jeremy McCandless also ran PBs.  Long time stalwarts Dawn Lock and Graham Webster recorded their best times of the summer.  In the annual competition, Sue Hawitt's flying start to the year continues for, although she missed out on a hat trick of victories, her 4th place finish in yet another PB has given her a substantial early lead on the points table.

Results: 1 Pam Binns 39.30 PB; 2 Hannah McCandless 37.36; 3 Dawn Lock 55.06; 4 Sue Hawitt 37.37 PB; 5 Neil Tate 26.28 PB; 6 Graham Webster 27.59; 7 Jeremy McCandless 37.18 PB; 8 Tom Howarth 25.52; 9 Joe Greenwood 23.56; 10 Roy Stevens 33.38; 11 Richard Storey 32.20; 12 Alex Wiggins 36.22; 13 Debbie Cooper 39.50; N/C: Claire England 32.04; Jerry Brown 31.57; Sharanya Guleri 39.49; Andy Unsworth 28.16; Justin Allitt 29.21.

There were very few races over the weekend locally.  The big attraction should have been the Soto's 10k in Fleetwood but this was sadly cancelled due to ongoing road works affecting the course.

Joanna Goorney at the Kinder Trog

Joanna Goorney headed over to the Peak District for the Kinder Trog, a 15.3 mile of fell race with 3490 foot of ascent.  This very well organised race started from the village of Hayfield, and headed firstly over Lantern Pike before heading up towards Kinder Downfall and then Edale Cross.  Joanna found the course great fun although conditions were quite windy and cold while heading over the Kinder plateau and after suffering from a virus the previous week, she was quite happy to get round in 130th place in a time of 2:52:41.

It is now less than 2 weeks to the annual St Annes Carnival 5k and 1500m Fun Run which is organised by Lytham St Annes Road Runners.  It takes place amidst the town's seafront attractions and holidaymakers in conjunction with the Town Carnival on Sunday 12th July and will have a truly festive atmosphere with medals and prizes presented by the Carnival Queen and her retinue.

A substantial donation from the proceeds of the race goes to the Carnival Queen's chosen charity; this year the North West Air Ambulance.  A buffet is laid on after in the pub.

The Carnival 5k starts at 11:00am and is open to all runners over the age of 13.  It takes in an accurately measured flat, off-road route between St. Anne's Pier and Fairhaven Lake giving a great opportunity for running a personal best.  Finishers receive medals with prizes for the overall winners, the first in junior and veteran age categories and the winning men's and women's team (3 to count).  The Carnival Fun Run which is also accurately measured begins at 10 am.  There is still time to enter online at www.runlythamstannes.co.uk or on the day from 9.00am at the Lord Derby, St. Anne's Road West, FY8 1RG.

LSARRC News 23rd June 2015

Joe Greenwood - 1st place - Great Hill Fell Race

The Great Hill Fell Race on Saturday afternoon was chosen as the 2nd race in the Inter-Club Fell Race series.  As a consequence, dominating the 47th running of this long-standing race were the sixty-two members of the seven competing ICGP clubs making up 60% of the race.  Persistent rain before the race and a low mist hiding the hill tops boded poorly for the race but promptly at 3pm, the race start, the rain cleared and a little later the sun came out.  Moist air and a light wind provided excellent running conditions.

Largest contingents came from Chorley Athletic and Red Rose Runners with the former uppermost in quality and the latter numerically.  Chorley took both the open and women's competition but there was real interest for Lytham St Annes whose Joe Greenwood was the outright winner by a clear margin and also his first ever win.

Joe Greenwood finished the 9.3km 480m fell race in impressive style in 38:23, 8 seconds ahead of second and led in the LSA open team that provisionally clinched third.  Filling the other places in the open were Mark Selby, 37th in 47:21, Terry Hellings, 38th in 47:23, Greg Oulton, 67th in 54:56 and Debbie Cooper, 85th in 1:01:09.

There was disappointment for the women with only two of the three runners necessary for a team.  Debbie Cooper was 10th woman and Dawn Lock, 98th in the race, was 19th woman in 1:24:30.  Completing LSARRC was Jeremy McCandless who, running his first fell race, came 87th in 1:02:44.

Roy Stevens and Felicity Wolohan

Sunday saw the 51st Freckleton Half Marathon.  This popular well organised race starting at Bush Lane playing fields in Freckleton takes in Wrea Green and Moss Side then the outskirts of Lytham before heading back into Freckleton.  Although fairly sunny, runners were still met with a stiff breeze.  With over 600 finishers, Ben Fish of Blackburn Harriers for the ninth consectutive year lead the field home in a time of 1:09:19.  First lady home was Michelle Nolan of Gateshead Harriers in 32nd place overall and in a time of 1:25:13.

Steve Quarmby followed by Roy Stevens

Lytham St Annes RRC was well represented with 15 finishers.  First home for the club, having an excellent run was Andy Draper in 1:21:54 and 19th place.  Not far behind was Tom Howarth in 42th place and 1:23:17.Neil Tate was next in 37th place and 1:27:09.  Joanna Goorney was first female home for LSA , 3rd female overall in the race, 1st  Freckleton resident and 1st Fylde resident.  She finished in a time of 1:29:54 in 63rd place.  Andy Unsworth was 69th in 1:31:00 just overtaking Graham Webster in the closing stages who finished in 70th place in 1:31:08 and was also 1st vet 60.  Mark Willett was 84th in 1:32:51, Justin Allitt was 106th in 1:36:25, Neil Baynton Roberts was 155th in 1:40:31, Roy Stevens was 232nd in 1:48:38, Steve Quarmby was 243rd in 1:49:19, Felicity Wolohan was 266th in 1:50:51, Alan Elstone was 270th in 1:50:51, Nigel Simpkin was 302nd in 1:53:41 and Ian Tate was 453rd in 2:11:07.

Joanna Goorney running into the finish

There was also interest in the Freckleton Fun Run which started 10 minutes after the half marathon  with Lytham St Annes junior members taking both first and second place.  The 2.3 mile race was won Harry ?? . with 9 year old George Denye only a second behind in 15:41  They ran the first mile and a half of the hlaf marathon course which was into the wind before turning back for the finish.

George Denye in the Fun Run

Barbara Holmes completed the St Annes Aquathlon on Wednesday night.  The event included a 300m swim followed by an 8.5 km run.  She came 10th (2nd lady after a 27 year old, less than half her age) in 42:55, pushing a 22 year old into 3rd.

LSARRC News 16th June 2015

LSARRC runners at Preston IC

 The third race in the Inter-Club Road Race Series took place on Wednesday night.  Preston Harriers hosted the 4 mile race which starts at the Vernon-Carus Sports Ground in Penwortham and takes in a couple of laps of Avenham Park.  Conditions were perfect being a lovely summer's evening.  Rob Danson of Wesham Road Runners kept up his winning streak to be first home in a time of 20:06 and it was a similar story for the first lady home, Emily Japp of Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde who finished in a time of 24:00 and 23rd overall.

Andy Draper

Debbie Cooper

First home for Lytham St Annes was Joe Greenwood who finished in an excellent 12th place in 22:28 whilst Mel Koth was first female home for the club in 112th place and 11th female in 28:48.  Graham Webster was 1st vet 60 in 62nd place in 26:08.

Results: Joe Greenwood 12th, 22:28; Tom Howarth 22nd, 23:59; Simon Denye 24th, 24:02; Andy Draper 36th, 24:37; Andy Unsworth 42nd, 25:05; Neil Tate 44th, 25:11; Mark Willett 61st, 26:08; Graham Webster 62nd, 26:08; Terry Hellings 106th, 28:32; Colin Laidlaw 111th, 28:45; Mel Koth112th, 28:48; Des Heron 165th, 31:18; Nigel Simpkin 169th, 31:39; Dawn Bloor 175th, 31:51, Greg Oulton 186th, 32:36; Alex Wiggins 194th, 33:16; Louisa Ruman 196th, 33:24; Alex Everest 203rd, 33:50; Julia Rolfe 210th, 34:07; Jeremy McCandless 230th, 35:56; Pam Binns 235th, 26:28th, Debbie Cooper 245th, 37:13, Dawn Lock 295th, 49:53.

In the team results, Lytham St Annes finished 5th in the open category, 6th in the ladies, 5th in vets, 5th in vet 50 and 4th in vet 60 category.

Justin Allitt and Graham Webster

Alex Everest

On Saturday afternoon, Steve and Emily Hargreaves completed the Peter Lowe Memorial Hollins Green 5k set in the pleasant surroundings of Hollins Green village, in the far east of Warrington and organised by Spectrum Striders Running Club.  The race was won by Gavin Tomlinson of Trafford AC in 15:53 and had 170 finishers.  Steve finished in 11th place in 16:27 whilst Emily was 46th, 6th lady and 2nd vet 35 in 19:45.

On Sunday, Julia Rolfe was down south for the St Alban's Half Marathon.  It was a very well organised event with 2480 finishers.  The course was hilly starting in the park and through traffic free country lanes.  Julia was 1129th and 27th vet 45 in 1.56.03 chip time, 1.57.17. gun time.  Julia had not had great preparation for the race because of injury, so was very happy with the result.

Also on Sunday, Fiona Geldard completed the Deva Triathlon which was held in Chester and organised by City of Chester Triathlon Club.  As well as it being Fiona's first Olympic distance triathlon (1500m Swim - 40km Bike - 10km Run), it was also her first incorporating an open water swim.  Starting in Grovenor Park, the bike route actually went out into Wales whilst the run was around the city centre.  Fiona did herself proud finishing in 3:11:28 and 1036th overall and 227th female.  (Splits: Swim 39:15, T1: 4:17, Cycle: 01:32:59, T2: 01:57, Run: 52:58.

Juniors from the club were also in action over the weekend.  On Saturday at Wigan Ella Moulding and Chloe Norman represented Fylde in the Lancashire Schools Track & Field competition. Chloe fished 3rd  in her heat of the Junior Girls 800m and thus qualified for the final in which she ran a personal best of 2:31 to finish 5th. Ella competed in the Junior girls 1500m and won comfortably in 4:47 which is within the qualifying time for English Schools. On Sunday, Connor Norman competed in the Burnley AC under 11’s competition and performed brilliantly. He took three golds – Long Jump 3.21m (PB) , 150m 24.4s (new course record for under 9’s) and 50m 8.5s.

Greg Oulton being presented by Dave Rigby

Saturday night saw the Annual Presentation evening for Lytham St Annes Road Runners which was held at the club's headquarters at Lytham YMCA.  Awards were presented by the club’s two coaches to the adult section: Terry Hellings and Dave Rigby.  The presentation was followed by food and a disco.

Club Championship – Male: Steve Hargreaves, Female: Joanna Goorney
Monthly Handicap Shield – Jeremy McCandless;
Founders Cup (Awarded to the Vet with the best WAVA scores) – Graham Webster;
Windmill Plate (Recognition of services to the Club) – Greg Oulton;
Fell Race Championship – Male: Greg Oulton, Female: Joanna Goorney;
Winter Handicap – Male: Neil Tate, Female: Fiona Geldard;
Mike Crowe Plate (Awarded to the most prolific road racer) – Greg Oulton
Bill White Trophy and Marjorie White Trophy (Awarded to the most improved athletes) – Male: Greg Oulton, Female: Fiona Geldard;
Track and Field Trophy - Male: Tony Norman, Female: Joanna Goorney;

 

LSARRC News 9th June 2015

LSARRC at the start of the WCR

Lytham St Annes Road Runners headed off to Wales for the weekend for the annual Welsh Castles Relay.  The 20 stage 210 mile race organised by Les Croupiers Running Club in Cardiff, runs from Caernarfon Castle to Cardiff Castle with 65 teams taking part this year.  Although conditions were very windy on Saturday, there was still blue skies all day whilst Sunday was a calm summer's day.

The relay was won overall by Serpentine completing the 20 stages in 19:43:31.  Lytham St Annes finished in 41st overall with a total time of 26:02:18 , a great position considering the size of the club and the opposition.  Serpentine also won the King of the Mountains whilst LSA finished 34th out of 44.  There were some outstanding performances over the weekend with many stage records being broken.  In Stage 20, Martin Rees, a 62 year old from Les Croupiers was 3rd in the final stage which was a phenomenal performance for a vet 60.

There was much success for Lytham St Annes starting with Emily Hargreaves being first lady on the opening stage from Caernarfon Castle, Steve Hargreaves being 3rd on Leg 2 and Joanna Goorney being first lady on stage 10, a tough 13.1 mile hilly run at the end of day 1.  Both ladies were thrilled to be awarded yellow jerseys for their wins.  Andy Draper also managed a top 10 finish on Stage 15.

LSARRC also had three first timers to the relays in the team all doing the club proud.  Jeremy McCandless was 60th on Stage 9, Felicity Wolohan was 56th on Stage 13 in whilst Alex Everest was 56th on Stage 18.  Alex only started running in January this year and her leg of 9.1 miles was her longest ever race.

Stage 1: Emily Hargreaves, 13th 1:06:42 (9.1 miles)
Stage 2: Steve Hargreaves, 3th 1:01:53 (10.1 Miles)
Stage 3: Graham Webster , 33rd 1:25:12 (12.3 miles mountain stage)
Stage 4: Greg Oulton 48th, 1:19:30 (9.5 miles)
Stage 5: Nigel Simpkin 43rd , 1:18:48 (9.6 miles)
Stage 6:Fiona Geldard 43rd: 1:23:34 (10.7 miles)
Stage 7: Terry Hellings 50th. 1:13:25 (9.5 miles mountain stage)
Stage 8: Richard Storey 48th, 1:22:16 (10.8 miles)
Stage 9: Jeremy McCandless 60th, 1:15:09 (8.5 miles)
Stage 10: Joanna Goorney 39th, 1:31:54 (13.1 miles mountain stage)
Stage 11: Neil Tate 26th, 1:23:05 (12.3 miles mountain stage)
Stage 12: Dave Dunn 38th, 1:19:45 (11.2 miles)
Stage 13: Felicity Wolohan 56th, 1:27:53 (10.6 miles)
Stage 14: Tom Howarth, 33rd, 1:13:28 (10.8 miles mountain stage)
Stage 15: Andy Draper 10th, 1:18:12 (12.8 miles)
Stage 16: Steve Quarmby 57th 1:18:12 (8.8 miles mountain stage)
Stage 17: Pam Hardman 49th, 1:15:46 (9.2 miles)
Stage 18: Alex Everest 56th, 1:21:04 (9.1 miles)
Stage 19: Pam Binns 62nd, 1:12:11 (7.7 miles)
Stage 20: Kevin Ashworth 46th 1:21:04 (10.7 miles)

LSARRC at the finish of the WCR

Not content with one long race in a weekend, three members of the club who ran on Saturday at the relays (Emily Hargreaves, Steve Hargreaves and Greg Oulton) then headed up to Lakes for the Coniston Trail Marathon on Sunday.  They were joined by 3 other members of the club, Liz Boon, John Wild and Mark Willett.

The marathon takes in a complete circuit of Coniston Water along footpaths and bridleways taking in Tarn Hows and the elevated Beacon Tarn.  There were 2 options for the Marathon, either starting at 7am with a 8 hour cut-off time (Marathon Challenge) or 9am with a 6 hour cut-off time (Marathon Race).

John Wild, Liz Boon and Greg Oulton

In the Marathon race, despite having run the previous day, Steve Hargreaves was 5th in 3:25:27 whilst Emily Hargreaves was 23rd and 3rd female in 3:59:48.  Mark Willett was 99th in 4:35:47.  In the Marathon Challenge, Greg Oulton was 79th in 5:15::58:, Liz Boon was 165th in 6:07:07 and John Wild was 166th  also in 6:07:07

On Saturday morning, Julia Rolfe ran the Preston Parkrun.  She was 108th in 25:30.

Last Tuesday night Greg Oulton headed over to the Bowland Fells for Paddy's Pole Fell Race.  The 3.7 mile course with 1102ft of ascent takes in both Parlick and Fairsnape.  The race was won by Andrew Newton in 30:05 from the host club, Preston Harriers.  Greg finished in 97th place with a time of 48:21.

LSARRC New 2nd June 2015

On Bank Holiday Monday was the Fishwick Five Trail Race in Preston.  Neil Tate was 7th finishing in 32:58 whilst Greg Oulton was 37th in 43:47 knocking 10 seconds off his time from last year.

Also, on Monday, Colin Laidlaw , took park in the Rigg Race in Balerno on the outskirts of Edinburgh.  The 6 mile course starts in Malleny Park, home of Currie RFC and heads up through the village of Balerno and up towards the Pentland hills.  Colini finished 53rd out of 150 runners in a time of 43:12.

The ever popular Harrock Hill Fell Race series started last Wednesday with the first race in the series of four.  The race was also used as the first race in the Inter Club Fell Race Championship and as a result attracted quite a number of Lytham St Annes runners.  The race was won by Daniel Miller of Endurance Store in a time of  34:04 while the first lady, Lindsey Brindle of Horwich finished in 26:45, only a few seconds outside the ladies course record.

First home for Lytham, was Joe Greenwood in 8th place in 36:02.  Joanna Goorney was 2nd lady and 1st vet 45 in 44th place and 40:19.  In his first fell race in nearly 30 years, Graham Webster was 77th and 2nd vet 60 in 43:29.  Next home was Terry Hellings in 97th and 44:52.  Greg Oulton was 171st in 52:24, Fiona Geldard, in her first ever fell race was 172th in 52:32, Julia Rolfe was 193rd in 55:06. Pamela Hardman was 201st in 57:42 and Dawn Lock was 230th in 78:52.  There were 232 finishers.

Thursday night saw the second race in the club's monthly handicap series.  Sue Hawitt, one of the newer club members repeated her win in the previous month and has taken an early lead in the annual competition. Sue made her club training pay off handsomely with a time two minutes better than her previous race over the 4.35 miles course. Last year's champion Jeremy McCandless remained in fine form with successive PBs while Karen Lanigan, who narrowly missed winning a medal last season, ran well in third place to move up to second on the points table.

May Handicap results: 1, Sue Hawitt, 38.21, PB; 2, Pam Binns, 41.01; 3, Karen Lanigan, 41.12; 4, Roy Stevens, 33.06; 5, Jeremy McCandless, 37.51, PB; 6, Tom Howarth, 25.49; 7, Derek Caborn, 39.50; 8, Roy Upton, 31.22; 9, Neil Tate, 27.15; 10, Greg Oulton, 35.17; 11, Dawn Lock, 60.54; N/C Brian Porter, 34.12; Steve Quarmby, 32.46; Graham Young, 39.28. Leading Scores: Sue Hawitt 62 points; Karen Lanigan 52; Greg Oulton 48; Jeremy McCandless 48; Dawn Lock41; Derek Caborn 41.


On Saturday night, it was the Catforth Canter 5k.  The race was won by Rob Danson in 15:34 and had 112 finishers.  First home for LSARRC in 8th place, was Simon Denye in 17.41.  Greg Oulton was 66th in 23:17 (despite being hit in the eye about half way round by a fly and leaving him running the second half with one eye closed), Jim Whitworth was 84th in 25:58 and Louisa Ruman was 86th in 26:27.

On Sunday, Greg Oulton was back out on the fells completing the Edenfield Fell Race and his 5th race in a week.  The ground was boggy and muddy with the path turning into a babbling brook in places not helped also by the cold and windy conditions.  Despite having tired legs, he completed the 10.3km with 477m of ascent in 1:15:06 and 31st place, only 8 seconds slower than last year.

Mel Koth took part in the Outlaw Half Triathlon from National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham on Sunday.  The event consisted of a 1.2km swim 56 mile bike ride and finished with a 13.1 mile run. Despite brutal weather conditions, Mel completed the course in 5:50:47.

LSARRC News 26th May 2015

In a exciting sporting weekend Lytham members won gold and silver medals at the Lancashire Track and Field Championships while elsewhere one member completed a hundred mile event.

Outstanding in the Lancashire Track & Field Championships held at the Stanley Park arena and hosted by Blackpool Wyre & Fylde AC was Ella Moulding who won gold in the 1500m and silver in the 800m and Simon Denye who won silver in the veterans' 5000m.

On Saturday Ella Moulding, a talented athlete, ran from the front in a field of twelve U15 girls in the 1500m fighting off a strong late-stage challenge from the second-placed runner to win gold in an excellent time of 4 minutes 51.3 seconds. A day later she took silver in the 800m with 2 minutes19.9seconds. In a field of fourteen runners of mixed ages and genders Simon Denye ran a well judged 5000m race, his first on the track, finishing in the third fastest time of 17 minutes 26.3seconds to take the veteran silver medal in a stylish performance.

Others competing were: U13G Georgia Norman, 5th in heat in 100m in 15.1, 5th in heat in 800m in 3:03.8, 10th in long jump with 3m68; Holly Winstanley, 10th in 1500m in 5:32.5: U13B Simon Holt, 5th in 200m in 29,7, 7th in 800m in 2:41.9: U15G Chloe Norman, 5th in long jump in 4m47: Vets Graham Webster, 6th in 5000m in 19:28.0.

Daryl Bentley and Debbie Cooper

At the other end of the distance spectrum Debbie Cooper completed her first 100 mile challenge having finished a 50 mile event previously.

The Long Distance Walkers Association's Red Rose 100, now its twenty-fourth year, takes in some of Lancashire's most attractive and remote moorland. Starting out from Rivington Reservoir it heads over Winter Hill to Darwen Tower, skirts Blackburn and Whalley and takes in Pendle Hill, Stocks Reservoir, Houghton Tower and Brinscall.

Debbie Cooper accompanied by Daryl Bentley of Bolton United Harriers, completed the gruelling route over the bank holiday weekend. Starting on Saturday at 2pm, they arrived back at the Anderton Centre at 9:18pm on Sunday having completed the 100 miles in an excellent 31 hours and 18 minutes coming 49th. Of the 503 starters just

361 finished making Debbie's achievement very creditable and adding to the charity she is collecting for, the Sick Children's Fund.

Somewhat more modest in length but still providing an interesting tour of Lancashire countryside is the Fishwick Five. Starting in an outlying southern Preston suburb it descends steeply to the flat Fishwick Bottoms and climbs twice to the level of the town before finishing near the start. Neil Tate finished 7th in 32:58 and Greg Oulton 36th in 43:47.