LSARRC News 19th January 2016

The LSARRC Curry Run

Under 11 boys team

The fourth fixture in the Mid Lancs Cross Country League took place at Hyndburn on Saturday.  The course, across Wilson Playing Fields and through the surrounding woodland is normally notoriously muddy but with the very cold temperature, a lot of the ground was instead frozen providing testing conditions for all the age groups.


The highlight of the day was in the under 11 boys race where Louis Eunson and George Denye finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in times of 8:15 and 8:37.  Morgan Pritchard was 36th in 10:16 enabling the lads to finish 3rd overall in the  team competition – a great result.  In the under 11 girls races, Sydney Ramsden was the only representative for the club finishing 30th in 10:32 out of 67 finishers, the biggest junior field of the day.  Rebecca Tate ran in the Under 13 Girls race finishing 35th in 14:16.

The senior women's race proved to be a 2 horse affair with Nichola Jackson of Preston Harriers taking her first win in the Mid Lancs league just beating Emily Japp of Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde.  There was again a good turnout for the LSARRC with 7 ladies making up the 132 runners.  Joanna Goorney was first home for the club in 11th place in 27:19 and was also 1st vet 45.  Also having an excellent run was Barbara Homes who came home as 1st vet 55 in 39th place in a time of 32:27.  Julia Rolfe was 67th in 34:46, Louisa Ruman was 71st in 34:46, Alex Everest was 73rd in 35:29, Dawn Bloor was 79th in 36:28 and Dawn Lock was 128th in 54:04.

LSARRC Ladies

The men’s race started off in cold, dry conditions but the snow started to come down as the race progressed getting quite heavy as time ticked by.  Unfortunately, for the men at the back of the field, this had the disadvantage that they were having to deal with poor visibility especially through the woodland areas of the course.  First home out the 218 finishers was James Douglas of Border Harriers in 35:33.  Neil Tate was the first man back for the club in 64th place and a time of 43:44.  Tom Howarth was 91st in 46:02.  Terry Hellings had a great race finishing 1st vet 60 in 127th place and 48:52, Steve Ashton was 203rd in 1:02:03 and Greg Oulton was 216th in 1:10:23.

Rebecca Tate

Sydney Ramsden

The big race on Sunday should have been the Inskip Half Marathon but once again, the weather took charge and the event had to be cancelled because of the snow which had fallen the previous day.

Felicity Wolohan on her way to a half marathon PB

 The the very popular Essar Four Villages Half Marathon survived the weather luckily although it was threatened by a snowy start and a very cold day.  It is really scenic race starting in Helsby and passing through the other villages Dunham on the Hill, Mouldsworth and Manley.  Felicity Wolohan had an excellent race continuing her recent good form, getting another PB of 1:35:49, finishing 339th overall out of 1700 runners.

Joanna Goorney headed over to Haworth for the Stanbury Splash Fell Race.  Because of the snowy conditions, the decision was made by the organisers to run a shorter course than planned.  So instead of the planned 7.5 miles, a 5 mile route was used instead.  Conditions were still very tricky with semi frozen peat to contend with but still fun to race over.  Joanna finished 92nd overall,  7th lady and 2nd vet 40 in a time of 43:26 out of 276 finishers.


On Saturday morning, many of the local parkruns were also affected by the icy conditions and called off.  One of the ones to survive was Lytham Hall which this week attracted 153 runners.  Andy Draper had a good run finishing 5th in 19:05, a PB for the course.  Debbie Cooper was 4th lady and 44th overall in 24:49.  Junior Max Talbot was 56th in 26:09, Olivia Johnson Allen was 70th in 27:44,  junior Georgia Norman was 71st in 28:03 and Bob Clough was 84th in 29:39.

Roy Stevens and Tom Clough

Roy Steven ran his last parkrun in Australia before returning home, this time in Mosman, Sydney.  Where most parkruns in this country start at 9am on a Saturday morning, this one started at 7am!  He finished 22nd in 25:03 out of 55 runners.  While out there, wearing his club vest, he was recognised by the son (Tom) of one of the club's members, Bob Clough – small world.
  

On Thursday night, Mark Selby organised another very successful curry run from St Annes Pier with a meal afterwards at Gemma's Indian Restaurant.  With weather conditions much better than the gale force winds of the previous year, 23 runners and curry eaters attended.

 

LSARRC News 12th January 2016

LSARRC ladies at the Lancashire XC Championships

The 2016 Lancashire Cross Country Championships were held on Saturday at Witton Park in Blackburn with some excellent results for the female side of the club who came away with four individual golds.

First held at Witton Park fifty-five years ago in January 1962, the venue has now become the Championship's permanent home led by obliging host club Blackburn Harriers who possess one of the area's most demanding and interesting cross-country courses. But in the present run of extreme weather it was lucky to take place at all this year with banks of the fast-flowing River Darwen attesting to recent flooding and the resultant heavy mud which sapped competitors' energies.

The Lancashire AA Championships have grown in popularity in recent years thanks to the efforts of a conscientious committee, dedicated to tailoring the event to the wishes of the Lancashire running population and who will have been pleased with the overall total of 500 competitors.

Morgan Pritchard

Sydney Ramsden

15 member of LSARRC were at the championships with the youngest being 9 year old Morgan Pritchard who finished 26th in the U11 Boys races in 6:23 in only his third cross country race.  In the U11 girls race, Sydney Ramsden ran well for 30th place in 8:30 in the the largest junior field of 52.  Rebecca Tate ran the U13 girl's one-lap 3.2k race including a climb up the saucer, a first for Rebecca, who made a real effort to finish 36th in 17:24.  In the same race Georgia Norman was 42nd in 18:31.

Rebecca Tate

The star performance of the day came from 14 year old Ella Moulding who retained her title as U15 Girls Champion winning by a comfortable 16 seconds beating 29 U15 girls and half of the U15 boys in the same race.  Ella took 15:15 to complete the tough 3.8k course which included one climb of the notorious saucer.  Chloe Norman was also in the U15 girls race finishing 21st in 18:13.

Georgia Norman

The senior ladies race consisted of a much more highly competitive field than of recent years with 17 year old Katie Astin from Manx Harriers running away with the title in 26:26.  LSARRC also produced some excellent results with category wins for Joanna Goorney in the Vet 45 category (finishing 17th overall in 29:27), Barbara Holmes in the Vet 55 category (finishing 44th in 32:32) and Dawn Lock in the Vet 70 category (finishing 76th in 57:05.  Felicity Wolohan, another novice to cross country was second home for the club in 33rd place in 32:37, Mel Koth was not far behind in 35th and 33:06, Fiona Geldard was 61st in 38:09, Dawn Bloor was 63rd in 38:57 and Deputy Captain Alex Everest was 65th in 39:57.

The senior ladies team finished eighth overall in the team competition and fourth in the ladies veteran competition.

In the men's race, LSARRC only had one representative for the demanding four lap 9.8km course.  Club Chairman Nigel Simpkin finished 144th in 61:11.

Sunday morning saw the Garstang 10k organised by Garstang Community Academy.  Flooding on the course was luckily eased by Garstang Fire Station who helped drain the one and a half foot puddle on the road.  The race was won by Rob Affleck of Preston Harriers by over a minute in 32:52 and had 507 finishers.  From LSARRC, Tom Howarth finished in 22nd place in a time of 38:22 whilst Richard Storey was 153rd in 45:35.

With many runners from the club competing at the Lancashire Cross Country Championships on Saturday, there were fewer members at the parkruns.  Andy Draper was the sole representative for the club at the Lytham Hall parkrun whose numbers are shooting up as the event gains popularity with 134 participants this week.  He finished 6th in a pb for the course of 19:23.

Neil Bayton-Roberts found a parkrun further afield taking part in the Highbury Fields parkrun, Islington, London.  He finished 49th in a time of 21:36 from a field of 236 runners.

Over on the other side of the world, Roy Stevens continued his hunt for parkruns which turned into no truer word said in jest.  He was this week in Hunter Valley, New South Wales which has had some serious flooding.  Roy initially went to run the Maitland parkrun on Saturday morning only to find it had been cancelled because the road to the start was flooded.  He then drove 30 miles to the next town, Singleton, to run their parkrun arriving unfortunately 5 minutes late.  Although clocked at running 30:28, he actually ran it in 25.29 and still managed to finish 29th out of 74 runners!

LSARRC News 5th January 2016

Steve Ashton who smashed his PB at the Central Lancs Half Marathon

On New Years Eve, Greg Oulton completed the very popular Auld Lang Syne fell race from Penistone Hill Country Park, near Haworth.  Runners are encouraged to wear fancy dress with many taking up the challenge in some fabulous costumes.  The race which 9.6km includes 300m of ascent attracted a high quality field and was won by Chris Farrell of Horwich RMI in 41:19.  Greg finished in 401st place in a time of 91:51.  There were 413 finishers.

The Nine Standards Fell Race on New Years Day starting from Kirkby Stephen attracted 120 runners.  The 8 mile out and back course ascended 1800ft up to the Nine Standards Rigg on the summit of Hartley Fell with much of the top section needing care from being frozen.  The race was won by Carl Bell of Keswick AC in 54:49 whilst the first lady home was international Victoria Wilkinson from Bingley Harriers who wiped over 3 minutes of the ladies course record in 58:48, finishing 3rd overall.  Joanna Goorney was the only LSA athlete who made the trip up north finishing in 43rd place, 4th lady and 1st vet 40 in 1:13:41.

Neil Tate - another HM PB

The Central Lancs Half Marathon proved popular with Lytham St Annes runners on Sunday morning.  Luckily the rain held off for all but about 10 minutes of the race which had its headquarters in Lea Town near Preston.  Steve Ashton had a great run knocking an incredible half an hour of his previous personal best to finish in 1:54:38 and 244th place, demonstrating what an improvement joining a running club has been to him.  Neil Tate also smashed his PB finishing 10th in 1:22:41 being the first Lytham St Annes runner home.  Mel Koth was 86th in 1:37:15, Richard Storey was 91st in 1:37:30, Julia Rolfe was 266th in 1:57:20, Bob Clough was 2358th in 2:11:41 and Jeremy McCandless was 381st in 2:15:07.  There were 463 finishers.

On Saturday morning, the 5th Lytham Hall parkrun took place.  With dryer conditions than of late, the event attracted 86 runners.  Lytham St Annes had another good turn of both runners and marshalls with Andy Draper being first home for the club in 19:44.  Joanna Goorney was 1st lady in 16th place and a time of 20:19 whilst Felicity Wolohan was 2nd lady in 21:21.  Greg Oulton was 59th in 39:02 and Rebecca Willetts was 60th in 29:23.

Lytham Hall parkrun

On the other side of the world still, Roy Stevens found another parkrun to do in Australia.  He  took part in the St Peters parkrun held in Sydney Park, St Peters, Sydney where he finished in 86th place out of 263 runners in a time of 24:58.

LSARRC News 29th December 2015

Storm Eva caused chaos with the racing calender over the Christmas weekend. The big event should have been the prestigious Ribble Valley 10k from Clitheroe and organised by Blackburn Harriers. With an entry of over 1400 runners including many of the country's elite, the floods along the course forced the cancellation the day before.  Likewise the first running of the Hot Toddy 10k from Todmorden and Whinberry Naze Fell Race from Rawtenstall also fell victim to the weather.

The pyjama themed Witton Park Xmas Day parkrun

A number of special parkruns were staged on Christmas Day morning.  Witton Park in Blackburn was one with the novelty of it also being pyjama themed.  With a slightly later start of 10am and a lull in the rain, Joanna Goorney headed over there.  The race was won by Michael Toms of Blackburn Harriers in 18:03 whilst Nichola jackson of Preston Harriers was 1st lady in a new course record of 18:56.  Joanna finished 8th and 2nd lady in 20:53 out of 103 finishers.  

Steve Ashton

The 4th Lytham Hall parkrun on Boxing Day morning proved popular again with Lytham St Annes runners despite the torrential rain.  78 runners braved the difficult conditions with the first runner home in 18:03.  Neil Tate was first home for Lytham in 11th place in 19:57.  The ever improving Felicity Wolohan was 1st lady n 21:47.  Steve Ashton was 56th in 27:38, Bob Clough was 66th in 30:09 and Jeremy McCandless was 67th in 30:11.

Felicity Wolohan

Neil Tate

Hannah McCandless

LSARRC News 22nd December 2015

Barbara Holmes at the Lytham Hall parkrun

Thursday night saw the club's monthly handicap race.  There was an exciting chase to the line for first place with Steve Ashton, running a PB, just overtaking Dawn Lock, running her best race for almost two years, over the final 50 metres.  There were some quick times overall this month with five competitors earning bonus points for recording PBs.  Fastest on the night was newcomer Alex Vazquez who recorded an impressive 20:08 for his very first run on the 3.45 miles course.

Sue Hawitt with 179 points retains her lead on the annual points table and as she has completed one or two races less than her closest rivals is now a strong favourite to win the Handicap Plate.  Only two points behind are Dawn Lock and Neil Tate but probably the best placed of her challengers is Debbie Cooper who after a good run of high places holds sixth spot with 139 points from only five races.

December full results: 1 Steve Ashton, 28.15 PB; 2 Dawn Lock, 44.26; 3 Julia Rolfe, 28.57; 4, Debbie Cooper, 27.08; 5 Alan Elstone,23.17 PB; 6, Neil Tate,  20.29 PB; 7 Barbara Holmes, 26.07 PB; 8 Sue Hawitt, 28.38 PB; 9 Jeremy McCandless 32.02; 10 Tom Haworth,  22.43; 11 Sylvia Gittins, 32.25; 12 Pam Binns, 35.56; n/c Tony Holt, 41.49; Alex Vazquez, 20.08; Dawn Bloor, 27.23; Gerry Brown, 26.20.

Instead of the usual Jacob's Join afterwards at the Lytham YMCA, participants instead retired to the Ship and Royal in Lytham for food and drink and an excellent Xmas themed quiz provided by Bill Lock.

Debbie Cooper

 

Neil Bayton-Roberts

On Saturday morning, Lytham St Annes were well represented at different parkruns.

The 3rd running of Lytham Hall park took place on a substitute four lap “B” route w instead of the normal route due to the amount of mud.  The run attracted 68 runners with 9 from LSARRC.  Ben Everson of Trafford AC was first home in 17:23 whilst Neil Tate was first home for the club in 3rd place in 19:03.  Terry Hellings was 14th in 21:27, Richard Storey was 15th in 21:38 and Neil Bayton-Roberts was 15th in 21:38.  Barbara Holmes was 2nd female and 20th overall in 23:07, Dawn Bloor was 27th in 24:04, Debbie Cooper was 31st in 25:02, Bob Clough was 46th in 29:28 and Jeremy McCandless, with his dog Ella in tow, was 47th in 30:04.

Jeremy McCandless and Ella the dog

Joanna Goorney headed to Avenham Park for the Preston parkrun.  In balmy December conditions, she finished 1st  female and 14th overall with a time of 20:07.  There were 200 finishers.

Over in  Liverpool, Felicity Wolohan ran the Princes Park parkrun which had 142 finishers.  She finished 3rd female and 28th overall in 21:43.

And over on the other side of the world, Roy Stevens ran the Torrens parkrun at Torrens Lake Weir near North Adelaide, South Australia, finishing 46th out of 125 runners in 26:58.

Sylvia Gittins and Fiona Geldard

Father Xmas' galore could be seen running round Heron's Reach on Sunday morning for the annual Rudolph's Red Nose Race starting from the back of Blackpool Zoo.  The 5 mile race is organised by Blackpool Fire Station and Wesham Road Runners and runners are encouraged to join in the Christmas spirit by wearing fancy dress. Only 2 Lytham St Annes runners made it to the start line for the race, probably due to with many members recovering from the club's Xmas party the previous night at the St Ives Hotel in St Annes!  The race was won by Joe Monk of Blackburn Harriers in 27:52  with Bev Wright taking 1st female in 34:44.  Fiona Geldard was first home for the LSARRC in 88th place and 41:48 whilst Sylvia Gittins was 122nd in 45:46.  There were 209 finishers. 

Greg Oulton at The Stoop

Greg Oulton was back out on the fells in his first race in over three months running ran The Stoop, an 8km fell race with 250m of ascent from Penistone Hill Country Park, near Haworth.  The race was won by Rob Hope of Pudsey and Bramley whilst Nichola Jackson of Preston Harriers was 1st lady.  Greg finished in 445th place in a time of 74:58.

LSARRC News 15th December 2015

Lytham Hall parkrun start

After the wind and rain of the previous weekend, the 2nd Lytham Hall parkrun was able to finally go ahead last Saturday morning.  Although no wind, there was still certainly lots of rain and a very muddy section of the course from the previous weeks downpours. First home was Adam Weightman in 19:08 whilst Caroline Betmead was 1st lady in 20:21 both from Blackpool Wyre and Fylde AC.  There were 6 runners taking part from Lytham St Annes.  Neil Tate was 3rd in 19:21, Mel Koth was 9th and 2nd lady in 23:01, Barbara Holmes was 15th in 24:45, Debbie Cooper was 20th in 25:23, Graham Young was 36th in 30:08 and Georgia Norman, the only junior from the club, was 40th in 31:16. There were 52 finishers.

Rebecca Tate and Terry Hellings - marshalls at the Lytham Hall parkrun

Georgia Norman

On the other side of the globe, Roy Stevens was also taking part in a parkrun.  Roy ran in the Mt Clarence park run at Flinders Parade, Albany, Western Australia.  He finished in 16 place in 36:48 out of 38 runners. 

Xmas Fun Relays

Sunday morning saw a motley collection of Santas, elves and reindeer taking part in the club's annual fancy dress Christmas Fun Relays held on Lytham Green.

Start of the Xmas Fun Relays

Dave Whyman and Bill Lock - timekeepers

The seniors' course was a shade over 5K and the winners in 1h 13m27s were the Puddings team led by Neil Tate in 19:25, the fastest time of the morning, and ably supported by Bob Clough and Steve Ashton.  Close on their heels were the Crackers, Rachel Scott, Claire England and Terry Hellings in 1h 18m 02s.  Finishing a close 3rd in 1h 19m 53s were the Turkeys comprising Sylvia Gittins, Sue Hawitt and Peter Cooke.  Dawn Lock and Greg Oulton gamely made up the field in the incomplete Leftovers team.

A group of hardy juniors braved the cold to race over a 2K course.  The leading junior team were the Snowmen, a family team of Luke, Rebecca and Sophie Tate, with the Snowflakes team of Samantha, Amy and Matthew not far behind.

Seniors 3 x c5k
1. Puddings (1h 13m 27s) Steve Ashton 26:36; Bob Clough 27:26; Neil Tate 19:25.
2. Crackers (1h 18m 02s)
Rachel Scott 30:15; Claire England 25:23; Terry Hellings 22:44.
3. Turkeys (1h 19m 53s)
Sylvia Gittins 27:26; Sue Hawitt 26:39; Peter Cooke 25:48.
4. Leftovers (incomplete)
Dawn Lock 38:07; Greg Oulton 31:19.

Juniors 3 x 2K
1. Snowmen (32m 02s) 
Luke 9:42; Rebecca 9:07; Sophie 13:14.
2. Snowflakes (36m 54s)
Samantha 14:03: Amy 11:50; Matthew 11:01.

Richard Storey was the club's sole representative at the Longridge 7.  Although chilly, conditions were dry and runners soon warmed up on the climb up towards Jeffrey Hill.  Finishers  were rewarded with a medal and a Christmas pudding.  The race was won by Rob Affleck of Preston Harriers in a very impressive 39:09 whilst 1st lady was Amy Freemand of Darwen Dashers in 48:32.  Richard finished 101st in 55:44 out of 252 finishers, 5 minutes quicker than his previous outing on the course back in 2013.

Joanna Goorney (courtesy of woodenheads.org.uk)

Over in the Calder Valley, West Yorkshire, Joanna Goorney took part in the Mytholmroyd Fell Race.  Superbly organised by Halifax Harriers, the 6.2 mile race gained 1350 feet, 850 feet being in the first mile with a steep climb from the start up to the top of Wicken Hill.  Conditions were perfect, cool with no rain or wind whilst the ground was fairly muddy, particularly on the final descent and in parts, frozen. The race was won by Neal Crampton of Pudsey and Bramley in an impressive time of 50.35.   Joanna finished 33rd and 2nd lady in a time 65:01. 

LSARRC News 8th December 2015

After an action packed previous weekend, Storm Desmond played havoc with events in the North West over this last weekend.  The first local run to be cancelled was the Lytham Hall parkrun on Saturday morning in only its second week due to concerns of trees being blown over in the grounds in the strong wind.  The next victim, was the highly popular Guys 10 organised by Garstang Running Club on Sunday morning.  That had to be cancelled due to the severe flooding in the area.  And finally in Lancaster, the Lancaster 3-1-5 Half Marathon was postponed due to flooding.  Club runners who had planned to take part in the Hoad Hill 10k in Ulverston had the problem of getting there due to flooded roads on the route there.  The actual race course was fine and went ahead with a very limited field.

Felicity Wolohan at Liverpool Cross Country last week

Felicity Wolohan made a late but good decision to run the Princes Park parkrun in Liverpool on Saturday morning.  Her efforts were rewarded with an excellent time of 21.31 finishing 1st female and 23rd overall from 125 finishers.

Also doing a parkrun was Julia Rolfe who ran in the South Manchester parkrun which is in held in Platt Fields Park, Fallowfield.  There were 200 finishers and Julia finished 83rd and 11th female in 25:47.

Joanna Goorney at Guiseley (Courtesy of woodentops.org.uk)

On Sunday afternoon, Joanna Goorney took part in the Senior Ladies race in final meet of four in the West Yorkshire Cross Country Series.  The event was held at Nunroyd Park, Guiseley, near Leeds.  Luckily Storm Desmond had calmed down leaving a sunning afternoon and a fine, testing muddy course.   Joanna  finished 20th and 2nd vet 45 covering the 3.2mile course in 24:30.

Missed from previous results, Sylvia Gittins ran the Conwy Half Marathon 2 weeks ago on the 22nd November.  The race was won by Matthew Bond of Sale Harriers in a time of 1:07:00 and there were 2458 finishers.  Sylvia finished in 1815th and 1st vet 65 in a time of 2:15:07.