LSARRC News 31st December 2019

Ross McKelvie shines at the Lytham Hall parkrun and gains a personal best time as well as first finisher.

LSARRC at the Boxing Day Worden Park 10k

Over the Christmas period lots of LSARRC runners completed parkruns locally and further a field.

At the Lytham Hall parkrun on 28th December 2019, the last one of the year, Ross McKelvie ran a superb parkrun and gained a new personal best time of 17:06, coming 1st overall.  Alistair Leivers was the next Lytham runner to finish in a great time of 18:14, coming 4th.  In 8th was Paul Veevers in 18:52, junior Maddy Markham was the 2nd female finisher in 21:21, with Lewis McAfee not far behind in 21:58 coming 30th.  Darran Ames was next hoe in 22:03 for 33rd and Gill Draper ran well and finished in 22:12 for 6th female finisher spot.  Junior Oliver Thomson was 45th in 22:38 for 45th, and Gavin Stanfield was 50th in 22:53.

Other finisher included:  Charlie Ormerod (23:34, 64th), Andrew Draper (23:54, 73rd), Kathy Gaunt (24:17, 83rd), Claire Markham (24:25, 84th), Simon Smith (24:34, 89th), G Browne (24:44, 94th), Susan Hawitt (24:51, 97th), Peter Thomson (24:51, 97th), Holly Anderson (26:22, 125th), Freddie Markham (27:00, 137th), Morgan Pritchard (27:07, 139th), Clemmie Tierney (27:51, 152nd), Jen Trohear (27:51, 153rd), Maria Tierney (28:00, 157th), Elizabeth Canavan (28:55, 177th), Bob Clough (28:57, 178th), Trevor Roberts (29:03,184th), Jeremy McCandless (29:17, 192nd), Adrian Sargent (29:38, 196th), Ruth Bye (30:56, 215th), Claire England (31:47, 226th), Michelle Sheridan (33:35, 246th), Ella Wiseman (42:11, 272nd),  and Julie Wiseman (42:36, 276th).

At the Preston parkrun in Brighton Pamela Binns managed to complete the course in 32:08.  Pamela was 128th female finisher and 400th overall.  More locally Kirsten Burnett was a tourist runner at Cuerden Valley parkrun, coming 33rd female in 34:15 and 119th overall.
Further a field Kev Murray was a tourist at the Dunfermline parkrun coming 43rd in 24:13 and Sue Henry completed the Witton park parkrun in 37:45 coming 125th overall and 40th female.

Sylvia Gittins ran the Bushy parkrun on Christmas day, mulled wine and mince pies were served at the finish and there were over 2,500 participants.  Sylvia was also busy on the 26th December at the Cabbage Patch 4 miler and completed the course in 36:51.

LSARRC News 24th December 2019

A Christmas record for talented junior Sophie Bohannon

Thursday was Lytham St Anne’s Road Running Club’s Christmas Handicap race (a 3.45-mile race around South Park, Lytham) and 3 of Lytham’s junior athletes took part.  14-year-old Sophie Bohannon defied the handicapper running exceptionally well in windy conditions to comfortably finish 1st in a time of 23:19 making her the 7th fastest all-time female athlete on the course and breaking the 9-year-old junior record by 15 seconds.  Also making his 1st appearance was 12-year-old Oliver Thomson (14th in 25:33) with 16-year-old Maddy Markham (9th in 26:36).

Senior, Kirsten Burnett ran the Lancaster Christmas Cracker 10k on Saturday in 59:13. This was a friendly and festive event over a flat route starting and finishing on St. George's Quay.

At the Lytham Park Christmas parkrun there were still numerous Lytham runners who made the time, to attend the event.  Alistair Leivers was 3rd to finish, and first for the club in 18:37.  Paul Veevers was 5th in 19:03.  Chris Bowker and Neil Tate were 13th and 14th respectively, in the same time 21:17.  Other finishers included:  Gavin Stanfield Dan Gregson, Andrew Mullaney, Jen Trohear, Charlie Ormerod, Maria Tierney, Claire England, Jacqui Murray, Kev Murray, Bob Clough, Karen Lanigan, Archie Belfield, Ruth Bye, Darran Ames, Jeremy McCandless, Sue Henry, Graham Young and Jennifer Hill.

Other parkrun news, Julia Rolfe was a tourist parkrunner at Preston.  Completing the difficult 3 lap course in 26:27 for 16th female spot.  Joanna Goorney impressed at the Huddersfield parkrun in 20:28 for 2nd female spot.  Rebecca Willetts attended the Lancaster parkrun and finished the course in 34:15. Peter Thomson completed the Fleetwood Promenade parkrun with his son Oliver, and Jack Greaves ran the Bear Creek Greenbelt parkrun.

6 of Lytham’s junior athletes took part in Saturday’s Lytham Hall parkrun.  Oliver McIntyre and Ben Gregson were first home of Lytham’s juniors finishing 10th and 16th and 1st and 2nd in the JM15-17 age group respectively in 20:26 and 21:52.  Maddy Markham finished 70th and 1st JW15-17 age group in 25:40 with her younger brother Freddie Markham not far behind in 72nd and 2nd JM10 in 25:42.  Also representing Lytham were Charlie Ormerod (100th in 27:48) and Archie Belfield (140th in 30:20).

Sunday’s Park View junior parkrun saw 11 of Lytham St Anne’s RRC young athletes take part.  First to finish was Jayden Richardson in 7:34. Archie Belfield and Freddie Markham were both in their 2nd parkruns of the weekend finishing 3rd and 7th in 8;5 and 8:45 with Joe Alker separating them in 6th place (8:25).  4 of Lytham’s juniors produced personal best times.  Roman Holmes was 10th in a personal best time of 9:11, Georgina Andrews finished 12th in 9:42 (her 4th consecutive personal best at parkrun), brothers James and Joshua McAfee bots produced personal best times of 10:27 and 11:27 to finish 16th and 28th.  Also representing Lytham were Bobby Hastwell (8th in 9:03), Jessica McNiven (13th in 9:53) and Finlay Hughes (19th in 10:53).

Other junior news, on Sunday 16-year-old Maddy Markham took part in the Rudolph 5-mile trail race (her 3rd race in 4 days) and ran well to finish 2nd in the under 21 age category completing the 5-mile course in 36:37.

Lewis McAffee and Sue Hawitt at the Rudolph 5 miler

Claire Markham at the Rudolph 5 miler

LSARRC News 17th December 2019

LSARRC member enjoying a pre-xmas
social on the sand dunes

Barbara Holmes ran at the Worden Park Festive 5k at Leyland on Saturday, the weather was not very festive, with icy wind and hail. Barbara finished as 4th lady in a time of 22:32.and was rewarded with a glittery medal and a selection box.

Eleven members ran a very wet and muddy Lytham Hall parkrun on Saturday morning. Alistair Leivers was in 1st position in a time of 18:25,. Neil Tate, Chris Bowker, Darran Ames, Lewis McAfee, Dan Gregson, Claire Markham, G Browne, Maria Tierney, Jeremy MacCandless and  Robert Parker also ran. Elsewhere, Liz Abbot ran at Preston parkrun, Claire England at Fleetwood and Joanna Goorney at Blackpool.

On a breezy but sunny Sunday morning 13 members (a mix of seniors and juniors) many in fancy dress, had a pre-Christmas social run on the sand dunes between the Beach cafe and Fairhaven Lake, running up to 10k over the dunes, finishing with sausage sandwiches and hot drinks in the Beach Cafe.

Ben Gregson at Lytham Hall parkrun

On Saturday 6 of Lytham’s junior athletes braved the hail storm to take part in the Lytham Hall 5k parkrun. 1st home for Lytham’s junior athletes was Oliver McIntyre finishing 4th overall and 1st in his JM15-17 age group in 20:43. Despite the conditions Matthew Holton ran well to produce a personal best performance finishing 6th overall and 2nd JM11-14 in 21:00. Also representing Lytham were Maddy Markham 19th overall and 1st JW15-17 in 23:15, Ben Gregson (21st in 23:25), Freddie Markham (32nd and 1st JM10 in 24:27) and Charlie Ormerod (90th in 28:57).

Maddy Markham followed by Freddie Markham at Lytham Hall parkrun

Sunday’s junior parkrun was cancelled due to a flooded course but 11 year old Georgina Andrews was not to be deprived of her run and competed in the Worden Park 1 Mile Fun run running well to finish 2nd overall and 1st girl in an excellent personal best time of 7:05.
On Monday 9th December the young athlete of Lytham St Annes RRC’s Monday training group competed in an indoor athletics competition against Kirkham Grammar Junior School. Everyone competed in the speed bounce and also either long jump, triple jump, standing high jump or javelin. Next were the 4, 3, 2 and 1 lap races with some athletes competing in more than one of these races. Final 2 events of the competition were the relay with nearly all of the children running in either the boys or girls events followed by the obstacle relays which included the high stepper for the first time.

There were some excellent performances, with athletes demonstrating great determination, sportsmanship and enthusiasm. LSARRC won the boys’ competition and Kirkham the girls. So honours were shared. Well done to all and thank you to all of the coaches who gave up their time to officiate and to the parents who came along to cheer them on.

LSARRC News 10th December 2019

Joanna Goorney at Mytholmroyd Fell Race (Courtesy of smithphoto.co.uk)

On Sunday, Joanna Goorney took part in the Mytholmroyd Fell Race in the Calder Valley, West Yorkshire. This excellent fell race hosted by Calder Valley Fell Runners covers a distance of just over 6 miles with 1600 feet of ascent.  Luckily, the morning's heavy rain ceased just before the start and started again just after the race had finished although the course was very wet and muddy and there was a gale force wind blowing across the top of Midgley Moor. Joanna finished 60th overall, 6th female and 2nd vet 50 in a time of 1:06:16. 

16-year-old Maddy Markham, one of Lytham St Anne’s RRC best junior athletes, took part in the tough Longridge 7-mile road race on Sunday.  Markham ran well in appalling conditions to finish 116th from 416 finishers in a time of 59:08 and was joined by Mel Koth and her mother Claire Markham to take the prize for first women’s team.  5 of Lytham’s juniors took part in the Lytham Hall 5k parkrun with Ben Gregson first home for Lytham junior athletes in 10th place and 1st in his JM15-17 age group.  Matthew Holton ran a personal best time of 21:47 to finish 16th overall and 1st in his JM11-14 age group with Charlie Ormerod not far behind in 18th and 2nd JM11-14 in 21:51.  Also finished 1st in his age category (JM10) taking 25th place overall in 22:42.  Also representing Lytham was Eric Wrigley (108th in 27:42).

LSARRC at the Longridge 7

6 of Lytham’s junior athletes took part in the Park View 2k parkrun with Jayden Richardson finishing first in 7:46.  Freddie Markham running in his 2nd parkrun of the weekend, finished 4th in 8:30.  Joe Alker (6th in 8:51) and Finlay Hughes (8th in 9:31) were next home for Lytham.  Georgina Andrews ran her 3rd personal best in as many weeks finishing 10th in 9:46 with Evie Alker also representing Lytham finishing 19th in 11:13.

As a result of excellent performances earlier in the year at the Fylde Schools cross country championships several of Lytham’s young athletes has this week been invited to represent Fylde in the Lancashire Schools Cross Country Championships.  Sophie Bohannon, Brogane Murphy, Maddy Markham, Finlay Hughes, Oliver McIntyre, Clemmie Tierney and Charlotte Fisher have all been selected to represent Fylde with the opportunity to earn selection for Lancashire if they perform well. 
At the Lytham Hall park run lots of Lytham runners attended.  Ross McKelvie was first to finish in 17:32, which was a new personal time. Paul Veevers was the second finisher in18:27.  Gill Draper was the first female to finish the course in a respectable time of 20:30.  Andrew Draper finished in 20:34 for 8th. Susan Samme was the 2nd female finisher in a time of 20:51. Other finishers included Lewis McAfee, Neil Tate, Mark Hughes, Gavin Stanfield, Stephen Wise Peter Thomson, Jen Trohear, Bob Clough, Jeremy McCandless, Maria Tierney, Sylvia Gittins, Laura Byrne, Jacqui Murray, Robert Parker and Michelle Sheridan.  There were several runners who achieved personal best times they were as follows:  Ross McKelvie, Andrew Mullaney, and Simon Smith.

Alex Tate was 3rd at the Blackpool park run, further a field at the Kratherworld parkrun Rebecca Willetts ran well.  John Bertenshaw completed the Bramley parkrun, Alistair Leivers was first at the Coventry parkrun in a great time of 17:29

LSARRC News 3rd December 2019

Barbara Homes shines at Myerscough 10-miler

On Sunday 1st December Barbara Holmes and Sylvia Gittins attended the Myerscough 10 miler.  The first mile looped around the college and then joined St Michael's Road. The route then turned into Pinfold Lane, then Right onto Preston Road near Inskip. A further right turn into Hornby Lane led back to Pinfold Lane. The route returned to Myerscough College finishing outside the Equestrian Centre. Lancashire cheese was given to all finishers. Holmes was the first F60 to finish the course and reported that it was very frosty and slippy underfoot on the lanes.  Gittins completed the course in 1:42:18.

At the Lytham Hall parkrun Ross McKelvie was first home in 17:39, not far behind was Alistair Leivers in 2nd in a time of 17:54.  Two other Lytham runners finished in the top ten they were Andrew Draper in 19:35 for 5th and Mark Selby 8th in 20:47.  Andre Mullaney gained a pb of 24:06 (27th).  Other finishers included:  Gavin Stanfield, Mark Hughes, Peter Thomson, Kathy Gaunt, Claire England, Maria Tierney, Jeremy McCandless, Robert Parker, Graham Young, and Chris Bowker.

Joanna Goorney impressed at the Storthes Hall parkrun completing the course in 23:44 for 1st female spot and 7th overall.  Sue Henry was a tourist park runner at the Portobello parkrun in Edinburgh completing the course in 31:33.  G Browne visited the Highbury Fields parkrun and completed the course in 24:41.

Lytham Ladies - 1st ladies team at the Wesham 10k

16-year-old Maddy Markham’s decision to run the Wesham 10k rather than her usual parkrun on Saturday turned out to be a good decision.  Markham ran well to finish as 1st junior female in 44:28 and was joined by seniors Catherine Carrdus and Claire Markham to take the women’s team prize.  Also representing Lytham’s junior athletes was Ben Gregson finishing as 2nd junior male and  131st overall in a time of 45:20

Freddie Markham was Lytham’s only junior representative at the Lytham Hall parkrun on Saturday and finished in a time of 23:19 to comfortably win his JM10 age category finishing 19th overall from 183 finishers.

Park View junior parkrun on Sunday saw 6 of Lytham’s junior athletes brave the icy conditions.  First finisher was former Lytham athlete George Denye  returning to Park View parkrun for the first time in a year to run a personal best time of 6:56.  First home for Lytham and in his 2nd parkrun of the weekend was Freddie Markham in a time of 8:22 for 3rd place overall and again finishing 1st in his JM10 age group.  Also finishing 1st in her age category was Georgina Andrews who finished 15th overall in a personal best time of 9:48.  Also representing Lytham were Joe and Evie Alker finishing 21st and 22nd in 11:13 and 11:14 respectively and brothers James and Joshua McAfee doing the tail walkers job to finish 49th and 50th in 25:54.  

LSARRC News 26th November 2019

Lytham ladies at Liverpool XC

The main event in a busy weekend for Lytham St Anne’s RRC athletes was the 3rd fixture of the Mid Lancashire Cross Country league, which took place on Saturday 2019.  This fixture was held at Sefton Park, Liverpool, and was incorporated into the British Athletics Cross Challenge and used as a selection trial for the England team for the European Cross-Country Championships.

A perfect day for cross country, and with perfect muddy conditions, saw 7 Lytham ladies and 15 men turn up to represent their club at this prestigious and exciting event.  With the event being combined with the European Cross-Country Championship Trials this gave the everyday club runner a chance to compete alongside the elite athletes.

Lytham men at Liverpool XC

The ladies were first up to tackle their 8.1km course. Joanna Goorney was first back for Lytham in a time of 36m33s, closely followed by Catherine Carrdus (37m04s) and Mel Koth (37m47s) to make up the first team of Lytham runners, finishing 3rd overall, along with securing a fantastic 1st place in the V35 and V45 Ladies categories. Next home was Barbara Holmes (38m49s), Claire Markham (42m01s) and Julia Rolfe (45m13s) seeing the second team of Lytham Ladies home in 21st position overall. Well done ladies.

The final event of the day saw the 15 Lytham men take to the mud over a distance of 9.8km. First Lytham runner to finish was Mike Toft, continuing his fine running form, finishing in a time of 37m30s. Next home for Lytham was Andy Draper (40m30s) closely followed by Jo Greenwood (40m59s). Jonathon Tuck (41m14s), Paul Veevers (41m43s) and Thomas Howarth (41m52s) crossed the finish line to make up the first team of 6 Lytham runners, finishing 10th overall.

Dominic Garrett (42m46s), Neil Tate (43m36s), Ross McKelvie (45m51s), Chris Bowker (47m19s), John Bertenshaw (53m06s) and Ian Tate (55m50s) were the next 6 Lytham runners to secure a team finish, finishing 30th overall.  Tuck, Veevers, Neil Tate and Bertenshaw also secured a 12th place finish in the V40 category.  Mark Hughes (58m17s), Peter Thomson (58m24s) and Jason Sheridan (58m47s) were the final three Lytham runners’ home in a closely contested finish.


With the cross-country season well and truly under way there wasn’t as many park runners as usual.  But the highlights are as follows.  Alistair Leivers was first to finish the Lytham Hall parkrun in 18:04.  Mark Selby finished in the top 10 (7th) in 20:39.  Gill Draper was first female in 21:24.  There were 2 pb’s for Lytham runners Simon Smith (24:23) and Andrew Mullaney (24:24).  Jen Trohear travelled to the Portrush parkrun and was 8th female in 27:43.

Ull boys at Liverpool XC

There were lots to report on regarding junior news this week. Lytham were well represented in the under 11 boy’s race with Archie Belfield leading the team home completing the 2k race in 8:10 for 24th place.  Freddie Markham was next home for Lytham finishing 33rd in 8:30 closely followed by Bobby Hastwell (37th in 8:44) and Adam Jackson (38th in 8:46).  Nicholas Houlton completed the Lytham contingent (61st in 11:44) with the under 11 boys finishing as 8th team.  Oliver Thomson led the Lytham team home in the under 13 boy’s race completing the 3k course in 13:20 for 49th position.  Bringing the team home in 10th place was Finlay Hughes (63rd in 14:46) and Eric Wrigley (74th in 18:10). In the under 15 girls race Sophie Bohannon ran well to complete the 3k course in 12:28 for 15th place.  Completing the team were Brogane Murphy (39th in 13:54) and Evie Houlihan (49th in 14:42) bringing the team home in 8th place.   Lytham’s only representative in the under 15 boy’s race was James Andrews who competed the 3k course in 13:11 for 58th place.  Maddy Markham ran well in the under 17 women’s race to complete the 4.4k course in 19:14 for 16th place.

Lytham juniors at the Best 5k and 1 mile fun run

Lytham’s junior athletes were also well represented at the Best 5k and 1-mile fun run held in Moor Park, Preston.  In the 5k race under 17 boy Ben Gregson ran well finishing 24th in 21:55. Lytham had 7 athletes in the Fun Run and finished with the first 3 boys and first 2 girls.   Jayden Richardson finished  1st in 4:58, Archie Belfield, in his 2nd race of the weekend, finished 2nd in 5:21 and Joe Alker 3rd in 5:35.  Georgina Andrews finished 4th overall and 1st girl in 6:15 and Evie Alker 8th overall and 2nd girl in 7:05. In his 1st race for Lytham Kiefer Richardson ran well to finish 6th in 6:20.

3 of Lytham’s junior athletes took part in the Lytham Hall’s 5k parkrun with Charlie Ormerod first home  in 12th place overall and 2nd in his JM11-14 age group in a personal best time of 21:15.  Lytham’s Oscar Holmes and Morgan Pritchard finished 3rd and 4th in the JM11-14 age groups in 22:39 and 23:38 respectively.

Sunday saw 5 of Lytham’s junior athletes take part in the Park View 2k junior parkrun.  Finlay Hughes and Adam Jackson both in their 2nd race of the weekend finished 2 and 3rd in 8:22 and 8:37 respectively.  James McAfee finished 9th in a personal best time of 10:37 with brother Joshua 30th in 12:38. 

LSARRC News 19th November 2019

Another club record for Lytham athlete Barbara Holmes

Barbara Holmes at the Preston 10 Miler

Tom Howarth at Preston 10 Miler

Barbara Holmes ran in the Preston 10- mile Road race on Sunday.   She was first F60 Northern and Lancashire Championships in a time of 1:15:48.   She also set a new Club F60 record.  The annual Preston 10-mile Road race is a major event for local athletes.  For over 35 years this well-established, and popular race, has brought large fields of over 500 runners to Hutton in mid-November. The fast, flat course attracts many runners looking for a pb.  The race incorporated the Northern Athletics 10 Mile Road Championship, Lancashire AA 10 Mile Rad Championship and National Fire Service 10 Mile Road Championship.  

Michelle Chadwick at Preston 10 Miler

Julia Rolfe and Pam Hardman of Lytham ran the Arnside Knott Fell Race on Sunday 17th November.  The Arnside Knott Race started From Hollins Farm, Far Arnside, Cumbria LA5 0SL on a scenic course above Morecambe Bay and the Kent Estuary Senior Race 6 miles with a 1000ft climb made it a challenging course, but lovely course which was quite muddy in places, according to Hardman.  To finish off there was tea and home-made cakes which made it worthwhile.  Rolfe managed the course in 1:03:33 and Hardman in 1:05:32.

Also, at the Weekend Sylvia Gittins ran the Conwy half marathon in a great time of 2:24:33.  The race took place on Sunday 17th November, the race now in its 10th year is a favourite with runners and the start and finish is on the quayside in front of Conwy Castle.

As usual there were lots of Lytham runners in attendance at parkruns on Saturday, and the highlights were as follows.  At the Blackpool parkrun Catherine Carrdus was first female in a time of 19:55, Joanna Goorney was 2nd female in 20:37.  John Bertenshaw was first male for the club, 25th overall in 22:25, followed by Gary Stansfield in 22:36 for 31st.  Other finishers were Stephen Wise, Claire Markham, Rebecca Willetts, Lewis McAfee, Bob Clough, Sue Henry and Paula McCandless.

At the Fleetwood parkrun Kev Murray was 21st in 22:59 followed by Jason Sheridan 23:09.  4th and 5th female spots went to Kathy Gaunt in 24:14 and Susan Hawitt 24:20. Other finishers were Peter Thomson, Jacqui Murray, Robert Parker, Michelle Sheridan and Sarah Bagshaw.

Jen Trohear completed the Witton parkrun and Claire England ran the Hessington parkrun.  Andrew Draper and Gill Draper travelled to the Fell Foot parkrun.  Andrew was 8th in 19:49, and Gill was 4th lady in 22:51.  Kirsten Burnett completed the Hyndburn parkrun and Maria Tierney the Preston parkrun.

With regards to the juniors Maddy Markham ran at Blackpool parkrun on Saturday, finishing in 17th place 21:06, Eric Wrigley PB 22:44, Charlie Ormerod 22:49 and James McAfee 30:29 also ran.

Oliver Thompson was 7th at Fleetwood parkrun 21:10 on Saturday.

Twelve junior LSARRC members ran at Park View junior parkrun on Sunday. Jayden Richardson ran his Archie Belfield 08:02, Freddie Markham Pb of 08:03, Joe Alker 08:20, Adam Jackson 08:38, Matthew Holton 09:07, Roman Holmes PB 09:15 Jessica McNiven 09:19, Georgina Andrews PB 10:12, Evie Alker 10:49, James McAfee 12:23, Joshua McAfee 12:26.