LSARRC Press Report 23rd August 2011

In a quiet week for races the main one involving members of Lytham St Annes Road Runners was in ….Austria. Steve and Emily Hargreaves both ran at an event in the beautiful Leutasch Valley.


On Saturday Emily ran the Ganghofer trail half marathon while Steve ran the 12K event. This kicked off at 4pm in close to 30 degree heat; not exactly perfect conditions. The route ran along the valley towards the German border before turning back. The course was undulating and the terrain was gravel paths and some rough trails. In his race Steve finished third overall in 46:33 while Emily was the third lady in the half with 1:38:27. Out of 150 competitors Emily was 31st.

Meanwhile somewhat closer to home was the Inter-Club Fell competition, staged in conjunction with the Golf Ball Fell race in Loveclough on Wednesday. In an exciting climax of the competition for the club Lytham had the first finisher and the second woman, the latter making it likely that the club will retain the Ladies Trophy for 2011.


In a tough race of 5.5 miles across rough Rossendale fell with 800 feet of climbing, Lytham's eighteen year old Sam Banner raced to victory, took his age category prize and thoroughly enjoyed his very first fell race. Sam finished 20th overall in the race, won by a member of Eryri in 36:50, and 1st in the Inter-Club in 43:25. Next in was Mel Koth, in 50:11, 66th overall and 2nd lady in the Inter-Club.


Completing the women's team that is expected to retain the trophy for the second year running was Debbie Cooper, 7th lady in the Inter-Club and 144th overall putting in good performance that has her higher in fell racing than on the roads, and Julia Rolfe, another attempting the ICGO fell race for the first time and finishing 10th lady and 164th. Dawn Lock ran 1:26:59 for 184th position.


Making up the men's team were Colin Nelson, 24th in the Inter-Club and 150th and Tony Rudd, also running his first fell race, finishing 35th in the Inter-Club and 178th overall.

LSARRC Press Report 16th August 2011

The Isle of Man half and full marathon races were held on Sunday with two entrants in the half from Lytham St Annes Road Runners. The course is along quiet country lanes and the day was warm but windy. Despite the three-hour ferry crossing from the mainland nearly 300 people entered both races.


Pam Hardman didn’t achieve a personal best but she did win a prize by finishing as second in FV50-54 category with a time of 1:58:07. Peter Cruse ran a superb race to grab the first place in the men’s 40-49 category in 1:22:56, and sixth place overall.


Meanwhile in Austria Lytham junior Alexander Stanier, whilst enjoying a family holiday, could not resist the prospect of running in a local race. There were a series of races staged in the resort of Leoganger and Alexander competed in the 1800m under 15’s race which, due to a marshalling error, actually became a 2100m race. The 14 year old KEQMS student led the race for most of its course but was just pipped in the final 200m to finish 2nd.


The fifth and penultimate race in this summer season’s inter-club races was held mid-week in Astley Park, Chorley. 151 local club runners took part with 21 from the Lytham club. First back for an under-strength team was Matt Nutt in eighteenth with Andy Draper one place and eight seconds behind. Sue Samme was the second woman and the first FV40. Mel Koth, beating her previous best on this course by a minute, was the seventh woman.


The fifth of the summer’s Mid-Lancs track and field meetings took place in Preston. Rob Goodall was twelfth in the shot putt and seventh in the discus with throws of 6.24 and 17.72 metres respectively. Gavin Brandie made a welcome return to the area to finish forth in the senior mens’ 400m. Graham Webster was third in the 800m and forth in the 1500m.


For the ladies Mel Koth finished second in both the 400m and 800m races. As the only entrant on the day junior Kirsty Fraser naturally won the under 17 women’s 800m with a time of 2:31.7.


Mel Koth is one of the club’s most prolific racers and she was in action for the third time in the week on Sunday in the Chernobyl 10k. This race is one of a series held in aid of the victims of the 1986 tragedy. On a changed and much more challenging course from previous years Mel achieved an excellent time of 42:39 to finish as the third woman and second FV35.


In the same race Lytham veterans Rae Willoughby and Chris Holland finished in 168th and 169th with just three seconds separating them.

LSARRC Press Report 9th August 2011

The Badger Sett multi-terrain 10k takes place around Cuerden Valley Park near Bamber Bridge. Any funds raised go towards the Lancashire Wildlife Trust so it is good to report that, for the first time, there were over two hundred competitors for the race that took place on a humid Thursday.

Mel Koth was the star of the six that took part from Lytham St Annes Road Runners. Finishing in 49th place overall Mel was the first female vet 35 and the third woman in the best time she has achieved on this challenging course, 44:45. This was despite thick mud in places and queues at the kissing gates.

Next back for Lytham was Steve Quarmby, finishing 77th, with Kevin Ashworth in 90th less than one minute further back.


Lytham results from the Badger Sett 10k: Mel Koth 49th, 44:45; Steve Quarmby 77th, 48:49; Kevin Ashworth 90th, 49:48; Bec Willetts 127th, 54:34, Pam Hardman 136th, 55:24 and Julia Rolfe 145th, 56:16.

Mel’s achievement at this race was easily eclipsed on Sunday in the Wagon and Horses 10 mile race in Lancaster. Here she smashed her personal best time for ten miles by a whole minute to finish in 1:08:37. Again she was the first FV35 as well as being the forth lady and finishing 30th overall.




Another notable achievement for Lytham in this race was that of Sylvia Gittens who won the FV60 category. Sylvia, who is actually a vet 65, also finished 150th overall out of the 201 who completed the course in the windy conditions.

Lytham Results at the Wagon and Horses 10 mile: Mel Koth, 1:08:37, 30th; Steve Quarmby 01:19:33, 95th; Rob Miller 01:24:02, 125th; Sylvia Gittins 01:28:32, 150th and Chris Holland 01:32:15, 168th.

LSARRC Press Report 2nd August 2011

Kirsty Fraser made history on Saturday, being the first member of Lytham St Annes Road Runners to represent Lancashire in a track and field meeting. The occasion was the Northern Inter-counties which this year was staged in glorious sunshine at Leigh Sports Village. Somewhat unusually the organisers opted for a 400m race for the under 17 girls rather than the traditional 300m. Despite having never raced this distance previously, the 15 year old Lytham St Annes High School student immediately set about the task of adjusting her training and race schedule.


She was a bit unfortunate to draw the unfavoured outside lane but, unperturbed, she got off to a great start and had moved into second slot by the 200m mark. In the final 100m Kirsty kept her form to finish strongly and cross the line a comfortable second in 61.54 earning eighth place overall. This was an excellent debut, especially considering some of the more experienced competitors are a year older than Kirsty.

The 2011 Firemen's Relay took place on Friday around the 2.8 mile circumference of Heron's Reach Golf Course. Over fifty runners from around seven clubs took part in this sociable race which was followed by hot dogs and tea back at Forest Drive Fire Station.


First Lytham team back of the three that took part was the Top Slots in 5th position and first vet 40 team. These were Willie Richmond on leg 1 (17:30), Roy Upton on leg 2 (17:02) and fastest Lytham runner, Graham Webster on leg 3 (16:14) to finish in 50:46. Next in for Lytham and also prize-winners were the Frisky, Feisty, Females, best female over 40s team in 13th. Fastest was Lucinda Protheroe on the second leg (17:59) with Bec Willetts on third leg (20:28). First leg runner Fiona Geldhard won her first ever prize finishing in 22:03.


Rob Goodall (24:04) joined the older men Mike Hutchinson, MV70 (23:27) and Bill Lock, MV65 (22:16) in the We Remember the 60s team finishing in 16th position. Dawn Lock completed the circuit in 29:12.

On Sunday 128 runners competed in the Cliviger 6 mile road race in Burnley. The fastest for Lytham was Peter Cruse finishing sixth and the second vet. Mel Koth in 44th was the first FV35 while Bec Willetts and Pam Hardman also put in creditable performances to claim 96th and 98th places respectively.


Twenty-five competed in the monthly handicap on Thursday, the largest field for quite some time. Julia Rolfe won by a comfortable margin to confirm she’s now recovering well from injury. Joe Greenwood, Matt Nutt, Lucinda Protheroe and Kevin Ashworth all ran PBs. Kevin moves up to the top of the overall table after this the fourth race of the series.