On Saturday Debbie Cooper took part in The Ben Nevis mountain race running from Fort William to the top of Ben Nevis and back (climbing 4406 feet in the process) and back. The race has been run in its present form since 1937 and is one of the toughest fell races around. Athletes need to have completed three Category A fell races just to enter.Continuous rain the day before had made conditions very difficult, with very slippery rocks and mud slides making progress slow. Debbie reached half way up the mountain in 57 minutes and was pleased to reach the top of the mountain in 1 hour 53 mins, 7 minutes inside the cut off time. The descent proved equally challenging with rocks constantly moving under foot and the grassy banks so slippery Debbie ended up sliding down them. Eventually getting down to the road for the last mile Debbie was pleased to be on a more runnable surface and seeing some fellow competitors for the first time in a while she managed to pick up a few places and finished in 461st place in a time of 3:11:27. Debbie had already raced up Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales so only Scafell Pike to go!
Closer to home and considerably flatter The Hilton Blackpool 10k also took place on Saturday. Lytham St Annes Road Runners were well represented picking up three prizes. The race started on the middle prom headed north for nearly 3 miles before turning back on the lower prom into a headwind eventually finishing where it had started 10 kilometres earlier. First home for Lytham in 7th place overall, a time of 37:33 and taking the first v45 prize was Peter Cruse. Graham Webster was the next Lytham athlete home in 39:15, 11th place and first v55, closely followed by Sue Samme in 16th overall, 2nd women and 1st fv45. Also representing Lytham were Mark Willett,23rd in 41:54, and Linda Baxter, 79th in 50:15.
At the same venue on Sunday 409 athletes completed The Hilton Blackpool half marathon. Lytham were again well represented with Simon Denye leading home the Lytham contingent finishing in 23rd place with a time of 1:28:09. Mark Willett not satisfied with running the 10k on Saturday returned for his second race of the week end to finish in 45th place in a time of 1:32:03. Both Mark and Simon are on their second of four half marathons in four weeks. Stuart Wharrier, 259th in 2:04:50 and Rob Goodall, 360th in 3:20:13 also represented Lytham.
Both the Hilton 10k and half marathon were run in aid of The Hilton Foundation supporting local children’s charities and raised over well over £4000.
On Sunday Mel Koth ran in the Tameside 10k. Flat by Ben Nevis but standards but undulating by Blackpool standards Mel’s fell running stood her in good stead and she led the women’s race from the start to finish opening up a gap on the second lady in the final climb to finish in 18th place overall and 1st woman in a time of 43:39.
A well organised race with friendly helpful marshals and with a great goody bag made this great value at just an £8 entry fee.
No comments:
Post a Comment