LSARRC Press Report 29th May 2012

After competing in two marathons at the end of April on Saturday Mark Willett ran his longest ever race, the inaugural Dukeries Ultra 40 in Sherwood Forest. This was his second ultra-distance event and one that he merely considered to be a warm-up to a fifty-miler in July. Given the recent weather however it was a “warm-up” in more ways than one.

Starting at 9am and keeping well-hydrated Mark found the first thirteen miles or so quite easy. Then the temperature soared with a predictable effect. Despite this Mark still chose the forty-mile option over thirty when given the choice at mile 21. Regular checkpoints serving drinks and high-energy foods helped and, after 31 miles, Mark got second wind and finished the forty in less than seven hours.

His precise time was 6:56:24 to claim14th position from the 73 brave souls who managed to do the full distance. This is a huge triumph of physical and mental stamina, especially in such conditions and augurs well for Mark’s forthcoming fifty-miler.

Amongst others from Lytham St Annes Road Runners suffering in weekend’s heat were Willie Richmond, Mel Koth and Bec Willetts. On Sunday Willie changed his target to “just to finish” in the Sheffield half-marathon. Over 5700 completed the race and many others didn’t so Willie’s position of 458th in 1:36:30 was excellent. He was also the 45th MV45.

Meanwhile in Manchester Mel Koth was also putting in a stirling performance in the Sale 5. Incorporating a couple of laps of Wythenshaw Park this is a fast course and, as such, attracts a high-quality field. The heat claimed a number of casualties but Mel persevered to claim the first FV35 place and 59th overall. Remarkable in such conditions was that her time of 34:10 was just three seconds shy of her personal best at this distance.

Bec Willetts completed in the second Howgill Harriers 10k in Kirby Stephen. Bec did well to get 22nd place in 54:19 on a hilly course without shade.

The conditions were slightly more bearable in the Blackpool Beach 10k where Joe Greenwood came fourth in 37:21. Sylvia Gittens was the 22nd lady from 51, despite the only one being over the age of 60.

Also in Blackpool was the Blue Light 5 Mile. This is held on the promenade at Bispham in aid of the Gynn Square memorial fund. Barbara Holmes was the first FV50 in 41:54 while her 13 year-old son Tom was 46th overall in 46:31. Barbara commented that the weather reminded her of when she ran in Dubai except that Bispham was hotter!

Finally last week Emily Hargreaves was the second woman in the “Self Transcendence 5k” in Battersea Park, London.

LSARRC Press Report 22nd May 2012

On Wednesday Mel Koth and Tony Croft of Lytham St Annes Road Runners travelled to Rivington to take part in the first of the Horwich Jubilee Road Race series, a five miler. This is a tough little run consisting of a couple of laps around Rivington reservoir and incorporating several climbs. Due to a diversion forced upon the organisers by road works the course was actually 5.3 miles. Mel was the third FV35 and tenth lady with a time of 36:56 while Tony was the seventh vet 50 in 33:32.


On Sunday Mel was in action again competing in her ninth Great Manchester Run 10k. A record 40,000 started making running a decent pace in such a crowd difficult. Despite this Mel’s time was a good 41:42. Finishing 754th overall, Mel was the 53rd lady.


On the same day four Lytham Athletes competed in the Worden Park 10k in Leyland. This was run on a fine day over a moderately undulating course. Setting the pace for Lytham was ultra runner Mark Willett who came a very respectable eleventh from 174 with a personal best time of 39:42. Next in for the club and just a couple of places behind was vet 60 Graham Webster, who in spite of recovering from a cold, also took the second vet 60 position in 40:16.

Competing for the ladies were Linda Baxter and Fiona Geldard, both recovering from injury. In this circumstance vet 45 Linda was pleased with her time of 54.15 earning 100th place. Chasing behind was Fiona, also a vet 45, taking 112th position in 56:24 to happily finish within her target time. All four runners are hoping to be fit enough to make the 20 strong team for the Welsh Castles relays next month.

LSARRC Press Report 15th May 2012

A sunny evening on the St Annes seafront

After over a decade of competing in the annual inter-club grand prix series on Thursday Lytham St Annes Road Runners celebrated their best set of results to date. In the open competition the club achieved it’s highest ever placing of second. The club also won an age category for the first time, the vet 60s.

Graham & Roy

The occasion was the second of this season’s inter-club races and Lytham were the hosts. The vet 60 stars were Graham Webster and Roy Stevens who were the first and third respectively in the category. But the team is made up of three and they couldn’t have won without Elspeth MacPherson, making a surprise return to the club to finish twelfth.


The first in for Lytham was club champion Andy Draper in fourth, achieving a personal best over the accurate five-mile course. This was despite the strong wind and rain on the St Annes promenade course. Half a minute behind Andy counting eighth was Joe Greenwood, with Tom Howarth and junior Alex Stanier a second apart in 18th and 19th respectively. Tony Croft was the first veteran for Lytham.


Lytham Results for the IC: Andy Draper 28:41, 4th; Joe Greenwood 29:12, 10th; Tom Howarth 30:43, 18th; Alex Stanier 30:44, 19th; Tony Croft 31:10, 22nd; Mark Willett 31:14, 23rd; Simon Denye 31:32, 28th; Graham Webster 32:26, 44th; Willie Richmond 32:58, 50th; Roy Upton 33:00, 51st; Terry Hellings 34:00, 61st; Mel Koth 34:32, 67th & 9th woman; Dave Dunn 34:41, 71st; Colin Nelson 35:33, 6th; Colin Laidlaw 36:12, 96th; Laura Ashworth 36:22, 99th; Roy Stevens 36:25, 100th; Katherine Hoyland 36:39, 105th.


Elsewhere two of the club’s juniors competed in the Lancashire Track & Field championships at Stanley Park over the weekend. Ella Moulding ran in the U13 girls 1500m and, despite having never raced the distance before and being at the lower end of the age group, she produced a superb performance to finish fourth in 5:27.5.
Camryn Spector, competing in the U15G 800m, defied her lack of track experience to run a very strong race and claim fourth in her heat with a personal best time of 2:47.3.


Alexander Stanier ran in the Blackpool 10k fun run and in challenging blustery conditions he ran superbly to finish first in his 13 to 15 age group and seventeenth overall in a time of 37:27.

In the same race Elspeth MacPherson also excelled. Despite being a vet 60 she won the female age 55 and over category by over five minutes.



The Blacksticks Blue 10k took place on Sunday and three runners from Lytham earned the complimentary Blacksticks Blue cheese given to all competitors. And they were earned after the slog up the side of Beacon Fell during mile three. Steve Quarmby and Bec Willetts tackled this race for the first time to finish 57th and 97th respectively while Laura Ashworth ran a course pb to win a bottle of wine for being the first FV35. Should go well with the cheese.

LSARRC Press Report 1st May 2012

Joe Greenwood

In a rather wet Fleetwood 10 Mile Road Race Lytham’s only representative Joe Greenwood excelled by finishing ninth with a time of 63:59. The event took place on Sunday on the promenades of Fleetwood, Rossall and Cleveleys on a flat and, when it doesn’t rain so much, a fast course.

Joe was also in action on Thursday when a new season started for the monthly handicap. Joe was the fastest on the night with a personal best to boot but, with it being a handicap, finished third. Tom Howarth marked his return to the area by winning this closely fought race where the top ten all finished within a minute of each other.

Racing on the summer course for the first time this year Steve Quarmby and the current champion, Kevin Ashworth, also achieved pbs.