Press Report 19th June 2012

The Freckleton half-marathon is the oldest race of its type in Britain and is always fully subscribed some months beforehand. Linked to Freckleton club day, the race starts and finishes in the village on Sunday with a route taking it through Wrea Green, Lytham and Warton.

Lytham St Annes Road Runners fielded fourteen entrants as well as helping marshal the well-organised race. Showing strength in depth the first six for the club all chalked up times of under ninety minutes. The first of these was Joe Greenwood in eighteenth. Greenwood is steadily improving and indeed beat the current club champion, Andy Draper, by a minute. Draper was 21^st from nearly 600 finishers.

Just a further four places behind and setting a personal best at this distance was Simon Denye. In 33^rd position overall Graham Webster again finished as the first vet 60 in a race.

 Another performance of note was that of Mel Koth. Although 100^th overall Koth was the second FV35, with a new personal best by 32 seconds.

 

Mark Willett and Rob Goodall had both ran long distances the day before as part of their ultra-distance preparation. Despite this Willett still managed a sub-ninety minute finish while Goodall was another to achieve a personal best.

Lytham results from Freckleton: Joe Greenwood 18^th, 1:22:37; Andy Draper 21^st, 01:23:36; Simon Denye 25^th, 01:24:15; Graham Webster 33^rd, 01:25:44; Tony Croft 49^th, 01:29:00; Mark Willett 54^th, 01:29:21; Mel Koth 100^th, 01:33:48; Roy Stevens 184^th, 01:43:17; Kevin Ashworth 204^th, 01:45:01; Gill Murphy 361^st, 01:58:23; Bob Clough 417^th, 02:05:06; Rob Goodall 418^th, 02:05:07; Graham Young 439^th, 02:06:46 and Chris Holland 467^th, 02:10:09.

 

Wednesday saw another mass turnout from Lytham at the Preston inter-club, the third of the summer series. The twenty-seven who raced couldn’t equal the previous round's best-ever second place in the open competition but they did take fourth in the open, vets and vet 50s.

 

In was in the vet 60 category where Lytham excelled however with Graham Webster again winning the category. He was joined in the team by the first woman V60, Elspeth MacPherson, and by Roy Stevens. They missed out on first place by just one point and so remain second in their table at the halfway stage in the series.

 

The weather for this year’s Lancashire Schools track and field championships put a severe damper on young athletes achieving their qualifying times for the national championships next month. Lytham junior members George Rowley and Alexander Stanier both represented Fylde schools at the event with Alex competing in the intermediate boys 3000m. Notwithstanding that he had never raced this distance before he acquitted himself very well running an even pace throughout with a strong finish in the final 200m. His finishing time was 10:15 (tbc).

 

George Rowley has had little competitive experience on the track but you would not have thought so on Saturday. He lined up in the junior boys 800m and from the gun he took control of the race moving into an early lead which he comfortably maintained for the remainder of the race to finish the Lancashire Schools Champion in 2:13.2.

 On Sunday seven year old Simon Holt competed in a novel U11’s 2012m race organised by Blackpool Council at Stanley Park. Despite a fast start by many of the young athletes Simon set off at a sensible pace and he soon began to move past those that had started too quickly. Towards the end of the race he had moved into second place which he kept until the finishing line finishing in a superb time of 8:43, just 21seconds behind the winner who was more than three years his senior.