There was nothing unlucky about the thirteenth annual ‘Green Drive 5’, the Lytham St Anne’s Road Runners Club 5 mile race. On the contrary, all of the hard work and planning paid off and 292 runners were treated to bright sunshine and crystal clear conditions on the flat, fast course. Club enthusiasm for the event was demonstrated through a great voluntary effort from members in the staging and organisation, as well as a good contingent who competed admirably for the club. The result: a resounding success for the club and an enjoyable and buoyant event for all those who were present and took part.
Notable local performances included Joe Greenwood’s 28m 40s for 11th place, which was the host club’s best performance while Peter Cruse, 1st M50, and Graham Webster, 2nd M60, also earned good placings. Kevin Ashworth and Rob Goodall performed brilliantly to achieve PB’s. For Kev such success in this race (his fourth performance at bronze standard in the last 12 months over various distances), positions him to claim his bronze standard medal. Rob Goodall’s finishing time at this distance topped his previous by 2m 14s. Willie Richmond got off to a promising start in the race but sadly had to pull out part way through due to a hamstring injury.
Race results for GD5: Men – Joe Greenwood, 11th in 28m 40s, Peter Cruse, 18th in 29m 47s, Graham Webster, 30th in 31m 07s, Thomas Haworth, 34th in 31m 28s, Kevin Ashworth, 47th in 33m 01s, Colin Laidlaw, 65th in 34m 57s, Mark Solby, 69th in 35m 06s, Roy Stevens, 101st in 37m 22s, Rob Goodall, 154th in 41m 59s. Women – Pamela Hardman, 121st in 39m 11s and Karen Lanigan, 183rd in 45m 16s.
The overall winner by a clear margin was local resident and outstanding middle-distance runner Antony Ford. Competing for Sale Harriers, Manchester, the 2009 winner finished in a very fast 24m 17s to lead second-placed Luke Minns of Blackpool Wyre and Fylde by over a minute. James Kevan of Horwich in 26m 15s and Marc Tillotson of Bolton United Harriers, 27m 09s, were others among the strong men’s field. Blackpool Wyre and Fylde’s John Winters, 1st M75, and evergreen Mike Walsh of Wesham was the leading M80 earned great results for local clubs. In the Lancashire Championships Trevor Uttley of Blackpool Wyre and Fylde was M45 champion. Ford and Minns also collected gold and silver medals in the incorporated Lancashire Championships while Minns, along with James Mulvany and Steven Waterhouse, won the double of race and County team champions for the Blackpool club.
Helen Booth of Lancaster and Morecambe, 31m 10s, was the women’s race winner and Lancashire gold-medallist. The women’s race had been a battle royal between Wesham in 2nd and 3rd places and Lancaster and Morecambe 1st and 4th. While Wesham’s Joanna Goorney finished 2nd in 31m 29s and Emma Lund 3rd in 32m 10s, Lancaster and Morecambe were victorious in the team competition with Booth, Lauren Gora 4th and Louise Goddard 8th, took both the Green Drive Five and County Championships. In the women’s race Blackpool’s Stasia Bligh finished 2nd W35 and Alison Titterington was W55 Lancashire Champion.
For the fourth time in five years and just a few weeks before her 50th birthday Lytham athlete Sue Sammé has been selected to represent England in the FV45 category in the annual British and Irish Cross Country International. This year the event is to be held at Stormont in Northern Ireland on 10th November and, as part of her preparation Sue ran in the Red Rose cross country league fixture at Witton Park, Blackburn on Saturday. The two lap, 5.2 kilometre course took the athletes up both the Teaspoon and the Saucer twice. In a very competitive race Sue finished very strongly to take 4th place overall and first vet in a time of 22m 27s.
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