LSARRC News 24th February 2015

Neil Tate at the Great North West Half Marathon

After a lull in local races in recent weeks, there was plenty of action to be be found this last weekend although the big event of the weekend was the  English National Cross Country Championships which was held at Parliament Hill, London on Saturday.  Only Terry Hellings made the trip south returning to the venue of his schoolboy cross country exploits where he toed the line with over 2000 other senior men.  The two lap 12k course was very muddy for large parts, undulating with several stiff climbs but if you had time to look some spectacular views of London.  He completed the course in 62min 29sec for 1591th place.

On Friday evening, Debbie Cooper and Greg Oulton entered Mr Sparkle's Dark 'un night time fell race braving wind, snow, mist and hail to run just over five miles over the Tockholes fell in the dark. Debbie finished 56th in 51:46 while Greg finished 64th in 57:45.

Greg was back in action again on Saturday afternoon along with Richard Storey and Julia Rolfe taking part in the Standish Hall trail race.  This was a 10k 2 lap course which was on mainly farm tracks and woodland trails was very muddy and cold.  Richard finished in 135th in 54:43.  Greg and Julia had a sprint finish with Greg just pipping Julia to the line in 166th place.  Both were give the same time of 58:38.  Julia was also 4th female vet 50.  There were 239 finishers.  Good fun was enjoyed by all.

Also on Saturday, junior Ella Moulding ran the Preston Parkrun.  The 14 year old finished in 20th place and 2nd female clocking a PB for the course of 19:52.

Simon Denye followed by Joe Greenwood

Derek Heron

Ian Tate

Sunday's highlight was the Great North West Half Marathon starting from the Hilton Hotel in Blackpool and taking in a 2 lap course between the North Pier and Little Bispham.  Conditions were pretty horrendous with a strong cold wind, driving rain and a high tide.  Despite the weather, Lytham St Annes was well represented with some excellent results.

First home for the club was Simon Denye with a cracking run finishing in 12th position, 1st vet 40 and also first local runner in 1:20:22, a very pleasing result in this preparation for the Manchester Marathon.  Joe Greenwood was not far behind in 20th place in 1:21:41.  Neil Tate, another club member training for the London Marathon, also made light of the conditions to finish in 57 place and 1:26:32.  Chris Blackburn was next in 290th in 1:43:51, Ian Tate was 429th in 1:50:31, Fiona Geldard was 457th in 1:50:41, Derek Heron was 541st in 1:52:26, Stuart Henderson was 659th in 1:58:37 and Ruth Wheatley was 683rd in 1:58:18.  1251 completed the race although there were many who failed to finish due to the wild conditions.

The 33rd Lostock 6 road race at Bolton was also held on Sunday with 201 runners braving the elements.  The race was won by Jonathan Kay from Bolton United Harriers.  Tom Howarth finished in 14th place and 37:08, Alex Wiggins was 95th in 45:58 and Colin Laidlaw was 55th in 42:04.

A couple of runners travelled further afield.

Sylvia Gittins ran the Brighton Half Marathon in a time of 2:01:34.

Bob Clough ran the 4th Funchal Half Marathon in Madeira on Sunday. He finished in 2:08:04 and was 269th male on a hilly course in the warm conditions.

LSARRC News 17th February 2015

Lytham St Annes Ladies Team

Saturday saw the fifth round of the Mid Lancs Cross Country series from Herons Reach, Blackpool.  The weather was perfect and course free of mud.  Since it was being hosted in Blackpool, the local clubs provided the marshalling including Lytham St Annes and did an excellent job.

The Junior section of the club was out in abundance with 14 runners, a few making their debut.  There were 6 LSARRC runners out of the 52 finishers in the under 11 girls.  First home for the club was Georgia Norman in 21st place in 9:17.  Rebecca Tate was next in 25th place in 9:25,  Emma Savidge was 27th in 9:34, Sydney Ramsden was 28th in 9:40,  Natasha Hart was 31st in 9:52 and Jessica Addy was 38th in 10:18

Zane Seddon had another great run in the under 11 boys to finish 2nd in 7:21.  Louis Eunson was 15th in 8:25, George Denye was 17th in 8:37, Spencer Winsworth was 39th in 9:23 and Cathal Jabbur was 48th in 10:49.

In the under 13 girls, Isla Gordon was the sole LSARRC representative finishing in 31st place in 12:31.

Ella Moulding kept up her fine winning streak in the under 15 girls clocking 11:04 whilst Chloe Norman was 14th in 13:25.

In the 6k Senior Ladies race, first home for Lytham St Annes was Joanna Goorney in 7th place overall in 24:32 and 1st Vet 45.  Not far behind was Layla Foley in 24:53 and 11th overall, also finishing an excellent 2nd in the under 20 category.  Layla has had an excellent season, improving at each race.  Mel Koth was 37th in 27:46, Dawn Bloor was 76th in 30:43, Julia Rolfe was 96th in 32:16, Pam Hardman was 101st in 33:20, Sylvia Gittins in 118th in 35:56 and Pam Binns was 126th in 37:11.  There were 142 finishers.  The ladies team finished 4th overall, the vet 35 team finished 6th, the vet 45 team finished 5th and the vet 55 team were first. 

Lytham St Annes Men's Team

The Senior Men's course took 4 large laps of the park totalling 10k.  Neil Tate was first home for LSARRC  finishing in 76th place in 40:29.  Terry Hellings was 134th in 44:42, Colin Laidlaw was 154th in 46:16, Mark Selby was 163rd in 47:38 and Oliver Hirsh, making his cross country debut was 176th in 50:12.  Unfortunately, there were only 5 runners, 6 being required for a team position.

The annual Central Lancashire 5k was held at Leverhulme Park, Bolton on Sunday morning.  The race organised by Bolton United Harriers took in a slightly revised course from previous years but was still very enjoyable and held in perfect calm conditions.  Joanna Goorney was 51st  and 1st lady in 19:56 whilst Barbara Holmes was 136th and 3rd vet 55 in 22:41.

Barbara Holmes and Joanna Goorney
at the Central Lancashire 5k

The Valentine's Weekend 10k Duet was held up in Lancaster over the weekend and Peter Cruse completed the race on Sunday.  Peter finished in 5th place and was 1st vet 50 in 37:42.  There were 127 runners.

Pam Hardman and Rebecca Willetts ran the Muddy Shoes 5 miler starting from Caldervale Village Hall completeing the course in about an hour.  It was a beautiful sunny, still day for running, and the dry weather meant the undulating course through Caldervale fields wasn't too muddy, but still somebody managed lose a shoe!  Great pie and peas were enjoyed by all in the Village Hall afterwards.

On Saturday morning, Mark Willett ran the Ceurden Valley Parkrun.  It was the first time that he had done this particular Parkrun and finished in 8th place in at time of 21:19.

Felicity Wolohan did the Village Bakery Half Marathon in Wrexham on Sunday.  She completed the course in 1.42.40 just outside her PB. It was a very fast field being a fast and flat course and also incorporating the North Wales Half Marathon championship.  Felicity was pretty happy with 40th female and 273rd overall.

LSARRC News 10th February 2015

Six junior members of the club were selected to represent Fylde on Saturday in the Lancashire Schools Cross Country Championships which were staged at Blackburn’s Witton Park.  First to race was Layla Foley in the senior girl’s race, the route for which incorporated two energy sapping climbs up the infamous saucer hill. Layla ran a fantastic race to finish 4th in 17:51.  Ross Hart got off to a good start in the inter boys race but then had the misfortune to lose one of his shoes in the first half of the race.  He nevertheless continued with one shoe for the remainder of the race, still finishing a very creditable 43rd in 23:37.  Ella Moulding and Chloe Norman were both on the start line for the Junior Girls race. Ella followed her usual race tactics of leading from the gun and although pressed throughout the race she maintained the lead throughout the race to win in a time of 12:11.  Chloe also has a superb race to finish 30th in 14:28.  Both girls contributed to Fylde taking the bronze award.  Two young Lytham athletes had progressed to the year 7 races and James Nicholas, who is more accustomed to a 100m sprint on the track, ran a very creditable 8:51 in the boys race to finish 74th. Hollie Winstanley ran a very strong race to finish top ten in the girl’s race crossing the line 9th in 8:16.  Hollie was second counter for the Fylde team which finished 2nd overall.

Both Layla and Ella will now go on to represent Lancashire at the English Schools Cross Country Championships next month at the same venue.

Terry and Greg at Grizedale

On Saturday, Terry Hellings and Greg Oulton headed up to the Lake District to compete in the Grizedale Forest Trail Half Marathon.  Although advertised as a half marathon, the course turned out to be a little longer than the regular 13.1 miles, closer to 14.65 miles.  It was very hilly with  1700-1800 feet of climbing with ice and snow to traverse in places, up over mountains and through the forest.  The winner was Ewan Malloch in 1:33:21.70 of Woodford Green Essex Ladies/Team Bath.  Terry finished in 52nd place in 2:01:40 and was 1st vet 60 beating last year's 1st male60 by 4 minutes and 50 seconds whilst Greg was 126th in  2:23:15.  Incidentally for Greg, since taking up running (only 3 years ago), he has now run 3000 miles and climbed over 100,000 feet.  As well as a half marathon, there was also a full marathon which Greg was happy that he didn't do - that was measured at nearly 28 miles instead of the usual 26.2 miles!

The Blackburn Winter Warmer 10k attracted nearly 500 runners on Sunday morning and was won by local lad Ben Fish of Blackburn Harriers in 33:08, a clear winner being nearly one and a half minutes ahead of 2nd place.  Mark Willett was first home for Lytham St Annes in 54th place and 42:17.  Not far behind was Coling Laidlaw in 95th place and 44:53

Mark Willett

Colin Laidlaw

Felicity Wolohan went over to Southport for the Mad Dog 10k, a very popular race with nearly 2000 finishers.  The route the race takes is very attractive heading out along the Marine Drive in Southport into then a little in around the esplanade attractions and then back out onto the seafront for the last stretch.  Conditions were favoutable, it being a bit foggy but luckily there was little wind.  Felicity came in just short of her PB at 45.18, 29th female and 276th out of 1982.

LSARRC Report 2nd February 2015

Ella Moulding, first U15G

Two junior and a senior member of Lytham St. Annes RRC have just received the great news that they are on Lancashire AA's selection list for the Inter-Counties Championships.

 

Superb runs at the Lancashire Cross-Country Championships at Witton Park on January 3rd have resulted in excellent personal achievements and honour for the Club.

 

Ella Moulding was the clear winner in the Under 15 Girls' race finishing the 3.8k in 14:59 to take the gold medal and selection to the Lancashire squad.  She consolidated her standing by finishing 10th in a field of 151 competitors at the tough Northern Championships at Pontefract last week in 16:16, just 1 minute and 1 second behind the winner.

 

Also making the squad on the basis of her run at Blackburn is Layla Foley who will represent the U20W at the Inter-Counties.  Running one of her first Senior Women's race, a demanding 6.9k with three climbs of the Saucer, she finished 5th U20W in 30:37, 24th overall.

 

Layla Foley, selected for Lancashire U20W

Joanna Goorney, Lytham's top female runner, qualified for the reserve by dint of her 12th placing overall and time of 29:15 for the same race and must wait to find if she has been successful.

 

The Club's Monthly Handicap has a history stretching back to the earliest days of LSARRC.  With a handicapping system honed by more than a decade, it's a hard-fought race which results in tight finishes and serious rivalry to clinch the annual Handicap Plate.

 

January's Handicap saw the first thirteen competitors finish within 3 minutes of each other and several putting in excellent performances for themselves.

 

Alan Elston upped his performance having finally put injury problems behind him to win his second Handicap in 25:25 and the sought-after 30 points.  Second-placed Ian Tate produced a PB to finish in 25:51 while brother Neil in 5th place recorded the third fastest time of 21:41.  Fastest on the night was Joe Greenwood, 8th in 20:05, with Thomas Howarth, third, next fastest in 21:08 for a season's best.

 

Fiona Geldard put in the fastest woman's time of 27:38 for 4th, with Debbie Cooper fighting hard for 27:47 and 7th.  Another very good performance came from 6th-placed Karen Lanigan who continues to improve impressively and whose 26 points moved her into second place for the season.  Newcomer Alex Everest made a promising start with 29:32.

 

With just two handicaps to go, Jeremy McCandless' unprecedented three wins early in the season has consolidated his lead at the top of the table with 253 points, equalling the record.  Behind him the runners-up place is wide open with Lanigan, 2nd on 210, Graham Webster, 3rd on 206 and Cooper with one less score, well-placed 4th on 199, all in contention.

 

OTHER RESULTS: 9th Graham Webster 22:42; 10th Jeremy McCandless 31:52; 11th Pam Binns 37:09; 12th Derek Caborn 32:03; 13th Dawn Lock 50:12.   Non-counters running on estimated times: Sylvia Gittins 37:09; Bec Willetts 33:53.     

 

A week earlier Brian Porter was the Club's only representative at the well-established Welcome Tavern 10K run around the pleasant streets of south Walton-le-Dale.  In a race that attracted 293 competitors, Porter finished 221st in 60:02.

Alan Elston (left), two-time winner of the Monthly Handicap,
and Brian Porter (right) who competed at the Welcome Tavern 10K