LSARRC News 26th January 2016

LSARRC at Lytham Hall parkrun

On Saturday afternoon, Greg Oulton ran the Ashurst Beacon Fell Race from Prince William Inn, Dalton near Skelmersdale.  He found the 5.9 mile course with 951 feet of ascent tough.  After the first mile on the road, the rest was on trail or field, all of it muddy, some very muddy apart from the last mile which was half on road followed by half on a steep, muddy field leading up to the Beacon.  Although 6 minutes down on his time from 2 years ago, finishing in 155th place in  68:39, Greg was still pleased with his performance given his medical circumstances and the muddy conditions.

Ruth Wheatley had a Christmas present of a weekend in York and whilst there ran the Jolly Holly Jog in Ripon organised by Ripon Runners.  It turned out that the Jolly Holly Jog was actually a 10k trail race.  It was supposed to have been run in December but has been postponed twice due to flooding.  The weather conditions were beautiful, about 7 degrees with no wind.  It was, however, pretty boggy in places as it had poured the evening before.  It was an undulating (hilly!) course with some slipping and sliding up and down rocky paths and through some fields.  The total field was 526 and Ruth came 324th and 113th female in a time of 1:02:12.

Richard Storey and Greg Oulton marshalling at the parkrun

The Lytham Hall parkrun attracted a record number of participants, 199 in total, on Saturday probably helped by the calm, sunny weather.  First home overall by a clear margin of over a minute was Luke Minns of Blackpool Wyre and Fylde in 16:42.  Lytham St Annes Road Runners were out in force both as marshals and runners.  Andy Draper was first home for the club in 7th place with a PB for the course of 18:47.  Joanna Goorney was 11th and 1st  lady in 20:04.  Making his parkrun debut was Alan Elstone finishing 13th in 20:31.  There was another PB for Felicity Wolohan who was 2nd lady in 20:39.  Graham Webster was 18th in 20:55 whilst just behind was Sue Samme in her first race in over 18 months recording an 20:55, an excellent time for a vet 50 which got her an age graded performance of 83.13%.  Terry Hellings was 21st in 21:07, Mel Koth was 33rd and 5th female in 22:19, Ian Tate was 34th in 22:21, Barbara Holmes was 35th and 6th female in 22:38, Dawn Bloor was 48th in 23:38, Debbie Cooper was 51st in 23:38, Gerry Browne was 54th in 23:55, Claire England was 68th in 24:49, Sue Hawitt was 71st in 25:25, and Rebecca Willetts was 101st in 27:20.  There were also 4 juniors taking part: Georgia Norman was 93rd in 27:01, Chloe Norman was 95th in 27:06, Spencer Unsworth was 99th in 27:18 and Ellis Goddard was 132nd in 30:32.

Terry Hellings following by Felicity Wolohan and Sue Samme

LSARRC News 19th January 2016

The LSARRC Curry Run

Under 11 boys team

The fourth fixture in the Mid Lancs Cross Country League took place at Hyndburn on Saturday.  The course, across Wilson Playing Fields and through the surrounding woodland is normally notoriously muddy but with the very cold temperature, a lot of the ground was instead frozen providing testing conditions for all the age groups.


The highlight of the day was in the under 11 boys race where Louis Eunson and George Denye finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in times of 8:15 and 8:37.  Morgan Pritchard was 36th in 10:16 enabling the lads to finish 3rd overall in the  team competition – a great result.  In the under 11 girls races, Sydney Ramsden was the only representative for the club finishing 30th in 10:32 out of 67 finishers, the biggest junior field of the day.  Rebecca Tate ran in the Under 13 Girls race finishing 35th in 14:16.

The senior women's race proved to be a 2 horse affair with Nichola Jackson of Preston Harriers taking her first win in the Mid Lancs league just beating Emily Japp of Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde.  There was again a good turnout for the LSARRC with 7 ladies making up the 132 runners.  Joanna Goorney was first home for the club in 11th place in 27:19 and was also 1st vet 45.  Also having an excellent run was Barbara Homes who came home as 1st vet 55 in 39th place in a time of 32:27.  Julia Rolfe was 67th in 34:46, Louisa Ruman was 71st in 34:46, Alex Everest was 73rd in 35:29, Dawn Bloor was 79th in 36:28 and Dawn Lock was 128th in 54:04.

LSARRC Ladies

The men’s race started off in cold, dry conditions but the snow started to come down as the race progressed getting quite heavy as time ticked by.  Unfortunately, for the men at the back of the field, this had the disadvantage that they were having to deal with poor visibility especially through the woodland areas of the course.  First home out the 218 finishers was James Douglas of Border Harriers in 35:33.  Neil Tate was the first man back for the club in 64th place and a time of 43:44.  Tom Howarth was 91st in 46:02.  Terry Hellings had a great race finishing 1st vet 60 in 127th place and 48:52, Steve Ashton was 203rd in 1:02:03 and Greg Oulton was 216th in 1:10:23.

Rebecca Tate

Sydney Ramsden

The big race on Sunday should have been the Inskip Half Marathon but once again, the weather took charge and the event had to be cancelled because of the snow which had fallen the previous day.

Felicity Wolohan on her way to a half marathon PB

 The the very popular Essar Four Villages Half Marathon survived the weather luckily although it was threatened by a snowy start and a very cold day.  It is really scenic race starting in Helsby and passing through the other villages Dunham on the Hill, Mouldsworth and Manley.  Felicity Wolohan had an excellent race continuing her recent good form, getting another PB of 1:35:49, finishing 339th overall out of 1700 runners.

Joanna Goorney headed over to Haworth for the Stanbury Splash Fell Race.  Because of the snowy conditions, the decision was made by the organisers to run a shorter course than planned.  So instead of the planned 7.5 miles, a 5 mile route was used instead.  Conditions were still very tricky with semi frozen peat to contend with but still fun to race over.  Joanna finished 92nd overall,  7th lady and 2nd vet 40 in a time of 43:26 out of 276 finishers.


On Saturday morning, many of the local parkruns were also affected by the icy conditions and called off.  One of the ones to survive was Lytham Hall which this week attracted 153 runners.  Andy Draper had a good run finishing 5th in 19:05, a PB for the course.  Debbie Cooper was 4th lady and 44th overall in 24:49.  Junior Max Talbot was 56th in 26:09, Olivia Johnson Allen was 70th in 27:44,  junior Georgia Norman was 71st in 28:03 and Bob Clough was 84th in 29:39.

Roy Stevens and Tom Clough

Roy Steven ran his last parkrun in Australia before returning home, this time in Mosman, Sydney.  Where most parkruns in this country start at 9am on a Saturday morning, this one started at 7am!  He finished 22nd in 25:03 out of 55 runners.  While out there, wearing his club vest, he was recognised by the son (Tom) of one of the club's members, Bob Clough – small world.
  

On Thursday night, Mark Selby organised another very successful curry run from St Annes Pier with a meal afterwards at Gemma's Indian Restaurant.  With weather conditions much better than the gale force winds of the previous year, 23 runners and curry eaters attended.

 

LSARRC News 12th January 2016

LSARRC ladies at the Lancashire XC Championships

The 2016 Lancashire Cross Country Championships were held on Saturday at Witton Park in Blackburn with some excellent results for the female side of the club who came away with four individual golds.

First held at Witton Park fifty-five years ago in January 1962, the venue has now become the Championship's permanent home led by obliging host club Blackburn Harriers who possess one of the area's most demanding and interesting cross-country courses. But in the present run of extreme weather it was lucky to take place at all this year with banks of the fast-flowing River Darwen attesting to recent flooding and the resultant heavy mud which sapped competitors' energies.

The Lancashire AA Championships have grown in popularity in recent years thanks to the efforts of a conscientious committee, dedicated to tailoring the event to the wishes of the Lancashire running population and who will have been pleased with the overall total of 500 competitors.

Morgan Pritchard

Sydney Ramsden

15 member of LSARRC were at the championships with the youngest being 9 year old Morgan Pritchard who finished 26th in the U11 Boys races in 6:23 in only his third cross country race.  In the U11 girls race, Sydney Ramsden ran well for 30th place in 8:30 in the the largest junior field of 52.  Rebecca Tate ran the U13 girl's one-lap 3.2k race including a climb up the saucer, a first for Rebecca, who made a real effort to finish 36th in 17:24.  In the same race Georgia Norman was 42nd in 18:31.

Rebecca Tate

The star performance of the day came from 14 year old Ella Moulding who retained her title as U15 Girls Champion winning by a comfortable 16 seconds beating 29 U15 girls and half of the U15 boys in the same race.  Ella took 15:15 to complete the tough 3.8k course which included one climb of the notorious saucer.  Chloe Norman was also in the U15 girls race finishing 21st in 18:13.

Georgia Norman

The senior ladies race consisted of a much more highly competitive field than of recent years with 17 year old Katie Astin from Manx Harriers running away with the title in 26:26.  LSARRC also produced some excellent results with category wins for Joanna Goorney in the Vet 45 category (finishing 17th overall in 29:27), Barbara Holmes in the Vet 55 category (finishing 44th in 32:32) and Dawn Lock in the Vet 70 category (finishing 76th in 57:05.  Felicity Wolohan, another novice to cross country was second home for the club in 33rd place in 32:37, Mel Koth was not far behind in 35th and 33:06, Fiona Geldard was 61st in 38:09, Dawn Bloor was 63rd in 38:57 and Deputy Captain Alex Everest was 65th in 39:57.

The senior ladies team finished eighth overall in the team competition and fourth in the ladies veteran competition.

In the men's race, LSARRC only had one representative for the demanding four lap 9.8km course.  Club Chairman Nigel Simpkin finished 144th in 61:11.

Sunday morning saw the Garstang 10k organised by Garstang Community Academy.  Flooding on the course was luckily eased by Garstang Fire Station who helped drain the one and a half foot puddle on the road.  The race was won by Rob Affleck of Preston Harriers by over a minute in 32:52 and had 507 finishers.  From LSARRC, Tom Howarth finished in 22nd place in a time of 38:22 whilst Richard Storey was 153rd in 45:35.

With many runners from the club competing at the Lancashire Cross Country Championships on Saturday, there were fewer members at the parkruns.  Andy Draper was the sole representative for the club at the Lytham Hall parkrun whose numbers are shooting up as the event gains popularity with 134 participants this week.  He finished 6th in a pb for the course of 19:23.

Neil Bayton-Roberts found a parkrun further afield taking part in the Highbury Fields parkrun, Islington, London.  He finished 49th in a time of 21:36 from a field of 236 runners.

Over on the other side of the world, Roy Stevens continued his hunt for parkruns which turned into no truer word said in jest.  He was this week in Hunter Valley, New South Wales which has had some serious flooding.  Roy initially went to run the Maitland parkrun on Saturday morning only to find it had been cancelled because the road to the start was flooded.  He then drove 30 miles to the next town, Singleton, to run their parkrun arriving unfortunately 5 minutes late.  Although clocked at running 30:28, he actually ran it in 25.29 and still managed to finish 29th out of 74 runners!

LSARRC News 5th January 2016

Steve Ashton who smashed his PB at the Central Lancs Half Marathon

On New Years Eve, Greg Oulton completed the very popular Auld Lang Syne fell race from Penistone Hill Country Park, near Haworth.  Runners are encouraged to wear fancy dress with many taking up the challenge in some fabulous costumes.  The race which 9.6km includes 300m of ascent attracted a high quality field and was won by Chris Farrell of Horwich RMI in 41:19.  Greg finished in 401st place in a time of 91:51.  There were 413 finishers.

The Nine Standards Fell Race on New Years Day starting from Kirkby Stephen attracted 120 runners.  The 8 mile out and back course ascended 1800ft up to the Nine Standards Rigg on the summit of Hartley Fell with much of the top section needing care from being frozen.  The race was won by Carl Bell of Keswick AC in 54:49 whilst the first lady home was international Victoria Wilkinson from Bingley Harriers who wiped over 3 minutes of the ladies course record in 58:48, finishing 3rd overall.  Joanna Goorney was the only LSA athlete who made the trip up north finishing in 43rd place, 4th lady and 1st vet 40 in 1:13:41.

Neil Tate - another HM PB

The Central Lancs Half Marathon proved popular with Lytham St Annes runners on Sunday morning.  Luckily the rain held off for all but about 10 minutes of the race which had its headquarters in Lea Town near Preston.  Steve Ashton had a great run knocking an incredible half an hour of his previous personal best to finish in 1:54:38 and 244th place, demonstrating what an improvement joining a running club has been to him.  Neil Tate also smashed his PB finishing 10th in 1:22:41 being the first Lytham St Annes runner home.  Mel Koth was 86th in 1:37:15, Richard Storey was 91st in 1:37:30, Julia Rolfe was 266th in 1:57:20, Bob Clough was 2358th in 2:11:41 and Jeremy McCandless was 381st in 2:15:07.  There were 463 finishers.

On Saturday morning, the 5th Lytham Hall parkrun took place.  With dryer conditions than of late, the event attracted 86 runners.  Lytham St Annes had another good turn of both runners and marshalls with Andy Draper being first home for the club in 19:44.  Joanna Goorney was 1st lady in 16th place and a time of 20:19 whilst Felicity Wolohan was 2nd lady in 21:21.  Greg Oulton was 59th in 39:02 and Rebecca Willetts was 60th in 29:23.

Lytham Hall parkrun

On the other side of the world still, Roy Stevens found another parkrun to do in Australia.  He  took part in the St Peters parkrun held in Sydney Park, St Peters, Sydney where he finished in 86th place out of 263 runners in a time of 24:58.