LSARRC News 26th April 2016

Rachael Wignall.

In a busy week for Lytham St Annes RRC they had athletes from age 10 to 64 racing over distances from 5k to 26.2 miles.  The main event of the weekend was undoubtedly the 36th London Marathon and 9 Lytham members headed to the capital to join 38000 others on the start line.  First home for Lytham was Steve Hargreaves in a time of 2:42:24 for 401st place closely followed by Andy Draper in 2:45:28 for 571st position.  Neil Tate improved on his previous best by over 7 minutes finishing in 2:54:37 for 1216th place.  Chris McCarthy was next for Lytham in 2:58:05 for 1722nd place.  Emily Hargreaves finished in 3:08:56 (204th female).  Melanie Koth in her 10th London Marathon finished 1371st female in 3:36:32. Ruth Wheatley     (5:06:43, 10009th female), Rachael Wignall in her first marathon finished in 5:13:51, 10561st female) and raised £2630 for Kidney Research UK in the process and Alex Wiggins (5:25:55, 33143rd) also ran for Lytham.

Closer to home the Lytham Hall parkrun attracted 10 Lytham members with Ross McKelvie 4th in 18:18, Andy Unsworth 7th in 18:42, 10 year old Morgan Pritchard 32nd in 23:14, Sue Hawitt 54th in 24:32, and Greg Oulton 63rd in 25:21 all recording personal best times.  2 Lytham athletes, junior Laura Bremner 65th in 25:28 and Liz Boon 119th in 29.15 did well competing in their first Lytham Hall parkrun.  Mark Selby 12th in 20:10, Bob Clough 93rd in 27:41 and Jeremy McCandless 99th in 28:15 were also flying the Lytham flag,

Sunday saw Joe Greenwood compete in the Blackpool half marathon finishing in 1:21:22 for 11thplace.  Ross McKelvie in his second race of the weekend ran     1:31:42 for 41st position.

Steve Ashton, training for his Iron Man later in the year, ran in the Rivington 10 mile trail race a tough off road race with over 1000 feet of climbing.  Steve finished in 2:01:56.

The Bolton 10k is challenging course incorporating the undulating roads around and within Leverhulme Park but this did not discourage Lytham members Julia Rolfe and Greg Oulton (his second race of the weekend) who completed the course in 52:02 and 56:05 for 260th and 356th place respectively.

Morgan Pritchard at Lytham Hall parkrun

LSARRC News 19th April 2016

Neil Tate at Lytham Hall parkrun

Graham Webster ran 4 races at Cleckheaton last Wednesday at the  evening Northern Masters AC Track and Field Meeting .  All within the space of 1 and half hours, his first race was the 800m where he finished 3rd in 2:27.9, then the 3000m where he was 5th in 11:50.0, then the 1500m where he was 5th in 5:42.4 and lastly the 400m in 75.6 for 7th place.  Graham was 1st 60 in all the races.

The Valiant's Half Marathon on Sunday from Valiant's Equestrian Centre, Out Rawcliffe attracted 2 Lytham St Annes runners.  With 76 finishers, the race was won by Rob Danson of Wesham in 1:14.06.  Tom Howarth finished in 7th place in 21:07 4 Howarth Thomas  whilst Ian Tate recorded a PB with 1:39:17 finihsing in 24 place.

In his first track race of the season, junior Zane Seddon headed to South Manchester for the Trafford A.C. Medal Meeting from  Trafford A.C. Medal Meeting at Longford Park Stretford.  Competing in the under 13 boys 800m, Zane led for most of the race finishing in 1st place with a time of 2:22.3.

With all the media attention surrounding the Little Stoke parkrun this last week, it was hardly surprising that it boosted the numbers at the 20th Lytham Hall parkrun but with 243 runners, the previous record of 207 was easily surpassed.  2 club member, Barbara Holmes and Sue Hawitt acted as pacers for the run helping people attain PBs whilst Caroline Betmead of Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde broke her own female course record again with 18:58.  Andy Draper equalled his PB for the course finishing in 2nd place with 17:43 with Chris McCarthy just behind in 3rd with 17:45.  Ross McKelvie was 7th 18:38, Neil Tate was 14th in 20:15, Morgan Pritchard was 38th in 23:43, Graham Webster was 39th in 23:43, Claire England was 44th in 24:04, Barbara Holmes was 58th in 25:02, Clemmie Tierney was 123rd in 29:46 with a new course PB, Sue Hawitt was 139th in 30:42 and Jeremy McCandless was 257th in 32:00.

Ian Tate ran in the 121st Warrington parkrun where there were 331 finishers.  He finished in 25th place in a time of 21:07 for the 5k course.

Jeremy McCandless and Mollie

Andy Draper

LSARRC News 12th April 2016

Lytham ladies warming up for the Inter Club

The first Inter Club race in the 2016 series was held on Wednesday night at Stanley Park. Hosted by Blackpool Wyre and Fylde AC, the 4 mile race takes in 2 laps of the park. Last year's overall winner Rob Danson of Wesham Road Runners carried on from where he left off winning by over half a minute in 20:27. Lytham St Annes had an excellent turnout with 29 runners out of the 311 finishers. Andy Draper was first home for the club in 9th place and 22:46 just beating Tom Howarth in 10th place with 22:48. Ross McKelvie made up an impressive debut for the club in 23rd place with 23:33. Along with Joe Greenwood and Neil Tate, this gave the club 5 members in the top 25. Joanna Goorney was first female home for the club and 4th female overall in 25:16.

Andy Draper

LSARRC results: Andy Draper 9th 22:46, Tom Howarth 10th 22:48; Joe Greenwood 16th 23:18; Neil Tate 21st; Ross McKelvie 23rd 23:33; Alex Tate 47th 25:04; Joanna Goorney 51st 25:16; Justin Allitt 55th 25:28; Alan Elstone 73rd 26:15; Graham Webster 78th 26:33; Terry Hellings 96th 27:25; Ian Tate 118th 28:18; Melanie Koth 129th 28:57; Barbara Holmes 130th 29:11; Claire England 171st 30:57; Alex Everest 175th 31:11; Nigel Simpkin 178th 31:14; Gemma Czarnota 180th 31:17; Roy Stevens 182nd 31:19; Susan Hawitt 194th 31:57; Steven Ashton 212nd 32:49; Julia Rolfe 213th 32:50; Debbie Cooper 222nd 33:27; Greg Oulton 223rd 33:28; Jeremy McCandless 237th 34:34; Rachael Wignall 264th 36:58; Karen Lanigan 281st 39:10; Bill Lock 294th 42:19; Dawn Lock 309th 49:45;

Ladies Inter Club Fell Race Champions

Joe Greenwood

 In the team events, Lytham St Annes also faired well scoring best in the new female vet 40 category where they finished 2nd overall. In the open category, the club were unlucky to finish 5th since the scores were very tight. After the race at Blackpool Cricket Club, an excellent buffet was provided by BWF AC which was followed by the Inter Club presentation evening for last year's road race series and fell race series. Lytham St Annes had much success overall particularly in the fell race series where they won the Ladies Team trophy, had first overall male (Joe Greenwood), 1st female vet 40 (Joanna Goorney), and 1st female (Debbie Cooper).

On Sunday morning, Tom Howarth ran the Cheshire 10k which starts at Arley Hall. The race is renowned as a fast, flat 10k taking in rural roads around Antrobus and with good weather provided perfect conditions. First home of the 1115 finishers by over a minute was Patrick Martin of Stockport Harriers. Tom had an excellent run smashing his PB by over half a minute to finish in 27th place overall in 35:51.

Tom Howarth

The Fleetwood 10k on Sunday morning had 204 finishers. Andy Draper finished as superb 3rd overall in a time of 36:03. Claire England was 54th in 48:41, Roy Stevens was 55th in 48:48 and Sue Hawitt was 70th in 51:09.

The 19th Lytham Hall parkrun had to revert back to the B course on Saturday morning due to herons nesting near the pond on the A course. This didn't deter runners though and a record field of 207 took part. Andy Draper was 1st finisher in 17:43 whilst Caroline Betmead of Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde was 1st lady again lowering the course record to 19:01. Andy Unsworth was 6th in 19:38, Chris Mccarthy was 9th in 20:12; Morgan Pritchard was 31st in 23:26, Graham Webster was 32nd in 23:27, Debbie Cooper was 60th in 26:28, Neil Bayntun-Roberts 73rd in 27:06, Rebecca Willetts was 96th 28:26, Clemmie Tierney was 147th in 31:46, Karen Lanigan was 149th in 31:51 and Jeremy McCandless was 156th in 32:14.

LSARRC News 5th April 2016

Pendle Fell Race

The Pendle Fell Race starting in the village of Barley on Saturday afternoon.  Although fairly short (4.5 miles), the 1499ft of ascent makes the course quite challenging.  And murky conditions with limited visibility on the summit and plenty of mud added extra spice.  Despite that though the first man home, Sam Tosh of Rossendale Harriers, still was back in 33:46.  The race was also selected by LSARRC as the first race in the club's fell championship and attracted three members.  Joanna Goorney was 7th lady and 65th overall in 46:11, Julia Rolfe was 160th in 1:05:11 and Greg Oulton was 166th in 1:06:56.

Simon Holt

The first Mid Lancs. Track and Field fixture of 2016 took place at Stanley Park on Saturday 2nd April.  The undoubted star of the meeting for Lytham St Annes was under 13 boy Simon Holt picking up a total of 16 points for the club.  Simon achieved a distance of 6.81m in the shot to win the competition outright earning 7 points. Simon’s next event was the 800m finishing in 2m 45.1s and 3rd in division 2 for 4 points.  Final event of the day for Simon was the 200m finishing 2nd in his heat and 3rd in division 2 for 4 points.  Making her debut for LSARRC at track and field and picking up 8 points was senior woman Rachael Wignall.  Rachael was 3rd in her heat of the 100m in 18.9s for 4th place in division 2 and 3 points.  Rachael also earned 3 points in the shot with a distance of 5.93m and 2 points in the discus with a distance of 15.24m for 4th and 5th place in division respectively.  Senior man Jeremy McCandless also competed for Lytham taking 3rd place in division 2 in the hammer with a distance of 15.95m and 2nd in division 2 in the shot with 13.72m for 5 points.

Rachael Wignall

Graham Webster ran the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 10k in London which included the  BMAF & VAC 10k Road Championships on Saturday.  He finished 82nd out of 605 in 41.59 over an extended course on mostly flat terrain.

The inaugural Darwen Heritage Half Marathon on Sunday morning organised by Darwen Dashers proved a tough cookie by all accounts.  Won by Ben Fish of Blackburn Harriers by over 7 minutes in a time of 1:12:40, the race had over 400 finishers.  Mel Koth fitted it into her training for the London Marathon which is now only 3 weeks away.  She finished in 116th place in a time of 1:43:45.

Felicity Wolohan had an excellent run at the Paris Marathon on Sunday recording a PB of 3:31:04.  She finished 296th female out of 10084 and 5268th overall out of 41708.

Graham Young and Bob Clough at Lytham Hall parkrun

The 18th Lytham Hall parkrun on Saturday morning still attracted 180 runners despite the drizzly conditions on Saturday morning.  Ben Wolfarth of Salford Harriers was the first finisher in 16:41 whilst Caroline Betmead of Blackpool Wyre and Fylde was the first lady breaking the ladies course record with 19:34.  First home for the club was Tom Howarth in 4th place and 18:23 with Neil Tate just 3 seconds behind in 5th.  Alan Elstone was 21st in 21 :10, Mark Selby was 24th in 21:33, Morgan Pritchard was 39th in 23:52, Claire England was 42nd and 4th lady in 24:05, Sue Hawitt was 65th in 26:45, Bob Clough was 93rd in 28:50, Graham Young was 113th in 30:35, Hebe Tierney was 159th in 35:35, Clemmie Tierney was 160th in 35:35 and Alex Tate was 179th in 38:44.

Alan Elstone at Lytham Hall parkrun

Greg Oulton was the winner of the March club handicap race on Thursday night that was notable for four competitors, Will McCallister, Jeremy McCandless, Claire England and Sue Hawitt, all recording PBs. The best time of the evening was by new member Chris McCarthy who ran a very quick 3.44 miles in 19:26 on his first run on the course.

Full results: 1, Greg Oulton, 30.55; 2, Will McCallister, 23.35; 3, Jeremy McCandless, 29.22; 4, Claire England, , 26.47; 5, Tom Howarth, 20.26; 6, Sue Hawitt, 27.46; 7, Julia Rolfe, 29.05; 8, Justin Allitt, 23.10; 9, Karen Lanigan, 34.22; 10, Dawn Lock, 47.26; n/c Chris McCarthy, 19.26; Colin Laidlaw, 26.53; Paul Haywood, 23.09.

The March race was the finale of the year's competition for the Handicap Plate. Congratulations to Sue Hawitt who is the undoubted 2015-16 champion. Over twelve months of continual improvement Sue has recorded a PB every time she's run. The runner-up, last year's champion Jeremy McCandless, is a worthy winner of the silver medal as he has followed on with a further year of consistently better times.

Leading scores for 2015-16; Sue Hawitt 237, Jeremy McCandless 212; Neil Tate 204; Debbie Cooper 192, Tom Howarth 192, Dawn Lock 185, Alan Elstone 176.