LSARRC News 31st May 2016

Barbara Holmes - 2016 Lisbon ETU Triathlon European Championships

With the addition of a bank holiday weekend and the light evenings, there was a huge amount of races to choose from this last week. And strangely for a bank holiday weekend, there was a lot of very warn weather to contend with.

Wednesday night saw the first race of four of the Harrock  Hill Fell Race Series over near Parbold.  With 217 finishers, Joanna Goorney was the club's sole representative for this delightful 5.2 mile race.  Conditions were perfect with gentle drizzle keeping the runners cool.  First home was Karl Steinegger from Ambleside in a time of 33:34.  Joanna was pleased to run a PB for the course in a time of 39:59 finishing 47th overall, 3rd lady and 1st vet 45.

Chris McCarthy had an excellent win at the Promenade 10 Miler on Saturday morning in 1:01:32.  Starting from the Middle Walkway, North Promenade, the race attracted 157 runners.  Ross McKelvie was 2nd home for the club in 5th place and 1:06:10,  Michelle Hook was 38th in 1:22:27 and Sylvia Gittins was 105th in 1:37:57.

Joanna Goorney was back in action again on the fells on Saturday afternoon at the Hutton Roof Fell Race, near Kirkby Lonsdale.  This was also used as the first race in the Inter Club Fell Race series and so attracted a number of runners from the local clubs.  The 7 mile race had 1302 feet of ascent mainly on good mud free tracks and provided great views towards the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District in the fine sunny conditions. Joanna was 37th overall out of the 297 finishers, 4th female and 2nd vet 45 in a time of 1:03:26.

Hyndburn was the location for the 3rd Mid Lancs Track and Field meet of the season also on Saturday afternoon.  Junior Ella Moulding was the club's sole representative on the track winning the under 17 girls 1500m race in 4:49:40.  Rachael Wignall was first in action in the senior ladies long jump finishing 6th with 3.26 and then threw 5.46 in the shot putt for 6th place.

Ella Moulding

Jeremy McCandless and Greg Oulton were both out in the senior men's throwing events. Both competed in the shot putt with Jeremy throwing 6.20 for 12th place and Greg 5:62 for 14th place.  In the discus, Jeremy threw 15.94 for 13th place and Greg threw 13:12 for 14th place.  The javelin was Greg's final event where he threw 12:20 for 8th place whilst Jeremy competed in the hammer finishing 7th with a throw of 14:97.

Richard Storey - Catforth Canter 5k

Saturday night saw the first of the three Catforth Canter 5k races over the summer.  This flat course around the village of Catforth attracted 85 runners and was won by Rob Danson of Wesham RR in a time of 15:20.  Richard Storey finished in 44th place in a time of 21:38 whilst Claire England was 56th in 23:46.

The Liverpool Rock'n'Roll Marathon and Half Marathon took place on Sunday.  71 year old Pam Binns took just 4:40:26 in the warm weather to complete the Marathon course finishing 1st vet 70 and 1556th overall.  Felicity Wolohan ran in the Half Marathon completing the course in 1:36:29 for 368th place out of the 7143 finishers.

Mark Selby

There was another big marathon going on also on Sunday up in Scotland.  Mark Selby  completed the Edinburgh Marathon in 3:41 on a very hot Scottish day.  He was a little disappointed with his time but with the relentless heat and hills, he wasn't complaining! It was also a PB, shaving 57 minutes off.

Over in Portugal, Barbara Holmes took part in the 2016 Lisbon ETU Triathlon European Championships.  Barbara competed in the sprint race which consisted of a 750m open water swim, 20km on the bike and a 5km run to finish. She finished 2nd taking the silver medal in the vet 55 category in a time of 1:16:24.  A superb achievement.


The 25th Lytham Hall parkrun took place on Saturday morning with a total of 166 runners in the warm sunny conditions.  Paul Muller of Horwich RMI was first to finish in a time of 17:51.  Roy Stevens and junior Francis Morrison both recorded PBs along with Alex Tate and juniors Hebe Tierney and Clemmie Tierney.

Roy Stevens

Full results: Terry Hellings 13th 21:13; Neil Bayntun-Roberts 14th 21:33; Morgan Pritchard 27th 23:10; Graham Webster 28th 23:11; Roy Stevens 33rd 23:53; Francis Morrison 34th 23:55; Alex Tate 81st 28:02; Hebe Tierney 89th 28:58; Clemmie tTerney 90th 28:58;

Camperdown parkrun, Dundee combines sections through open park land, and wooded areas of Dundee's largest park on a one lap course.  Gerry Browne joined 150 other runners for the 5k course finishing in 31st place in a time of 24:12

Felicity Wolohan was in Liverpool for the Princes Park parkrun.  She finished in 28th place and 4th female in a time of 21:19 out of 228 finishers.

Thursday night saw the Club's monthly handicap race, the second in this year's series.  There were some excellent runs with the first three finishers all recording PBs and the next 4 getting seasons bests.  Especially notable among them was Debbie Cooper who's previous PB was way back in 2007. Neil Tate was first back with 26:10 for the 4.35 mile summer course whilst Joe Greenwood had the quickest run with Chris McCarthy not far behind.  The club was also pleased to welcome two newcomers to the handicap, Chris McKay and Stuart Gornall.

Full results: 1 Neil Tate 26:10 PB; 2 Justin Allitt 26:55 PB; 3 Gerry Brown 31:46 PB; 4 Richard Storey  31;49 SB; 5 Greg Oulton 36;05 SB; 6 Sylvia Gittins  38;58 SB; 7 Jeremy McCandless SB; 8 Claire England 33:33; 9 Colin Laidlaw 32:37 SB; 10 Sue Hawitt 35:40; 11 Joe Greenwood 24:27; 12 Debbie Cooper  33:52 PB; 13 Chris McCarthy 24:41; 14 Karen Lanigan 42:26; 15. Dawn Lock  58:19; 16 Tom Howarth 28:02; Est. Andy Unsworth 26:36; Est. Chris McKay 33:19; Est. Stuart Gornall 33:27; Est. Mark Selby 31:57;

LSARRC News 24nd May 2016

George Denye - 2nd place Junior Great Manchester Run

Sydney Ramsden

Jessica Ramsden

The big event in the north west was the Great Manchester 10k Run on Sunday but on Saturday, the juniors had their chance in the Junior Great Manchester Run 2016.  The outstanding performance of the day was from George Denye who finished 2nd in the boys 9-10 category in a time of 8:45.  Sydney Ramsden also had an excellent run in the girls 11-12 category finishing 18th in 10.  Younger sister, Jessica Ramsden ran in the mini race where she finished 6th

Mel Koth ran in the Great Manchester 10k and, in a race won by multiple Olympic gold medallist, world champion and world record holder Kenenisa Bekele, Koth finished in 2679th place with a time of 47:35

There were 526 finishers in the hilly Brathay Windermere Marathon on Sunday mornings.  In warm conditions, the race was won by Scott Harrington of Otley by over 11 minutes in a time of 2:36:33.  Tom Howarth was the club's sole representative finding the conditions tough.  He finished in 33rd place in 3:20:56 after completing the first half in about 1:26 but slowed in the second.

Luckily the rain just held off for the 24th Lytham Hall parkrun on Saturday morning.  Two first timers to the course were first male and first female finishers of the 174 runners.  Steven Henderson of Sale Harriers was the first male finisher in 17:15 whilst Jennifer Rich was the first female in 6th place in 18:22.  Chris McCarthy was 2nd finisher in a PB of 17:38 whilst Joanna Goorney was 2nd female and 7th overall in a PB time of 19:35 closely followed by Ross McKelvie in 8th in 19:39.  There were also superb PBs for Mark Selby breaking the elusive 20 minute barrier in 10th place with 19: 45 and Gerry Browne going under 23 minutes for the first time with 22:56 in 26th place.  Barbara Holmes acted as a pacer for the run for anyone aiming for 26 minutes and did a pretty impressive job finishing in 25:51!

Morgan_Pritchard, Neil Tate and Gerry Browne - Lytham Hall parkrun

Full Lytham results: Chris McCarthy, 2nd, 17:38 PB; Joanna Goorney, 7th, 19:35 PB; Ross McKelvie, 8th, 19:39; Mark Selby, 10th, :19:45 PB; Felicity Wolohan, 16th, 00:21:25; Terry Hellings, 17th, 00:21:30; Richard  Storey, 25th, 00:22:47; Gerry Browne, 26th, 22:56 PB; Morgan Pritchard, 30th, 23:28; Neil Tate, 32nd, 23:31; Claire England, 37th, 23:59; Laura Bremner, 46th, 24:22; Barbara Holmes, 61st, 25:51; Graham Young, 88th, 28:40; Gillian Oliver, 92nd, 29:10; Jeremy Mccandless, 113th, 31:26; Katie Bremner, 133rd, 32:51; Clemmie Tierney, 134th, 32:58;

Meanwhile a 1000 miles south Lytham members Graham Webster and Greg Oulton travelled to Vila Real de Santo Antonio in Portugal to compete in the European Masters championships, an event that attracts the best veteran athletes from all over Europe. Three races in three days started with a 10k road race on Friday with Webster finishing in a time of 42.20 for 189th overall from 356 finishers and 22nd M60.  Oulton completed the course in 55.58 in 323rd place.  Saturday was the cross country relay.  In the M60 race Webster ran for the British M60 B team finishing in 6th place with the A team taking 3rd.  Oulton competed in the M45 race and finished as part of the British M45 team in 6th place.  Just a day later prolific race Webster was toeing the line for his third race in as many days in the Half Marathon Championship.  Webster finished in a time of 1.34.53 for 201st of 373 finishers, 25th M60 and part of the British M60 team finishing in 6th place.

LSARRC News 17th May 2015

Richard Storey and Michelle Hook

There were perfect conditions on Wednesday night for the 2nd race in this summer's Inter Club Series.  Preston Harriers were the host club for the 4 mile, 2 lap course  from Vernon's Social Club heading into Avenham Park.  Rob Danson of Wesham RR and Emily Japp of Blackpool Wyre and Fylde AC continued their dominant streaks from last year again taking 1st man and 1st lady in 20:31 and 23:30 respectively .  The host club then provided a superb buffet afterwards for the 324 finishers.

Roy Stevens

Lytham St Annes had another great turnout with 28 runners making the trip to Preston.  First home for the club was Joe Greenwood in an excellent 9th place in a time of 22:59 with Chris McCarthy just behind also making the top ten with 23:09.  Joanna Goorney was the 1st lady home for the club in 62nd place and 3rd lady overall in 25:52.

Andy Draper

Lytham results: Joe Greenwood 9th 22:59; Chris McCarthy 10th 23:09; Andrew Draper 14th 23:23; Thomas Howarth 26th 24:05; Neil Tate 31st 24:26; Andrew Unsworth 38th 24:39; Ross McKelvie 48th 24:57; Justin Allitt 59th 25:35; Joanna Goorney 62nd 25:52; Graham Webster 74th 26:36; Terry Hellings 103rd 27:55; Michelle Hook 131st 29:16; Richard Storey 132nd 29:17; Melanie Koth 171st  30:47; Colin Laidlaw 185th 31:27; Roy Stevens 192nd 31:46; Claire England 198th 31:58; Nigel Simpkin 201st 32:12; Steven Ashton 203rd 32:17; Julia Rolfe 204th 32:18; Susan Hawitt 212th 32:35; Debbie Cooper 216th 32:49; Gemma Czarnota 217th  33:20; Pam Hardman 224th 33:47; Greg Oulton 227th 33:59; Jeremy McCandless 253rd 35:57; Hannah McCandless 258th 36:29; Rebecca Willetts 270th 37:21.

Ella Moulding

Greg Oulton officiating

The Lancashire Track and Field Championships were held at Blackpool on Saturday and Sunday.  Lytham St Annes were well represented by juniors.  Ellla Moulding was on good form winning the under 17 girls 1500 in a time of 4:49.2.  She then finished second in the 800m in 2:23.  Zane Seddon ran in the under 13 boys 800m finishing 2nd in the final in 2:25.4.  Simon Holt ran in the under 13 boys 200m finishing 7th in 30.5 in his heat and in the under 13 boys 800m finishing in 5th and 2:43.3 in his heat.

Over in Austria, Emily Hargreaves ran the Innsbruck Stadtlauf, a 10k race through Innsbruck on Sunday morning.  She finished in 121st place in a time of 39:33.

Rebecca Tate and Neil Tate at Preston parkrun

With the cancellation of this week's Lytham Hall parkrun due to an art fair taking place, many locals headed to the Preston parkrun at Avenham Park which along with their 4th birthday celebrations, swelled their runners to a record 464.  First finisher was Andrew Woodward of Blackpool Aquatics Triathlon Squad in 17:45.  Neil Tate, in his first visit to the Preston parkrun, finished in 6th place in a time of 18:43 whilst Richard Storey was 69th in 22:51.  Junior Rebecca Tate finished in 244th place in 28:39.

Calder Vale training run

With the Welsh Castles Relay just a few weeks away, Richard Storey organised a club training run from Calder Vale on Sunday morning giving runners the opportunity to practice on hills.  Afternoon tea was enjoyed afterwards at the village hall as part of the “Bluebell Teas” during May.

Having a rest after running up hills

LSARRC News 10th May 2016

Helen Clitheroe and LSARRC

The highlight of the week was the visit of Preston Harriers International Helen Clitheroe to the club last Thursday night.  The double Olympic and quadruple Commonwealth runner gave a great training session passing on a wealth of knowledge to the large group of senior and junior members assembled.  A very enjoyable evening helped by superb weather for May.

Helen Clitheroe demonstrating stretching

Bank Holiday Monday saw the Wray Caton Moor Fell Race which is held as part of the Wray Scarecrow Festival.  The 6.8mile course with 1099ft of ascent attracted 116 runners.  After the heavy rain overnight and in the early morning, conditions were muddy.  Greg Oulton finished 103rd in 1:18:35.

Greg Oulton was back on the fells on Friday night at the Pinhaw Fell Race.  Starting in Earby, near Barnoldswick, the out and back course was just over 5 miles with most of the route actually on road or trail and not fell.  Greg thoroughly enjoyed the race finishing 164th overall in 51:08.

The Up The Nab Fell Race, Glossop on Saturday afternoon was chosen as the second race in the 2016 English Championship Fell Race series.  The men’s and women’s races were held as separate events with the woman going an hour before the men.  With perfect weather conditions, the course although short (4.5 miles with 1197ft of ascent) was still challenging with lots of steep climbs and descents and provided quite a sight for the spectators, especially with the 267 men heading off up the first hill.  Both races attracted high quality fields with Heidi Dent of Howgill Harriers winning the ladies race by over a minute and a half in 38:27 whilst Simon Bailey of Mercia Fell Runners won a much tighter men's race in 34:04.  Joanna Goorney was LSARRC's sole representative finishing 30th and 4th vet 45 in a time of 47:51 out of the 99 finishers in the women's race.

There was quite a choice of local 10k races to opt for on Sunday morning with quite a number of Lytham St Annes runners heading over to Whitechapel village for the Blacksticks Blue 10k which takes in a hilly loop of Beacon Fell which was made tougher by the unseasonally warm and sunny conditions.  Many club members used this as an opportunity for training for hill legs for the Welsh Castles Relay which is fast approaching in early June.  Rob Affleck of Preston Harriers was the first home of the 252 finishers in 35:28.  Neil Tate was first home for the club in 12th place with 40:27.  Graham Webster was 37th in 43:54, Richard Storey was 91st in 50:17, Steve Ashton was 100th in 51:46, Colin Laidlaw was 101st in 52:06, Claire England was 112th in 53:50, Susan Hawitt was134th in 56:08, Pamela Hardman was 144th in 56:57, Greg Oulton was 153th in 58:21, Sylvia Gittins was 181st in 1:01:59 and Bob Clough was 237th in 1:11:45.

Rachael Wignall and Michelle Hook

The annual Blackpool Fun Run now in its 35th year attracted nearly 1500 runners for the 10k along Blackpool promenade.  Michelle Hook and Rachael Wignall were the club's representatives.  Michelle was 12th female finishing in 137th place overall in 46:45 whilst Rachael finished in 777th place in 1:03:23.

Neil Tate and Morgan Pritchard

The 23th Lytham Hall parkrun on Saturday morning attracted 179 runners this last weekend.  Paul Muller of Horwich RMI Harriers was once again the 1st finisher in 17:33 with Lytham's Chris McCarthy not far being in 2nd with 17:47.  Michelle Hook, a new recruit to the club, was first lady in 20th place and a time of 21:54.  Ten year old Morgan Pritchard also had an excellent run to finishing 30th in 23:07 with a new PB.  Andy Draper was 6th in 18:34, Ross McKelvie was 8th in 19:27, Graham Webster was 11th in 20:10 with a PB, Terry Hellings was 17th in 21:23, Neil Tate was 31st in 23:09, Gerry Browne was 32nd in 23:13 with a PB, Mel Koth was 34th in 23:39, Roy Stevens was 39th in 23:57 and a PB, Laura Bremner was 47th in 24:20  and a PB, Jeremy McCandless was 68th in 26:24 and a PB, Graham Young was 91st in 28:09 and a PB and Hannah McCandless was 92nd in 28:18.

Felicity Wolohan was back at the 266th Princes parkrun in Liverpool.  She finished 3rd female and 45th overall out of 292 runners in a time of 21:46.

LSARRC News 3rd May 2016

Simon Holt throwing a PB in the shot putt

Most of this last weekend's action was was track and field for Lytham St Annes athletes with local meets on both Saturday and Sunday.

The 2nd Mid Lancs Track and Field meet was held at Witton Park, Blackburn on Saturday afternoon.  Conditions were far from perfect; cold, windy and occasional showers.  Still there was a good turn from all with clubs with LSARRC fielding 2 junior and 5 senior athletes.

Ella Moulding in the 800m

Eleven year old Simon Holt was first in action in the under 13 boys shot putt following on from the first meet  with another excellent competition.  He threw 7.35m which was a PB and gave him 2nd place.  He than ran the 800m finishing 3rd in his heat in 2:41 and finally the 200m again finishing 3rd in his heat in 30.3.  Ella Moulding was the second junior competing, this year having moved up to the under 17 girls category.  She comfortably won the 800m in 2:24.1.


2 senior ladies were in action.  Joanna Goorney, in her 1st  track meet this year was first in action in the 800m  finishing 1st in 2:42.3.  She next ran the 1500m in 5:23.7 for 1st place and finally finished with the 3000m with 11.28.7.  Rachael Wignall fresh from her London Marathon run the previous weekend chose to just focus on field events for this meet.  In the shot putt, she finished 6th with 5:39,  in the discus she finished 8th with 15:50 and in the javelin threw 9:19 for 5th place.  Greg Oulton and Jeremy McCandless also concentrated on field events.  Greg was 8th with 5.70 in the shot putt, 6th in the discus with 14.48 and through 9:19 in the javelin.  Jeremy was 5th in the discus in 15.59, 3rd in the javelin with 13.50 and 5th in the hammer with 17.61.  Graham Webster just ran in the 3000m recording 11:39.8 saving himself for the Northern Master T and F Championships the following day.  

Graham, Russ and Terry at the Northern Vets T and F

The Northern Masters Track and Field Championships were held at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday 1st May.   Three Lytham athletes (Graham Webster, Terry Hellings and Russ Chew) made the trip and in conditions more akin to the cross country season acquitted themselves well.   The first race involving Lytham athletes was the 800m and all three Lytham athletes toed the line.  Graham Webster finished in 2m 42.8s for first M60 and a gold medal, Terry Hellings in 2m 54.9s for second M60 and a silver medal with Russ Chew picking up M50 bronze in a time of 3m 04.3s.  Graham Webster and Terry Hellings were in action half an hour later lining up for the 3000m with Graham taking the M60 gold and Terry the silver in 11m 53s and 12m 13s respectively.  Russ Chew opted for the 200m and finished 3rd M50 in 36.6s for another bronze medal.  Next up for Lytham were Terry Hellings and Russ Chew in the 400m with Terry Hellings going one better than in the 3000 and 800m to finish first M60 in 78.6 for a gold medal with Russ taking bronze M50 in 80.6s.  Just 5 minutes later Terry Hellings was lining up with team mate Graham Webster in the 1500m. Graham again finished 1st M60 in 5m 39s for gold and Terry 2nd M60 in 6m 0.4s for a silver medal.  A successful day for Lytham, 3 athletes, 10 races and 10 medals (4 golds, 3 silvers and 3 bronze)

Andy Unsworth at Lytham Hall parkeun

The  23rd Lytham Hall parkrun on Saturday morning attracted 238 runners.  First finisher was Paul Muller of Horwich RMI Harriers in 17:40 whilst Lytham's Barbara Holmes was 1st lady with 21:28th in 20th place followed closely by Felicity Wolohan with 21:31.  Also for LSARRC, Andy Unsworth was 4th in 18:20, Chris McCarthy was 5th in 18:22, Tom Howarth was 6th in 18:38, Neil Tate was 7th in 19:07, Richard Storey  was 23rd  21:33, Morgan Pritchard was 43rd in 23:37 with Graham Webster accompanying him in 44th in 23:37, Claire England was 53rd in 23:48, Sue Hawitt was 60th in 24:08, Justin Allitt was 84th in 25:40, Laura Bremner was 85th in 25:48, Greg Oulton was 97th in 26:00, Jeremy McCandless was 108th in 26:55 and Clemmie Tierney was 169th in 30:25.

Claire England at Lytham Hall parkrun

The weather for the first run of the year on the 4.35 miles club summer handicap course on Thursday night was a far cry from what would be hoped for and, unsurprisingly, the tough conditions were reflected in race times. Veteran Pam Binns had a hard-earned but ultimately comfortable win while Alan Elstone, Sue Hawitt and Mark Selby were three who got the better of the squally weather to record PBs. Tom Howarth's excellent 25:19 was the best men's score and, on her first run on the course, Michelle Hook, 32:44 was the quickest lady.

Full Results: 1, Pam Binns 41.23, 30 points; 2, Greg Oulton 36.45, 29; 3, Colin Laidlaw 32.42, 28; 4, Sylvia Gittins 39.48, 27; 5, Tom Howarth 25.19, 26; 6, Alan Elstone 29.20, 25 PB; 7, Sue Hawitt 35.31, 24 PB; 8, Rachael Wignall 40.16, 23; 9, Graham Webster 28.41, 22; 10, Karen Lanigan 41.44, 21; 11, Dawn Lock 57.24, 20; 12, Jeremy McCandless 39.44, 19; 13, Richard Storey 33.04, 18; 14, Neil Tate 30.17, 17; Alex Tate 27.35; Daryl Bentley 28.26; Michelle Hook 32.44; Mark Selby 28.42, PB; Ross McKelvie 28.11; Hannah McCandless 40.58.