LSARRC News 25th October 2016

Morgan Pritchard, Neil Tate, Terry Hellings and Sophie Bohannon

Lytham St Annes RRC were well represented at the Lytham Hall parkrun on Saturday with twenty four members aged 9 to 65 making the start line.  Andy Draper was first home for Lytham in a time of 17:50 for 4th place but it was the Lytham juniors that showed how it is done with five junior athletes running personal best times.  First home for Lytham juniors was 10 year old George Denye  finishing 10th overall, first in his age group in a time of 19:11 improving his his own course record  by 51 seconds and breaking the under 15 boys record in the process.  Next Lytham junior was 11 year old Sophie Bohannon who improved her pb by 69 seconds finishing in 21:04 for 26th place overall.  Morgan Pritchard also finished in a personal best time of 21:39 and improvement of 81 seconds on his previous best for 34th place and 2nd in his age category.  9 year old Jessica Ramsden just out sprinted her team mate 13 year old Lucy Bohannon for 95th and 96th places respectively and both finishing with a time of 26:13 and both improving on their previous bests by over a minute.  11 year old Sydney Ramsden 82nd (25:05) and 13 year old Holly Anderson 144th (28:31) completed the junior contingent and both ran close to their pbs.  The senior members were not completely outshone by the juniors with Terry Hellings 25th and first M60-64 (21:04), Kirsten Burnett 80th (24:58) and Ruth Bye 164th (29:17) all running pb times.  Also representing Lytham were Neil Baytun-Roberts 15th in 19:38, Neil Tate 36th in 21:42,  Gerry Browne 43rd in 22:39,  Claire England 63rd in 28:08, Sue Hawitt 76th in 24:51, Roy Stevens 92nd in 25:58, Louise Denye 98th in 26:16, Graham Young 139th in 28:26, Kate Bennett 143rd in 28:31, Pat Bullen 149th in 28:43, Bob Clough 161st in 29:12, Sarah Bradshaw 177th in 30.06 and Sarah Bagshaw 187th in 31:45.

Lucy Bohannon, Louisa Denye and Jessica Ramsden

Lytham also had representatives at Princes parkrun in Liverpool  where Felicity Wolohan finished 33rd overall and 2nd female in a time of 20:55 and Cassiobury Park parkrun in Watford where Julia Rolfe finished as first FV50 in a time of 25:05.

Sunday saw George Denye in his second race of the weekend tackle the Barnsley junior parkrun in Locke Park, Barnsley. George completed the 2k course in 7:38 again breaking the age group course record and comfortably in first place a minute clear of the second placed athlete.

Sophie Tate and Eric Wrigley

Sunday saw two Lytham juniors and four seniors head to Thornton for the Fairclough 1 mile Fun Run and 5 mile race.  Eight year olds Eric Wrigley and Sophie Tate represented Lytham well in the 1 mile family fun run both improving on their times for the Green Drive mile a week earlier with Eric finishing 13th in a time of 6:54 and Sophie 29th in 9:04.   Four senior Lytham athletes toed the line for the 5 mile race and first home for Lytham was Neil Tate in a time of 30:44 (an improvement on his time for the Green Drive 5 a week earlier) for 14th place.  Joanna Goorney ran well to finish 25th overall, 2nd female and first FV40.  FV50 Pam Hardman finished in 81st place with a time of 42:49 with Dawn Lock finishing with a time of 65:28 for 123rd place overall and 2nd FV70.

LSARRC News 18th October 2016

Green Drive 5 junior mile race

Last Sunday was the Northern Vets 10,000 meters track championships. Lytham St Annes Road Running club was represented by Graham Webster, in a field of 21 runners aged between 35-80 graham finished 11th overall and, was 1st vet 60 so received a gold medal. Well done Graham!

This Saturday held the 44th Lytham Hall parkrun with 183 runners competing. The first Lytham runner was Chris McCarthy who completed his 5K in 18:22. The next Lytham runner was Paul Veevers in 18:36. Felicity Wolohan, Alan Elstone and Terry Hellings all finished their race in close succession to each other, 21:11, 21:17 and 21:22.  Morgan Pritchard earned a new PB and finished in 22:44, Neil Tate in 22:46, Charlie Wiltshire in 24:17 and Gill Draper, who also earned a new PB in 24:58. Greg Oulton in 25:05, Rachael Wignall in 28:26, Gillian Oliver in 29:20, Paula McCandless in 33:01 and Jeremy McCandless in 33:02.

Graham Webster ran in the Exeter parkrun and earned a new PB, finishing in 19:54. 
Graham Webster also completed the Great West Run on Sunday. This is a 13.1mile undulating race that has two log steep hill midway round the course, that goes through country lanes leading to the heart of Exeter. Graham ran this race well and finished with a very respectable time of 1:31:49. 

This Sunday Pam Binns competed in the Manchester half marathon. The race started at 9 am, along with the rain, but fortunately this didn’t dampen the spirit of the day! Approximately 12000 runners ran in this race and Pam finished in a very impressive 2:10:36 and was 1st FV70. Brilliant work Pam!

Also this Sunday was the Great Birmingham half marathon which Julia Rolfe raced. Julia was a bit more fortunate with the weather, the rain stopped just as the runners were about to set off and stayed out all race.  The race went around the streets of Birmingham, past Cadburys world and the Edgbaston Cricket ground.  The course was undulating with a very tough hill from mile 11 to 12. Unfortunately Julia had been suffering an illness before the race, but this was not shown in her time, finishing in 2:01:33 and 50th FV50.


Green Drive 5

Felicity Wolohan

This Sunday was the 17th Green Drive Five and the 4th Green Drive Junior 1 mile. 257 runners took part in the Green Drive Five and 55 in the Green Drive Junior 1 Mile. The day started as a wet and drizzly one, which is fine too run in but not so great to spectate or marshal in, so thank you to everyone who stood for hours in the cold and rain cheering us runners on!
The races started at the very beginning of green drive, so we were all at least sheltered under the trees for a while. The Green Drive Mile started at the beginning of green drive and then turned so the juniors finished and started at the same position, all the finishers received a medal.

55 juniors took place in the race and 12 were Lytham St Annes Road Runners. The first Lytham Road runner to complete the race was George Denye, who came 5th overall in the race in 5:49. The next Lytham Junior back was Morgan Pritchard in 6:35, Laura Bremner in 6:44, Lewis Bentley in 6:52 and Sydney Ramsden in 6:52. Francis Morrison was next back in 7:12, Jessica Ramsden in 7:33, Lucy Whiteside in 7:48, Holly Anderson in 8:04 and Luke Cosgrove in 8:08. Esther Thompson completed her race in 8:27, Charlie Stephenson in 8:36, Sophie Tate in 9:39, Rebecca Tate in 9:52 and Sebastien Koth-Wragg in 10:32.

George Denye

The Green Drive Five Mile also started at the beginning of Green drive and headed over Saltcotes Bridge and on towards Warton coming back along country lanes. 257 runners competed this year and all said how much they had enjoyed the race despite the weather conditions! This years winner was Luke Minns from Blackpool Wyre and Fylde AC who finished the race in 26:03. The womens winner, who created a new race record, was Emily Japp also from Blackpool Wyre and Fylde AC who completed the race in 28:08. Lytham St Annes Road Runners had 17 runners for this race and many helpers and marshalls. The fist Lytham runner to arrive back in Green Drive was Chris McCarthy who ran the five miles in 27.53, well done Chris! The next Lytham runner was Alex Tate with an impressive time of 30:23, Neil Tate was next with 30:53, Thomas Howarth with 31:08 and Felicity Wolohan in 34.33. Alan Elstone was the next runner back in 34:46, Colin Laidlaw in 37.33, Gerry Browne in 37:36, Louisa Denye in 39:38 and Steve Quarmby in 41:14. Alexandra Everest was next back in 41:40, Kirsten Burnett in 42:15, Stephen Tate in 44:42, Patricia Bullen in 46:19 and Sophie Bradshaw in 48:51. Karen Lannigan in 49:18 and Sarah Bragshaw Julie Oldrid crossed the finish line together with a time of 50:40. 

The Tate family was out in force again this year with Grandad Steve and sons Neil and Alex running in the Green Drive Five. Rebecca, Sophie, Darcie and Archie running in the junior race. As well as this Neil’s wife, Annette Tate supported the race by giving out T-shirts and Ian Tate helped marshal a section of the race!

A huge thank you needs to go to Lytham C of E School, for letting us use them as a race HQ and Mark Selby. These races would not have been possible without race director Mark Selby, who made sure the events ran seamlessly.

LSARRC News 11th October 2016

Kirsten Burnett

This Saturday was the 43rd Lytham Hall parkrun with 209 runners competing. First Lytham runner to complete the run was Joanna Goorney, who came 6th, with an impressive time of 20:09. The next Lytham runner to cross the finish line was Mark Selby with a time of 20:47, Graham Webster 23:55, Greg Oulton 25:23 and Luke Tate in 25:33. Bob Clough completed the 5K in 28:30, Graham Young in 29:18, Karen Lanigan in 29:42, Sarah Bradshaw in 30:32 and Sarah Bragshaw in 31:15. Paula McCandless received another PB finishing her race in 32:18, Jeremy McCandless in 32:30 and Kirsten Burnett acting as sweep finished the race in 48:31.

Sunday is always race day for runners and, this Sunday was no different with Lytham runners competing in three very different and challenging events taking place on the same day.
This Sunday, 9th October, was the West Coast Half Marathon. The runners met at the Fairhaven Lake and were taken in a shuttle bus to the start of the race at Preston Docks. The runners then ran through Freckleton, Warton and down the sea front towards Lytham before eventually finishing where they were picked up at the Fairhaven Lake. 212 runners took part in this race, 8 were Lytham Runners which is a great turnout considering the size of the club! The first Lytham runner back, 5th in the race, was Joe Greenwood with a time of 1:21:56, Alex Tate was 6th runner back with a time of 1:23:21, Neil Tate completed the race in 1:25:00. Alan Elstone was next back with a 3:29 minute PB and an impressive time of 1:36:56. Richard Storey also received a PB and completed the 13.1-mile race in 1:37:17. Gerry Brown finished in 1:48:04, Claire England in 1:59:19 and Kirsten Burnett in 2:01:27. Well done to all that competed!

Joanna Goorney

Also on Sunday was the Withins Skyline Fell Race. The course started at Penistone Hill Country Park near Howarth and is about 10km with 300 metres of ascent.  Although it was a perfect autumn morning, the first half of the route was particularly boggy and having got her leg stuck last year in a bog just before the summit, Joanna ended up running quite conservatively with an air of paranoia.  Joanna completed the race in 85th Place out of 290 finishers, was 11th Female back and 3rd V40 with a very impressive time of 54:47!

The third event Lytham runners competed in was the 2nd race of the junior championship, Vernon’s fun run. This race was a quite challenging 2k run with a few unexpected hills thrown in; a thing Lytham runners are not used too! There were 35 junior competing in this race, 13 of which were Lytham Runners! A brilliant turnout from a relatively small club! It was a great team effort as all the runners pushed each other and all cheered on the youngest runner who was last to finish the race. An act of great sportsmanship, well done!

LSARRC News 4th October 2016

Lytham Ladies

A busy week for Lytham St Annes RRC saw athletes from age 8 to 70 racing over distances form 1 mile to 26.2 miles.  The priority for Lytham was the first of six fixtures of the Mid Lancs. Cross Country League held in Astley Park, Chorley and Lytham’s flourishing junior section were out in force.  First race of the day was the under 11 girls 1600m race where Lytham were represented by five athletes all making their cross country debut.  First three home for Lytham were Hebe Tierney (50th in 7:59), Jessica Ramsden (52nd in 8:00) and Amara Thorpe (54th in 8:03) all finishing within 4 seconds of each other.   Clemmie Tierney was not far behind in a time of 8:19 for 62nd place with Sophie Tate (80th in 10:05) fifth finisher for Lytham.  The under 11 girls finished as 10th team.  Under  11 boys were next and also ran 1600m and in which Lytham were again well represented with George Denye continuing last season’s good form finishing  2nd (Lytham’s best finish of the day) in 6:13.  Completing the team were Morgan Pritchard (47th in 7:30) and eight year old Eric Wrigley who despite losing a shoe in thick mud half way into the race managed to complete the race in 8:28 for 70th place ensuring Lytham had a full team which finished as 8th under 11 boys team.  The under 13 girls were next in a 2500k race in which Lytham were represented by Sydney Ramsden (31st in 12:07) and Rebecca Tate (62nd in 14:01).  Louis Eunson was Lytham’s only representative in the 3000m race and in his first race as an under 13 athlete did well to finish 18th in 12:51.

Lytham Juniors

Next race involving Lytham athletes was the Senior Women’s 6200m race.  Joanna Goorney was first home for Lytham in 26:33 for 9th place and 2nd FV45.  Team captain Als Everest (68th in 32:29) was next with Loiuse Denye (76th in 33:41) completing the team and taking 5th place in division 2.  Claire England (104th in 35:39) brought the FV35 team home in 11th place.  Pam Hardman (111th in 36:46) completed the FV45 team of Joanna Goorney and Claire England who finished in 6th place.  The FV 55 team of Pam Hardman, Pam Binns (137th in 39:26) and Dawn Locke (176th in 50:43) finished as 2nd  FV55 team.

Final race of the day was the 10000m senior men’s race.  A depleted Lytham men’s team did well to finish 3rd in division 3.  First home for Lytham was Neil Tate (61st in 43:00) closely followed by XC debutant Paul Veevers (69th in 43:31).  Ross McElvie (97th in 45:24) and Alex Tate (105th in 45:44) were also making their first appearances for the Lytham cross country team. Self-confessed mud lark Terry Hellings (150th in 48:27) was next home for Lytham and did well to finish 4th MV60.  Greg Oulton (261st in 63:32) completed the team.

Sue Hawitt in her first marathon

Four Lytham athletes competed in the Chester Marathon on Sunday 2nd with Andy Draper first home in a time of 2:46:03 and 21st place from 2142 finishers just missing out on a championship start time for next year’s London Marathon.  Thomas Howarth finished in 114th in a time of 3:03:33.  Sue Hawitt in her first marathon just 2 years after taking up running ran an excellently judged race to finish 1394th (21st FV50) in 4:23:55 a time which also sets the FV50 club record for the marathon distance.  Final finisher for Lytham was John Wild in 1809th place in a time of 4:54:18. New recruit Pat Bullen ran in the Chester Metrics Marathon (26.2km) on the same day and finished 727th of 1113 finishers (10th FV55) in a time of 2:57:03.

Ross McKelvie headed north on Sunday for his second race of the weekend,  the Great Scottish Run a 10k race taking place in Glasgow.  Ross finished in 159th from nearly 27,000 finishers place with a time of 39:52.

LSARRC News 27th September 2016

Northern Athletic Road Relay Championships

This Saturday was the 41st Lytham Hall parkrun with 182 runners competing. First finisher this week was Chris McCarthy with a very impressive time of 17:28, a new PB! 5th runner back was Neil Tate in a time of 18:31. Jo Goorney was the first lady back in 20:00, Graham Webster 20:05, Neil Bayntun- Roberts 20:52, Graham Young 29:05 and Bob Clough in 29:13. Sarah Bradshaw was 29th women with a time of 29:51, Pamela Binns earned a new PB with a time of 30:09, Rachael Wignall 30: 24, Des Heron 30:34. Paula McCandless also earned a PB concluding her race 33:45, Jeremy McCandless 33:46.

Sunday 25th September was a busy day for Lytham Road Runners. The first event of the day was the Run Preston events. 3 of our runners represent LSARRC at the annual Run Preston 5k & 10k races. The 5k race took 371 runners around Avenham Park before finishing in the Preston Market. The race was well spectated and supported for 9am on a Sunday morning, with Michelle Hook over the line in 21:07 for second place female, and Olivia Johnson-Allen finish in 29:21. Great effort girls!

The 10k race followed with 1150 runners and was represented by Michelle Hook and Lorna Cragg for a scenic but very slippy route around Avenham and Miller Park. Again, a very well supported race and resulted in Michelle finishing in 48:18 and Lorna in 1:20:31 respectively.

Also on Sunday six Lytham Men competed in the Northern Athletic Road Relay Championships and came 83rd overall.  The race was an undulating relay course of around 6K each in Manchester around the Etihad Stadium.  With Terry Hellings completed the first leg in 23:50 and came in 111th place. Andrew Draper completed his leg in 19:16, Thomas Howarth in 20:14, Neil Tate in 20:28, Alan Elstone in 23:02 and Graham Webster in 22:13.

Another event on Sunday that Lytham Road runners competed in was the Fleetwood Tri.  This was a very windy flat, fast sprint triathlon on quiet country lanes and around the Fleetwood Promenade. The runners had to swim 400m, bike 20k, and run 5k.  Barbara Holmes completed her Triathalon first with a 06:29 swim, 38:15 bike, 21:55 run, with an impressive overall time of 1:06:38. She was also 1st female!  Bec Willets was next back with an overall time of 1:32:36. Bec completed her swim in 09:45, her bike in 54:50 and her run in 28:01, Bec came 41st in her category. Louise Charnock completed her race in 1:36:57, a 09:57 swim, 54:54 bike and 32:07 run. Pam Hardman ran her race in 1:45:03, a 15:51 swim, 59:28 bike and 29:44 run. Well done girls!

Also on Sunday Roy Stevens ran the Rochdale half marathon in 1:42:26 and was 2nd vet 60. Brilliant work Roy!

Lastly one of our club runners is flying out to Barcelona to complete her very first ironman on 2nd October. Good Luck Fiona!