LSARRC News 8th November 2016

Lytham ladies at Lytham Hall parkrun

 Lytham St Annes RRC were represented at a variety of parkruns this weekend across two continents. Lytham Hall Park Run saw nineteen club members making the start line out of a field of 203 on a very fresh, autumnal morning. First home for the club, and 1st over the finish line, was Chris McCarthy in an impressive time of 17:34, closely followed by Joe Greenwood for 2n overall in 17:48. Thomas Howarth was hot on their heels finishing in 4th place in 18:59. First home for the clubs juniors was George Denye, just shy of his personal best, finishing in 19:19 for 7th place overall. The clubs 2nd junior over the line, earning himself a new personal best in the process in only his second park run was Charlie Ormerod in 22:03. Third junior to finish, and 50th overall, was Morgan Pritchard in 24:27. Also representing the club this week was Neil Bayntun-Roberts 13th in 20:50, Neil Tate 30th in 22:04, Gerry Browne 39th in 23:26, first lady for the club Kathy Gaunt 43rd in 23:44 (6th female overall), Debbie Cooper 44th in 23:53, Joanna Goorney 51st in 24:29, Sue Hawitt 52nd in 24:38, closely followed by Claire England for 53rd in 24:43, Sarah Bradshaw 128th in 29:39, Rachael Wignall 133rd in 30:03, Ruth Bye 137th in 30:42, Jeremy McCandless 141st in 31:02 and Sarah Bagshaw 147th in 32:07.

Further afield, Sylvia Gittins represented Lytham at Bushy Parkrun in Middlesex. Sylvia was one of 1181 runners, and finished in 951st place in 31:38 respectively, and Terry Hellings completed the Basildon Parkrun finishing in 9th position out of 153 runners in 21:46. Even further afield, Rebecca Willetts represented the club at Krakow Parkrun in a field of 123 runners; Rebecca finished in 86th position in a time of 27:09. The furthest Parkun travellers this week were Greg Oulton and Graham Webster, who completed the Claisebrook Cove Parkrun in Australia. Graham Webster finished in 68th position out of 245 runners in 23:30 and Greg Oulton crossing the line in 119th place in 26:35.

Mel Koth at the Lakeland Trail Helvellyn Race

Also taking place on the Saturday was the Lakeland Trail Helvellyn Race represented by Melanie Koth who finished the 15k race 30th overall, 2nd Lady, 1st Vet 40 lady in a time of 01:16:07. It was a tough race, temperatures been in the minus and the first 3 miles been a permanent steep climb. It was very technical as there was a lot of rolling rocks and you had to concentrate not to slip or fall. Mel felt strong and managed to close down the gap to the first lady to 40 sec. The view on top was amazing as it was a clear cold day. It was very well organised as it was part of the Lakeland autumn series which Melanie competed in all the races.

The JWK Lancaster Half Marathon on Sunday 6th November saw Chris McCarthy toe the start line fresh from his Lytham Hall Parkrun win the previous day. Chris achieved an impressive 4th place overall while knocking 5 minutes off his half marathon personal best in the process, finishing the race in 1:16:36.

Pamela Hardman was the clubs sole representative at the Derwentwater 10 mile race. It was cold, windy & wet but just as the runners set off it cleared up. The course showcases some lovely views however despite being very undulating Pam very much enjoyed it having last run the race in 2013, and achieved a finish time of 1:32:43.

This week has been a great one for Graham Webster and Greg Oulton, who have travelled to Australia for the Perth World Masters Athletics Championships. They arrived to blistering heat, a stark contrast to the chilly temperatures experienced on our coast.

The first race of the meeting was the 8k (5m) Cross Country. Graham's time was good enough to help his V60 team to the Bronze Medal position. Greg was in a category with insufficient runners to complete a GB team, but he met his personal target of not coming last by a long margin, beating several younger runners and all the DNFs.

Graham Webster (4th from left)

Next was Graham's 800m heat, which he ran fast enough to qualify for the final. The following day Graham ran the 5000m, coming 12th out of 36 runners. In both races, Graham was the oldest competitor by 3-4 years. On Friday it was time for Graham's 1500m heat, placing 2nd and qualifying for the final on Saturday where he finished 8th (the 60 year old Ukrainian winner was a medal winner at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, so Graham was up against the best in the age category).

Greg Oulton

Sunday saw the most demanding day so far, with the running of the half marathon on the hottest day of the meeting. It may have started at 06:30, but the sun was up broiling all the competitors, being over 30 deg C by the end, with a strong head wind to boot. Graham's V60 team were so fast they won Gold and Greg's V45 team won Bronze.

Later that day Graham returned to the track for the 4x400m relay, where his V60 team won yet another Bronze by the narrowest of margins. The final handover took place about 5 metres behind the USA, a lead they increased, but the final GB runner held out to win by inches - a photo finish was required to confirm the GB medal.