LSARRC News 28th February 2017

Hebe Tierney, Sophie Bohannon and Lois Crozier, Year 6

On Sunday morning Lytham St Annes Road Runners hosted the Fylde Primary Schools Cross-Country races on the Park View playing fields in Lytham.  Many Lytham club runners took part, but on this occasion running for their schools.

Morgan Pritchard, George Denye and Alex Maude, Year 6

The event was split into three races, one each for school years four, five and six.  The course was around the very damp and sometimes muddy edges of the playing fields, with several children losing their footing near the end. 

Year 5 race

The year four race was won by James Wood, Rossall School’s only entrant, completing the 1.2 kilometer course in 5:22, beating Eric Wrigley of Medlar school by just four seconds.  Archie Tate (Our Lady’s) was third. For the girls Carleton St Hilda’s had the first two finishers with Jessica Ramsden and Lucy Mongomery. Third was Clemmie Tierney of Lytham C of E.

Year 6 race

Felix Twitchett (Lytham Hall) was the winner of the year five race over the same course in 5:07, a second in front of Charlie Ormerod (Our Lady’s). Forest Leah (Great Eccleston) came third. Holly Tickle (St Michael’s), Daisy Cave (Heyhouses), and Georgia Nicholls (Treales) were the first three girls.

Year 4 race leaders

The year sixes had a longer course to race, 1.4 kilometers. George Denye (Kirkham and Wesham school) comfortably won with a time of 5:21 on what was by now a slippy course. Alex Maude (Kirkham Grammer) was second, and Morgan Pritchard (St Peter’s) the third boy in fifth place overall. Sophie Bohannon (Lytham C of E) ran well to finish third, and the first girl with Lois Crozier (St Michael’s) a place behind in both. Hebe Tierney (Lytham C of E) was the third girl.

Year 4 race

After storm Doris throwing her weight around mid-week, the weekend remained unsettled with Sunday's Stanley Park 10k being no exception to this with winds scheduled to circle around the 20mph mark. 364 runners took part in the 2nd Stanley Park race of the weekend, three of whom were Lytham runners.

Surprisingly the winds weren't as bad as expected, although their reared their ugly head on the in down towards the track at the end of the first half / end of the race which made a sprint finish even extra effort! In spite of this, Michelle Hook was first home for be club in a PB time of 42:54 which was good enough for 4th overall lady and 1st senior lady. 2nd home in a seasons best time was Colin Laidlaw in 45:55, followed by Kathy Gaunt for first v50 also in a PB time of 47:40.

In the same race on the previous day Kirsten Burnett finished 95th in 49:43, while Julia Rolfe was 129th. Not to be confused with each other, Sarah Bradshaw was 236th and Sarah Bagshaw 264th.

The highlight of the club's February handicap was undoubtedly Tom Howarth's winning run in 20:15; an excellent time only five seconds outside his PB set back in 2013.

Also running well were Alex Tate in second place with a PB and Colin Laidlaw. Laidlaw's third place in the penultimate race for the Handicap Plate means he and leader Greg Oulton are separated by only a single point going into the March finale.

Finally, evergreen Pam Binns was the first female over 70 in the Brighton Half Marathon on Sunday. Pam had to contend with south westerly winds and drizzle, but still finished in a time of 2:16:38, over 15 minutes quicker than the next in the category.
Awards were given to the first boy and the first girl in each race, and every competitor was awarded a commemorative medal at the finish.

LSARRC News 21st February 2017

LSARRC runners at the GNW Half Marathon

Starting the racing weekend early, Debbie Cooper and Greg Oulton both ran the night time fell race Mr Sparkle's Dark 'un over the Darwen moors on Friday night. Debbie Cooper completed the race in 48:59 just sneaking under 50 minutes, whereas Greg, despite running it four times before, managed to get lost (along with 6 other runners!) and accidentally turned the 5 mile race into an 8 mile training run, taking 1:47:26 to finish. Fortunately the weather was perfect - very little wind, warm and dry. And an 8 mile run over the fells in the dark with only moonlight, starlight and head torches to light the way is a great experience.


This weekend saw Lytham Hall parkrun reach its 60th event in fairly mild conditions and saw 207 runners take part in the event, including 13 Lytham runners, to kick start their weekend. The first Lytham runner back, and first overall, was Chris McCarthy in an impressive 17:01, Neil Tate was second back for Lytham and fourth overall in 18:30, and 7th overall was Joe Greenwood in 19:31. Following Joe was Morgan Pritchard in 22:29, Terry Hellings in 22:36 and Eric Wrigley in a new PB of 23:35. The first Lytham lady back was Kirsten Burnett also achieving a new PB in 24:17, followed by Des Heron in another PB time of 24:51 and Gillian Oliver for second Lytham lady back, also achieving a PB in 28:05. Jeremy McCandless was next back in 29:14, Sarah Bradshaw in 30:32, Sarah Bagshaw in 30:59 and Paula McCandless in another PB time of 31:28. 5 new PBs in one week, well done to all!

Neil Tate at Lytham Hall parkrun

Three other parkruns were also attended by Lytham runners; Ian Tate ran the Warrington parkrun in a time of 20:41 for 16th position; Neil Bayntun-Roberts ran the Aberystwyth parkrun in 19:39 for 7th place overall, and Michelle Sheridan ran the Fell Foot parkrun in Newby Bridge in 35:46.

Morgan Pritchard - Lytham junior parkrun

Sunday morning saw the third Lytham junior Parkrun where 121 competitors braved the drizzly weather, up on previous weeks. Lytham’s JM10 Morgan Pritchard, running the race for the first time, came second on the back of his parkrun the previous day in a time of 8:16 while Charlie Ormerod set a PB to finish third in 8:29. Sydney Ramsden (8:53), Amara Thorpe (9:20) and Jessica Ramsden (9:28) were the first three girls. PBs were also set by Lytham juniors Eric Wrigley (8:45), Lewis Bentley (9:01), Amara Thorpe, Jessica Ramsden and Sophie Tate (13:05).  Preston junior parkrun was attended by George Denye who comfortably won the race in 7:40 over the 2k undulating course. Very well done to all our juniors!

Sunday morning also saw our runners participate in three races: 1 5k race and 2 half marathons. Russ Chew was our sole representative at the Central Lancs 5k in Bolton in a time of 25:26.

Mel Koth - GNW Half Marathon

Along the Fylde coast it was the Great North West Half Marathon held on Blackpool Promenade. Despite the weather being drizzly and breezy as would be expected at this time of year, Lytham runners posted some great times and the club was very well represented with 13 runners brandishing their green vests. First home for the club in an impressive 1:19:20 and 15th overall out of a field of 994 runners, fantastic result Joe! Second home for the club, and 47th overall was Neil Tate in 1:24:40 followed by brother Alex Tate in 1:27:39. First lady home for Lytham in the midst of marathon training was Mel Koth in 1:38:19 for 4th Vet 40 and 199th overall. Following Mel was Louise De-Gier Flood in 1:49:10, Roy Stevens in 1:51:19 and Kirsten Burnett in 1:53:54. Nest home for Lytham was Stuart Henderson in 1:54:59, Robert Parker in 1:55:58, Laura Byrne in 2:08:42 closely followed by new Lytham member Natalie Toft in 2:09:49, and finally Rachael Wignall in 2:49:14.

Further afield in Wrexham, two Lytham runners ran the Village Bakery Half Marathon. Tom Howarth representing the Lytham male runners finished in a time of 1:21:47, only a minute of so behind his personal best, and Felicity representing the Lytham ladies achieving a PB time by over two and a half minutes despite being in the middle of training for the Manchester marathon, finishing in 1:31:58. Fantastic running by both, well done!

Some great running by Lytham Road Runners this weekend, especially for those setting PBs and in the middle of training for spring marathons – well done to all!!

LSARRC News 14th February 2017

Christopher McCarthy at Rossall XC

It was win-win for Lytham St. Annes Road Running Club at Rossall on Saturday. The Senior Women secured promotion to the First Division for 2017 - 2018 and the Senior Men took a step nearer to promotion when they flagged up a second successive maximum 7 points in Division 3.

Layla Foley

Rossall School and Thornton-Cleveleys RC hosted the penultimate cross-country fixture of the Mid-Lancs League's season for 640 runners from all over the North-West. LSARRC played a big part with 28 competing and 26 marshalling.

The cold conditions suited runners on the undulating courses. These started on the field playing fields, climbed steeply up the nearest sand hill, dropped down onto rough pasture, tracks and earth paths traversing two ditches to finish over a lower sand hill back once again onto the playing fields.

The Senior Women's 'A' Team finished 10th overall and 2nd in Division 2 to clinch the second place promotion with 28 points behind unbeatable Barlick FR with the perfect score of 28 for the season.

Leading the team was Layla Foley running cross-country for the first time this season to finish in 6th and 2nd U20W in 24:45 for the 6k course. Completing the A Team were Melanie Koth, 24th in 27:46, and Alexandra Everest, vastly improving her running, 67th in 31:47. Kirsten Burnett, 70th, 32:00; Julia Rolfe, 79th, 32:45 and Olivia Johnson Allen on only her second cross-country run, 84th, 33:25 made up the B Team that came 24th. Other Lytham members were Pamela Hardman, 114th, 36:49; Sylvia Gittins, 127th, 39:46 and Dawn Lock, 139th, 48:38 who were all part of the V55 team.

The Senior Men's team finished an excellent 5th, one place up on their Burnley finish, to take 7 points in Division 3. Their season total of 22 puts them second to Glaxo Hoad Hill on 23 and leaves Division 3 to go to the line with four clubs in contention with just 4 points separating them. Christopher McCarthy was Lytham's leading man, improving on his Burnley 18th place with 16th and 36:55 for the three-lap 10k won in 34:21. Others members of the six-man team were; Joe Greenwood, 30th, 38:49; Andy Draper, 34th, 39:24; Thomas Howarth, 56th, 41:02; Paul Veevers, 57th, 41:11 and Graham Webster, 136th , 47:01. Neil Tate sustained injury and finished 184th in 52:53 and Greg Oulton, 203rd in 1:04:14.

The five junior races that took place earlier saw ten Lytham Juniors completing two teams. The two Under 11 races did a 2k two-sand hill lap and the Under 13 Girls ran 2.5k going further into the rough pasture. The U11Gs' team of Amara Thorpe; 33rd in 8:34, Jessica Ramsden, 44th, 8:47 and Hebe Tierney, 55th, 9:06, finished 10th.
Clemmie Tierney was 63rd in 9:25. U11B finished 5th. George Denye was 4th in 6:49; Morgan Pritchard, 25th, 7:36 and Eric Wrigley, 43rd, 8:11. Lewis Bentley, 44th, 8:15, and Jack Greaves, 58th, 9:30 tried out cross-country for the first time.

Two Lytham Juniors competed in the U13Gs' race: Sydney Ramsden was 32nd in 11:16 and Rebecca Tate was 46th 11:51.

As well as the competing in the cross-country, Chris McCarthy and Graham Webster ran the 5K Lytham Parkrun that same morning. Chris was the first Lytham runner in third place in 19:13 while Graham came sixth, and first in his VM60-64.

George Denye

The success of the junior Parkrun continued on Sunday with 97 completing the 2K race on Park View playing fields. LSARRC’s George Denye completed for the first time and won it for the first time. The 10 year-old ran well to notch up a finishing time of 7:32, a margin of 22 seconds over the second competitor.  Sydney Ramsden was Lytham’s first girl, and the second girl in the race with sister Jessica in eleventh.

Full Lytham results from the junior Parkrun: George Denye (JM10) 1st. 7:32; Sydney Ramsden (JW11-14) 4th, 8:46; Charlie Ormerod (JM10) 5th, 8:52; Lewis Bentley (JM10) 8th, 9:21; Jessica Ramsden (JW10) 11th, 9:39; Clemmie Tierney (JW10) 21st, 10:23; Sophie Tate (JW10) 47th, 13:28 and Kieran Bannister (JM10) 29th, 11:27.

LSARRC News 7th February 2017

Lytham Junior parkrun - start

The Lytham Hall Parkrun has been going for over a year now. This is a 5K course, fine for most adults but a bit much for smaller legs. This was put right on Sunday with the first of the Junior Parkruns, organized by Lytham club member Maria Tierney. Also with a 9am start, this course is only 2 kilometres, around Park View, and is for children aged between 4 and 14. It will now be held regularly every Sundays

For the first race glorious winter sunshine tempted over a hundred children from their sleepy Sunday morning beds to stretch their legs round the course. Some of the smaller ones needed a little help from mums and dads but the enjoyment level was high on a very successful and well-organised first race.

Out of the 105 finishers only eight were club runners, mostly from Lytham’s juniors.  Charlie Ormerod was the first Lytham boy home in fifth. Amara Thorpe also had a good run to finish just 17 seconds behind Charlie for the second girl spot.

Amara Thorpe at the Lytham Junior parkrun

Deeper in Lancashire on Sunday the hilly but popular Blackburn Winter Warmer10K and junior 2K races were held. In the 2K Lytham St Annes Road Runners scored a triple first. George Denye was first in the M8-10 category, finishing fifth overall, while Helana White was 12th overall and first in her F8-10 category. Laura Bremner also led her F14-17 category.

Lytham results from the Blackburn 2K. George Denye 7:40; Helana White 8:13; Morgan Pritchard 8:32, 15th; Eric Wrigley 8:52, 19th; Sydney Ramsden 8:53, 21st; Laura Bremner 8:54, 22nd; Jessica Ramsden 9:59, 47th; Hebe Tierney 10:15, 59th, and finally 5year old Sebbie Koth 12:55, 144th.

Mel Koth, always a glutton for punishment, ran the 2K junior run with son Sebbie before taking on the 10K. As can be expected in Blackburn, the course was hilly with the first two miles up a steep incline.  Mel ran well to finish as the second F40 in 45:16 before completing her day’s activities with a further 14.5 mile run home as part of her marathon training. Watch out London!

Also representing Lytham in Blackburn, FV70 Sylvia Gittens finished the first in her age category with a gun time of 01:01:42.

In Liverpool Felicity Wolohan ran the Halewood 5K, a monthly race that raises money for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Felicity’s time was 20:02 so she didn’t quite manage to crack the 20 minute barrier, but she did knock 28 seconds from her previous personal best and was the third lady.

This Saturday will be one of the relatively rare occasions when cross-country comes to Fylde. Around 600 runners from all over the North West will converge on Rossall School to contest the fifth round of the mid-Lancs season with Lytham St Annes Road Runners co-hosting the event.

The club will be gearing-up to build on their excellent results at Burnley in January when all teams moved up in their divisions. The senior men's team came an unprecedented sixth out of 26 teams, while the women’s team finished in the same position to put both in contention for promotion this season.