LSARRC News 20th June 2018

LSARRC at Freckleton Half Marathon

In 42 years of women competing in the Freckleton Half Marathon no team had ever taken the top two positions in the ladies’ race. That was until Sunday when Lytham ladies Jo Goorney and Felicity Wolohan smashed that record by taking first and second.

One of the highlights of the local racing calendar, the Freckleton Half Marathon is the oldest such race in the country. The men’s race was first ran in 1964 with the ladies’ joining them in 1976. Starting at 2pm on a June afternoon it is inevitable that some years will experience exceptionally warm conditions, and that is exactly what happened for Sunday’s race.

Despite the weather, there was a good turnout of Lytham St Annes Road Runners. The race as ever was well-supported by the Freckleton and surrounding district communities who came out with drinks, wet sponges, hose pipes and sweets for the hot and grateful competitors.

Jo Goorney finished as the first woman for the second year on the trot with Felicity Wolohan just a few seconds behind. Michelle Hook in sixth ensured the Lytham ladies team also took first place for a clean sweep of the top prizes.

Not to be totally outdone, Lytham’s men had two in the top five with Mike Toft third and Joe Greenwood fifth. They lead the men’s team to second place, narrowly missing out to Preston Harriers.

Full Lytham results for Freckleton Half: Mike Toft 3rd, 01:19:01; Joe Greenwood 5th, 01:20:16; Tom Howarth 21st, 01:27:53; Paul Veevers 25th, 01:29:06; Alex Tate 29th, 01:29:20; Neil Tate 31st, 01:30:46; Neil Baynton-Roberts, 36th, 01:32:11; Jo Goorney, 43rd & 1st lady, 01:33:14; Felicity Wolohan 45th & 2nd lady, 01:33:55; Michelle Hook 68th & 6th lady, 01:40:05; Ian Tate 86th, 01:42:49; Alan Elstone 135th, 01:49:34; Mark Selby 166th, 01:54:15; Sue Hawitt 241st & 5th FV50, 02:04:49; Chris Bowker 310th, 02:17:16, and Ruth Bye    345th & 17th FV35, 02:23:39.

Wednesday was the night of the Preston Harriers Interclub event – a 4.16 mile course consisting of 2 loops of Avenham Park and Old Tram Road, featuring the notorious Avenham Park hill. The evening was a very hot and humid 25 degrees under a cover of cloud with little to no breeze, making the event a challenge.

LSARRC at the Preston Inter Club

Sandwiched in between the Welsh Castles and Freckleton Lytham were never going to field their best team. Nevertheless, 34 club members turned out with the ladies performing best, coming fourth overall and second in the FV40 category. Excellent performances from Catherine Carrudus , the first lady and FV40, and Jo Goorney in third (second FV40), and Michelle Hook in fifth earned the team their places.

Just five Lytham juniors and one senior made it to the third fixture of the Mid Lancs Track and Field at Hyndburn on Saturday. In very hot conditions the athletes performed well despite their inexperience, with four of the six athletes making their first appearance at Track and Field.

Emily Balshaw at the Mid Lancs T and F

First on the track for Lytham and making her debut was under 15 girls Emily Balshaw in the 800m. Emily ran an excellent tactical race despite her inexperience, gradually working her way through the field finishing strongly taking second place in her heat and third in division 2 in a time of 2m 41.2s, picking up 4 points for the club.

Under 13 boy George Denye opted for the 1500 and dominated the race from the start winning comfortably in 5m 14.2s for 7 points. George also finished second in his heat of the 200m in 31.6s earning another 7 points for the Lytham.

Sydney Ramsden at the Mid Lancs T and F

Another debutant on the track was under 13 girl Sydney Ramsden who finished fifth in the 1500 in a time of 6m 9s but first in division 2 for 7 points. The final T&F debutant was Rebecca Tate in the 200m, finishing in a time of 34.7s for 5th place in division 2 and picking up 2 points. Rebecca also competed in the javelin with a best of 10.25m for 4th place in division 2 and 4 points.

Laura Bremner in just her second ever track trace finished strongly in the under 15 girls 1500 moving up from fifth to third in the last 200m to finish in a pb of 5m 55.7s and earning 5 points for the club for second place in division 2.

The only senior Lytham athlete to make the trip was Ross McKelvie. Ross was also making his first appearance on the track and performed well in the senior men’s 800m race to take third place in a close race finishing in 2m 19.6s for 4 points for Lytham.

Barbara Holmes was third in F55-59 category at Ironman 70.3 in Staffordshire on Sunday.   A 1.2 Mile swim (31:18 ), 56 mile cycle (3:04:04) and 13.1 mile run (2:10:13) made a total time of 05:54:45.   Again, the weather was very hot and, as in the Freckleton race, runners were doused from hosepipes around the course sprayed by kind local residents.