LSARRC News 25th July 2017

To be published.

LSARRC News 18th July 2017

Windmill Half Marathon

Lytham St Annes Road Runners scored a double first on Sunday in the Windmill half marathon. Mike Toft was the clear race winner by over a minute while Felicity Wolohan was the first female by a margin of nearly five minutes.

The race took place on a flat and fast course around Lytham St Annes and Fairhaven Lake and eighteen Lytham Club Runners were amongst the 686 finishers. Felicity’s win was yet another personal best (pb) for her, and her first half marathon in under 90 minutes. Kathy Gaunt also added to the honours as the first female vet 50.

Felicity Wolohan and Mike Toft - 1st lady and 1st man

Sue Hawitt achieved set a new pb for the third year running at this event while Darran Ames also achieved a pb as he was running his first ever race at this distance.

Full Lytham results for the Windmill Half:
Mike Toft 1st, 01:17:28; Joe Greenwood 8th, 01:21:08; Neil Tate 11th, 01:24:54; Tom Howarth 22nd, 01:28:14; Chris McCarthy 27th, 01:29:17; Felicity Wolohan, 1st woman and 29th overall, 01:29:35; Darran Ames 114th, 01:42:55; Ross McKelvie 137th, 01:44:37; Alan Elstone 138th, 01:44:41; Kathy Gaunt 170th, 01:47:46; Sue Hawitt 226th, 01:52:31; James Buckley 250th, 01:55:05; Kirsten Burnett 285th, 01:57:24; Claire England 346th, 02:01:51; Olivia Johnson-Allen 398th, 02:06:10; Chris Bowker 419th, 02:08:18; Peter Reid 421st, 02:09:16, and Laura Byrne 569th, 02:24:50.

Earlier in the week, a great turnout of 19 Lytham runners travelled to Salt Eyre Leisure Centre, Lancaster on Wednesday for  the Lancaster 10k. Renowned as a fast course, Mike Toft (5th place, 35:41), Paul Veevers (10th, 37:11), Neil Tate (12th, 37:19), Alex Tate (14th, 37:49) and Paula McCandless (167th, 58:27) took full advantage by setting new PBs. Other notable runs came from Joe Greenwood 6th/35:43); Graham Webster (18th, 42:42) who set a new club record for the distance in his age group; and Claire England (37th, 54:02) who ran well despite recent injuries.

Lancaster 10k

The holiday season and the Windmill half took their toll on Lytham at the fifth inter club race of the summer in Clifton, with many of the club’s leading athletes missing. Hosted by Wesham RR, 25 Lytham Club members were among the 335 taking part. From the provisional results, Lytham still achieved fourth place overall, with a notable performance from the vet 60s in third place.

The performance of the night for the club was from Chris McCarthy in seventh. Joe Greenwood and Paul Veevers also achieved top twenty positions, while Michelle Hook was the third lady.

While everyone else was pounding the pavements for the Windmill Half Greg Oulton headed down to Wollybobs Farm in Darwen for the inaugural Wellybobs 10k Summer Trail Race.

Starting under a slightly overcast sky, it was still warm and the sun soon came out. The race was over two laps of a challenging multi-terrain course with 600 feet of climb that even seasoned off roaders said was tough. With a steep muddy climb, stiles and a few other muddy patches to negotiate it certainly taxed the legs. The official results are not yet out but Greg achieved a noteworthy time of 01:02:16.

Lytham club runners took the first male and female spots at Lytham Hall parkrun, with Chris McCarthy and Catherine Carrdus finishing in 17:44 and 18:48.  James Buckley (21:59), Eric Wrigley (22:38) and Ruth Bye (28:46) all beat their own course records.  Down in Kent, Bob Clough ran the Bedgebury Pinetum parkrun in 29:23.

There were also many Lytham club juniors at the 2k Park View junior parkrun on Sunday.  Morgan Pritchard (7:33) was first to finish, followed by Emily Balshaw with a personal best of 7:40. More personal bests came from Charlie Ormerod (7:55), Lucy Bohannon (8:55), Holly Anderson (9:07), Charlotte Fisher (9:20), and Rebecca Fisher (10:13). Well done too to Clemmie Tierney (9:13), Jack Greaves (10:09) and Sophie Tate (11:56).

LSARRC News 11th July 2017

LSARRC at St Annes Carnival 5k

On Saturday the 1st July, Barbara Holmes competed in the Ripon Standard Distance Triathlon National Championships. This race included a 1.5k swim, 40k bike and a 10k run, which Barbara completed in an impressive 2 hours and 25 minutes. Barbara finished 1st, she was National Champion in F55-59 and was qualified to enter in the world championships!

Mel Koth also competed in this race and was 171st lady completing her race in 2:51.14. Mel described the race saying the swim was tough, she struggled to fight through the lake with all the weeds at the bottom, the bike was a good flat route along a dual carriageway. Although unfortunately Mel was witness to a severe car crash which saw a car drive into three competitors during the 10k run at the end, which caused her to loose time as she stopped to be with the competitors until a marshal told her to carry on. Well done Mel.

On Wednesday evening Felicity Wolohan competed in the Forest Park 5km in Warrington. This was the 25th year of this Ladies only multi-terrain race run by Spectrum Striders. Felicity was 3rd lady finishing in 19:43.

Mel Koth and Catherine Carrdus also competed in the Badger Trail 10k last Thursday. This was described as a tough race, it was very hot and humid and involved climbing over stiles, running through cow fields, hills and zig sagging through woods.  Catherine came 13th overall and was 1st lady and 1st V45 in 43:37 and Mel was 34th overall was 5th lady, 1st V40 finishing in 48:46. Well done ladies.

Bull Hill Fell Race

Also on Thursday night was the 4rd race in the Inter Club Fell Race series. 4 LSARRC members headed of to Hawkshaw near Bury for the Bull Hill Fell Race excellently organised by Radcliffe AC.  The race consisted of a 5 mile course with 1100 feet of ascent on mainly narrow paths.  Although a warm muggy evening, the course was still quite muddy although luckily the threatened thunderstorms didn't materialise.  Just to add to the fun, there was a good mile walk to the start from registration and a mile and a half "warm down" back again from the finish.  With 221 finishers, Joanna Goorney was 53rd, 4th lady and 1st vet 45 in 45:59, Ross McKelvie was 90th in 49:46, Debbie Cooper was 141st in 54:19 and Greg Oulton was 202nd in 1:07:42.

LSARRC @ Lytham's 2nd Beer Run

On Friday night was Lytham’s 2nd Beer Run, which saw 300 runners compete with Lytham runners earning 5 of the 6 prizes. The race started at Fairhaven lake and went along the prom stopping at 4 pubs around Lytham before finishing at The Taps. This was a brilliant race enjoyed by all and, organised brilliantly by Tim Armit. Thank you for all your hard work.

Paul Veevers @ Lytham Hall parkrun

As usual Saturday and Sunday were a busy days for LSARRC runners. Joanna  Goorney was the 1st female finisher out of a large field of 589 runners  at Sheffield Hallam parkrun, with a course pb of 19:47.  At Hyde  parkrun, Catherine Carrdus was also first lady, in 19:44 and, at Blackpool, Lorna Jayne Cragg ran for a course pb in 36:22.  Meanwhile, several of the club took part in our local Lytham Hall parkrun.  Special mention to junior Eric Wrigley who worked hard to get a new course pb of 22:42 and to Paul Veevers who finished second in 18:26.  Well done also to Morgan Pritchard (9th, 20:58), Graham Webster (10th, 21:07), Darren Ames (22:25), Terry Hellings (31st, 22:43), Neil Bayntun-Roberts (34th, 23:21), James Buckley (48th, 24:52), Greg Oulton (74th, 26:58), Karen Lanigan (105th, 30:19) and Robert Parker (114th, 32:17).  On Sunday morning, George Denye was the first runner back at Avenham Park junior parkrun, while Morgan Pritchard finished second at Park View junior parkrun, followed by Finlay Hughes in 4th place with a new pb of 8:01.  As usual, club members also formed part of the Lytham Hall and Park View volunteer teams.

Start of St Annes Carnival 1500 fun run

On Sunday was Lytham St Annes annual Carnival 5k race and 1500m fun run  organized by Dawn Lock. The event was hugely popular this year and saw over 500 runners competing from aged 3 to 80!  The 1500 fun run was the event to take place, with over 100 runners competing, 17 of those were LSARRC runners. The first Lytham runner back was Louis Eunson in 5.14 and was 3rd overall. Sophie Bohannon finished her race in 5.32, Laura Bremner in 5.52, Eric Wrigley in 5.55 and Archie Tate in 6.15. Billy Breakell was the next Lytham runner finishing his race in 6.18, Lucy Bohannon in 6.33, Harrison Byrne in 6.42, Amara Thorpe in 6.49 and Clemmie Tierney in 7.00. Hebe Tierney was next back in an impressive 7.08, Reef Breakell in 7.14, Rebecca Fisher in 7.33 and Katie Bremner in 7.34. Sophie Tate ran a great race finishing in 7.49, Felicity Wolohan finished in 10.57 with Max Heckels hot on her heels finishing in 11.43. Well done to all those who competed, supported and marshaled the race

Alan Elstone @ St Annes Carnival 5k

The 5k race started at the far end of the prom, went up and round fairhaven lake before returning to St. Annes prom around the life boat station and into the funnel by the pier. It was a mild weathered day but there was a wind on the way back that a lot of the runners said they struggled in. 159 runners ran in this race and 25 of these were Lytham St Annes runners. The first Lytham runner back was Chris McCarthy who was the 4th runner to finish the race in 16:49. Joe Greenwood was next in 17.03 and Andrew Draper finished in 17.06. Chris, Joe and Andrew won the 1st team prize. Paul Veevers was next in 17.59, Neil Tate in 18.03, Ross Mckelvie in 18.34 and Thomas Howarth in 19.08. Michelle Hook earnt second lady finishing her race in 19.53, Graham Webster achieved a new MV65 club record, finishing his race in 20.42. Gill Draper finished her race in 21.37, Alan Elston in 22.00, Darren Ames in 22.12, Jen Hill in 22.17 and Emily Balshaw in 22.18. Michelle Hook, Jen Hill and Gill Draper all earnt a ladies award for their times, well done Ladies! Roy Upton was the next Lytham runner back in 23.47, Roy Stevens in 24.12, Susan Hawitt in 24.23, Ruth Wheatley in 25.14, Steve Tate in 27.13 and Bob Clough in 27.56.  Ruth Wheatley won the FV45 prize and Steve Tate was 1st V60. James Whitworth was next back in 28.00, Rachael Wignall in 30.45, Sarah Bradshaw in 33.02 and Sarah Bagshaw in 36.26.  Well done to all runners who competed in a victory filled race!

Jennnifer Hill @ St Annes Carnival 5k

LSARRC News 4th July 2017

LSARRC at Thornton Cleveleys Inter Club

Quite a race heavy week this week for Lytham Road Runners!

First up was the Thornton Cleveleys RC Interclub Race on Tuesday 27th June. On a fairly warm and only slightly breezy evening in Blackpool, starting on the Inner Promenade at Anchorsholme, 316 runners took part in the 4th race of the Interclub series, of which 37 were Lytham Runners. The course is an out and back run along the top of the Promenade down to Gynn Square, where the runners turn north onto the lower prom along to the Boat Angling Club where the final turn is taken back onto the Inner Promenade for a short distance to the finish line. First home for the club and in 4th position overall, was Chris McCarthy in a new PB time of 27:30, followed by Joe Greenwood also in a PB time of 27:52 for 6th and Andy Draper in 28:44 for 10th. Hot on their heels were Mike Toft (12th 29:10), Paul Veevers (22nd, PB in 29:50), Tom Howarth (29th 30:19) & Neil Tate (30th 30:23) – 7 Lytham runners in the first 30 finishers! The first lady back for the club, and first lady overall, was Catherine Carrdus in a fantastic 31:14 (41st), followed in by Joanna Goorney for 2nd female in 32:02 (56th) and Michelle Hook for 4th female overall in a PB time of 32:59 (71st). Completing the finishers for the club were Ian Tate (86th, PB in 33:46), Mel Koth (103rd, 35:14), Jennifer Hill (110th, 35:43), Mark Hughes (111th, 35:44), Graham Webster (121st, 36:20), Darran Ames (122nd, PB in 36:28), Gill Draper (127th, 36:40), Alan Elstone (131st, 36:58), Kathy Gaunt (161st, PB in 38:32), Colin Laidlaw (178th, 39:25), Peter Reid (183rd, PB in 39:47), Chris Bowker (191st, PB in 40:19), Julia Rolfe (195th, 40:41), Sue Hawitt (197th, 40:43), Nigel Simpkin (198th, 40:46), Louise Denye (200th, 40:51), Olivia Johnson-Allen (255th, PB in 45:01), Jeremy McCandless (257th, PB in 45:38), Greg Oulton (261st, 45:30), Paula McCandless (262nd, PB in 45:38), Bob Clough (263rd, 45:43), Steve Tate (269th, 46:49), Ruth Bye (276th, PB in 47:27), Laura Byrne (277th, 47:42), Sylvia Gittins (287th, 48:48), Jacqui Murray (290th, PB in 49:29) and Dawn Lock (315th, 66:28). Team performance wise, Lytham had a great night; 4th team overall, 1st Female team & 2nd Female V40.  Well done to all, a great turn out and some brilliant runs and personal best times!

Also on Tuesday evening, Layla Foley, Lytham’s leading under 23 lady, competed at Trafford in a competitive 800m race. Despite her inexperience over the distance, Layla ran an excellent tactical race finishing strongly taking first place and achieving a huge personal best time of 2:15:19 with a lot of promising potential still to tap in to! Well done Layla.

On Wednesday 28th, Felicity Wolohan took part in the Seaside Run, a 5km race straight along the promenade in the Wirral, Liverpool. It was a wet and windy evening with a headwind for the whole race. In spite of this, Felicity managed to run a great time of 20:12 and was the 1st female finisher, and 20th overall out of 168 runners.

The last Thursday of each month is reserved for the clubs handicap. 17 runners made it to the YMCA start line for the 4.3 mile route down to Warton and back. Securing another 1st finish position was Pam Binns, followed 15 seconds later by Dawn Lock. The leader board has changed somewhat since the last handicap, with Bob Clough now taking the lead after the 3 events this season. Well done Pam and Bob!

Onto the weekends races, of which there were a few! Starting with parkrun on Saturday 1st July. The club was well-represented at Lytham Hall parkrun this week with 16 members running out of a field of 155 and a number of personal best times.  Neil Tate finished 2nd with a new best of 18:00 while Catherine Carrdus took the first lady finish spot with a new PB of 18:37.  Darren Ames and Ruth Bye were the other PB's this week with times of 21:55 and 28:57.  Other results were Alex Tate (6th, 18:46), Neil Bayntun-Roberts (9th, 20:05), Morgan Pritchard (12th, 20:50), Graham Webster (16th 21:11), Terry Hellings (21st, 21:38), Gill Draper (26th, 21:57), Jennifer Hill (28th, 22:10), Eric Wrigley (32nd, 23:15), Andrew Draper (33rd, 23:16), Laura Byrne (93rd, 28:54), Jacqui Murray (95th, 29:00) and Michelle Sheridan (128th, 32:59).  Meanwhile, at Lancaster parkrun, Joanna Goorney ran the course for the first time, storming home to take the first lady spot in 21:10.

What started out as a fairly pleasant, cool morning, turned into a glorious day by the 12:30 start time of the Lostock Hall Carnival 5k. A fast and flat route around the village of Lostock, 4 Lytham Runners took to the streets in this up and coming race which increased in size from around 80 runners in 2016 to 216 runners completing the course in 2017. It’s certainly a course for a PB in favourable weather conditions, with all 4 of our runners equalling or securing their best 5k times. First home for Lytham in 7th position 16:52 was Chris McCarthy, followed seconds later by Andy Draper in 17:03 for 9th place. Michelle Hook was the 4th lady and 37th overall, achieving her first elusive under-20 minute 5k in 19:52, with Lorna Cragg also securing a PB time of 33:45 for 179th place. Well done to all, a great result!

Saturday was also Lytham’s best junior turnout at a Mid Lancs track and field fixture for several years. Seven Lytham junior girls made it to the fourth fixture of the Mid Lancs Track and Field league held at Preston Sports Arena. Lytham athletes performed very well despite their inexperience with 2 athletes making their track and field debuts and 6 of the 7 in their first season of track and field.

Emily Balshaw, Alicia Middlehurst and Sophie Bohannon at Mid Lancs T and F

First on the track for Lytham in the 800m was under 13 girl Sophie Bohannon who finished well in a time of 2m 37.2s to take 5th place from 18 and 3rd in division 2. In the 200m Sophie finished in 2nd place in her heat in a time of 31.5s for 4th place in division 2. In the U15 girls 800m, Alicia Middlehurst finished in 2m 34.7s for 5th place and 2nd in division 2 followed by team mate Emily Balshaw who finished in 2m 36.6s for 6th place and 3rd in division 2. Emily also competed in the 200m and finished 5th in division 2 in a time of 30.7s.

Holly Anderson at Mid Lancs T and F

Sydney Ramsden was Lytham’s only representative in the under 13 girls 1500m and in a competitive race managed to finish 2nd in division 2 with a time of 6m 13.7s. Lytham also had 2 representatives in the under 15 girls 1500m. Laura ran an excellent tactical race finishing strongly to take 5th place and 2nd in division 2. Holly Anderson in her first ever track race also opted for the under 15 girls 1500m finishing with a time of 6m 40.7s for 3rd place in division 2.

Rebecca Tate was Lytham’s sole junior representative in field events and opted for the long jump finishing 6th in division 2 with a jump of 3.15m and in the 200m finishing 5th in heat 4 in a time of 35.5s.

Representing the junior boys, George Denye had 2 brilliant races; first was the U13 800m and finished third in 2:33. He also ran 31.1 to finish second for a new PB in the U13 200m.
Lytham also had 3 senior athletes competing. Neil Tate making his debut on the track ran the 800m taking second place in division 2 in 2m 35.1s and the 1500m finishing 4th overall but 1st in division 2. Greg Oulton managed to take 4th place in division 2 in the shot with a distance of 6.2m, and 6th place in division 2 in both the discus and javelin with distances of 15 and 14.66. Graham Webster opted for the final track event of the day, the 3000m and finished as 3rd man in a time of 12m 19.8s.

Throwing in a bit of cycling and swimming to the mix, Barbara Holmes and Mel Koth both competed in the Ripon Standard Distance Triathlon National Championships, which includes a 1500m open water swim where the racers faced a fair struggle against the seaweed in the lake, 40km out and back bike ride and 10km run. Barbara had a brilliant event, finishing in 2:25:27 which gained her a first place and National Champion F55-59, resulting in a qualification to the World Championships. Mel witnessed an unfortunate biking incident on the final 10km stretch of the bypass which affected her mindset to complete the race; in spite of this, and adjusting her goals to just finishing the race she still managed to achieve a very respectable 737 overall out of 1200, 171st lady and 28th v40 in a total time of 2:51:14. Great achievements by both ladies!

Saturday evening saw Richard Storey as the lone LSARCC runner at the Catforth 5k, race series number 2. It was wet but good for running. Despite nursing an injury, Richard had a comfortable run around, finishing in 23:07 for 27th position out of 40 finishers.

Sunday 2nd July saw Greg Oulton take on the Trawden 7 seven mile trail race on Sunday. With approx 630 feet of climb, starting in Trawden, near Colne, it follows the roads, trails and paths in and around Wycoller Country Park. With the dry weather we've had recently there was no mud to speak of on the course which made it easier, but at that distance it wasn't easy. Greg finished in 1:13:14 255 out of 315 runners, and received his finishers a pie and bottle of beer to take home.

Feleicity Wolohan

And finally, to wrap up a busy weekend, Felicity Wolohan also ran the Alderley Edge 10k. The race is run on a smooth tarmac away from Wilmslow along the Alderley Edge Bypass and then turning back and running back on the same route. With only gentle undulation, this promises fast times for club and fun runners alike with PB potential. And indeed it did, with Felicity breaking the 40 minute barrier by 1 seconds, in an amazing 39:59, which resulted in a 12th female position, and 114th out of 1958 runners.