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.