LSARRC News 24th October 2017

LSARRC runners at the start of the Green Drive 5

The eighteenth running of the Green Drive 5 took place on Sunday and yet again proved to be highly successful. The five-mile race is Lytham St Anne’s Road Runners’ showcase, and also hosts the Lancashire five-mile championships.

For the first time ever the event was sold out before the actual day. New race organiser Bob Clough moved the start time to 10am and introduced chip timing, both very successful innovations.

Start of the Green Drive Junior Mile

It was touch and go whether the event would do ahead at all with the threat posed by storm Brian. A late decision was made on Saturday evening to proceed, correctly as Sunday turned out to be just another breezy autumn day.

Graham Webster - 1st vet 65

The main race was preceded by the Green Drive Junior Mile with 89 juniors aged from just 4 to 15 taking part. Sheltered from the wind by trees, Danielle Whipp set the only record of the day with a female course record of 5:41. This beat the previous record set by herself two years ago, and this is her third win in a row at this event. The overall winner for the second time was Jack Tickle with a gun time of 5:20.

Competitors in the main race suffered a buffeting from the wind and wet feet from a small area of flooding. Rob Danson of Wesham Road Runners was the clear winner with a time of 25:54, one-and-a-half minutes in front of the next finisher. The first lady was Laura Hesketh of Clayton-le-Moors Harriers in 29:24, and fourth overall.

The race was also a team event and there were 28 teams of three men fielded by eleven clubs. Lytham’s and Wesham RR’s first teams tied for the top spot on 22 points but the trophy was awarded to Lytham on “countback”. This was where is depended on the position of the third counter. Preston Harriers were third.

Catherine Carrdus - first vet 45

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC beat Lytham by just five points to take the ladies’ trophy with Wesham coming third from eleven teams.

In the individual standings Lytham also performed well. John Bertenshaw and Graham Webster were first in the MV60 & MV65 categories respectively, while Catherine Carrdus was the first FV45. All three were rewarded with Green Drive 5 trophies and Lancashire Championship medals to add to their collections.

The previous weekend Ruth Wheatley ran the Lisbon Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon in considerably different weather. Heat of 32° in the shade made conditions exceptionally tough, which were not helped by a 1.5km climb at the end. Despite this Ruth still didn’t quite manage a personal worst, struggling in at 2:22:26.

Rebecca Tate manning the water station

Tail runners

LSARRC News 17th October 2017

Another busy weekend for LSARRC and a new Senior Club Marathon record for Felicity Wolohon and the Lytham Men impress at the first Mid-Lancs cross country fixture.

Saturday 14th October saw the first Mid-Lancashire cross country fixture take place at Cuerden Valley Park in Bamber Bridge, Preston.  There are 6 fixtures throughout the year starting in October through to March.  The course was very challenging after heavy rain meant the ground was very muddy, wet and the hills were

Joe Greenwood, 1st counter for LSARRC at Mid-Lancs Cross Country

Shortly after the under 11s boys race was underway. In the category Lytham had 3 competitors.  Eric Wrigley was the first to finish in a time of 6:42 (22nd), closely followed Lewis Bentley 6:45 (23rd), Archie Tate 7:01 (31st).  Overall the team were placed 6th.

Next to follow was the under 13 girl.  In this race, the club was represented by Sophie Bohannon, Sydney Ramsden and Rebecca Fisher.  This was Sophie’s fist cross country race after moving up an age category to the under 13s, last year she placed first in the under 11 category.  In difficult running conditions, she coped well with the longer course and gained 6th position overall in a time of 13:30.  Second home was Sydney Ramsden in 16:25 (39th) and Rebecca Fisher who was a fist timer in 18:09.  Overall the team achieved 9th position.

In the under 13 boys race LSARRC had 2 competitions, Morgan Pritchard and Jake Balshaw.  Morgan achieved a time of 17:17 coming 44th and Jake Balshaw who completed the course in 24:06 coming 57th.

Laura Bremner, Emily Balshaw and Lucy Bohannon represented the club in the under 15 girl’s category.  The team were placed 6th overall.  Laura Bremner completed the course in 18:05 (20th), Emily Balshaw ran 18:18 (24th) and Lucy Bohannon in 21:11 (34th).

In the ladies over 18 race Lytham fielded two teams.  In difficult running conditions Mel Koth ran supervbly to finish in 28:04 to gain 47th position, out of 148 competitors.  Alexandra Everest was next home in 31:39 and Julia Rolfe finished the course in 32:11. Overall the team finished 22nd.  The second team for Lytham consisted of Kirsten Burnett (33:47), Pamela Hardman (34:58 and Dawn Lock (49:49).  In the Ladies over 35 category the Lytham team secured 11th, 9th position in the over 45 category and 5th in the over 55.

In the senior men race the Lytham runners did not disappoint and the team gained 4th position overall.  This was a fantastic result and the best for many years, they faced good opposition and were able to beat five of the seven clubs in the division above.  The first 3 of the Lytham team came in the top 30 out of over 200 runners.  First home was Joe Greenwood in 40:17 (21st), followed closely by Mike Toft in 40:34 (26th), and Christopher McCarthy in 41:30 (31st).  Not far behind Christopher was Andrew Draper in 41:33 (33rd), then Neil Tate 44:17 (57th) and Paul Veevers in 44:31 (58h).  Other runners for the club included:  Thomas Howarth 46:08 (80th), Terry Hellings 52:03 (154th V60 8th), Gavin Stanfield 52:22 (157th), Chris Bowker 1:00:04 and Greg Oulton 1:07:32. 

At the Lytham Hall Park parkrun on Saturday 14 October 15 Lytham members ran the course.  First home for Lytham was Mark Selby in 20:38, achieving 5th position overall.  Gill Draper was the first female runner for Lytham, in 7th position overall in a time of 20:58.  Other runners included:  Darran Ames 21:58, James Buckley 22:35 50th run, Kev Murray 22:49, Sue Hawitt 25:25, Pamela Hardman 26:28, Jennifer Hill 27:20, Robert Parker 28:07, Laura Byrne 28:46, Ruth Bye 29:43, Michelle Sheridan 31:17, Graham Young 31:40, Gillian Oliver 34:16, and Jeremy McCandless 34:27.

Neil Bayntun-Roberts of LSARRC completed the Barclay parkrun in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire and achieved a time of 21:37 and came 5th overall.

Last Sunday saw the annual running of The Great West Run in Exeter Devon.  A well-established road race and one of the ultimate favorites in the South West running calendar.  This popular half marathon takes a route through the heart of Exeter and the beautiful lanes towards Stoke Woods.  With 3000 runners competing over this hilly course in exceptionally warm conditions LSARRC’s only entry 65-year-old Graham Webster ran a 1 hour 34.56 seconds to win first vet 65 in position 215th in this maximum field.

At the Amsterdam Marathon on 15th October Felicity Wolohan made the journey and competed in the race.  The race starts and finishes in the Olympic Stadium, in front of of the grandstand.  Felicity ran a fantastic race and achieved an impressive time of 3:08:01 which sets a new Senior Lady’s Marathon record for the club.

On the same day 4 Lytham members competed in the Manchester Half Marathon.  The well-organized race was traffic free through the city with a great atmosphere.  With good running conditions Melanie Koth ran the course in 1:38:52 846th overall, 20th v20 and 79th lady.  Kevin Murray achieved 1:44:48 1475th overall.  Christine Walker managed the course in 2:11:26 and Ian Balshaw in 2:11:26.

Also on Sunday 15th October 6 juniors completed the Park View junior parkrun in Lytham, the course was a little muddy in parts but the rain held off.  Morgan Pritchard was first home for the cub in 8:00 and 2nd overall.  Other results included:  Lewis Bentley 8:51, Jayden Richardson 9:14, Charlotte Fisher 9:47, Blair Selbie 11:00 and Jack Greaves 11:16.
relentless.  First off were the under 11 girls, Lytham had 5 runners in the race and all ran exceptionally well in very difficult conditions.  Amara Thorpe led the way for the Under 11 girls finishing in a time of 7:35, coming 22nd.  Jessica Ramsden and Clemmie Tierney were not far behind in 29th 7:45 and 33rd 7:51, respectively.  There were a couple of first times for the club in this category, Leoma Gill (8:26) and Ella Wiseman (8:30).  Overall the team were placed 8th.

LSARRC News 10th October 2017

Kirsten and Sue Hawitt at Chester Marathon

Success for LSARRC with Graham Webster achieving gold at the NVAC Championships at Newcastle Under Lyne, and an impressive ru by Neil Tate at the Kielder Marathon and Neil Toft at the Chester Marathon.

Sunday 8th October 2017 was a busy day for LSARRC members with members running at the Kielder Marathon in Northumberland, the Chester Marathon, West Coast Half Marathon in Preston, NVAC 10,000m Championship at Newcastle-U-Lyne and Yorkshire 10-mile race.

The Active Northumberland Kielder Marathon route follows an almost entirely off-road course around northern Europe’s largest man-made lake, Kielder Water, in Northumberland.  Britain’s Most Beautiful Marathon is the finale to a weekend of events, starting with the Kielder 10K and the Kielder Run Bike Run followed by the Kielder Half Marathon and junior races.

Congratulations to Neil Tate ran a fantastic time of 3:15:04 and came 23rd.   Neil described it as the hardest run he has ever done with the continuous hills, 1700ft of climbing in short sharp ascents throughout, but the scenery was stunning.  Mark Hughes also ran the Kielder Marathon and achieved a good time of 5:05:50 coming 503rd.

The Chester Marathon took place on Sunday 8th October, the race is flat/undulating and starts and finishes at Chester racecourse.  Lytham had 2 runners Mike Toft and Sue Hawitt.

Mike Toft at Chester Marathon

Mike Toft ran superbly to gain 44th position in a fantastic time of 2:44:34.  Sue Hawitt took part in the Inaugural England Age Group Masters Marathon Representative Team at the Chester Marathon.  This was Sue’s second marathon to date.  Her finishing time was 4:10:41 knocking off 12:54 off last years’ time and keeping the club record for Marathon F Vet 50.

Kirsten Burnett ran the metric marathon (26.2K) which starts later than the marathon meaning all the runners end up together for the last few miles.  The route was through the historic city of Chester but then mainly on country roads.  Ideal weather conditions with drizzle over last few miles being very welcome.  Kirsten finished in 2:34:19 which was a personal best over this unusual distance.

Darren Ames

The West Coast Half Marathon also on Sunday 8th October saw several Lytham runners compete.  The organisers description highlights the unique flat, point to point race starting in Preston, passing through Preston Docks, onto the Guild Wheel, through Freckleton into Warton, and on to Lytham St Anne’s for the grand finish at Fairhaven Lake.

There was an impressive turnout of 14 LSARRC participants, this was the second running of this event, conditions were good with just a slight headwind being felt as the coastline neared.  First home for LSARRC was Alex Tate, followed by his older brother Ian Tate and then Darran Ames.  The first lady was Alexandra Everest.

Paula McCandless

 Results:  Alex Tate was 11th in 1:28:02:87, Ian Tate came 41st in 1:40:07:55, Darran Ames closely behind in 42nd in a time of 1:40:18:04, Richard Storey was 54th in 1:43:26:70, Kevin Murray was 79th in 1:48:14:48, Roy Stevens was 106th in 1:53:50:78, Alexandra Everest in 1:54:40:16 coming 111th, Chris Bowker 114th in 1:54:56:37Ian Balshaw was 180th in 2:07:55:28, Jacqui Murray achieved a time of 2:12:10:01 and came 197th, Laura Byrne 2:14:27:26 coming 205th, closely behind Christine Walker in 2:14:48:71 coming 206th,  and Jeremy McCandless 2:19:58:21 gaining 225th position.

It was a gold medal at the 10,000m Newcastle under Lyne NVAC Championship for Graham Webster who completed the run in 41:46:2, V65 category.

At the PlusNet Yorkshire 10-mile race in York on Sunday LSARRC was represented by Olivia Johnson-Allen, who completed the 10 miles in 01:37:14. She finished in 1,835th place in a large race of over 3,100 competitors.

Olivia Allen

Many Lytham runners completed parkruns on Saturday 7th October and a number of juniors attended the Parkview junior parkrun in Lytham on 8th October.

Lytham Hall Park parkrun on 7th October 2017 18 club members took part.  Chris McCarthy secured first place in a time of 18:08.  Justin Allitt, Neil Bayntun-Roberts, and Mark Selby came 5th, 6th and 7th respectively.  Morgan Pritchard came an impressive 9th given he is a junior member of LSARRC.  Jennifer Hill continues to run well and she was the first female home in a time of 21:16.

Other results included:  Darran Ames 22:23, James Buckley 22:23, Neil Tate 22:31, Kev Murray 22:31, Stephen Tate 26:17, Holly Anderson 27:45, Jake Balshaw 27:57, Robert Parker 28:38, Jacqui Murray 28:50, Gillian Glover 30:13, Michelle Sheridan 31:42, and Sarah Bagshaw 32:34.

Several other Lytham runners competed parkruns across the north west.  Gill Draper and Andrew Draper completed the Woodhouse Moor parkrun and achieved times of 21:53 and 21:54.

Felicity Wolohan attended the Princes parkrun n Liverpool and was the first female, 12th overall in a time of 20:19.

The Cuerden Valley park run saw John Graham Bertenshaw in attendance (22:35) and Graham Webster (22:56) who came 13th 1sr V65.

At the Park View Junior parkrun on Sunday 8th December Morgan Pritchard was first home in 7:46 and Charlie Ormerod was 2nd in 7:55. Rebecca Fisher was the first girl in 10:02 and achieved a new personal best, and her younger sister Charlotte Fisher was 3rd girl in 10:06.  Other results included:  Jack Greaves 10:09, Blair Selbie 10:30, and Ella Wiseman 10:41.

LSARRC News 3rd October 2017

LSARRC at Lytham Hall parkrun takeover

On Saturday 30th September Lytham St Anne’s Road Runners took over Lytham Hall parkrun.  A takeover is where a club provides most of the volunteer roles allowing the club to promote itself, and in this case, the forthcoming Green Drive 5 race.  Despite a surplus of volunteer helpers, the club still managed to field 24 competitors, including the four volunteer pacers and the first two finishers.  Although not strictly a competitive race, Andy Unsworth and Alex Tate entertained spectators with a close battle for the lead.  Andy came out on top, winning by six seconds in 18:19.

Jennifer Hill

Jennifer Hill ran the course in 21:19 and gained the first female spot and junior Sophie Bohannon was second female in 21:26.  Amara Thorpe another Lytham junior achieved a personal best of 24:39.  Full results:  Andy Unsworth (18:19), Alex Tate (18:25), Mark Selby (20:41), Paul Veevers (21:06), Jennifer Hill (21:19), Sophie Bohannon (21:26), Graham Webster (23:00), Emily Balshaw (23:03), Richard Harry Storey (23:10), Amara Thorpe (24:39), Terry Hellings (24:40), Kirsten Burnett (26:09), Greg Oulton (26:17), Kev Murray (26:20), Stephen Tate (27:27), Jake Balshaw (27:44), Ian Balshaw (27:45), Laura Byrne (28:31), Jacqui Murray (28:32),Robert Parker (29:58), Sarah Bagshaw (33:08), Ella Wiseman (37:34), Nicola Wiseman (37:35) and Jeremy McCandless (43:33 tail walker).

Andy Unsworth and Alex Tate

Junior Eric Wrigley was the sole runner for Lytham at the the Blackpool Parkrun and gained a new personal best of 23:58.  Neil Bayntun-Roberts of Lytham completed the Banstead Woods Parkrun in 21:53 and came 28th.  The Leamington Parkrun was attended by Felicity Wolohan she ran 21:12 and was the 4th female.

On Sunday 1st October 2017, the Park View Junior Parkrun in Lytham was attended by eleven Lytham juniors.  Charlie Ormerod came 3rd in a time of 8:00.  Other results included: Lucy Bohannon (9:15), Archie Tate (9:28), Jake Balshaw (9:45), Jayden Richardson (9:46), Jack Greaves (10:08), Holly Anderson (10:10), Rebecca Fisher (10:22), Charlotte Fisher (10:24), Blair Selbie (11:28), and Sophie Tate (12:46).

Also on Sunday 1st October Jacqui Murray and Kirsten Burnett ran the Congleton “Sting in the tail” half marathon.  This is a small club run event in rural Cheshire, named for the steep hill that runners face about a mile before the finish.  The race was friendly, well organised and superbly supported by encouraging marshals, taking you through picturesque and undulating countryside.  Thankfully the forecast rain held off meaning conditions were pleasant.  Kirsten finished in 2:07:14 and Jacqui close behind in 2:09:45.

The Mawdsley Millemium 10k trail race held on 1st October was attended by Greg Oulton.  The course was flat but muddy with a couple of boggy fields with long grass to cross.  Greg ran well and finished in 1:42 coming 72nd out of 131 runners.

Pam Binns of Lytham competed in the Jersey marathon on 1st October, and completed the run in 5:05:10 and was 348th out of 402 females.  The Jersey Marathon is an annual marathon staged in Jersey, Channel Islands.  The course starts and finishes at Weighbridge Place, St. Helier, and is set out over the town streets, central, north and west of the island.