LSARRC News 7th November 2017

LSARRC at Lancaster Half Marathon

 On Tuesday 31st October Greg Oulton, Mark Selby, Kathy Gaunt, Kirsten Burnett, Rob Parker, Sue Hawitt, Sarah Bagshaw, Claire England and Rachel Wignall of Lytham entered the Herons Reach Halloween 5K Fun Run in Blackpool.  As the run was in the dark all runners wore head torches and some also ran in fancy dress.  The run was just over 5K, taking in the trails and small hills around Herons Reach.  The event was very popular and was a little over crowded however it was an enjoyable run threw some patches of mud and a rather smelly ford.

The Alliworth 8-mile trail race, near Grange Over Sands took place on Saturday 4th November.  This was attended by Greg Oulton of Lytham, the race had over 1000 feet of climb to tackle, a river, lots of mud and short stretches on country roads.  Conditions were excellent with blue skies and some sun shining through.  Greg finished in 71st place in 1:27:15.

At the Lytham Hall Park parkrun on Saturday 4th November 22 LSARRC members completed the course.  There were some excellent performances and 8 Lytham runners finished the course in the top 20.  Amazingly the first 3 spots were secured by Lytham runners, Mike Toft ran the course in 17:16, followed by Neil Tate in 18:03 and Joe Greenwood in 18:11.  In 14th position overall and second female Joanna Goorney achieved a good time of 20:30 and Graham Webster wasn’t far behind in a time of 21:01.  Jennifer was the third female home in 21:22, there were also 3 pb’s by Darran Ames, Ian Balshaw and Jake Balshaw (junior).

Full Results: Mike Toft (17:36), Neil Tate (18:03), Joe Greenwood (18:11), Joanna Goorney (20:30), Graham Webster (21:01), Jennifer Hill (21:22), Darran Ames (21:28), Terry Hellings (21:33), James Buckley (22:29), G Browne (22:43), Kev Murray (22:49), Ian Balshaw (25:09), Brian Porter (26:20), Stephen Tate (26:28), Robert Parker (26:49), Jake Balshaw (27:21), Christine Walker (28:27), Laura Byrne (28:28), Jeremy McCandless (29:53), Graham Young (30:09), Michelle Sheridan (30:45) and Sarah Bagshaw (32:51).
Felicity Wolohan of Lytham completed the Princes parkrun in Liverpool and achieved a time of 20:51, coming 20th and 3rd female.

Sunday 5th November saw the Lancaster half marathon take place.  Seven Lytham runners competed, conditions were perfect, clear and cold with only a slight breeze.  The race started and finished at the castle before going on an out and back course along the River Lune, which made for a nice, flat and scenic route before taking on the steep climb to the finish.

Andy Draper was 1st back for the club in 1:19:50, finishing 6th place overall.  Although 5 minutes outside his pb, Andy was pleased with his time given his recent injury.  Gill Draper had a great run and was next back for the club in 1:34:58 with a massive 20 minute pb, finishing 68th overall and 8th lady.  Sue Hawitt had a fantastic fun finishing in 1:56:33, 264th place.  Kirsten Burnett ran with Laura Byrne for some of the course before pushing on to finish in 2:07:01 with Laura finishing in 2:12:44, in 354th and 388th place respectively.  Ruth Bye had a great run finishing in 2:14:21, 395th place and a huge 10 minute pb from her time at the Freckleton Half Marathon this Summer.  Jacqui Murray was close behind finishing in 2:14:47, 400th place overall.

On Sunday Melanie Koth was the sole Lytham runner who completed the Through the Villages run in Wheelton near Botany Bay.  The course was very challenging, an 8.4-mile course which starts with a mile climbing.  The race goes around the villages of Wheelton, Brinscall, Abbey Village and Whitnell.  After the race, traditional hotpot is served to all the runners, in the village hall.  Melanie finished 102nd overall out of 302 runners, 12th lady and 3rd V40 in a time of 1:04:54.  The weather was perfect, beautiful sunshine and a little bit chilly on top of the climbs.

Sunday also saw the Abbey Dash 10k in Leeds take place.  Thousands of people ran for great causes, the course starts from Wellington Street, leading up Kirstall Road towards Cistercian ruins on Abbey Road and back.  Chirs McCarthy of Lytham ran the course in 34:58 coming 255th and of 8800 runners.  Chris said that the course was ideal with sunshine and a slight breeze on what is a flat and fast course.

Junior members of the club ran the Junior parkrun at Park View in Lytham on Sunday.  As it was the half term holiday from school there weren’t as many runners as usual, they included:  Jayden Richardson (9:20), Eric Wrigley (9:31), Rebecca Fisher (10:46), Ella Wiseman (11:15), Holly Anderson (11:34) and Sophie Tate (12:26).