LSARRC News 9th January 2018

Central Lancs New Year Half Marathon

Joe Greenwood impressed at the Central Lancs New Year Half-Marathon on Sunday 7th January 2018.

Several LSARRC runners competed at the Half Marathon which was a rural, undulating rout through country roads.  The runners were faced with frosty conditions, the 13-mile race took the runners round the villages of Salwick, Cartforth and Inskip.  Cold but still conditions which would have been perfect if the route hadn’t been a little icy in many places.  Greenwood finished the course in a superb time of 01:22:39 to finish 7th overall.   Alex Tate finished the course in a respectable 01:25:42 or 16th, followed by Neil Tate 01:27:10.  Other finishers for the club were Ian Tate who achieved a persona best of 01:33:37, and Adrian Sargent who also ran a personal best time of 01:46:08.  Mel Koth finished 3rd VF40 in a time of 01:46:22, followed by Kev Murray in 01:49:02 and Chris Bowker in 01:50:32.  It was his first Half-Marathon and Jason Sheridan achieved a time of 01:58:04, next to finish was Kirsten Burnett in 02:13:33 and then Jacqui Murray in 02:13:35.

On the previous day the Lancashire Cross Country Championships took place at Witton Park, Blackburn on Saturday 6th January 2018.  A few Lytham runners competed in difficult, chilly weather conditions.  Christopher McCarthy finished in 36:55 for 47th position.  Neil Tate secured 83rd place in 40:23. Terry Hellings ran the course in 45:25 to gain 5th V60 place.  Chris Bowker came 147th in 48:56 and Greg Oulton came 24th in the V50 age category in a time of 58:34.  Dawn Lock was the sole female competitor for Lytham, she came 2nd in her age category L70 in 57:01.

In the under 13 girls race Lytham had two runners Sophie Bohannon and Rebecca Fisher.  Bohannon was 13th overall in a time of 13:02 and given this was her first year in this age rang, this was a great performance.

Rebecca Fisher also ran well and achieved a time of 17:28 for 55th.  Eric Wrigley ran in the under 11 boys race and finished in 7:49 for 37th. Jessica Ramsden ran in the under 11 girls race and achieved a good time of 8:17 for 25th.

Also on Saturday 6th January 2018, 22 Lytham runners braved the cold and attended the Lytham Hall Park 5k weekly park run.  First home for the club, and first overall was Alex Tate in a time of 18:22, 25 seconds shy of his personal best.  Second female spot went to Gill Draper who ran the course in 20:54, for 11th overall.  Not far behind was Darran Ames who achieved a new personal best time of 21:05.  Six seconds later saw Emily Balshaw, a junior member of the club finish in a new personal best time of 21:11.  Another Lytham junior, Leoma Gill also achieved a personal best time of 28:55, coming 107th overall out of 222 runners.
Full Results:  Alex Tate 18:22 (1st), Gill Draper 20:54 (11th), Darran Ames 21:05 (13th), Emily Balshaw 21:11 (14th), Kev Murray 22:18 (19th), James Buckley 22:45 (23rd), Morgan Pritchard 23:11 (29th), G Browne 24:17 (37th), Susan Hawitt 26:41 (72nd), Stephen Tate 27:54 (88th), Leoma Gill 28:55 (107th), Jacqui Murray 29:21 (116th), Jeremy McCandless 29:40 (121st), Laura Byrne 29:44 (125th), Michelle Sheridan 31:24 (148th), Rosa Gill 32:40 (165th), Sarah Bagshaw 34:11 (177th), Ella Wiseman 37:59 (204th), Julie Wiseman 38:02 (206th), Nicola Wiseman 38:09 (208th), Kirsten Burnett (tail walker 46:20).

Several other Lytham runners completed parkruns around the country.  Ian Tate ran the Warrington parkrun in 20:36 for 13th position. Neil Bayntun-Roberts ran the Barnsley parkrun in 21:00 for 17th position.  At the Princes parkrun in Liverpool Felicity Wolohan was the first female home in a time of 20:14. At the Blackpool parkrun Olivia Johnson Allen was the sole Lytham runner, she achieved a time of 30:03 for 84th.
On Sunday 7th January 2018 Greg Oulton of Lytham ran the Scout Fell race.  The course consisted of five miles, entirely off road, not a single track or road to be seen.  Starting just to the west of Kendal on frozen ground, it was almost constant climb or descent with barely any flat surfaces, a total climb of 700 feet.  Oulton finished the course in 48:46.

The junior parkrun at Park View in Lytham took place as usual, and checks were mad to make sure the course was safe.  Eight juniors completed the course.  Morgan Pritchard was the first to finish, in 7:57 for 2nd.  Other Results: Finlay Hughes ran 9:07 for 6th, Jayden Richardson 9:51 for 13th, Charlotte Fisher 9:58 for 14th, Leoma Gill 10:12 for 15th, Rebecca Fisher 10:17 for 15th, Jack Greaves 11:09 for 23rd and Rosa Gill 11:35 for 24th.