LSARRC News 26th March 2019

Catherine Carrdus shines at the Cheshire 10K, coming first in her age category.

LSARRC at Cheshire 10k

Lytham Runner’s attended the Cheshire 10k.  The results were as follows: 
Graham Webster 43:35 1st vet65, Thomas Howarth 36:08, Catherine Carrdus 39:04 1st in her age category, Ian Tate 40:45 Personal Best, John Bertenshaw 46:16, and Sue Hawitt 47:13 Personal Best of over 2 minutes which she puts down to her marathon training.

The course started in the grounds of Airley Hall in Cheshire and continued out onto the surrounding countryside on closed roads. Runner’s were greeted by a saxophonist which added to the great atmosphere.  The weather was perfect crisp clear morning with blue sky’s and a little bit of sun peeping through

On Sunday Mel Koth of Lytham attended the waters Wilmslow half marathon. Koth finished in 01:32:16, 353 overall, 26th lady and 3rd FV45 out of 3800 runners. Koth reported this was a great organised race with lots of marshals, closed roads and some challenging unexpected climbs. This year was the first year they had also a 10k and fun run. It was a dry but very cold morning with some icy headwind.  

Joanna Goorney at the start of the Edale Skyline

On Sunday, Joanna Goorney ran in the Don Morrison Edale Skyline Fell Race.  The 21-mile-high level route around the Edale valley in the Peak District takes in 4300 feet of ascent.  Conditions this year were particularly dry although there was a cold blustery wind most of the way round.  The excellent pie and peas at Edale village hall after the race was most welcome.  Joanna finished in 117th place, 11th female and 1st V50 in a time of 3:48:52.

Several Lytham runners ran parkruns, and there were several personal best times.  Ross McKelvie was 3rd overall at the Lytham parkrun in a time of 17:34 (pb).  Andrew Draper was next to finish coming 9th in 18:35, Alex Tate was 10th in 19:17 and 14th was Mark Selby in 19:35.  Other Results:  Neil Tate 20:54 (22nd), Darran Ames (21:08), Jennifer Hill 21:31 (30th), Terry Hellings 22:05 (37th), Lewis McAfee 22:05 pb (38th), Mark Hughes 22:30 (41st),  Gavin Stanfield 23:46 (58th), Pamela Binns 28:19 (130th), Sylvia Gittins 29:42 (159th), Gillian Oliver 29:46 (161st), Karen Lanigan 29:53 (162nd), Maria Tierney 31:00 (177th) and Jeremy McCandless 31:04 (179th).

Sue Henry ran the Lancaster parkrun and Kirsten Burnett of Lytham ran the Blackpool parkrun.  G Browne visited Scotland and completed the Dundee parkrun.

Junior News
In a busy weekend for Lytham St Anne’s RRC juniors the main event was the first track and field meeting of the season at Stanley Park where nine Lytham juniors competed over 14 events.

First up for Lytham and also making his debut on the track was 8-year-old Archie Belfield in the under 9s 600m.  Archie comfortably won in an excellent time of 2m 12.4s.  Archie also competed in the 80m and finished 2nd in his heat in 14.2s.  Under 11 girl Jessica McNiven was also making her track debut and finished 7th in the 600m in a time of 2m 37s and 6th in her heat of the 80m in 14.1s.  Lytham had three competitors in the under 13 girls 100m.

Amara Thorpe was the quickest in 15.3s, with Clemmie Tierney finishing in 15.7s and Charlotte Fisher, also making her first appearance on the track, in 17.4s.  Amara and Clemmie also competed in the long jump with Clemmie getting the better of her team mate on this occasion with a best jump of 3.44m for 21st place and Amara clearing 3.26m for 214th.   In her 3rd event of the day Clemmie went on to compete in the 200m and ran well to finish 2nd in her heat in a time of 32.9s.

Under 15 girl Rebecca Fisher’s first event was the 75m hurdles where she finished 5th in a time of 14.75s.  Rebecca was disappointed with her performance in the hurdles but made up for it by comfortably winning the discus with a best throw of 20.28m smashing her previous best for the 1k discus by over 2.5 metres.   Francis Ball in his first race as an under 15 competed in the 800m finishing 5th in 2m 35s.  Sophie Bohannon moved from cross country for the last 3 weekends to the track this week and in her first race as an under 15 ran very well in the 1500m to finish a close 2nd in a personal best time of 5m 9.8s.

Under 17 girl Maddy Markham opted for the 3000m, her first ace over this distance, and finished very well to move into 2nd place overall (1st under 17) just failing to catch the winner by 0.8s.

Saturday morning saw five Lytham juniors make their way to Lytham Hall for parkrun.  First home for Lytham junior was Ben Gregson who finished 17th in 20.28.  Oliver Thomson achieved his target of a sub 21-minute time finishing 20th in a personal best time of 20:53 (1st JM11-14).  Also representing Lytham were Morgan Pritchard (36th in 22:04), Adam Holton (47th in 23:03) and Matthew Holton 99th in 26:33.

7 Lytham athletes competed at the Park View junior parkrun and in excellent conditions 5 achieved personal best times.  First home was Jayden Richardson finishing 1st in a personal best 7:29. Joe Alker (3rd in 8.27), Bobby Hastwell (4th in 8:46), Freddie Markham (6th in 8:54) and Evie Alker (21st in 10:28) also all ran personal best times.  Also representing Lytham were brothers James McAfee (34th in 12:12) and Joshua McAfee (43rd in 13:57)

LSARRC News 19th March 2019

Liz Abbott - 1st female at the Inverness Half Marathon

Liz Abbott put Lytham on the map with an amazing run at Inverness half marathon on 10 March to come back as 1stfemale in1:16:52.   This was Liz’s first half in almost a decade and she took close to 10 minutes off her personal best.  The time means Liz will start next month’s Manchester marathon with the elites. 

 Jacqui Murray, Kirsten Burnett and Laura Byrne at Barcalona Marathon

Also on 10 March, 3 ran Barcelona marathon.  Jacqui Murray was first back in 4:40:08, followed by Kirsten Burnett in 4:51:34 and Laura Byrne in 5:07:27.

Last weekend was a busy one, with over 180 miles of racing in total.  Heidi Haigh was possibly the only one to see sunshine as she ran the Paphos marathon in 4:11:36.

5 members took part in The Wigan Run Festival.  Sue Samme was 1st female in the 5k in 20.19,which ranks her the third in the country. Ian Tate was the next runner back (20:49), Neil Baytun-Roberts (23:14) and Kathy Gaunt (24:22). Terry Hellings ran the 10 mile race in 1:17:13 (1st V65).  Pam Hardman also completed 10 miles, setting a club age record for 1:26.06 and taking the 1st VF60 place.  Pam Binns ran the half marathon in 2:14:32 to win 1st over 70, followed by Sylvia Gittins in 2:21:35 for 2nd over 70.

Four members ran the Lakeland Trails 10k, although unfortunately Michelle Sheridan had to pull out with an injury sustained during the wet and muddy race.  Greg Oulton finished in 1:11:33, Juli Wiseman in 1:17:48, and Gillian Oliver 1:23:03.

Junior member Sophie Bohannon represented Lancashire in the Inter County XC in Leeds, finishing 87th out of 340.

At Lytham Hall parkrun, junior Maddy Markham put in an excellent performance to take the first lady finisher spot, ably paced by fellow club runner and coach Ross McKelvie.  Results were: Maddy Markham 20:13; Ross McKelvie 20:14; Joanna Goorney 20:29; Darran Ames 22:01; James Buckley 23:35; Claire Markham 23:50; Gavin Stanfield 25:08; Morgan Pritchard 25:44; Liz Boon 29:43; Sue Henry 30:06 and Jeremy McCandless 34:59.  Meanwhile at Preston parkrun, Catherine Carrdus was 2nd lady in 20:332.  Catherine was joined by Graham Webster and John Bertenshaw who ran 22:14 and 24:18 respectively.

At Sunday’s Park View junior parkrun, braving hailstones, 8 out of the 55 runners were from the club, including 4 of the 1st 5 finishers. Well done to Jayden Richardson, Finlay Hughes, Eric Wrigley, Joe Alker, Archie Belfield, Freddie Markham, Clemmie Tierney and Evie Alker for showing great spirit in dreadful conditions!

LSARRC News 12th March 2019

 The trio of Koth, Webster and Hellings impressed over the weekend.

On form Graham Webster competed in the British Masters cross country championships held in Stormont, Belfast on 9th March. Graham finished the 6k race in a time of 28:17 to take 15th place overall and 4th in his MV65 age category.  On the same day, Terry Hellings competed in the New Longton 10k on Saturday 9th.  In adverse conditions Hellings ran well to finish 50th in 45:55 also picking up the prize for 1st place in his MV65 age category.

Graham  Webster finishing the British Masters XC Champs

On Sunday 6 Lytham runners faced the horrible weather at Irwell 20-mile race near Manchester.  Melanie Koth ran superbly was the first lady to finish the course, and it was 4 minutes before the course had another female finisher, they experienced all four seasons during the race, heavy rain, hailstorm, heavy snowfall and a little bit of sunshine. Due to the weather conditions a lot of park paths were flooded, deep with mud, more like a xc race. The marshals were amazing, very supportive and encouraging!

Lytham runners at the Irwell 20 mile race

First back for Lytham was Neil Tate, 22nd overall, 2:27:06, Mel Koth was 30th overall, 1st lady, 2:35:43, Sue Hawitt 160th overall, 3:11:19, Lewis McAffee 161st, 3:11:33, Heidi Haigh 175th, 3:16:36.

 Several runners completed parkruns across the country over the weekend.  Jonathon Tuck, John Graeme Bertenshaw and Julia Rolfe completed the 3 lap Preston parkrun the times were as follows (22:15, 25:10 and 26:33.  Joanna Goorney was the second female finisher at the Huddersfield parkrun and G Browne completed the Inverness parkrun.  Chris McCarthy was 2nd at the Lytham parkrun finishing in 17:19, Ross McKelvie was 9th in 20:27 and the Darran Ames 15th, in 21:43.  Claire Markham was 3rd female in 23:26, other results Richard Harry Storey 23:50, Jason Sheridan 27:54, Julie Wiseman 31:12, Susan Hawitt 31:51, Jeremy McCandless 33:40, Michelle Sheridan 34:52, Maria Tierney 34:52, Claire England 36:30, Clare Taylor 36:49 and Sue Henry 38:04.

Junior News
Lytham’s Sophie Bohannon earned her first county vest when being selected to represent Lancashire in the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships held at Prestwold Hall, Loughborough on Saturday 9th March.  Sophie justified her selection running well in the under 13 girls race to finish 104th overall in a time of 14:15 and as 3rd counter for the Lancashire team helping Lancashire into 16th place.

Saturday also saw four Lytham juniors ran in the Lytham Hall 5k parkrun.  First home for Lytham juniors was 15 year old Maddy Markham who ran well in difficult conditions to finish 10th overall and 1st her JW11-15 age category in a time of 20:26.  Ben Gregson was next in 13th place also taking first place in his JM15-17 age category in 21:29.  11 year old Clemmie Tierney also took first place in her age category of JW11-14 finishing 69th overall in 26:16.  12 year old Morgan Pritchard recovering from injury completed his 94th parkrun in 27:35 finishing 87th.

Torrential rain did not deter 43 hardy junior athletes running at the Park View junior parkrun on Sunday including 6 Lytham juniors.  First home for Lytham was Jayden Richardson finishing 1st in 7:43 comfortably of second placed Joe Alker also a Lytham athlete finishing in 8:31.  Freddie Markham was next Lytham athlete finishing  7th in 9:28.  Despite the adverse conditions Evie Alker improved her pb by 7 seconds finishinvg 20th in 10:53.  Also flying the Lytham flag were brothers Joshua and James  McAfee  finishing 40th and 43rd in 15:13 and 17:55 respectively.

LSARRC News 5th March 2019

Lytham ladies finish top at Cuerden Valley.

Lytham Ladies at Cuerden Valley

In the final race of the mid-Lancs cross-country season at Cuerden Valley Park on Saturday Lytham ladies impressed finishing first in the team events.  The first team consisted of Joanna Goorney(4th), Catherine Carrdus (9th) and Melanie Koth (15th), all ran impressively to secure top spot for the team.  Amazingly this team were also first team in the over 35 category and over 45’s.  The second team of Claire Markham (48th), Julia Role (81st), and Debbie Francis 112th were a credit to the club and overall the team came 24th.

Jonathan Tuck

Sadly, the Lytham’s men had a fight to avoid relegation at Cuerden Valley.  After two promotions in successive seasons, staying in the top division was a challenge. After the first five races they were equal on 16 points with two other teams. One of these three teams had to be relegated and, sadly, Lytham were that team by the narrowest of margins.

Dominic Garrett followed by Andy Draper

The first six from each club count for their first team and Lytham have had a total of twelve counters over the season. Only two have counted in all six, Joe Greenwood and Tom Howarth. For the fourth time this season Joe valiantly led the team home as the first counter for the club in 38th position overall. The forecasted rain did not materialise, and the going was quite firm allowing Joe to achieve a faster time on this course than last season.

Jonathan Tuck was the other member of the team to finish in the top fifty with Tom, Dominic Garrett, Andy Draper and Paul Veevers making up the rest of the team.

The best result of the day for the men was in the vet 60 men where Lytham’s team of Graham Webster, Terry Hellings and John Burtenshaw finished second to earn bronze for the season overall.

Parkrun news, lots of members completed courses around the country.  At the Lytham Hall Parkrun Chris McCarthy was first to fnish in 17:54.  Alex Tate was next home for the club in 7th with a time of 18:57. Graham Webster ran 20:54 for 16th and Darran Ames was next in 19th position with a run of 21:04.  Other results included:  Paul Veevers 22:55, G Browne 23:12, Stephen Tate 25:41, Adrian Sargent 26:03, Bob Clough 27:03, Jeremy McCandless 29:05, Pamela Binns 29:57, Sue Henry 29:58 and Ruth Bye 35:00.

Jennifer Hill ran the Chadderton Hall parkrun in 23:34, closer to home at the Blackpool parkrun Lewis Mcafee manged to finish the course in 22:51.  Jason and Michelle Sheridan ran the Fell Foot parkrun at Newby Bridge and Neil Tate ran the Tollgate parkrun in Glasgow.

Junior news

A busy weekend for Lytham St Anne’s RRC juniors started at Cuerden Valley on Saturday with the final fixture of the Mid Lancs cross country league.   First race of the day was the under 13 girls 1.8k race where Lytham had 5 athletes.  First home for Lytham was 10-year-old Ellie Francis running well to finish 37th in a time of 7:24 with Clemmie Tierney not far behind in 46th with a time of 7:37. Rose McIntyre in only her second ever race for the club finished 55th in 8:05 to bring the team home in 11th place.  Also representing Lytham were Ella Wiseman 62nd in 8:40 and Rosa Gill 86th in 9:16.

 In the under 11 boys race Finlay Hughes had his best race of the season to finish 26th in 6:23 with Eric Wrigley Lytham (41st in 6:45) and Archie Belfield (44th in 6:48) completing the team that finished 8th.

Sophie Bohannon was Lytham’s only representative in the 2.7k under 13 girls race and ran well to finish 5th in 10:46 which earned her third place overall for the season.

In the under 13 boys race Oliver Thomson finished 36th in 15:32. In the under 15 girls race Madeline Markham had an excellent run to finish 7th in a time of 14:26 with Brogan Murphy 25th in 16:35.  Lytham final competitor of the day was Ben Gregson in who finished 39th in 16:11 in the under 15 boys’ race.

Accrington Ron Hill Fun Run

Sunday saw ten Lytham juniors make to the Accrington Ron Hill Fun Run, the first race in the Lytham junior road race championship.  First home for Lytham and winning the race was Jayden Richardson in 6:08.  Eric Wrigley and Archie Belfield both in their 2nd race of the weekend finished 3rd and 4th respectively in 6:42 and 6:45.  Max Walker was next of the Lytham juniors finishing 8th in 6:57.  First of the Lytham girls was Clemmie Tierney also in her 2nd race of the weekend finished 11th in 7:14.  Also representing Lytham were Kiefer Richardson (16th in 7:51), Leoma Gill (19th in 8:04), Ella Wiseman in her 2nd race of the weekend (21st in 8:11), Emily Wrigley (23rd in 8:23) and Rosa Gill also in her second race of the weekend (26th in 8:59).

Morgan Pritchard finished 22nd in Saturday’s Lytham parkrun finishing in a time of 21:14.

Just 5 Lytham juniors ran in the Park View parkrun.  Joe Alker was first home for Lytham (3rd in 8:32).  Also flying the Lytham flag were Freddie Markham (14th in 9:30), Evie Alker 28th in (11:00), James McAfee (43rd in 12:21) and Joshua McAfee in a new personal best time of 12:58.