LSARRC News 30th March 2022

It was a busy weekend of racing for Lytham St Annes Road Runners, with hills, mountains and continental marathons all on the agenda.

Pam Hardman headed to Rome to tackle the Italian city’s marathon, taking on the 26.2 mile course alongside her son.  The first spring marathon in the city for three years was held in warm conditions, and Hardman finished in 4hrs 45mins.

Closer to home were half marathons for senior runners in both Sheffield and Liverpool.

And over in Yorkshire an exceptionally hilly course greeted Ross McKelvie at the Sheffield City Half Marathon, which heads out of the city centre and into the Peaks.  Despite the testing elevation, McKelvie ran well to finish 15th in 1hr 17mins.

Meanwhile in Liverpool, Mick Widdop completed the city’s half marathon course in 1hr 58mins.

Going one mile further in the Lakes on Saturday were Catherine Carrdus and John Bertenshaw.  Taking on the Coniston 14, Bertenshaw finished in 1hr 54 with Carrdus just behind in 1hr 55mins.

Back in the Peaks, Jo Goorney raced her first long distance fell race since March 2019, tackling the Don Morrison Edale Skyline Fell Race.  The 21-mile race involves a difficult 4300feet of ascent, taking in some of the area’s classic hills, and Goorney completed the challenge in 4hrs 15mins.

For the juniors there were some excellent performances at Lytham’s junior parkrun on Sunday.  Jayden Richardson finished first in 7:20 with Reuben May running his third personal best in four weeks to finish second in 8:22.  Georgina Andrews finished third overall and as first girl in 8:25.  Evie Alker finished seventh overall in 9:528 with club  mates Joshua and James McAfee just behind in eighth and ninth both achieving personal bests of 9:41 and 9:43 respectively.  Lewis Ames (17th in 12:07) was Lytham’s final representative.

For some of the juniors it was their second parkrun of the weekend, having already joined the senior runners at Lytham Hall’s 5k event on Saturday.  Ross McKelvie led the club home with a first place 17:32 finish, with junior Jayden Richardson 7th in 19:40 - a new personal best for the youngster.  Reuben May ran his first 5km parkrun and finished in 24:36.

LSARRC News 23rd March 2022

Juniors at the Mad March Hare

MAD March hares had nothing on Lytham St Annes Road Runners’ athletes’ speed this weekend.

A packed racing schedule saw a strong squad of runners take on the Mad March Hare 5km, 10km and fun runs in Preston’s Moor Park, a mother-daughter duo racing in Pilling and 13.1 miles over in Wilmslow.

Claire and Maddy at Pilling

The first race of the weekend was Saturday’s Pilling 10km, which saw Claire Markham and daughter Maddy running in green.  The pair ran the fast, flat course together, finishing in 52:22.

The following day it was the turn of the runners in Preston, with a mix of seniors and juniors making the short journey for the Mad March Hare.

Sue Hawitt (24:31), Roy Stevens (27:15) and Juli Wiseman (31:06) all took on the 5km distance, while Mark Selby completed the 10km course in 44:43 for fourth place overall.

There was a strong showing from the club’s youngsters, with the fun run forming part of junior road race championship.  Seven runners took part and filled the first seven places, with Jayden Richardson leading the way in 4:14.  Just a few seconds separated Joe Alker (4:48), Reuben May (4:53) and Kiefer Richardson (4:57) in second, third and fourth respectively.  Next two home in fifth and sixth were Evie Alker (5:31) and Eve Selby (6:14) finishing as first and second girls.  Arthur May was seventh in 6:25.

Mel Koth at Wilmslow HM

The prize for the weekend’s longest competitive run went to Mel Koth, who headed to Wilmslow Half Marathon.  The well-supported race takes runners through the beautiful surroundings of Wilmslow, and Koth ran well to finish strongly in 1:31:32 - sixth V45 out of 163 and 35th lady overall.

Despite Sunday’s junior parkrun taking place just a few hours before the juniors’ Mad March Hare race, Jayden Richardson finished first at Park View in 7:25 while Reuben May (8:25) and Kiefer Richardson (8:40) ran new personal bests for third and fourth.  Jack McNiven also ran a personal best of 8:09 for second, while Georgina Andrews (8:42) was first girl. Jessica McNiven (9:02), Joshua McAfee (10:03) and Lewis Ames (12:04) also represented the club.

At Saturday’s Lytham Hall parkrun the club filled the first three places with Rosa McKelvie first in 17:37, followed by Alistair Leivers (17:37) and Joe Greenwood (18:08).  There were new PBs for G Cunliffe (22:58) and Evie Alker (26:38).  Also running were Mark Selby (21:31), Chris Cottam (21:42), Chris Bowker (23:13), Freddie Markham (23:39), Andrew Draper (23:53), Stephen Wise (24:25), Peter Reid (24:57), Barry Broughton (25:49), Kirsten Burnett (26:53), Joe Alker (26:57), Archie Belfield (27:48), Jennifer Hill (28:21), Pamela Binns (29:28), Sue Hawitt (33:57), Michelle Sheridan (34:49), Sarah Cook (36:00), Terry Hellings (43:24), Juli Wiseman (53:08) and Laura Byrne (53:10).

LSARRC News 16th March 2022

 

LSARRC runners at th Trimpell 20

Marathon training reached its peak for four of Lytham’s runners this weekend, as they headed to Lancaster to tackle 20 miles.  Gill Draper, Barbara Holmes, Lewis McAfee and Kate Price Edward all headed north for the Trimpell 20 on Sunday. And it was Draper who recorded the fastest time for the club, storming home in 2:22:06 to finish 3rd lady.  Holmes was 1st FV60 in 3:02:01, with Price Edward and McAfee just behind in 3:17:28 and 3:17:30 respectively.

On the other side of Lancashire it was a shorter distance but an enormous hill for another five Lytham St Annes Roadrunners.  The Red Hot Toddy 10km, organised by Todmorden Harriers, features a steep uphill in the first half before a scenic downhill section.  Sue Hawitt finished first for the club in 59:12, followed by Kirsten Burnett in 1:00:11.  Sylvia Gittins was first FV75 in 1:07:22, with Michelle Sheridan and Kathy Gaunt in 1:15:29.

Red Hot Toddy 10km runners

On Saturday, 14 of the club’s members travelled to Townley Park, Burnley for the final fixture of the Mid-Lancs Cross Country League season.

For the ladies, Maddy Markham finished in 24:13 for 14th senior woman and 5th under-20.  Barbara Holmes (24:55) and Catherine Carrdus (25:07) joined Markham to place 4th team on the day.  Helen Rennie (26:32), Claire Markham (27:22) and Kirsten Burnett (29:48) were 14th team on the day, while Julie Wiseman (32:23), Pam Binns (34:42), Sylvia Gittins (36:18) also raced.

Lytham ladies at Burnley XC

Overall, the ladies FV35 and FV45 teams took home the season championship, while the FV55 team finished second in a tie-break.  Holmes is the outright FV55 champion, while Joanna Goorney finished champion FV45 and 2nd FV35.

In the junior races, Georgina Andrews finished 12th in the 2k under-11 girls race in 7:56, leaving her 8th overall for the season.

Archie Belfield just missed out on a medal for the under-11 boys, ending the season 4th overall after finishing 19th with a 2k time of 7:28. In the same race Reuben May ran 7:52 in his first cross country.  Freddie Markham ran the 3.2k under-13s race in 13:02, to finish 14th.

In the senior mens race the club had five competitors, but couldn’t save themselves from relegation from the top division for next season.  Ross McKelvie finished 14th in 34:42, Joe Greenwood 21st in 36:21, followed by Jonathon Tuck (33rd 37:16), Dan Gregson (121st 44:31) and Peter Thomson 153rd 52:22.

Lytham Men at Burnley XC

At parkrun for the club, G Cunliffe ran a new personal best of 22:16 at Fleetwood Promenade, where he was joined by Graham Webster (21:50).  Chris Cottam was the club’s first finisher at Lytham Hall (21:56, 6th), followed by Mark Selby (22:19, 10th). There were 12 other club members running, including junior Evie Alker who finished in 27:22.

Finally at Sunday’s junior parkrun Jayden Richardson again finished first in 7:20, Joe Alker fourth in 8:15 and Reuben May 5th in 8:35.  Jessica McNiven was first girl in 9:12.  Also representing Lytham were Kiefer Richardson (7th in 9:13), Evie Alker in her second park run of the weekend (9th in 9:34), Jack McNiven (13th in 10:14) and Lewis Ames (30th in 13:30).

LSARRC News 9th March 2022

Parkrun took centre stage for Lytham St Annes Roadrunners this weekend.

Both the seniors and juniors were in action at Lytham’s 5km and 2km events, with some of the club’s younger members taking on both parkruns.

Ross McKelvie ran out winner at Lytham Hall on Saturday in 18:22, followed by club-mate Joe Greenwood who was second in 19:02.In 4th place there was a new personal best for junior runner Jayden Richardson, who ran 19:56.  Gill Draper ran well to finish 2nd female and 11th overall in 21:07, followed by Chris Cottam in 21:45 and Neil Tate in 22:11.  Also running were Graham’s Webster (22:38), Dan Gregson (22:49), Stephen Wise (25:17), Peter Reid( 25:54), Peter Thomson (26:21), Barry Broughton (26:24), Evie Alker (27:13), Liz Canavan (27:26), Joshua McAfee (29:47), Lewis McAfee (29:47), Vicki Richardson (29:48), Pamela Binns (29:48), Adrian Sargent (30:02), Ruth Bye (31:27), Jacqui Murray (32:12), Jennifer Hill (33:25).  Sarah Cook (41:56) and Terry Hellings (42:53) both accompanied members of the club’s couch to 5k group, who are currently on week seven of the programme.

On Sunday, Jayden Richardson secured his second personal best of the weekend at Park View, running the junior parkrun in 7:16 to finish first.  Lytham juniors filled six of the first eight places, with Archie Belfield and Jack McNiven finishing fourth and fifth in 8:212 and 8:25 respectively.  Reuben May also produce a personal best performance of 8:31 for sixth place with tea mates Joe Alker and Kiefer Richardson the next two home in 8:40 and 8:59.  Evie Alker finished as first girl and 11th overall in 9:19, a personal best time.  Lewis Ames completed the Lytham contingent finishing in 12:30 for 34th position.

Away from parkrun Gillian Oliver ran the inaugural Preston, Fylde and Wyre Granny’s Bay Challenge race on Sunday.  The race had a six hour time limit, with runners running as many of the 5.24 mile loops from the Fairhaven Lake spitfire as they wished.  Gillian completed one loop to officially secure her finishers medal.

Gillian Oliver

LSARRC News 2nd March 2022