LSARRC News 25th May 2022

Gill and Chris in Manchester

THE streets of Manchester were paved with personal bests this weekend, as runners from Lytham St Annes Road Runners Club headed to the city.  Gill Draper and Chris Cottam both secured their fastest half marathons at the Great Manchester Run on Sunday.  And Gill's time of 1:26:38 means she will be lining up in the Championship start  of next year's London Marathon, having smashed the required 1:28:00 qualifying time over the 13.1 mile course.  Chris ran 1:39:43 to secure a new personal best over the distance.

And 24 hours earlier two of the club's juniors were in action in the city, competing in the 2.5km Junior Great Manchester Run.  Brothers Jayden and Kiefer Richardson both took part, with older brother Jayden 5th in the 12-15 category in 08:00 and Kiefer 17th in 9-11 category in 09:58.

Back on the Fylde Coast, Sylvia Gittins ran the Blackpool Promenade 10-miler in 1:45:55, finishing 2nd in the FV65+ category.

And three sports were better than one for a trio of LSARRC athletes, who competed in the ever popular St Annes sprint triathlon – part of the Fylde Tri-Ology series.  Run along St Annes Promenade, the event involves a 750 metre swim, 20km cycle and 5km run.  Chris Bowker finished 82nd in 1:24:09, Roy Stevens 97th in 1:26:34 and Stuart Henderson 131st in 1:35:19.

At Lytham Hall parkrun Louise Cox finished first female in 21:45, there was a new PB for Barry Broughton of 24:37 while Jacqui Murray ran her 100th event.  

On Sunday 11 of the club's juniors took part in Park View's Junior parkrun, with LSARRC athletes filling the first five places.  Jayden Richardson was first overall in 7:05, followed by Joe Alker (7:53), Reuben may (8:09) and Kiefer Richardson (8:10) who all ran personal bests to finish second, third and fourth.  Jessica McNiven finished fifth overall and first girl in 8:43, while there were also personal bests for Joshua McAfee (13th in 9:24) and Arthur May (21st in 10:19).  Also representing Lytham were Evie Alker (11th in 9:10), Jack McNiven (17th in 9:48), James McAfee (22nd in 10:19) and Lewis Ames (56th in 16:34).

LSARRC News 18th May 2022

Maddy Markham at Lancs Champs

PODIUM success was on the cards – or rather the track – for Lytham St Annes Road Runner's (LSARR) athletes this weekend, as they kept their sprinting local at Blackpool's Stanley Park.

Junior athlete Maddy Markham and senior runner Ross McKelvie both returned home clutching silverware from the Lancashire Championships meet.  Markham was first junior woman – and third overall – in the 3000m to become Lancashire champion in 12mins 40.2 secs, while Ross McKelvie's sixth place finish saw him take the senior title for the county in 9 mins 25.8 secs.

Junior Oliver Thomson competed in the a very competitive under 15 boys 800m race finishing seventh in a huge personal best of 2m 17.1s.

Success continued for the club's ladies on Thursday night, when it was Lytham's turn to the host the monthly Interclub race.  On a windy night on St Annes Promenade, 35 green runners joined the 320-strong field – made up of Blackpool, Wesham, Thornton-Cleveleys, Red Rose, Wesham and Chorley running clubs – for the five mile race.

Joe Greenwood was the first Lytham runner home, completing the course – which starts and finished at the beach huts before heading toward Ansdell for a lap of Fairhaven Lake – in 30:24, closely followed by Jon Tuck in 30:49.

But it was the ladies who were the success story for the second event running, Gill Draper running well to finish fourth lady overall in 32:13, with Mel Koth (sixth lady; 33:27), Jo Goorney (seventh; 34:00), Jennifer Hill (10th; 35:53) and Louise Cox (11th 36:05) completing the team, who remain top of the leaderboard after two races.  There was also a second-place finish on the night for the FV40 team, who sit second overall, Claire Markham (38:54) and Sue Hawitt (42:06) joining Koth, Goorney and Cox.  Maddy Markham was first junior female in 36:18.

Also running for LSARR were Dom Kirby (33:01), James Whittle (33:12), Stephen Wilde (33:42), Chris Cottam (33:53), Morgan Pritchard (34:55), Ross McKelvie (36:20), Alistair Leivers (36:21), Dan gregson (36:30), Graham Webster (36:49), David Butler (37:38), John Bertenshaw (37:39), Leanne Nield (37:57), Kate Price-Edwards (38:36), Peter Reid (40:28), Alex Wiggins (42:04), Barry Broughton (42:09), Greg Oulton (43:53), Roy Stevens (44:01), Ian Tate (44:09), Ruth Williams (44:45), Steve Jones (45:20), Matt Jones (45:20), Kirsten Burnett (45:47), Elizabeth Canavan (46:50), and Vicki Richardson (tail walker – 1:06:43).

Michelle Chadwick at Chester HM

On Sunday, the club had two runners in the Essar 40th Chester Half Marathon.  A hot and humid day saw over 4000 runners take to the streets, with Michelle Chadwick finishing in 1:32:56 and Mick Widdop in 2hrs 4mins.

Mel Koth travelled North to take on the Epic Montane Howgills trail 13, which starts and ends in Sedbergh and  involves 2954ft of ascent over the Calf and takes in Cauntley Spouts – England's highest cascade waterfall.  In an unusual twist the route had to be changed for the last two miles because of baby lambs on the course, adding a extra half mile to the distance.  Koth knocked an impressive six minutes off her time from last year, finishing seventh overall, second lady and first overall veteran in 2:21:27.

Earlier in the week Jo Goorney competed in the third race of the Trunce Fell race Series, a four mile course from Oxspring, Barnsley, which has 400ft of ascent and crosses three rivers. Goorbey was 2nd female in 33:21.

At parkrun, Gill Draper headed to Preston for the 10 year anniversary event, finishing first lady in 19:46, while at Lytham Hall there were new personal bests for juniors Reuben May (23:51) and Joshua McAfee (25:55).

Finally there were some excellent performances from Lytham’s juniors at Sundays Park View junior parkrun.  First to cross the finish line for the 13th consecutive week was Jayden Richardson in 7:05 with club mate Joe Alker second in 8:09.  Georgina Andrews was fifth overall and second girl in 8:22.  Evie Alker finished eighth in a personal best of 09:00, with Joshua McAfee 12th in his second parkrun personal best of the weekend of 9:34.  Lewis Ames (46th in 12:06).  Arthur May (25th in 10:21) and Kiefer Richardson performing tail walker duties (73rd in 17:39) completed the Lytham contingent.

LSARRC News 11th May 2022

Barbara Holmes

LYTHAM's triathlon queen has hit the top spot – yet again.  Barbara Holmes flew the Lytham St Annes Road Runners' flag in Mallorca this weekend, as she took on her first-ever "Ironman".  And, true to form, the British triathlon World Champion blew the competition out of the water to finish 1st in her F60-64 age category and earn herself a spot at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, later this year.
Holmes finished the gruelling course – 3.9km swim, 170km bike ride and a 26.2 mile run – in 12hrs 40mins and one second.

Closer to home, the green team were out in force over the shorter 10km distance on Sunday.  The ladies headed for the hills to take on the Blacksticks 10km, while several runners opted to stay closer to home for the ever-popular Blackpool Beaverbrooks 10km.

Jon Tuck was the first LSARRC runner to cross the line with a new PB of  37:21, and there was a sensational performance on the resort's Promenade from 13-year-old junior Jayden Richardson, who ran 40:49 in his first official 10km race.  Michelle Chadwick also ran extremely well to finish in 41:01 for 3rd lady, closely followed by new member James Whittle, who ran a new 10km personal best of 41:50.  Chris Cottam came home in 43:20, closely followed by junior Morgan Pritchard in 43:30, and Neil Tate in 43:32.  Jennifer Hill ran a family affair with husband Matt and pushing one-year-old son, Vinnie, and finished in 55:10.

Blackpool 10k (l-r Chris Cottam, James Whittle, Neil Tate and centre Jayden Richardson)

Over in Whitechapel, commemorative Blacksticks Blue Cheese awaiting the finishers of the annual 10km road race.  Claire Markham was first to finish for the Road Runners in 53:36, followed by Kirsten Burnett in 1:00:20, Pam Binns – who picked up a prize for first FV75 – in 1:03:48, and Sylvia Gittins in 1:06:51.

Blacksticks Blue (l-r Sylvia Gittins, Pam Binns, Kirsten Burnett, Claire Markham)

There was another 10km race happening in Chorley, with Mick Widdop LSARRC's sole representative.  He ran 53:54 in the event, which took runners through the streets of the town and Astley Park.

And a busy Sunday of athletics also saw Carlisle's Sheepmount Stadium host the second fixture of the Mid Lancs Track and Field League.  Greg Oulton managed to find time away from officiating duties to finish first in the senior men's discus with a throw of 13.72m, fifth in the 1500m in 7:18 and 4th in the 3000m in 15mins 2.5secs.  Ross McKelvie also travelled up the Cumbria for the club and took a comfortable victory in the 3000m in 9mins 37.2secs.

Down South, Paul McAllister ran 57:52 at Woodbridge 10km in Suffolk.

LSARRC News 4th May 2022

Ross McKelvie

PERSONAL bests and first place finishes capped a great week of running for Lytham St Annes Road Runners.

Chris Cottam

Ross McKelvie stormed to victory in the Avenham Park 5km, finishing in an impressive 16:58.  It was a good Bank Holiday Monday for Chris Cottam who secured himself a new personal best of 20:36 in the same race, with Mel Koth just behind him - her time of 20:42 was enough for 3rd lady.

Mel Koth

And Lytham also led the way in the junior 2km race, with Jayden Richardson taking first place overall in 4:50 and Georgina Andrews first girl (4th overall) in 5:47.  Joe Alker was 2nd in 5:21, Evie Alker 10th (3rd girl) in 6:24, Kiefer Richardson 11th in 6:29 and Eve Selby 14th (5th girl) in 6:57.

 

Earlier in the week there was success for Louise Cox, who finally secured a sub-45 minute 10km run, running 44:02 at the Run Media City event in Salford, first in her V50 category.

Mick Widdop took part in the Morecambe Half Marathon on Sunday, running 1:59 on a difficult course, which took in the beach.

The McAfee family travelled to Liverpool to take part in the John West Running Festival.  Juniors James and Joshua - who also set a new 5km parkrun PB of 27:03 at Lytham Hall on Saturday - took part in the 2km race, finishing in 8:59 and 9:19 respectively.  Dad Lewis ran the 10km race, finishing in 51:07.

There was very different terrain for Joanna Goorney, who took part in 67th Peaks Fell Race on Saturday.  The race took in Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough, across the 23.3mile course, which includes 5279km of ascent.  Joanna finished in 4:34:12 for 195th place.

Also taking on the fells were Claire Markham and Julia Rolfe, who took part in Sunday’s six mile Hambledon Hill run.  Claire - in her first fell race - finished in 1:03:51 and Julia in 1:05:01.  

Earlier in the week, there was a club outing to the Ripley Supper Run, a four mile run in Lancaster ending with pie and peas.  Neil Tate finished first of the club’s 16 runners in 27:36.  Also running were Mark Hughes (28:24), Graham Webster (29:02), Dan Gregson (29:07), Lewis McAfee (29:52), Kate price Edwards (30:47), Pamela Hardman (33:06), Barry Broughton (33:40), Sue Hawitt (34:23), Greg Oulton (35:19), Julia Rolfe (35:27), Ruth Williams (35:44), Catherine MacLachlan (35:57), Liz Canavan (36:13), Kat Fawcett (41:19) and Richard Storey (41:21).