LSARRC News 29th June 2022

Barbara Holmes

 LYTHAM St Annes Road Runners can once again boast it is the home of a triathlon world champion.

Barbara Holmes secured the age-group world title at the Championships in Montreal not just once but twice – taking the sprint triathlon crown solo and then following it up with the first-ever mixed relay title.  Competing in the 60-64 category, Holmes completed her solo event in 1hr 17 mins and 18 secs – including 23mins 55 secs for her 5km run – and then followed it up with the fourth and final leg of the mixed relay (300m swim, 5km bike, 1.6km run) in 27 mins 41 secs.

Lytham men at Catforth

Locally a strong men's team headed to Catforth 5km on Saturday night, with Ross McKelvie leading the way with a second place finish in 15:56.  Chris Cottam ran 19:57 with Jonathan Tuck just behind in 19:59, Dan Gregson finished in 21:51, Stephen Wise in 23:19, Greg Oulton in 25:28 and Richard Storey in 25:50.

The club had four runners over in Southport on Sunday, as Fylde Coast Runners staged the town's half marathon.  Ian Tate was first to complete the 13.1 mile course for the club, finishing in 1hr 55mins and 38secs.  Next was Mick Widdop in 1:57:24, followed by Lewis McAfee in 1:58:19 and Scott Gall in 2:10:12.

Out on the Fells it was the ladies tackling the tough terrain.

Jo Goorney at The Trunce #5

Mid-week Jo Goorney headed over to Barnsley for Race five of the Trunce Fell Race Series, a four mile course with 400ft of ascent and three river crossings. Jo finished first female in 32:32.  She returned to the hills on Saturday to take on a much toucher challenge – the Lakeland Five Passes Ultra, complete with 10000 ft of ascent.  Battling sideways hailstones at the highest point of the 32-mile course, Jo finished in 8hours and 24 minutes.

And a team of three ladies entered Aggies Staircases Fell Race – Claire Markham was first home in 48:55, Pam Hardman was first FV60 in 51:42 and Julia Rolfe finished in 52:05.

At junior parkrun, a fantastic run from Jayden Richardson saw him finally break his parkrun PB at Park View, running under seven minutes to finish first in 6:57 – it was his second parkrun PB of the weekend after he ran 20:15 at Blackpool' Stanley Park event on Saturday.  Bobby Hastwell also ran a personal best at Park View to finish second in 08:00.  Also representing Lytham were William Coward (4th in 8:27), Reuben May (5th in 8:31), Kiefer Richardson (7th in 8:55), Evie Alker (9th and first girl, 9:28), Arthur May (10:32) and Lewis Ames (15:47).

LSARRC News 22nd June 2022

LSARRC at Preston InterClub

LYTHAM St Annes Road Runners' ladies swept the board yet again as local clubs met to race this season's third Interclub.

Preston Harriers were the host for last Wednesday's race, which took place over a 3.7mile in the city's Avenham Park.  Racing against athletes from Wesham, Blackpool, Thornton-Cleveleys, Preston, Chorley and Red Rose, the ladies in green romped to victory for the third successive race.

Gill Draper at Preston IC

Gill Draper led the charge, finishing fourth lady overall in 24:22, followed by Michelle Chadwick – sixth in 24:30 – Jo Goorney in 25:30 for seventh and Jennifer Hill eight in 25:51.  Mel Koth completed the team, running 26:07 for 9th.

Ross McKelvie was the club's first finisher, fourth overall in 20:15.

The ladies' vet 40 team also performed well, finishing a close second to Wesham, with Louise Cox (13th in 27:06), Claire Markham (34th 30:35) and Ruth Williams (53rd 33:41) joining Goorney and Koth in the veterans team.

And there was a junior victory for Maddy Markham – competing while in the middle of her A-Levels - who finished 10th lady overall in 26:12.

On the track, Alistair Leivers raced in the 5000m at the Loughborough BMC meet and recorded a new personal best – winning his race in 15mins and 44secs.

Pam Hardman headed over to the North East for the 30th Durham Dales challenge – a 14 mile race which she completed in 2hrs 59mins.

And there was a half marathon for Mel Koth, who was in Cumbria for the Lakesman half triathlon.  The race is a half Ironman distance triathlon in Keswick, with a mass start and 600 swimmers all tackling the open water simultaneously, followed  by a 54-mile bike ride and a three-lap half-marathon distance run to finish.  Despite injuring herself on her penultimate lap of the run, Koth performed well to completed the race in 5hrs 50mins and 32secs – coming 251st overall and seventh V45 out of 48.

LSARRC at Freckleton HM

Closer to home, the UK's oldest half marathon was stage din Freckleton on Sunday – dating back to 1965 it has an unusual afternoon start time and while Sunday's event was by no means the hottest in recent history, the emergence of the afternoon sun added to the challenge.

Michelle Chadwick

Joe Greenwood was first back for the club and 4th overall in 1:29:42, followed by Michelle Chadwick in1:34:03 to take the prize for third lady.  Roy Stevens was third M70 (2:09:21) and Pam Binns first F75 (2:23:03).  James Whittle smashed his personal best with a time of 1:36:07, closely followed by Alex Tate (1:37:50) and Tom Howarth (1:39:53).  Also running for LSARRC were Chris Cottam (1:46:50); Chris Bowker (1:59:40); Neil tate (2:02:46), Kev Murray (2:08:24), Kirsten Burnett (2:17:53), Sue Henry (2:17:54) and Derek Appleton (2:30:46).

And in the junior two mile race there was a comfortable victory for Jayden Richardson – fresh from his first place junior parkrun of 7mins 5secs – with team-mate Ava Fiddler putting in an excellent sprint finish to finish second girl in only her second race for the club, just ahead of Georgina Andrews.

Full LSARRC Interclub results: Dom Kirby 24:40, Dominic Garrett 24:46, Thomas Howarth 25:54, Chris Cottam 25:52, James Whittle 25:55, Dan Gregson 27:20, Graham Webster 27:54, Mark Hughes 28:23, John Bertenshaw 28:49, Lewis McAfee 29:06, Steve Wise 30:23, Ian Tate 32:34, Peter Thomson 33:07, Julia Rolfe 33:56, Kirsten Burnet 34:03, Elizabeth Canavan 34:26, Catherine MacLachlan 34:49, Lia Murphy 35:31, Julie Wiseman 36:24, Pam Binns 37:33, Jacqui Murray 39:35, Sue Henry 42:29, Laura Byrne 42:30, Sarah Cook 45:55.

LSARRC News 15th June 2022

LSARRC News 8th June 2022

LSARRC at the Carnival 5k

IT WAS a welcome return for the Carnival 5k this weekend, as Lytham St Annes Road Runners welcomed dozens to the seafront.

The club-organised summer race takes runners from St Annes Promenade down to Fairhaven Lake, before doubling back to finish at the Pier.  And 14 LSARRC members joined the field for the senior 5k, with 10 club juniors in the 1.5km fun run.

Alistair Leivers

Alistair Leivers ran a strong race to finish the 5k second overall, his time of 15:51 was just one second outside the club record.  The holder of that record, Ross McKelvie, finished fourth in 16:15, followed by Joe Greenwood in 10th (18:09), Chris Cottam (13th, 20:07), and Mark Selby (14th, 20:26).  Neil Tate finished in 22:18, Peter Reid in 23:49, Barry Broughton in 24:42 and Steven Jones in 25:23.

Ruth Williams was the first club lady to finish in 26:01, followed by Pam Binns who broke the club’s V75 record with her time of 28:27, Julie Wiseman finished in 28:30 and Lia Murphy in 28:38.

Bob Clough was one of four members of his family running in the race, and finished in 31:08 - narrowly pipped by his wife.

In the fun run, 12-year-old Jayden Richardson was first boy and second overall in 05:24, followed by Joe Alker (05:50), Jessica McNiven (06:23) and Reuben May (06:24).  Georgina Andrews finished in 06:25, Ava Fiddler in 06:28, Kiefer Richardson in 06:46, Jack McNiven in 06:50, Evie Alker in 06:57 and Arthur May in 07:52.

Mel Koth

There was a very different run for club members Mel Koth, Mark Johnston and Emma Johnston, who took on the Montane Ullswater Trail Race.  Mel opted for the 10-mile loop between Pooley Bridge and Glenridding, and knocked an impressive 22 minutes off her time from last year.  She finished in 1:36:06, 11th overall, third lady and first V40.  Husband and wife team Mark and Emma opted for the arduous 20-mile race at Ullswater, finishing the challenging course in 06:07:45.

Mark and Emma Johnston

Joanna Goorney, Claire Markham and Pam Hardman kicked off the Bank Holiday weekend with the Leo Pollard Memorial Fell Race on Thursday, finishing in 1:02:24, 1:18:42 and 1:22:23 respectively.

Lytham Ladies at the Leo Pollard Memorial Fell Race

Finally three juniors and three seniors travelled to Hyndburn’s Wilson Playing Fields for the third fixture of the Mid Lancs Track and Field League.

Senior man Ross McKelvie comfortably took first place in both the 1500m in 4:23.1s and the 3000m in 9:27.3s.  Seventy year old Graham Webster - having already completed Witton park parkrun in 24:19 - completed his day’s athletics by taking part in three events finishing fifth in the 800m in 2:57.9 and eighth in both the 400m and 3000m in 77.1s and 13:01.5s respectively.

In the field events Paul McAlister had a successful day finishing third in the senior men’s long jump with a leap of 4.01m., second in the triple jump with 8.35m second in the shot with 8.55m.

Under 15 boy Joe Alker ran well on a windy day to finish fifth in the 800m with a time of 2:37.5s. Also in the under 15 boys was Jayden Richardson who opted for the 1500m and in his first ever track race put in an excellent performance to finish fifth in 5:03.2s.  Under 17 Oliver Thomson continues to improve with every race producing two personal best performances to finish third in the 1500 in 4:50.8s and for fourth in his heat of the 200m in 28.3s.

LSARRC News 1st June 2022

LSARRC at Wesham Summer 10k

A SHORT trip across the Fylde brought fast times and team success for Lytham St Annes Road Runners this week.

A 25-strong team of green runners made their way to the Wesham Summer 10k, staged on the lanes around Salwick's BNFL plant.  The popular race, staged by Wesham Road Runners, saw LSARRC take first ladies team thanks to excellent runs from Gill Draper – who finished 4th lady in a new personal best of 39:31 – Louise Cox (44:29) and Maddy Markham (46:35).  Maddy also took the prize for first junior female, while there were age-group prizes for Louise Cox (first FV50), Graham Webster (45:46, first V70), Pamela Hardman (50:36; first FV60) and Pamela Binns (58:58, first FV75).

Ross McKelvie was the club's fastest athlete on the night, finishing 5th overall in 37:57, followed by brothers Alex and Neil tate (39:40 and 43:06 respectively).  John Bertenshaw finished in 47:15, Chris Cottam in 49:01, with Stephen Wise hot on his heels in 49:10, followed by Claire Markham (49:55).  Also representing the club were Mick Widdop (51:33), Barry Broughton (52:13), Lewis McAfee (53:49), Greg Oulton (53:59), Roy Stevens (54:12), Ian Tate (54:42), Kirsten Burnett (55:03), Ruth Williams (56:08) and Richard Storey (56:44).

Catforth 5k

After Wednesday night's 10k, five LSARRC members halved the distance for a second race in a week at Saturday's Catforth 5k.  Joe Greenwood finished 12th in 17:50, Dan Gregson ran a new personal best of 21:33, Stephen Wise finished in 22:41, Richard Storey in 25:56 and Kirsten Burnett in 26:28.

Claire Markham at Hutton Roof FR

And on Sunday Claire Markham and Pamela Hardman were the club's sole representatives in the Hutton Roof Fell Race – part of the fell running interclub series.  Claire completed the seven mile course in 1hr 30mins, with Pamela just behind in 1hr 31mins.

Pamela Hardman at Hutton Roof FR

With no Lytham Hall parkrun this weekend, it was just Park View junior parkrun for local action, with six juniors racing.  Joe Alker went one place better than last week to finish first with a time of 8:07, Georgina Andrews was fourth overall and first girl in 8:24, with Reuben May just behind in 8:31 for fifth position.  Also representing Lytham were Evie Alker (10th in 9:24) and Lewis Ames (12th in 12:03).