LSARRC News 23rd September 2014

LSARRC Ladies team: Dawn Bloor, Joanna Goorney,
Felicity Wolohan, Fiona Geldard

Lytham St Annes Road Runners were well represented at the Northern Athletics Road Relays held over a 2 lap 6 km course around Birchwood Business Park, Warrington on Saturday.  Stockport Harriers dominated the results winning both the Ladies 4 stage  relay and the mens 6 stage relay.  The LSARR Ladies team asserted themselves well to finish in a very respectable 47th place. The men fielded one complete team which finished in 93rd overall and had 2 further runners in an incomplete team in their relay.
Results: Ladies 4 stage: Joanna Goorney (20) 23:57, Felicity Wolohan (39) 28:11, Dawn Bloor (46) 30:39, Fiona Geldard (47) 29:34.
Mens 6 stage: A Team - Andy Draper (115) 24:24, Joe Greenwood (100) 22:43, Simon Denye (93) 22:54, Neil Tate (93) 24:12, Willie Richmond (95) 27:08, Graham Webster (93) 24:01. B Team (incomplete) – Terry Hellings (131) 26:33, Richard Storey (132) 28:19.

LSARRC men at the Northern Relays

On Sunday, 3 LSARR athletes were in action at the Fleetwood Triathlon.  This 3 stage event consisted of a 400m swim, 20k bike ride and 5k run held in calm autumn sunshine. Petr Martinovsky was first home for Lytham finishing 22nd overall in 1:04:29 (swim: 6:20, bike 37:38 and run 20:30).  Barbara Holmes put in an excellent performance to finish 4th lady and 2 vet lady in 1:08:29 (swim: 6:34, bike 39:55 and run 21:59) while Fiona Geldard finished 42nd lady in 1:22:04 (swim: 12:33, bike 45:39 and run 23:50) being particularly pleased with her run which was just 10 seconds outside her PB time.

Week of Monday 8th September 2014

The excellent venue of Woodbank Park, Stockport played host to the North West Counties Relays on Saturday with teams from Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire competing. 

Starting on the track, courses take a wide sweep of the flat Woodbank before plunging into adjacent pretty but demanding Vernon Park.  A steep descent into Vernon is followed by a tough climb out with the Juniors turning earlier for a 2600 metre course to the U17M and Seniors 3600 metres.

Lytham St. Annes fielded three teams and took away Lancashire Gold in the Under 15 Girls.  Ella Moulding, Chloe Norman and Hannah Riley became the U15G Lancashire Champions in a spirited and stylish performance. First out at midday was Ella Moulding who finished in 9:25.  Chloe Norman took second leg and achieved 10:28 and Hannah Riley ran 10:24 to bring the team in 12th overall and first Lancashire team in 30:17.   

Lancashire AA U15G Champions: Chloe Norman, Hannah Riley
& Ella Moulding

The Senior Woman's team finished in 56:16, 36th overall and 7th in Lancashire.  Julia Rolfe took the first leg and finished in 17:47; Dawn Bloor on second ran 17:52 and Sylvia Gittins on third, 20:37.  Fiona Geldard running in an incomplete team finished in 17:02

The Senior Men put up an admirable fight to finish 45th out of 54 teams.  Their total time of 56:31 achieved them a good 5th place in the Lancashire Championships.  Joe Greenwood took the competitive first leg finishing in 12:41.  Terry Hellings ran 15:27 on second, Neil Tate followed with 14:18 and Graham Webster on anchor, 14:05.   

Senior Men's Team who were 5th in Lancashire

The long-standing Garstang Half Marathon attracted two members of the Club both of whom ran well to secure their age category prizes. 

Starting and finishing on the flat viaduct across River Wyre, the course undulates without serious ascents until 9 miles when the road climbs above Grizedale Valley in one of the local races' most testing hills. It's a long climb that precedes a steep descent into the village of Scorton before the final three miles take competitors back to the finish. 

Simon Denye finished in a good 7th place in 1:23:50 and first MV40 while Pamela Hardman was the first FV55 in a creditable time for such a hard race of 2:04:01 and 117th place in a race of 148 competitors.

Greg Oulton was the only Lytham member to under take the 70-mile drive up to Crosby Garrett for the Great Westmorland Trail Race.  Contestants were treated to reasonably easy going for the first five miles but with a sting in the tail when a steep mile-long climb sorted out the fittest.  Glorious scenery and good weather rewarded the exertions.  Oulton finished in 1:10:15.

Felicity Wolohan running in the Park Run nearest to her work finished the Princes Park 5k in 22.07, second woman and representing a big advance for Wolohan.

Signalling the end of the track and field season, Blackpool Wyre & Fylde Athletic Club hosted the first of its two September Open Meetings at Stanley Park.  Warm windless sunshine was kind to both athletes and spectators alike, and, with a selection of events suitable for very young athletes below the UKA's Under 13 baseline, Lytham's younger juniors were out in force making the most of the opportunity. 

Nine LSARRC members took part, some as young as seven, competing in a total of fourteen events, and, with gold, silver and bronze medals at each age group on offer, the Juniors took home quite a hoard.

U9B's compete in the 80m sprint

In the Under 9 Boys category Connor Norman won his best placing in the 80m sprint where his 13.2 earning him a silver medal.  He also achieved 2:24.4 in the 600m and a PB of 2.91m for 6th in the long jump.  George Winstanley showed great composure in his first track and field event running 14.6 seconds for 80m and excelled at the longer distance, the 600m, where his 2:09.9 won him silver.

In the Under 11 age competition Georgia Norman finished 9th in the Long Jump with 3.22m, 6th in the 600m in 2:07.3 and narrowly missed out on a medal in the 80m, finishing equal 5th in 12.7 seconds.  Carmen Cole came close to a podium finish with 5th and a PB of 3.33m in the Long Jump.  She was 3rd in her heat of the 80m in 13.7 seconds.

U11Gs on the track

Simon Holt tried three events winning medals in all.  He won silver in the Under 11 Boys' long jump massively improving his PB by 18cm to 3.81m and bronzes in the 80m sprint with 12.3 seconds, and in the 600m endurance with 1:56.5.  Francis Morrison had good runs in both the 80m and 600m finishing 7th in both events in 13.9 seconds and 2:18.9 respectively.

  She was 3rd

Two Lytham Under 13s competed.  James Nicholas performed well in the 100m to finish 5th in 14.9 and Hollie Winstanley ran a composed 1500m in 5:58.3 to take the bronze medal.  

Under 15 Chloe Norman showed no signs of fatigue from the previous days relays running a very strong 800m finishing 2nd in 2:34.6 and adding another medal to her weekend tally.

 

LSARRC News 9th September 2014

Julia Rolfe followed by Debbie Cooper

Roy Stevens

It was the final Inter Club fixture of the year on Wednesday night. Red Rose Road Runners were the hosting club with a 4 mile undulating course in perfect conditions around Worden Park in Leyland. 

First home overall was Rob Danson of Wesham in a time of 20:37 whilst Joanna Goorney of Lytham St Annes was first lady in at time of 24:54 and 30th place overall.  Joe Greenwood, continuing his fine form was first home for LSARR in 11th place in 22:50.  Graham Webster was 38th in 25:17, Peter Cruse 39th in 25:22 and Neil Tate was 41st  in 25:33.  Terry Helling was 74th in 27:36 closely followed by Mark Willett in 26:47 for 76th place. Alex Wiggins was 102nd in 30:17, Greg Oulton was 123rd in 31:40, Debbie Cooper was 128th in 32:19, Julia Rolfe was 129th in 32:22 and Roy Stevens was 131st in 32:32.

With many clubs neck and neck in the team competitions, there was a real battle going on for top honours, particularly between the bigger clubs.  Overall, for the series, LSARR finished 5th in the open category, 4th in the women's, 5th in the vets, 4th in the vets 50s and their best result, 2nd in the vet 60s.

Ness Horne and Mark Willett

A number of Lytham St Annes runners made the trip up to the North East for the Great North Run.  Neil Tate completed the course in 1:40:16 in 2736th place whilst Emma Eldershaw produced a fantastic PB of 2:10:25 to finish in 17886.  Mark Willett running with his partner, Ness Horne, finished in 2:18:35 running for The Christie.

LSARRC News 2nd September 2014

LSARRC fell runners at Harrock Hill

Wednesday night saw the final race of 4 of the Harrock Hill Fell Race Series which was also used as the final race of 4 in the Inter Club Fell Race Series.  This popular race over 5.3 miles with 900 feet of ascent attracted 222 runners.  First home for Lytham St Annes was Joe Greenwood in an excellent 11th place and a time of 37:54.  Joanna Goorney was 35th and 3rd female in  40:21with Terry Hellings in 95th place and 45:52.  Debbie Cooper finished 167th in 52:55, Greg Oulton was 169th in 53:33, Julia Rolfe was 181st in 55:28 and Pam Hardman was 192nd in 57:08 and 1st female vet 55. 

The club's monthly handicap on Thursday evening was run in fine conditions producing  some notable performances over the 4.35 miles rural course.  The clear winner was Karen Kidner who looked exhausted as she reached the finish but was amply rewarded with an improvement of over two minutes for her best time of the summer and a first-ever handicap victory.

Behind her was a closely fought contest to decide the next three places where a determined Alan Elstone in second held off third-placed Brian Porter who in turn just edged ahead of James Waller in a frenzied final dash to the line.  Further good times were posted by the next two finishers, Alex Wiggins and Jeremy McCandless; each running PBs and with McCandless extending his lead on the annual points table as his closest pursuers Kev Ashworth and Neil Tate were somewhat off the pace this time.

Handicap winners: centre Karen Kidner 1^st;
left Alan Elstone 2nd; right Brian Porter 3^rd.

Full results and times: 1 Karen Kidner, 40.46; 2 Alan Elstone, 34.25; 3 Brian Porter, 34.13; 4 James Waller, 40.43; 5 Alex Wiggins, 32.58; 6 Jeremy McCandless, 39.22; 7 Karen Lanigan, 41.14; 8 Pam Hardman, 36.23; 9 Graham Webster, 6.00, 27.40; 10 Neil Tate, 27.51; 11 Laura Ashworth, 33.48; 12 Kev Ashworth, 30.58; 13 Fiona Geldard, 35.20; 14 Greg Oulton, 36.58; 15 Dawn Lock, 60.02,

Leading points scores after 5 races: Jeremy McCandless 149; Kev Ashworth 125; Neil Tate 118; Alex Wiggins 114; Laura Ashworth 107; Dawn Lock 106.

There was more action on the fells on Saturday morning in East Lancashire as Debbie Cooper and Greg Oulton took on the challenge of the Pendle 3 Peaks Fell Race.  The race starts in Barley heading up Pendle Hill 3 times, covering a distance of 9 miles and 2707 feet of ascent.  Debbie finished in a time of 2:11:04 finishing 66th overall and 13th female while Greg completed the course in 2:31:35 in 81st position, his toughest and longest fell race to date.

It was the final Mid Lancs Track and Field Meeting of the season and also the Medal Meeting on Saturday afternoon at Stanley Park Arena, Blackpool.

The junior section of the club was well represented by 4 young athletes.  Ella Moulding made a very impressive debut in the 3000m finishing first U15 girl in 11:14.1 and there were personal bests for Hollie Winstanley and James Nicholas. Hollie competed in the U13G 1500m and finished 6th in 5:43.50 and James ran in the U13B 100m finishing 13th overall in 14.20.  Chloe Norman continued her good form finishing 5th in the 800m in 2:36.10 and 6th in the Long Jump with 4.17m which was her best ever performance in the Mid Lancs. league and her second longest ever competitive jump.

Graham Webster receiving his medal from
British Hammer Thrower Sophie Hitchon

Graham Webster was LSARRC's only senior representative. Graham competed in three races and picked up three medals.  First race for Graham was the 800m finishing in 2:37.9 for a silver medal. Graham also took gold in the 1500m in a time of 5:20.6 and silver in the 3000m in 11:13.8.

Ness Horne and Mark Willett

Sylvia Gittins

The Blackpool Hilton 10k on Saturday saw a field of 249 runners with the winner James Mcllroy finishing in 32:58.  Vet 65 Sylvia Gittins finished in 149th place in an excellent time of 55:40 while Mark Willett accompanied his partner Ness Horne around the course to finish in a time of 57:53 and 168th and 169th places respectively as they prepare for next week's Great North Run in aid of The Christie.

LSARRC News 27th August 2014

On Wednesday night, Greg Oulton was at the Golf Ball Fell Race at Rossendale.  He found the 5.5 mile race with 801 feet of ascent fairly tough, luckily with not too much mud on the course, but lots of hills and long grass/heather to push through.

There were medals galore for junior members of the club competing in track & field over the bank holiday weekend.

On Saturday, Chloe, Georgia and Connor Norman competed at the Litherland open track and field meeting with great success.

10 year old Georgia jumped 3.20m for fifth place in the long jump, ran 2:05.1 in the 600m for the silver medal and also competed in her first ever hurdle race completing the 60m hurdle race in 12.4s for 4th place.  Her younger brother 7 year old Connor ran 12.6s in the 75m for second place in the under 9s,and threw 16.75m for second in the vortex ball earning 2 silver medals.  Elder sister Chloe ran in the under 15s 800m in 2:39.9 for the bronze medal.  She also competed in the long jump, an event in which she has made great progress this year jumping a huge personal best of 4.29m for silver medal..

Simon Holt and Carmen Cole made the journey to Manchester to compete in the Trafford AC open meeting. Simon sprinted his way to a bronze medal in the U11 boys 75m in 11.33 and leaped his way to a personal best in the Long Jump with 3.67m (6th). He ran a well-judged 600m race to take a bronze with 1:53.58. Carmen also had a good day finishing 4th in her heat of the U11 girls 75m in 12.73 and 8th in the Long Jump with 3.07m.

Greg Oulton and Joanna Goorney at Chipping Fair

Also on Saturday was the Chipping Show Fell Race superbly organised by Preston Harriers.  The 7.5 mile course heads into the Bowland fells taking in Paddy's Pole on Fairsnape and then Parlick with 1800 feet of ascent along the way. Joanna Goorney was 2nd Lady in a time of 1:20:04 while Greg Oulton, in his longest and toughest fell race to date, completed the course in 1:54:19

Graham Webster

Terry Hellings

In perfect late summer conditions, Terry Hellings and Graham Webster were the sole representatives of LSARRC in the Fleetwood Half Marathon.  Graham Webster attained a seasons best time of 1:28:08 coming in 35th position and gaining the 1st vet 60 prize while Terry comfortably achieved his Gold standard in a time of 1:35:47 in 86th and 3rd vet 60.  A surprise visitor was ex Lytham St Annes runner Paul McAllistar who made the journey from Colchester to finish 254th in 1:52:51.

LSARRC News 20th August 2014

The main event of the week was the 5th summer interclub race hosted by Chorley Athletic club.  In almost perfect conditions, the 4.8 mile race encompasses 3 hilly laps in and around Astley Park in Chorley.  The race was won by Rob Affleck of Preston Harriers in a time of 25:40 whilst Joanna Goorney of LSARRC was first lady in 31:18.  The ever improving Joe Greenwood had his best interclub result to date finishing as first Lytham St Annes athlete home in 7th place and in a time of 28:11.  LSARRC finished 6th club overall with the ladies finishing 4th team, vets, 4th, vet 50s 4th and vet 60s, 3rd.

Mel Koth

Pam Hardman followed by Julia Rolfe

Individual results:Joe Greenwood 7th 28:11; Simon Denye 21st 30:01; Peter Cruse 26th 30:40; Joanna Goorney 34th 31:18; Graham Webster 38th 31:50; Neil Tate 43rd 32:16; Kevin Ashworth 73rd 34:29; Terry Hellings 76th 34:37; Willie Richmond 78th 34:55; Ian Tate 89th 35:44; Melanie Koth 95th 36:27; Alex Wiggins 109th 37:56; Laura Ashworth118th 38:55; Nigel Simpkin 121st 39:41; Debbie Cooper 126th 39:58; Julia Rolfe 128th 40:05; Pamela Hardman 139th 41:28; Louisa Ruman 148th 42:18; Greg Oulton 149th 42:23; Sylvia Gittins 166th 45:18; Bill Lock 181th 51:30; Dawn Lock 188th 62:17.

On Saturday night, it was the 3rd and final race of the Catforth 5k series.  Mel Koth finished 32nd with a time of 21:38.

Greg Oulton was out on the fells on Saturday afternoon for the Darwen Gala Catherine Dowdall Memorial Fell Race.  The race which starts from Bold Venture Park in Darwen is 4.7 miles with 928 feet of ascent.  With a long steep hill at the start, the route heads up to Darwen Tower.  Greg completed the course in 53 minutes dead.

Joanna Goorney at the Sedbergh Hills Fell Race
(courtesy of athletesinaction.co.uk)

On Sunday, Joanna Goorney was also out on the fells at the Sedbergh Hills Fell Race which was part of the English Championships Fell Race Series.  The race starts in Sedbergh and heads out over the Howgill Fells covering a distance of 14 miles with 6000 feet of ascent.  The weather was quite wild with heavy showers and high winds on the tops providing challenging conditions.  Joanna was 178th out of 262 finishers in a time of 3:10:12.

Mark Willett at the finish of Race the Train

Mark Willett was back at his 40th year challenges for The Christie Charity.  This time it was the Race the Train race at Tywyn where runners try beat the train as makes its way up the Talyllyn railway line to Abergynolwyn and back, a return trip of 14 miles running along grassland and footpath.  Mark completed the run in 1:57:38 finishing 313th out of 770 runners.

LSARRC News 13th August 2014

This week offered many options for road, track and trail racing in the Fylde and beyond both mid-week and at the weekend to attract the keener and more active competitors of Lytham St. Annes Road Runners Club.  

Vets were in the ascendancy come the weekend.  Sunday saw both the national British Masters AF Track and Field Championships and the Northern Vets 10K Road Championships.

Graham Webster, BMFA 5000m MV60 Bronze Medallist, pictured
third from left at Preston.

The Club's best sixty-year old Graham Webster travelled to Alexander Palace, Perry Barr, Birmingham to represent Northern Vets against competitors from Midlands, Southern, South West, Eastern and Welsh veteran associations.  Running in a race that included MV55s, 60s and 65s, Webster came fourth overall and third in his age group.

Wet windy weather depressed times but Webster, who's Age PB in better conditions is 18:51, still managed 19:26 to take away the MV60 bronze medal.



Early Stages of the Blackpool Air Show 10K, Simon Denye,
who finished 8th in 36:30, leading the group.

The Northern Vets 10K Championship, formerly a closed competition, this year opened to all in the guise of the Blackpool Air Show 10K.  Wet windy weather greeted competitors on the exposed Bispham cliffs course.  Organized from the Bispham Fire Station, runners started on the upper promenade opposite Red Bank Road and proceeded towards Cleveleys before turning to return for three miles on the flat lower sea wall.  A short steep climb took them back to finish 400m past the start.  



Brian Porter, fresh from the
Commonwealth Games



Neil Tate, 40:40 10K

Simon Denye was first of Lytham's runners finishing 8th and 2nd V40 in an excellent 36:30 for the 10k.  Neil Tate, a relatively new runner who is now verging on under 40 minute 10k times, took 40:40 and Sylvia Gittins, one of LSARRC's best FV65, managed a good 54:49.  Brian Porter, just back from helping at the Commonwealth Games, completed the 10K in 50:54.

Mid-week Simon Denye and Louisa Ruman took part in the last of the long-running Astley Park Trail Series organized by Chorley Athletics Club.  A large field of 265 finishers tackled this race, which, while not long at around 7k, is a demanding two-loop tour of the attractive and hilly park.  Starting by the eastern gate, it climbs steeply and tests competitors both on a mixture of surfaces from hard tarmac to softer earth and varying terrains including open playing fields and enclosed woodland.

First back in a competitive time of 23:50 was Leigh Harrier Neil Pendlebury.  Denye posted a good 26:56 for 9th place, sixth M40 and Ruman came in 203rd in 39:42, eleventh in her category.

A day later on Thursday 7th the popular Cuerden Valley Badger 10K was another final of a three-race series.  Five members of the Club raced this pleasant run which also offers a chance to help the Cuerden Valley Park Trust.  It's also another race that is quite a tough proposition. 

Horwich RMI's Richard Howarth set the standard with 34:51.  First Lytham runner back was Neil Tate in 26th position in 42:51 with brother Ian following in 64th and 46:58.  Peter Cruse finished in 50th place in 45:12.  The two Lytham ladies were both fourth in their age groups.  Melanie Koth, V35, who had a good run, finished 73rd in 48:12 and Julia Rolfe, V50, was 134th in 53:43.

  

On the same night one of the Clubs more outlying members Russ Chew was tempted by the Todmorden Park 5K which meets at the Hare and Hounds on the Burnley Road.  This race, in the typical hilly Yorkshire town, drew 89 competitors to run on a delightful warm evening.  An unattached runner Tom Collinge managed the course in 16:54.  Chew, who is working hard on his 5k sprinting technique, finished 49th in 22:14.

 

More information is now available for Lytham's foremost race the Green Drive Five which will reach its fifteen staging on Sunday 19th October.  Race HQ is as usual in the Lytham Primary School on Park View Road close to the race start in the historic Green Drive.  This flat accurate 5 mile course lends itself to good times and personal bests.  New this year is the bar-coded posters that enable anyone with a smart phone to access details with a quick swipe of the code.  Others can enter on line by visiting http://bookitzone.com/liz_boon/JC2FFX.