LSARRC News 27th April 2015

On Saturday morning, Joanna Goorney headed over to the Yorkshire Dales for the 61st 3 Peaks Fell Race.  Conditions were pretty grim for the 23.2 mile and 5276 ft of ascent course with pretty much constant rain which turned to snow on the top of Ingleborough.  Despite struggling with the cold, wet conditions and taking a tumble on the way down from Ingleborough, she managed to finish in 4:23:17 in 366th place.

The Virgin London Marathon was obviously the big race of the weekend with 7 athletes from Lytham St Annes taking part.  Weather conditions were perfect - overcast with none of predicted rain and no wind to talk about.  Runners felt very cold at start but it didn't take long to warm up once they got going.

First home for the club was Andy Draper who completed the course in an excellent 2:53:32 and 1037th place.  Not far behind and running a PB was Tom Howard who finished in 2:57:44  in 1476th place.  Both Neil Tate and Graham Webster who were both selected for the 2 club places were both running their first marathon and made excellent debut attempts.  Neil  finished in 3:01:40 and 2036th place while 61 year Graham Webster finished in 3:18:04 and 4089th place.  Mel Koth also had an superb race to finish in 3:16:45 and 3909th place. 

70 year old Pam Binns was also running the London Marathon for the first time and found the support and atmosphere that she had been told to expect didn't disappoint.  One of the other runners came along side her at the finish asking if she would take his hand to go over the finishing line together. So she did, making a memorable finish.  Pam ran a remarkable 4:35:44 was in 23225 place and 10th in her age category.  Derek Heron finished in 17548th place in 4:14:27 and Karen Kidner was 24431st in 4:40:32.

While Neil Tate was running the London Marathon, his older brother, Ian Tate, was the sole representative for the club in the Blackpool Marathon. He finished in 174th place in 3:53:40.

Ruth Wheatley

Ruth Wheatley headed over to Madrid to run the Rock and Roll Madrid Marathon.  The weather was oddly like England - light rain then pouring rain but at least it kept the temperature down. There were 12,000 entrants, about 10% were female. Ruth ran a superb 4:21:58 knocking 25 minutes off her previous pb.

A little more local was the Lytham St George's Day 10.  The race attracted some good athletes with the race won by Chris Livesey of Preston Harriers in 30:46.  LSARRC had 3 runners in the race with Colin Laidlaw in first in 40th place and 44:34.  Roy Stevens wasn't far behind om 46th place in 46:24.  Dawn Bloor was delighted to record her first ever sub 50 10k in a  chip time of 47:42, nearly 3 minutes off her PB and a club gold standard

Greg Oulton ran the Bolton 10k on Sunday morning in 52:08 (51:13 chip time) to finish in 250th place.

Two Junior members competed at the Trafford Medal Meeting on Sunday. James Nicholas finished first in his heat of the U13B 100m in 14.07 and 6th overall and then went on to run a personal best in the 200m of 28.81 finishing 4th overall. Simon Holt, competing in the same age group, ran a personal best in the 800m of 2:37.3 (9th) and then ran another personal best time in the 200m of 29.93 (8th).

Chloe Norman competed for her school in the Lancashire Schools Combined Events Championships staged by Hyndburn AC. The U15 athlete competed in 5 events over the course of the day starting with Hurdles followed by Shot Put, High Jump, Long Jump and then the 800m. The highlight of the day was her Long Jump in which she recorded a PB of 4.38m.

LSARRC News 21st April 2015

Mid Lancs Cross Country Vet 45 Champions

LSARRC's individual prize winners

On Friday night, it was the presentation evening for the 2014-2015 Mid Lancs Cross Country League.  This was held at Bamber Bridge CCM Club in Preston.  Lytham St Annes were particularly successful over the season especially considering the size of the club.  Enthusiasm and team spirit helped the club pick up a number of team and individual awards. The women were crowned Vet 45 Champions while in Division 2, they were runners up.  Individually, Ella Moulding finished first in the Under 15 girls, Joanna Goorney was first vet 45 and second vet 35, Graham Webster was second vet 60 and Sylvia Gittins was second vet 65.

Division 2 Runners Up

Simon Denye

It was the first of the big marathons on Sunday with the Greater Manchester Marathon in it 39th year and 4th year in its current format finishing outside Manchester United Football Ground.  Conditions were good for the 9am start although the wind picked up around 11am causing the less sheltered last few miles to be even tougher.  The race was won by Paul Martelletti  who finished in 2:17:47 while the women's race was won by Georgie Bruinvels of Aldershot Farnham and District AC who had never run a marathon before in a time of 2:37:16.

First home for Lytham was Simon Denye who had a fantastic race going through half way in 1:20:50 and then finishing in 2:44.42, good enough to get under the magic 2:45 barrier and a AAA championship entry into the London Marathon for the next two years.  Also completing the course for LSARRC was Felicity Wolohan in 3:49:01 who knocked 3 minutes of her PB.  For Bob Clough, it was his first ever marathon and with a target of 4:45, he was very pleased to finish in 4:39:12.  Joining him, was his son who flew over especially from Australia to do the race with him.   John Wild also smashed his PB by nearly 10 minutes to finish in 4:40:55.

Fiona Geldard

Fiona Geldard completed the Clitheroe Triathlon on Sunday.  This well organised event which was held in overcast conditions included a 400m swim, a 30k very hilly and challenging cycle course including going over the infamous Jeffrey Hill and finished with a 6.5k run.  Fiona completed the swim in 11:59, the bike in 1:22:45 and the run in 41:07 giving a finishing time of 2:15:52.  She finished 12th female overall and 3rd vet 50 which was her best position in a triathlon especially in a quality field.

On Saturday morning, Mark Willett did the Preston Parkrun in 23:00 for 163rd place.

LSARRC News 14th April 2015

Tony Holt - Blackpool Inter Club

Wednesday night saw the first Interclub race of the summer season hosted by Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde. There was a huge increase in numbers by over a 100 to 350 finishers which now included runners from Thornton Cleveleys Running Club who have joined the Interclub Series for the first time this season.  Conditions were perfect for the 2 lap 4 mile course in and around Stanley Park.  First home overall was Rob Danson of Wesham RR in a time of 19:50 being pushed to the line by Dave Rigby of Preston Harriers in 19:51.

First home for Lytham St Annes was Joe Greenwood in 15th place with a time of 21:50.  Graham Webster finished in 56th place and was first vet 60 in 24:42 whilst Joanna Goorney was 5th Lady and 1st vet 45 in 71st place in 25:12.  There were numerous PBs for LSARRC runners including Alex Wiggins in 188th place with 29:22 and Jeremy McCandless with 34:39 in 293rd place. In the team events, the ladies finished 4th and the men finished 3rd vet 60 team.

Louisa Ruman followed by Simon Denye at the Interclub

LSARRC results: Joe Greenwood 15th 21:50; Tom Howarth 23:12 30th 23:12; Andy Draper 45th 24:03; Graham Webster 56th 24:42; Joanna Goorney 71st 25:12; Mark Willett 75th 25:25; Terry Hellings 102nd 26:14; Justin Allitt 106th 26:22; Mark Selby 111th 26:33; Mel Koth 112th 26:34; Willy Richmond 149th 27:55; Roy Upton 158th 28:10; Colin Laidlaw 172th 28:31; Alex Wiggins 188th 29:22; Greg Outlon 196th 29:33; Fiona Geldard 197th 29:39; Felicity Wolohan 217th 30:21; Roy Stevens 215th 30:56; Louisa Ruman 232nd 31:12; Simon Denye 233rd 31:13; Julia Rolfe 238th 31:33; Debbie Cooper 269th 33:04; Hannah McCandless 276th 33:41; James Whitworth 284th 34:20; Jeremy McCandless 293rd 34:39; Rebecca Willetts 310th 36:14; Pam Binns 312th 36:30; Tony Holt 344th 45:17; Dawn Lock 247th 46:17.

The Interclub race was followed by the presentation evening for the previous season.  Joanna Goorney picked up the 1st place overall in the Ladies Championship and 1st place overall in the Fell Race Championship. Joe Greenwood picked up a trophy for 7th place overall in the men's championship.
The first Mid Lancs League Track and Field fixture of the summer season took place at Stanley Park, Blackpool on Saturday.  Although it was sunny, it was still fairly cold with a strong cross wind across the track.  Lytham St Annes had both Juniors and Seniors competing. 

The outstanding performances of the day belonged to James Nicholas, winning his heats in both the under 13 boys 100m and 200m.  He clocked  13:50 for the 100m and 29:50 for the 200m.  10 year old Simon Holt made his debut in the 1500m in the under 13 boys race and put in a gutsy performance to finish in 9th place in 5:40:20.  Georgia Norman ran in the 3rd heat of the under 13 girls 200m finishing 3rd in 32:20 and 5th in the 800m in 2:59:80.  On the field, she finished 7th in the long jump in 3.54m.  In the under 15 girls 800m, Ella Moulding was 2nd in 2:32:00 whilst Chloe Norman was 7th in 2:42:10.  Chloe also competed in the under 15 girls long jump recording 3.83m for 15th place and in the high jump, 1.35m for 7th place.

Joe Greenwood followed by Mark Willett then Graham Webster - 800m

Jeremy throwing a PB in the Discus

In the senior races, Mark Willett ran the 400m finishing 5th in his heat in 65:70.  Joe Greenwood, making his debut on the track, finished 11th in 2:26:70 in the 800m whilst Graham Webster was 13th in 2:39:60. In the 1500m, Joe Greenwood was 6th in 4:52:30, Mark Willett was 7th in 5:13:30 and Graham Webster was 8th in 5:29.  There were 4 representatives from LSARRC in the 3000m.  Joe Greenwood was 4th in 10:13:80. Graham Webster was 6th in 11:35:5, Terry Hellings was 7th in 12:28:10 and Jeremy McCandless knocked 1:28 off his previous PB to finish in 8th in 15:09:10.  Jeremy was also out on the field in the Discus and Shot Putt.  He achieved a PB in the Discus of 17:18m to finish 5th and threw 6:07m in shot putt for 9th place.  Joanna Goorney was 2nd in the 800m with 2:43: 30, 1st in the 1500m with 5:24:50 and 4th in the 3000m with 11:36:90.

Graham Webster followed by Joanna Goorney - 3000m

On Saturday morning prior to the track and field meet, Mark Willett also ran the Preston Parkrun in 21:56 in 37th place.

Although there were quite a few races on on Sunday, apart from the 3 Bridges 10k, nothing enticed runners from LSARRC.  Dawn Lock made the trip up to Lancaster for the 3 Bridges 10k where there was an unpropitious start as race organizers tried vainly to tempt runners out into the torrential rain from their shelter under the club hut eaves.  The 11 o'clock start came and went before the 282 contestants got underway but conditions improved helped by a mainly sheltered course which snaked across three bridges, the Lune Aquduct and an underpass to take the wooded riverside cycle track.  The race was won by Gethin Butler of Preston Harriers in 33:38 knocking 20 seconds of the previous course record and had 282 finishers.  Dawn finished in 1:13:10 in 276th place.

LSARRC News 7th April 2015

Two Lytham athletes, Graham Webster and Greg Oulton, joined fellow athletes representing Great Britain including, in their party, members from BWFAC and Wesham RR, to compete in the European Masters Indoor Athletics Championships in Torun, Poland in late March and between them ran seven events.

Competing on the first day in the 3000m Webster in the V60s finished 13th in a field of 25 in 11:11.02 and Oulton, in his first competition indoors, equalled his pb with 13:29.94, 11th in the V45s.  Two days later Webster ran 2:32.97 in a hard-fought 800m semi-final to qualify for the final where he improved on his previous time with 2:32.40 to finish 8th in a top class field, just 7 seconds behind the European Champion.

The following day both ran the hilly 5k Cross Country in their age groups in light rain which aided runners by damping down rising dust and cooling competitors.  Webster completed the course in 16:51.8, finishing 10th out of 32 starters and 2nd counter in the GB team which took silver and Oulton completed the course 18th in 20:52.3.  A few hours later Webster was back on the track running the 1500m final in which he finished 9th out of 15 in 5:15.97, just 15 seconds behind the European Champion.

Webster, a prolific racer, headed south the following weekend to combine the Exeter Fast Friday 10k with a family visit and, on an undulating four-lap course, finished first V60, 25th of 125 in a time of 41.14.

Greg Oulton coming down Pendle Hill

The Pendle Hill Fell Race this weekend served as the Lancashire AA Championship.  Lytham members Oulton and Joanna Goorney made the journey to Barley to take on this notoriously difficult race with two major climbs totalling 1300 feet over 5.6 miles.  Well-known fell runner Tom Addison of Helm Hill Harriers led a field of 291 runners in a time of 32:40.  Goorney won the Championship bronze medal finishing 84th overall, 5th lady and 1st FV40 in 44:11.  Oulton was 252nd in 58:01.

Joanna Goorney  - 3rd Lancashire Lady and 1st vet 40

The high-standard Salford 10K attracts quality athletes from a wide area with the first fifty putting in under 35 minute performances and winner Gareth Raven, an impressive 30:40.  Amongst the 545 competitors were three from Lytham St.Annes RRC.  Simon Denye, MV40, was 50th in 34:59.  Next Lytham runner was Neil Tate, 108th in 37:33 and Louisa Ruman finished 405th in 58:56.  Mark Willett ran the Halewood 5k.

Dawn Lock took the opportunity of the close proximity of the UK's premier orienteering festival, the JK, to compete in the W70 Sprint Championship, won by Nordic ace Torid Kvaal in a superb 15:17, achieving silver standard, 21st in 26:35, at Lancaster University on Day 1 and orange standard on the non-championship course, 16th in 57:28, won in a speedy 32:07 at Biglands Estate, Newby Bridge on Day 3. 

LSARRC News 31st March 2015

Sylvia Gittins, Pam Binns and Dawn Lock

 LSARRC's most senior ladies certainly made their mark in the Club's 3.45 miles March Handicap race when the oldest competitors filled the first three places; a surprise outcome but nonetheless one showing just how keenly they all retain their competitiveness after many years of running.  In a close finish two WV70s, Pam Binns and Dawn Lock, came 1st and 3rd respectively while WV65 Sylvia Gittins in 2nd place recorded a second successive personal best.

Neil Tate and Jeremy McCandless

Being the last race counting for the annual championship this led to a hard-fought race within the race among the number who could take second place and the silver medal from leader Neil Tate.  Coming closest was Karen Lanigan who gave her all to record her best time of the winter and finish ahead of Neil Tate but it wasn't quite enough to overtake Tate who finishes runner-up.  The undisputed 2015 champion is Jeremy McCandless who has headed the table throughout the past twelve months and finished the year emphatically with not only another personal best but also a record 258 points to be a most deserving winner of the Handicap Plate. Neil Tate with 230 points took the Silver Medal with challenger Karen Lanigan just 5 points adrift in 3rd place.

March Results: 1, Pam Binns, 33.40; 2, Sylvia Gittins, 32.00 PB; 3, Dawn Lock, 44.54; 4, Jeremy McCandless,  30.04 PB; 5, Karen Lanigan, 33.36; 6, Alan Elstone, 25.06 PB; 7, Neil Tate, 21.02; 8, Tom Howarth,  20.36; 9, Justin Allitt, 23.56; 10, Joe Greenwood, 19.30; 11, Colin Laidlaw, 24.38; 12, Alex Wiggins, 27.12; 13, Ian Tate,  25.17; 14, Bec Willetts, 35.33; n/c Sue Hawitt 35.33.

2015 Handicap Championship leading places: Jeremy McCandless 258 points; Neil Tate 230; Karen Lanigan 225; Tom Howarth 221; Joe Greenwood 216; Graham Webster 210; Dawn Lock 208; Alex Wiggins 207.

Felicity Wolohan

Five members of Lytham St Annes made their way south on Saturday 28th to compete amongst the fifty-nine teams entered in the Women's Northern Six Stage Road Relay Championships at Sefton Park, Liverpool.  Incessant heavy rain on the journey down didn't bode well but skies cleared shortly before eleven and warm weak sunshine predominated for the entire time of the relays.

Long legs are the newly introduced feature of this year's relays.  Leg 1 and Leg 4 consisted of 7600m with two laps of the attractive Sefton Park course which made the most of the area winding round the major drives leading competitors to the extreme south of the park and taking in gorgeous swaths of spring flowers, the large lake and its attractive tributaries.  Short Legs 2, 3, 5 and 6 were 3900m and one-lap long.

Fiona Geldard

Long legs were taken by Felicity Wolohan on Leg 1 who finished 55th in 37:34 having found the headwind on some course sections testing and Fiona Geldard on Leg 4 who finished in the team's fastest lapping time of 36:31 to gain one place.  Louisa Ruman, doing her first championship relay, managed a very creditable 19:30, 55th, and handed over to Karen Lanigan, running well for the second time in three days, to finish in 22:54.  Dawn Lock ran Leg 5 in 29:19, maintaining 55th position. 

Runners in the next day's Liverpool Half Marathon were less lucky with the weather and endured continuous heavy rain.  Long-standing club members Roy Stevens joined the 5000 finishers to complete the race in a good-for-age time of 1:47:21, 15th MV60 and 1384th overall.

LSARRC News 24/3/15

With the spring marathon season rapidly approaching, quite a number of Lytham St Annes runners decided on the longer distance races on offer over the weekend in preparation for their marathon attempt.

On Saturday, a couple of members headed up to the Lake District for the scenic but hilly Coniston 14.  Chris Blackburn was 282nd in 1:49:23 whilst Sylvia Gittins ran 1:16:22 for 834th in her preparation for Manchester Marathon on 19th April.

Des Heron, Ian Tate, Neil Tate and Felicity Wolohan

Six members headed up to Lancaster for the Trimpell 20 on Sunday morning.  This popular race 20 mile is a great warm with its flat out and back course mainly along cycle paths starting from Salt Ayre Leisure Centre.  With perfect weather conditions, Neil Tate was first home for LSA in a superb time of 2:15:18 and 40th place overall, great preparation for his first marathon attempt at London on 26th April.  Mel Koth was first Lytham St Annes lady home in 2:33:55 and 133rd.  Ian Tate clocked 2:49:02 for 237th, Felicity Wolohan was 275th in 2:53:55, Derek Heron was 354th in 3:06:02 and Ruth Wheatly was 294th in 3:14:54.

Simon Denye

Another popular race for Lytham St Annes runners was Waters Wilmslow Half Marathon.  The race was won by Ben Siwa of Run Fast in a time of 1:04:57 with 12 runners under 70 minutes underlying the quality of the field.  First home for LSA was Stephen Hargreaves in 58th place in 1:15:56.  Not far behind was Simon Denye in 65th place and 1:16:42 knocking an incredible 1min 49 of his previous PB.  Andy Draper was 133rd in 1:21:45, Emily Hargreaves was 336th in 1:28:38 and Lucinda Prothera was 1921st in 1:51:51.  There were 3784 finishers


Mark Willett ran the Lincoln 10k on Sunday having last previously run it 2 years ago.  This is a fast, flat and excellently organised race, this year finishing alongside the majestic Cathedral.  With perfect weather conditions, being cold but sunny, with light cloud and virtually no wind, Mark had an excellent run knocking 24 seconds off his PB to finish in 38:27 and also achieving Silver club standard.  This comes just a week after also achieving Silver club standard at 10 miles.

Pam Binns

The ladies only Goal-den Girls 10k attracted 120 runners on Sunday morning.  The race starts at the Middle Walk, North Promenade, Blackpool and goes between North Pier and Little Bispham.  Pam Binns who turned 70 just 3 days before, completed the course in 59:25 for 49th place.

Roy Stevens ran his first Parkrun on Saturday morning.  He clocked 27:05 for 68th place at Cuerden Valley.

Mark Willett

Five junior members of the club commenced their 2015 track and field campaign at the Blackpool Winter Warm Up Open Meeting hosted by Blackpool Wyre & Fylde AC. The youngest, Connor Norman made a superb start to the season winning both the under 9 boys 80m (12.9) and the long jump (3.04) and then finishing 2nd in the 600m (2:16.8). Although under 13 James Nicholas had not previously competed at 200m, he did not show any signs of being a novice finishing 2nd in 29.3.  Simon Holt competed for the first time as an under 13 and he composed himself well finishing 3rd  in the 600m (1:58.2) and 7th in the 80m with a PB of 11.9. Georgia Norman also made the transition to the under13 age group and finished 12th in the 200m (31.8), 9th  in the 600m (2:13.8) and 8th in the long jump with a personal best of 3.68m.  The experienced Chloe Norman got her campaign of to a good start finishing 2nd in the under 15 girls 800m (2:34.7) and 11th  in the long jump (3.99m).



Ella Moulding (#253) who finished first counter for Lancashire at English Schools
Witton Park, Blackburn - Saturday 14th March 2015

Ella Moulding, U15G, finished off a very successful cross country season when she lined up with 345 other athletes to represent Lancashire in the English Schools Cross Country Championships held at Witton Park, Blackburn on Saturday 14th.  The previous week’s rain provided a good testing course with soft ground and mud being prevalent throughout.  Ella competed in the junior girls 3.2km race and having got off to a good start she soon established herself in the top 40 runners and then gradually improved her placing to cross the line 27th in 12:05 and first counter for the Lancashire team which finished 17th.

 

The Club's other active Under 15 Girl and last year's Junior Club Champion, Chloe Norman, also represented Lancashire taking part in Inter-Counties track and field at Sports City Manchester where she competed in the four-lap track run coming 4th in her heat and performed creditably in the junior disciplines of the standing long jump, the speed bounce and the eight-lap paarlauf.

 

Andy Draper, first of LSARRC runners
at the Sweatshop 10M - 15th March 2015

Several members of Lytham St. Annes RRC competed in Sunday's Sweatshop 10 Miles, moved after a decade on the flat St. Annes sea front to the equally exposed Bispham coast, and doubling as the Lancashire AA 10 Mile Championships and the Northern Vets Championships.  Preston Harrier's quality runner David Rigby won the race and the Lancashire title with 52:50, ahead of 274 finishers while Bev Wright of BWFAC, fourth women, took the ladies' Lancashire title.

 



Fiona Geldard who was 2nd WV50
and counted in Northern Vets
 

First of the Lytham contingent was Andy Draper who made a good return to racing after a long lay-off with 23rd place and 1:01:48.  Mark Willett was next in, 51st in 1:06:28.  Graham Webster finished in 53rd, second in his V60 category, in 1:06:40 and counted in Northern Vets.  Fiona Geldard was the first Lytham woman in and also took second in her V50 category, 139th in 1:20:00.  She completed the course in a much improved PB, 51 seconds better than previously, to finish first women in the Northern Vets Championship.   Pam Hardman, V55, was 190th in 1:27:39.

 



LSARRC Members who took part in the Club Weekend grouping for the pre-breakfast
run outside Arnside Hostel - Saturday 14th March 2015

Fifteen members of the Club took part in the latest of the biannual Training Weekends, a club tradition that started in 2003 and has since taken in over twenty holidays visiting a total of ten youth hostels in various Lake District and Yorkshire Dales locations.  This year's took place in benign weather amidst the glorious scenery of the Arnside area.  Pre-breakfast runs along the embankment overlooking Morecambe Bay, an off-road circuit of the adjacent Arnside Knott climbing 700 feet in a double loop and an eleven-mile Sunday road run were part of the training this time interspersed by plenty of social activities.

Progress along Arnside sea front in
early morning light - Saturday 14th March 2015

Breakfast time after the 4 mile run
Saturday 14th March 2015