The final Mid Lancs fixture was held at Worden Park and hosted by Preston Harriers, assisted by Red Rose Road Runners. The Red Rose club had a good turnout with some excellent performances. Ken Addison was first home for the club completing his great season with a top 10 finish in the Vet 50 category in a time of 41.06. Not far behind was Joe Swarbrick finally enjoying a cross country course finishing in 41.29. Stuart Roberts, normally favouring hilly courses, followed in 41.48 on a relatively a flat course. Another consistent performance from Phil Butler in 42.53 ensured he counted as third member home in the V40 team. Ben Donoghue performed well with 44.16 and Stuart Cann completed the V40 team with a strong run of 45.41. New member Philip Davidson completed the Vet 50 team with his 45.57. Barry Wheeler fought the sticky conditions to finish in 46.44. A good turnout from the club’s Vet 50 men ensured a second team of John Rogerson (48.04), Phil Dean (49.10) and Chris Clark(61.06) were able to record a good position.
Clare Bunce produced her best performance yet with 17th place well ahead of some established runners in 27.33. Alison John Haslam (30.56) in Red Rose colours was next home in front of Debbie Kirkman ( 31.29) who completed the ‘A’team. Paula Plowman ran 32.32 leading the B team along with Nicki Roberts (33.41), Glenda Dobie (33.48) and Julie Palmer (34.34) who finished in a very respectable position against other local clubs. A good turnout from the ladies saw Joan Goldthorpe run 35.24 and Sally Cape running strongly for 36.30. New to cross country, Gill Allen was only seconds behind with 36.48 and Karen Clark completed the team with 39.55.
In the recent Great North Western half marathon Jose Pinon Shaw made a major breakthrough breaking the 90 minute barrier for the first time with a time of 1.29.05. New club member Rebecca Walton celebrated breaking the two hour barrier with 1.59.54 whilst Sarah Walton ran well for 2.20.26.
In the Stanley Park 10K more PB’s were established. Jo Duffy took the V35 with a best time of 46.21. Lee Brown, continues to improve with another PB of 51.03 and Anne Nelson proved she is back in condition with a time of 54.23. Christina Wright was second in her age group in a time of 48.24. Simon Houghton was first club member home in 43.30 whilst Peter Gibson was second V65 in 45.56. New member Colin Manning produced a massively improved performance with a time of 62.55 after doing the Lostock 6 mile in 65.39 only last week.
At the Haweswater half marathon, Carol Devaney ran the undulating course in 2.03.35 with Karen and Chris Clark building up their marathon miles finishing in 2.23.02.
Marathon training got serious for those doing the Trimpell 20. John Shepherd ran an excellent 2:07:00 whilst Shane Cliffe produced a solid 2.17.09. Sarah Walton’s second long race in a week saw her finish in 3:56:18.