Red Rose had another ‘Grand Day Out’ this weekend. A coachful of 37 runners and their supporters made an early start to the Helsby 4 Villages Half Marathon. Bright and cool conditions were ideal for this popular race with 1800 finishers.
Chip timing was welcome as the narrow start delayed many runners moving off from the gun. Our major front runners impressed again with Duncan Anderson running a brilliant 1.17.29 in 29th place and Ben Donoghue also breaking the 80 minute barrier with 1.19.14 in 46th place. Ken Addison was next in with a very strong performance of 1.24.23 to be 4th V55. Jose Pinon Shaw ran a very controlled race moving smoothly through the field in the second half of the race to finish in a brilliant 1.25.42. Joe Swarbrick was next in, in 1.27.55.
An excellent run by Steve Whitney saw him finish in 1.29.20. Phil Darwen ran 1.30.40 followed by Dave Hooton taking 6th V60 place on a favourite course in a time of 1.33.54. Phil Butler was next in with 1.34.19 followed by Doug Bryden in an encouraging time of 1.35.22. Jill Jefferson was our leading lady once more, in a great time of 1.35.31, and was well placed as 3rd FV55. A steady stream of runners followed. Shane Cliffe 1.38.55, Frank Nightingale 1.40.57, Phil Dean 1.42.38. Margaret Lupton paced her run well with time of 1.46.14.
As this was the first race of the 2014 Championship there was plenty of enthusiastic efforts which resulted in several PB’s .
Results: John Wiseman 1.47.29, Keith Burrows 1.52.11, Anneke Crosby 1.52.09, Julie Thorley 1.52.10, Rob Mather 1.53.25, Richard Lodge 1.54.56, Luke Bosman 2.04.41, Lydia Drain 2.10.53, David Wilkinson 2.10.21, Allan Howard 2.12.42, Wendy Ward 2.13.13, Mike Jeffryes 2.18.50, Karen Clarke 2.20.25., Chris Clarke 2.20.26, Amy Midgley 2.25.07, Ann Donoghue 2.30.02, Joanne Malcolmson 2.30.02, Adela Nuttall 2.33.07, Janet Saynor 2.40.50.
Nearer home, at the Inskip Half Marathon Stuart Cann successfully broke 90 minutes with a time of 1.28.34 whilst Steve Gore took over four minutes off his PB finishing in 1.31.09. Dave Maudsley showed his return to racing is well on track with a time of 1.31.51 followed by Mark Billington in 1.34.25. Colin Manning completed the line up in a time of 2.16.19.