The Manchester Marathon was the main event of the weekend. In good conditions on a fast course, the best performance of the day was undoubtedly Alan Jolly, who ran a brilliantly paced race to finish in a fantastic time of 2.54.49. Michael Pate also excelled himself with a PB by 13 minutes with a time of 3.15.50 just missing out a GFA time. Richard Maughan carved out yet another good time with a time of 3.28.01 whilst John Naylor came in, in a time of 3.44.13. Simon Hall put in a great effort with a 4.39.49 and Ramona Mulligan, encouraged by club mates , broke 6 hours with a time of 5.57.35. Gina Biggs completed yet another of her 2015 marathons with a time of 6.08.19.
A day trip to Hawkshead saw performances in different races. In the 10k race which was more like a 12k, Ian Waddingham lead the club home in 70.20. Joanne Malcolmson had a good day with a time of 74.10. Vicky Gore ran a consistent race with a time of 79.24 and Claire Shaw finished in 88.03. In the 17 km Run /Walk Challenge Stephen Robertson took on the obstacles on the Coffin route and finished in 1.48.26. Debbie Porter wasn’t far behind with a great run in 1.51.29. Jane Petrie got a taste of a very unusual event finishing in 2.25.16 followed by the pairing of Wendy Ward and Angela Brooks in a time of 2.28.17. Lydia Plackett completed the team finishing in 2.39.18. In the 17km race Philip Davidson covered the course in respectable 1.26.39. Shane Cliffe’s steady pace saw him home in 1.41.16. Sally Cape worked hard on the demanding course with a time of 2.11.29 with Aimee Midgley battling through in 2.23.18.
At Cuerden Valley 182 runners turned up and PB’s were posted by Daniel Hughes in 19.19, Anees Shaikh 26.40 and Richard Maughan 27.28.
Red Rose were out and about the previous week taking part in various races both near and far.
At the first Inter Club of the season, 78 runners took on the 4 mile course round Stanley Park, Blackpool. First Roser home was Alan Jolly in a time of 23.20, followed by Dan Hughes (24.38), John Shepherd (24.48) Stuart Cann ( 24.57) and David Brunton (24.59)
First lady home was Joanne Malcolmson in 29.30, who continues to steadily improve after her PB recently at Preston Parkrun.
The clubs strength is always in its vet runners, but also in the loud support team which is usually assembled and this Inter club was no different.
After the race, the presentations were made for last years Interclub trophies with Red Rose picking up the V50 team prize, The Womens Fell team prize and the V50 Fell team prize.
Sunday 12th April saw heavy rain play havoc with any warm ups taking place prior to the Lancaster 3 Bridges 10k run. Whilst the rain eased, the wind developed into storm gusts over the course of the race with the later stages being a battle against the elements. Duncan Anderson, Dan Hughes, and Alan Jolly finished within seconds of each other (37.45, 37.46 and 37.47) and in 7th, 8th and 9th places.
This was enough to secure the men’s team prize. Jose Pinon Shaw,(39.35) Ken Addison (39.44) and Andrew Christie (39.46) all came in under 40 minutes, with Stuart Cann just outside in 40.14.
Jill Jefferson won the F55 category with a steady run of 45.50, and Carol Douglass scored top V65 in 52.50 .
Sarah Hall was comfortably under 50 minutes with a PB of 48.55. Good speed work before Edinburgh Marathon later in May.
Joe Swarbrick, Anthony Durkin and Lynn Melvin all managed to travel to Paris for the Marathon despite the French Air Traffic Control strike. Anthony was disappointed to miss his target time, but still ran a very competent 3hr 07, with Joe coming in at 3hr 12. The latter time being particularly good considering it was only 2 minutes slower than when Joe competed 10 years ago in the same event. The temperatures in Paris were considerably better than those in Lancaster with temperatures of 20 degrees.
Andy Binstead also had balmy weather in Brighton for his first Marathon and was pleased to place in 3hr 57 despite suffering from injury in the weeks prior to the race.