Red Rose Road Runners hosted the final Inter Club race of the season at Worden Park. The club fielded a large contingent of 55 runners as well as a huge cast of volunteer marshalls and to top it all a feast of food for all the runners to enjoy after the race.
The course of 4.2 miles was covered by the first 20 Red Rosers in under 30 minutes. First in was Ciaron Roddy was 16th overall in 24.57. Dan Hughes was next in 25.35 and Karl Hodgson also had a great run in 26.00. An older trio followed with a great race within the race with Alan Jolly finishing in 26.15, Ken Addison 26.19 and John Shepherd 26.27. Andrew Christie kept ahead of a chasing group with a time of 27.05. The tight group consisted of Chris Charnley 27.29, Mike Hall 27.30, John Naylor 27.32 and Stuart Cann 27.35.
For the Ladies, Carol Douglass lead the way home in 35.15, Joan Gouldthorpe was only a short distance behind in 35.48 with Emma Johnson and Vicky Gore finishing together in 36.47. Janet Tolson made a welcome appearance with a time of 38.00. Paula Stell was next in 39.09. Plenty more great performances came from Helen Greenhalgh ,39.50, Sarah Runcie 42.59, Moira Godbert-Laird 43.29,Louise Walsh 43.51, Sarah Haslam 44.08, Marion O’Grady 44.47, Susan Heatley 46.48, Gina Biggs 55.36.
Team performances were also impressive. The Vet team was 3rd out of 7. The V60 team of Dave Hooton, Ray Taylor and David Dyson were 2nd team on the night. The V50 team cemented its dominant position by winning the category once more to take an impressive points lead to finish the season in first place, repeating last year’s success.
Other results: S.Harrison 28.04, D.Brunton 28.21,S.Blaydon 28.26, P.Butler 28.30, D.Wall 28.51, D.Tolson 29.22, F.Nightingale 29.32, B.Wheeler 29.47, C.Brown 29.48, D.Hooton 30.29, P.Battersby 30.30, R.Taylor 30.35, M.McCrea 30.54, D.Brydon 31.14, P.Davidson 31.38, S.Taylor 32.22,D.Dyson 32.24, L.Hooton 32.44, B.Mitchell 32.52, G.Lambert 32.59, A.Hughes 33.05, D.Orritt 34.49, J.Bottenworth 35.35, A.Murphy 36.45, E.Hodgkinson 37.10, R.Field 37.46, S.Hargreaves 39.57, D.Aspin 44.57, T.Hilton 48.51, G.Fairey 52.03.
Ruth Travis made the long journey to the Inner Hebrides to take part in the Tiree Ultra Marathon, (35 miles). A six and a half hour drive to Oban and then 4 hours on the ferry were the preparations for this challenge Tiree is relatively flat though very windy and exposed. The race consisted of lots of running on beaches, across farmland and quite a bit if road. Her excellent time was 7.16.26.
Duncan Anderson finished the Golden Ball 20 mile in 5th place with a time of 2.07.04, and Gina Biggs claimed a top 100 spot with a time of 4.46.08.
The Lakeland Trails event this weekend was held at Fitz Park in Keswick. In the 10k Trail race Phil Davidson continued his comeback with an encouraging 52.12. Lisa Bolton was close by with a time of 54.33 with her dad, Paul Mounsey, winning the V60 prize in 49.08. Alison Mercer ran a steady 55.51 followed by Vicky Gore 59.26, Claire Shaw 64.07 and Josephine Walsh 66.50.
In the 15k Challenge, Chris Brown ran 83.16 which would have placed him respectably in the Trail race. .Stephen Robertson ran well for 90.57. Margaret Lupton was the first of our women in 93.29 and Peter O’Grady was close by in 95.38. Emma Johnson ran well for a time of 1.42.18 with Jenny Fairclough,Mary Conway and Sue Aston running together finishing in 2.04.56.
In the Trail Race, Andrew Christie had a great run finishing in 15th place in a time of 73.16 and Mark Billington was 53rd in 79.35.
Parkrun PB’s were achieved at Preston by Alan Jolly in 18.34 and Carol Williams in 32.22. At Cuerden Ciaron Roddy continued his rise with a time of 18.39. John Naylor also had a great run with a time of 20.23,Jon Royle ran 23.07,Paula Plowman 24.47,Bernie Mitchell 25.01 and Martin Simpson 26.58.
Some of our Derwentwater group warmed up with the Keswick Parkrun. Chris Brown ran an excellent 20.54, Jenny Fairclough ran the out and back 5k on the old railway route out of Keswick in 28.23.Mary Conway finished in 29.04 and Lydia Plackett ran 36.14 before cheering on her team mates in the trail race.
An extra long weekend saw some Red Rosers heading out to take on the inaugural Royal Rumble over at Tockholes as a bank holiday evening race. The brand new fell race organised through English Hill Runners welcomed a very small field of 39 runners to the start on an uphill dense woodland track. Leading out onto the tops and taking in Aggie’s Staircase on the descent a tough 5 mile fell race finished just before night fall. Gareth Bell was first home in 42:30 – his first fell race in a red vest. Mark McCrea was second home for the mighty reds in a great time of 45:12, Sarah Maltby again her first fell race in a red vest was home in 52:51. Debbie Porter ran a great 54:13 and last but not least for Red Rose Pita Oates in 59:51.
A great inaugural fell race and a lovely atmosphere back in the Royal pub post run.
A second event took place over in West Yorkshire on Saturday the 5th of September. Blackshaw Head fell race kicked off at 2pm with three Red Rose ladies in attendance. As part of the village fete the fell race is a local but very challenging race that took on some serious climbing. A total of 400m of climbing with the usual uphill start saw Paula Plowman, Pita Oates and Lisa Hyde taking on the 5.7 mile course for the ladies. With a competitive field of 85 runners, Paula arrived home first in a great time of57:11, Pita second in for the ladies in 1:05 and finally Lisa ran a great time of 1:25, congratulations to Lisa for winning her prize for final finisher!