More than 70 Red Rose Road Runners took part in the Garstang 10k as the first Championship race of the year. This promises to be a very interesting year with many new members taking part for the first time and with plenty of new talent looking to improve over the coming months. The first eight men over the line were all under the 40 minute barrier which was an impressive start on an undulating course and one subject to strong winds in parts.
In 9th place overall Karl Hodgson led the way with a time of 37.04 followed by Dan Hughes in 14th in 37.39. A great run from John Shepherd saw him pace himself through the early miles to take 20th place and first V50 in a time of 38.18. Ken Addison stormed off from the gun and maintained his pace to be fourth RR and first V60 in 38.52, nearly four minutes ahead of the next V60. Andrew Christie started the year off well with this run (39.16) with Sam Harrison gaining confidence with a well paced run in 39.28. Jose Pinon Shaw stayed strong with a fast finish (39.48). Carla Davies started her Championship season with a great run finishing in 43.28 to be our first female finisher. Another strong performance came from Janine Needham in 44.15 followed by Jill Jefferson starting the season well, taking the F55 prize in a time of 45.15. Davina Bowling ran 58.56 to take the F65 prize and Carol Douglass now F70 won her category with a great time of 52.34. Ruth Travis’ performance showed her strong form with a time of 45.54 which beat her time from 2009 by a minute. Well done to all runners and in particular those who started the year with Personal Bests. Richard Field 45.24, Anneke Crosby 48.11, Jim McLean 52.38, Mary Conway 57.34, Pita Oates 57.37.
Battles between club members are the catalyst for a lot of improvement. Phil Davidson improved his previous time by nearly 2 minutes but came up against a determined Phil Butler who stayed ahead to finish 19 seconds clear. Chris Charnley (41.35) was happy with his performance as he comes back from a few weeks out.
Results: Joe Swarbrick 39.51, John Naylor 40.22, Stuart Cann 40.40, Richard Maughan 40.52, Mark Willett 41.18, Chris Charnley 41.35,Dave Brunton 41.55, Kristian Lowe 42.50, Phil Butler 43.03, Phil Davidson 43.22,Steve Boardman 43.44, Dave Hooton 45.18, Andrew Stell 45.31, Ian Wharton 45.54, Pete Battersby 45.55, John Wiseman 46.06, Ray Taylor 46.20, Dave Raynor 46.34, Paul Woan 46.59,John Allen 47.59, John Hyde 48.11, John Ross 49.31, Martin Simpson 49.42, Liam Hooton 49.52, Paula Plowman 50.06, Alison Parkinson 50.24, Matt Ashton 52.12, Alison Mercer 53.33,Vicky Gore 54.17, Anais Shaikh 54.34, Yvonne Johnson 54.54,Aimee Grime 55.15, Melanie Lowe 56.07, Ted Dempsey 57.16, Gareth Bell 57.38,Jenny Fairclough 57.51, Lee Burton 58.14, Claire Shaw 58.29, Roger Johnson 58.45, Davina Bowling 58.56, David Wilkinson 59.14, Allan Howard 59.14,Sarah Haslam 61.47, Paula Stell 62.27, Josephine Walsh 64.20, Sharon Birkbeck 65.16, Dave Aspin 67.51, wendy Ward 70.08, Arthur Green 70.23, Tracy woods 70.26, Evelyn Elkington 70.43,Janette Covell 72.29, Nina Colquhoun 73.01,Janet Saynor 74.09, Lydia Plackett 77.23, Bill Sumner 77.49.
Meanwhile in warmer conditions, Marion and Peter O’Grady took part in the Promenade Classic 10k in Nice. Their run in the sun saw Peter home in under 50 minutes and Marion in 63 minutes.
Karl Hodgson has completed his mammoth effort to raise money for Christie Hospital where he received treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma when he was 17. It was reported in the LEP on Saturday 9 January. He received amazing treatment and it’s brilliant to see how fit and healthy he is now. http://m.lep.co.uk/news/local/karl-completes-mammoth-running-challenge-1-7664505