The big events for Red Rose this weekend were the Couch to 5k graduation at the Preston parkrun and the massively popular Crazy Cow 10k starting on the banks of the River Ribble.
The latest successful completion of the Peter O’Grady’s Couch to 5k group was accomplished with the aid of Red Rose members piloting the new runners around the course, all of whom ran brilliantly, many surpassing their expected running times.
The Crazy Cow event attracted a huge field of over 700 for the 10k and also held a Fun Run.
Of the 72 Red Rose, three made the top ten. Simon Croft ran a strong race with a great time of 34.40 for second place, Daniel Hughes finished 6th in 36.40 and Alex Venables came 9th in 37.24. In 14th place, David Parkinson ran 38.27 to be 2nd V50. Olivia Wiggans came 7th lady overall and third in her age category in a time of 45.38. Sian McMonagle was our second female, with a very strong finish in a time of 48.20. Natalie Moore stayed just 10 seconds ahead of Alison Parkinson (4th F.50) to finish in 49.10. All results available on ukresults.net.
At the scenic but tough Windermere Marathon, reward for the hard training came for our 6 runners. Ben Smithers finished in a great time of 3.46.44 with Steven Poxon also beating the 4 hour mark in 3.56.36. David Bayliss finished in 4.22.45 followed by a great effort by Samantha Edwards in a time of 4.41.24. Gareth Bell and Andrea Davison conquered the course in 5.25.27.
The Preston parkrun numbers of 429 were swelled by a huge red Rose presence of 62. Leanne Finch attained a new PB of 27.39.Others on great form were Andy Clipston 34.45 and Lynn Melvin 35.08. At Cuerden Valley Kristian Lowe ran a new best time of 20.21.
The 315 Lancaster 5k is known as a favourable course and John Naylor finished in 19.16 followed by Gareth Fairey in 25.11 and Nikki Bentley in 31.29 and in the Pilling 10k Ian Waddingham ran 49.10.
Shane Cliffe and his team handed over a fantastic cheque for £1850 to Cash for Kids, raised by organising the Avenham 5k on Bank Holiday Monday.