The latest Mid Lancs cross country took place at Towneley Park Burnley. Red Rose ladies were lead home over the 5.8 km course by Nicola Hughes in 23.23, well supported by Sam Edwards in 25.00 and Faron Jones in 26.31.A good ‘B’ team performance was headed by Claire Shaw in 28.05 followed by Joan Gouldthorpe, 29.25, Sue Austin 30.37, Jenny Fairclough 34.03, and Gina Biggs 38.48.
The Men’s race was over 9.8km. The mens’ teams consist of 6 runners. Our lead runner was Dan Hughes in a time of 36.27, eight seconds ahead of James Simon. Gareth Case had a good run in 40.13 followed by a tight finish between Barry Wheeler 40.35 and Frank Nightingale 40.36 with Manolo Mendoza in 41.12. A strong ‘B’ team performance was headed by Scott Jackson 41.52 with Ken Addison 42.09, Simon Shaw 42.21, Mike Hall 43.48, Kevin Smith 47.32, Phil Dean 47.38, Richard Field 49.10 and Gareth Fairey 58.55. Our lone Junior runner, Nina Colquhoun ran a brave race in the U11 race over 2km finishing in 12.09.
The Garstang 10k is always a popular race at the beginning of the year and over 400 runners took part at the weekend.The Ladies team won a well deserved first place with great runs from Jill Jefferson, 43.16, new club member, Sarah Sutcliffe 43.19 and Sam Edwards 46.37. Vet prizes went to Jill Jefferson and Carolyn Douglass 52.19.
Dave Parkinson’s fine performance of 37.26 won him the Vet 50 prize. Other results saw some promising times at the start of 2018. Jose Pinon Shaw 38.15, John Naylor 40.33, Jonathan Finch 40.56, Manolo Mendoza 42.07, Stuart Smith 42.41, Michael Oddie 43.11, Ray Taylor 43.46, Andrew Stell 46.00, Matt Ashton 46.00 John Wiseman 46.40, Nikoletta Hudak 47.10, Alison Parkinson 49.32, Brian Hanley 50.32, Gail Bristo 51.57,Carolyn Douglass 52.19, Kathryn Abbott 54.40, Alison mercer 54.43, David Wilkinson 57.23, Amanda Berry 59.08, Kelly Wilson 62.06, Nikki Bentley 66.49, Toshif Vally 69.12, Bernard Elkington 82.26.
Anneke Crosby was our single runner at the East Lancs Hospice 10k. Just out of the prizes, she ran 47.45.
Red Rose Road Runners Philip Davidson (23:25) and Steve Worswick (26:05) were honoured to be invited to participate at Black Combe parkrun event number 11 on 13th January. The parkrun takes its name from the prominent fell overlooking HMP Haverigg and involves seven and a half laps of a figure of eight course on grass and path within the grounds of the Category C prison in Cumbria. The benefits of sport and physical activity in a prison environment are well documented in improving the physical and mental health of inmates, in providing a sense of belonging, increased self-confidence, better moods and decreased stress. In addition to providing the chance to be physically active in the open air, the pioneering initiative between parkrun UK and HMP Haverigg has provided the added benefit of promoting personal development through volunteering. The 28 runners and 10 volunteers involved on Saturday represented a sizeable percentage of the 286 prisoners at Haverigg. Since the Black Combe inaugural parkrun on 4 November 2017 other prisons have expressed an interest in holding parkruns in the future. Northern Ireland’s Magilligan started just last week 6 January 2018.
Parkrun PB’s were achieved at Preston by Hannah McCusker 22.20, Tobin Raynor 24.43, Toria Callaghan 30.06, Marion O’Grady 30.33, Dawn McLean 35.53.