The Preston 10 mile race hosted by Preston Harriers took place on Sunday starting and finishing at Hutton Grammar School. Bright skies but a forceful breeze greeted the runners. Red Rose made up about 10% of the 508 runners and in a very strong field produced some excellent results. Simon Croft finished in 12th place in a time of 56.32 with Phil Marsden in 19th place in 58.24 to take the V45 prize. Matt Holmes had a great run just missing out on the one hour mark with a time of 60.09. Steve Woodruffe finished as V55 in 65.45. Janine Needham came away with the second place in the F40 group in a time of 69.21, sealing the club championship after a great year’s running. Jill Jefferson who is unstoppable at the , won another F60 prize with great time of 69.57. Sam Edwards beat her 10 mile PB by 4 minutes finishing in 74.20. All results on ukresults.net.
Hell of a Hill Marathon, 5in5, is arguably the toughest 26.2 miles in the UK. The mighty Rivington Pike stands 1,191ft tall on the West Pennine Moors, and runners have to pass over the summit a massive 25 times to complete the challenge of a lifetime – a total of more than 20,000ft of elevation gain and 131 miles of tough stone and mud trail running. John Naylor accepted the 5 day challenge. On the first day John ran 4.09.35 to win the race. On Day 2 he was still in contention for top spot. Day 3 started well but got tougher and tougher towards the end, he finished in 4.49.58. Going in to Day 4, it looked like John was going to have to settle for second place in the 5 in 5 competition but he produced a brilliant performance with a time of 4.32.47. Day 5 saw him complete the ridiculous challenge with a time of 4.49.10 to confirm second place in the 5 in 5, for the second year running. Nikki Naylor had a busy start to the day on Day 2 which included a 2 mile warm up before starting the race late. With a bit of company and encouragement from Nina Colquhoun she got stronger and finished in a time of 7.00.54, 26 minutes faster than her previous attempt on this route. Nina Colquhoun ran an amazing 8.04.36. Day 4 and 5 saw David Brunton and Mark Willett taking up the challenge of back to back races. Running together in the first run they finished in 5.04.58. On Day 5 David Brunton ran an impressive 4.45.48 whilst Mark bravely completed the challenge with a time of 5.15.36. Kate Clipston chose Day 4 for her attempt at this tough course finishing in 7.28.27. On Day 5 Gareth Bell and Andrea Davison finished in 6.43.14 and even more brave successes came from Helen Greenhalgh in 7.22.38 and Faisal Ali finishing in 8.43.50.
On the other side of the world we have received news that Peter and Marion O’Grady had celebrated their 200th and 100th parkrun by entering the St Peter’s parkrun in Sydney. Nearer home a group went to Witton Park to help them celebrate the 150th parkrun event. At Cuerden Valley new PB’s were posted by Simon Shaw 21.32, Tim Morgan 23.12 and Archie Finch 26.23.
The Conway Half Marathon has a great reputation and 10 Red rose travelled to North Wales to tackle the great Orme. David Bayliss was our first runner home in a great time of 1.54.13 followed immediately by Gary Turner in 1.54.53. Kathryn Abbott had a great run with a time of 1.56.28 and Ben Smithers also beat the 2 hour barrier with 1.57.11. Davina Bowling took the first F70 position in 2.08.53 followed by David Barnes 2.10.50, Shane Collins 2.14.47, Susan Heatley 2.39.09, Lucy Turner 2.51.59 and Gina Biggs 3.07.21.
At the 13 Arches Trail Half Marathon, there were PB’s all round. Louise Withnell ran 2.14.34, and Wendy Ward and Katy Cleece finished together in 2.21.14.
The Chorley Fire 10k attracted another good turnout. Steven Willetts 41.30, Lee Lawrenson 46.18, Graham Brennan 48.51, Natalie Lewis 50.03, Claire Shaw 50.22, David Hindle 51.25, Richard Field 51.38, Hannah Clayton 59.28,Sandra Rolston 63.29, Sharon Smith 64.59, Arthur Green 72.34. In the fun run Emma and Jessica Jane both had great runs.
Steve Bullows ran his 10th marathon of the year, the Relativity Run held in Northampton over a 5 lap course of tarmac and grass sections.
i got the course record at bodlwyddal castle parkrun for f70 intime of 28.39