Wesham Road Runners

As the spring starts to migrate towards summer there are plenty of athletics events for Wesham members and there was a variety of activity last week.

John Naylor secured 10^th place in the Gruelling Brathay 10in10 marathon challenge, running the 16.2 miles of the marathon course on the road encircling Windermere, running from Thursday 9^th May every day to the actual Windermere Marathon itself on Saturday 18^th May. He clocked 4:27:06 (10^th); 4:56:08 (15^th); 5:39:34 (16^th); 5:12:42 (13^th); 5:01:30 (12^th); 4:35:39 (8^th); 4:38:43 (9^th); 4:26:18 (8^th); 4:05:03 (3^rd); 4:37:15 (11^th). His total time for the 262 miles was a staggering 47:39:58. Former member and close friend of Wesham Simon Eaton, raising money for the Brathay Trust ran 4:40:33 (13^th); 4:51:31 (10^th); 5:10:15 (12^th); 5:29:56 (15^th); 5:04:24 (13^th); 4:53:28 (14^th); 5:05:13 (12^th); 4:52:54 (13^th); 5:03:53 (13^th); 4:45:25 (13^th), giving him the overall time of 49:57:22 and 13^th place. There were 19 heroes taking on the complete challenge.

The Mearley Clough Fell Race on Tuesday evening was the first fixture in this year’s Inter Club Fell Series, 3.5 miles 1247 ft climb for a short and steep classification from the Calf’s Head in Worston near Clitheroe and up on to the flank of Pendle Hill with a pie and peas supper in the pub. Wesham had a good team out, with Alek Walker leading the way in 27^th place for a finish time of 40:23. Tom Crabtree was 40^th in 42:28 and Carl Groome 67^th with 44:59. Steve Myerscough placed 95^th in 46:59 with Dan Houslea 117^th in 48:59. Ian Nichols Hogg finished 134^th in 51:15 with John Collier 158^th with 55:18. Carmel Sullivan placed 162^nd overall in 56:30 with Kay twist 177^th in 60:59 and Jen Salt 180^th with 61:36. James Danson was 189^th in 66:54 and Martin Bates 199^th with 1:20:37.

In the Chester Half Marathon on Sunday Chris Haines finished 154^th in a good quality popular race to clock 1:28:54 for the 13.1 miles. Finlay McCalman placed 1784^th in 1: 59:05 for 36^th M60 with a chip time of 1:57:18.

There were several events in the Keswick Mountain Running Festival over the weekend with trail events as well as those on the fells and mountains. In the 10k Trail Race Stephen Twist finished 149^th in 1:10:02 and James Danson was 181^st in 1:12:35 with a close match between the two M55s. The Half Marathon Trail Run featured 4 Wesham members with Kay Twist reaching 436^th place and 143^rd woman in this big event in a time of 4:03:08 on a hilly course. Jen Salt finished 455^th and 155^th in 4:08:19 with Sharon Cooper 477^th and 166^th woman with 4:17:30. Anne Berry was 524^th, 191^st woman, in 4:37:26.

The Scorton 10k Trail Race on Sunday saw Sue Coulthurst running 59:43 for 3^rd place overall and first female, a tremendous achievement. Becky Ingham was 2^nd female in 1:07:34 for 4^th female, a great result for the club.

In the Southport Sprint triathlon Lisa Minns 276^th over the 750m swim in the somewhat pungent Marine Lake in Princes Park alongside the Promenade, 20k bike stage and 5km run, with a long 300m transition, recording a cumulative time of 1;29:34. Mick Edge was 121^st in 1:15:50 with a personal best performance for the classification.

There were surprisingly no Wesham runners in the Worden Park 10k on Sunday nor perhaps the Christleton 5km on Friday evening, a high-quality race to match the West Cheshire event in Kingsley.

There were 29 Wesham members running a parkrun 5km on Saturday morning t 9am at all the local venues and some international ones as the Whit holiday season swings into action. In Preston Steve Abbott clocked the 6^th fastest time of the day with 19:03 for an M45 age graded performance of 75.59%. Steve Myerscough was on form to run 21:11 for an M50 age grade of 69.63% with Nigel Shepherd recording 22:12 for an M65 graded 76.28%. Paul Carter ran 31:34 for M50 48.26%. Across the Pennines the Gores were in Graves Park in the south area of Sheffield with Steven taking the 6^th fastest time in 20:56 for M40 66.72% and Vicky running well with 25:33 for a W45 64.06%. At home in Chester-Le-Street after a month off from the Riverside parkrun Emma Brook returned 28:06 for W40 54.74%, and in South Wales in the Penallta park at Penallta House in Ystrad Mynach north of Caerphilly Lee Barlow was 15^th in 20:57 with a tremendous run to achieve M50 71.52%. In Keswick’s Fitz Park James Danson ran 28:15 for M55 56.28% and in Manchester’s Stretford parkrun Tracey Hulme clocked 25:44 for W60 75.39%. At home in Lytham Hall Carl Groome was 11^th fastest in 21:14 and returned an M55 grade of 72.37%. Ian Nichols Hogg ran 22:04 for 58.91%; Tony Leach 24:27 with M60 66.73%; Jonathan Lawson clocked 24:57 for M55 62.12%; Mark Holton notched up 25:33 in a social run for M45 55.90%; and Tom Nicholson returned 26:03 for 49.78%. Andy Moore ran 28:38 for M60 56.98%; Phil Leaver came close to matching his time of 42:39 with his M70 age grade of 41.34%; and Sue Rigby returned 43:44 for W50 38.34%. Up the road in Williamson Park in Lancaster Finlay McCalman had his first trial over the course in 29:47 for M60 53.83%, and in Blackpool’s Stanley Park Jamie Houghton had the fastest time of 18:06 for his age grade 71.27% and Rob Wallace returned 23:57 for 54.14%, for SM25 and SM30 respective age grades.  On Fleetwood Promenade Stuart Mulrooney ran 20:43 for M40 66.37% and George Kennedy 23:22 with an M65 72.47%, and with the Morecambe Prom run perhaps vying for the faster course Liz Sharrocks clocked 29:50 for W60 66.93% and Tony Sharrocks on 42:58 with an M60 37.66%. off to foreign parts and Alona Versinina was in The Hague and took in the Zuiderpark parkrun performing 26:52 for her W35 grade of 56.02%, while in the Yarborough Leisure Centre in Lincoln Mike Eyre ran 23:44 for an M60 graded 68.19% and Helen Eyre 29:05 for W55 64.87%.