ALEX’S NEWSPAPER REPORT
For the week ending 24th May 2008
There was a
double celebration in Wesham last week
following Kirkham’s success at Wembley, as the M50 team of
the Road Runners returned home
from the British Masters’ Open Road Relay Championships in Birmingham’s Sutton Park on Saturday. The team had come close on previous
occasions, having finished 5th two
years ago despite losing nearly a minute on a missed handover, and Gary Pendlebury took an individual M50 bronze medal in 2005 for
3rd fastest stage. This year though the team were on
fine form and Alan Hudson took off on Stage 1, pacing himself well over the 3-mile undulating
course to place the team 12th
with a time of 17:15. The
58-year-old had improved a massive 49 seconds on his 2007
time. Alex Rowe’s task on Stage 2 was to bring the team into contention and he managed
this with style, pulling back 11 places to finish 2nd in 16:29, just 5 seconds behind Dudley
& Stourbridge. John Collier set
off with zest and had assumed the lead by the top of the opening half-mile
uphill, running an admirable stage to finish 3rd after 17:22 as Telford and Blackheath
came through to take up the top two positions. Derek
Buckley improved his 2007
time, running 17:55 to hold the
team steady as South London took the lead
with Telford
dropping back and Blackheath out of
contention. Martin Bates also ran a
faster time with 17:37 and holding
the 3rd place as Oxford
moved ahead. It was then all down to team captain Gary
Pendlebury on the anchor stage, fittingly so as he is currently in
the top 5 of the national M50
rankings in every distance he has contested this year. He did not disappoint
and passed the South London runner just
before the halfway point and then overtook Oxford
past the Keepers Pool to gain 18
seconds and cross the line with a stage time of 16:14 and
a cumulative time of 1:43:02.
The Wesham M60 team saw the comeback of Barry
Peatfield, who ran the first stage with a pleasing 18:23 to finish 9th.
75-year-old Mike Walsh took over Stage 2,
running 22:30 for 18th
place. Dave Young closed the
team to 21st in 1:03:10 with a Stage 3 run
of 22:17. Alan Glasgow was first off
for the Wesham M40 team, running 19:16 for 38th. Trevor Rayner was 36th
with a fine 18:21; Mark Midgley 33rd
with 19:20; Peter Cooke 34th in 22:21; Steve Thompson 34th in 21:44; Russell Mabbett 34th with 19:25 despite a broken nose; Bernie
Krawczyk 31st with 22:55;
and Barry Peatfield 31st
with a second run of 19:11 giving a cumulative
2:42:21.
Sweatshop
manager John Rudd undertook the daunting Cape Wrath Challenge, a
series of six tough races totalling a double marathon distance. In the opening
half marathon on Monday, John ran 1:53:59 on a hilly course to finish 24th. On
Tuesday he was 21st in
the 5.5-mile Sangomore Long Hill Run,
clocking 44:12 on the lower slopes of the hills
behind Durness. He was 54th in Wednesday’s 8.4-mile Round Durness Long Run on
tracks around Loch Borralie with a time of
1:24:07. Thursday
featured the 4-mile
Balnakeil Predictor Beach Run to Fairaid head, and John
thoroughly enjoyed this run, (no times available). After a rest day on Friday he undertook the arduous marathon from Cape Wrath itself back along some of the routes he had followed
earlier in the week, an undulating course which he completed in a commendable 4:23:03 finishing 38th.
There were four
Wesham runners in this year’s Windermere Marathon. Graham Vickers was
the first across the finish line, 157th in
a time of 3:46:25. Nigel Shepherd ran well in
this challenging marathon, a single circuit around the lake, finishing 223rd in 3:54:51. John Howorth was
25th in 3:58:05 and
Sue Jones in 5:04:35, a
very creditable performance.
Richard
Davies took on the formidable Old
County Tops run; a 37 mile fell run from Great
Langdale over Hellvelyn, Scafell Pike and Coniston
with 10,000’ of climbing. Richard
completed the run with Lytham’s Stuart Forsyth in 10 hours 4 minutes, finishing about 30th.
Steve
Littler took the course record at the first Cuerden Park Badger 10k runs on Thursday, results
click here
Cheryl
Hinde finished 2nd Senior
Veteran in the Argon St Annes Triathlon on Sunday, swimming 10:14,
peddling 40:07 and running 28:32 to clock 1:18:55 (14th).
Stephen Hinde was 12th
male Vet with an 8:01 swim, 36:39 pedal and 23:00
run, with 1:07:42 and 29th
overall.
Peter
Cruse ran the opening Haigh Hall
4-mile race on Thursday over a shortened course in the country
park in Wigan,
finishing 45th in 25:23. Michaela Dempsey was 4th
W40 and 15th
woman with 27:56. Sarah Sherratt was 18th and 4th W35 in 29:12. The team was in action again on Saturday in the Meanwood Valley Trail
race over 7.5 miles near Leeds. Peter Cruse was 26th and
3rd M45 in the on Saturday in 19:43 with Chris Whitlock a
minute behind in 33rd with 20:45. Tony Kemp finished 42nd
with 21:24, and Martin
Bates was 48th
with 21:46. Michaela Dempsey was 6th woman and 32nd W40 in 21:58 with Sarah Sherratt 8th and
2nd W35 in 22:42.
Graham Vickers was 55th
ahead of the Windermere Marathon in 22:50.
Stephen
Wilkinson ran the Chester Half
Marathon in 1:43:53 gaining 501st place in a very popular event.
Written
by: Alex Rowe
Submitted:
22nd May 2008
Edited by: Brenda J Earnshaw WRREditor