Alex’s Newspaper Report
For the week ending 28th
January 2012
The Fylde hosted its second half marathon of the year with a new event
from the Derby Arms in Inskip
taking in a flat scenic route though Great
Eccleston and Elswick. This race was designed for unsuccessful applicants
of the two other major events in the North
of England the Brass Monkey in York
and the Four Villages in Cheshire.
It sold out at 300 entrants and attracted some good quality competitors.
The conditions were wet and very
blustery so fast times were not going to be possible but the Wesham men and women showed their
enthusiasm for the event with a double team win. The Wesham ladies finished in succession, with Carmel Sullivan back at the front placing 7th and 1st
W45 in 1:34:15 with a great run, 64th overall. The winning women’s
time was 1:22:02 with the leading pair just 32 seconds apart. Emma Lund backed
off just a little to come in 8th and 68th overall in
1:34:35 only 20 seconds behind 
win. Keswick AC put up a strong opposition and were
just 4 points adrift of the Wesham
women. Nicola Unsworth was 21st and 10th W40 in 1:43:48,
122nd overall, and Tracey Hulme gave her a race to the line with a
great run, 3rd W45 and 22nd woman also clocking 1:43:48.
Angela Colby was 27th and 11th W40 in 1:45:55, 134th
overall and Sara Ward ran well to finish 31st and 4th W45
in 1:50:08, 159th overall. Sharon Cooper was 4th W35 and
36th woman in 1:51:49 170th overall. Sue Jones was 74th
and 251st in 2:11:24 and Claire Hardman 87th and 270th
with 2:28:56.
Rob
Danson
led the Wesham men to their team
victory with another fine run in 1:18:10 to finish 4th. He had
started off bravely with the leaders but soon realised the pace was going to
quicken despite the windy conditions and he backed off. Lee Barlow put in a
strong run to reflect his marathon training and he came in 9th and 1st
M40 in his debut in the age category with 1:22:01. Jason Barlow completed the
team finishing 24th and 3rd M40 in 1:27:45, a solid start
to the year and he was pleased with his run after a bit of a layoff. Troy
Watson missed the start but made up for it with a strong run and he finished 44th
in 1:31:33. Mark Belfield was on form and he came in 47th in
1:31:48. John Bertenshaw had a very good run in the conditions and he was 52nd
with 1:32:23, 4th M55. Charles Colby was 76th in 1:35:34
and Nigel Shepherd 81st and 5th M50 with 1:36:23. Dave
Preston was on fine form and he came in 161st in 1:50:46. Alistair
Morris finished 173rd in 1:52:14; Paul Carter 190th with
1:55:07; and Jon McLeod was 219th in 2:01:12.
George
Kennedy
was the leading Wesham runner in the
Helsby
Four Villages Half Marathon and he finished 10th M50 and 184th
overall in 1:30:06. Russell Mabbett is training hard for the London Marathon and
he had this race firmly in his training plan finishing 285th in
1:33:49. Kath Hoyer ran well and she was 5th W50 and 614th
overall in 1:43:18. Finlay McCalman finished 1029th in 1:54:57 and
Dave Young was 1323rd and 38th M60 in 2:06:11.
Karl Lee ran like a true master
in the York Brass Monkey Half Marathon
although under an assumed name and he finished 42nd with a good
1:19:17, well on track for a good season leading up to the Brighton Marathon.
Written by: Alex Rowe
Submitted: 26th January 2012
Edited by: Brenda J
Earnshaw WRR Editor