Mid Lancs Cross Country Fixture
Saturday, 9th February 2008
at Wilson’s
Fields in Hyndburn
In
the penultimate Mid Lancs Cross Country fixture on Saturday at Wilson’s
Fields in Hyndburn the Wesham men put on a good show but the ladies were a little below
par while consolidating their position in the League.
Joanna Goorney
was the leading Wesham woman over the two-lap 7km course, a pleasant revision
from previous fixtures at this venue, with a long lap through the woods on the
slopes above the athletic track and football pitches. The course was a bog all
the way round but it was a good challenge on a twisting and constantly
undulating trail. The runners were rewarded with a glorious warm day with clear
skies and no wind. Joanna finished 21st and 5th Over-35 in 26:18. Carmel
Sullivan returned to form with a great run,
finishing 31st and 1st
W40 in 27:08, well suited to the sticky underfoot conditions. Julie Cruse
came in 43rd in 28:47, 7th Over-45 and completing the Wesham women’s ‘A’ team in 8th position overall and 3rd
in Division 2.
Tracy Hulme
was first in for the Wesham women’s ‘B’ team, crossing the line 63rd with a gutsy run in 32:11, 11th Over-45. Pauline
Weller was next in, with 36:29 for 74th place, and Sue Fearon
once again showed no trepidation clocking 40:40 for 79th place. The ‘B’ team were 19th
overall and 6th in Division 3, and the W35 team were 3rd overall, a great result, with the W45 team also 3rd.
Charlie Pass
set off at a pace on the initial climb from the start but held his position
well, gaining ground towards the finish to come in 13th in 35:43. Gary Pendlebury
ran very strongly despite a twinge on his knee and coped admirably with the
conditions to finish 29th and 2nd
M50 in 37:41. Alex Rowe suffering hip pain hung on well for 32nd
place just behind with 38:05 for 3rd
M50. Pendlebury and Rowe are battling for the
top M50 spot in the League results for 2007/8, outclassed today by Barrow’s Bob Atkinson, 50 a week ago, who
stormed back to 5th place after a 5-year absence. Next in for Wesham was Lee Barlow
easing into 44th place in a time of 39:36, ahead of Derek Buckley in 52nd
position with 40:33, bringing the Wesham
M40 team into 3rd place overall and
securing the M50 team the top spot with a clear lead this season. John Collier
completed the Wesham men’s ‘A’ team into 3rd place, running 41:35 for 65th today after being struck with the flu last week. Alan Glasgow was 76th
in 42:36,
16th M50; Russell Mabbett came in 90th with a good run clocking 43:51; Mark Midgley was 123rd in 47:45; Brian Porter
was in good form with 49:23 in 131st place; Nigel
Shepherd finished 152nd with 54:01; and Mike Walsh,
still a non-scorer for Wesham, placed 160th and 9th
Over-60 with 58:00.
The
Winter Warmer 10k
in Blackburn
has taken over from its mid-summer sister race over this course and offers the
awesome climb up Bunser Lane away from the start
in Witton Park in Blackburn. There was a good
quality race lined up and Wesham’s
Steve Littler rose to the challenge, running an
impressive 32:33 for 2nd place on the hilly course. Peter Waywell was next in, placing 31st
in 37:48.
Alan Hudson
had a great run, although he was challenged in his age group and had to settle
for 3rd M55
in a good time of 38:32 for 39th place overall. Simon
Eaton placed 56th, coming across the line in tandem with Gary de Banke (57th) in 39:51. Chris
Whitlock returned to athletics after a
period playing football, and ran 43:08 in 91st place. Colin Whaites was 151st with 46:49; Stephen
Wilkinson 159th with 47:08; John Howorth 166th in 47:51; Dougie
Brown was 2nd
M70 in an excellent 48:38; Brian Porter scored a weekend double with 48:45 in 180th;
George Flanagan
was 224th
in 51:25;
and Scott Munday
was 366th
with 65:29.
Pauline Weller
lead the way for the Wesham women, with 54:55 for 54th place and 2nd
W50; Anne Docherty was 55th in 55:25 and was 3rd
W50; Sue Fearon another weekend double racer was 86th in 63:40; and Berni Ashworth
was 90th
in 65:29,
finishing with Scott Munday. Both the Men’s and Women’s teams tantalisingly placed 4th.
Sarah Sherratt took on the toughest
of races on Sunday but had advantage of the superb weather in the 11-mile Winter Hill race
with 2700’ of climb, finishing 19th woman and 163rd overall in 2:34:27. Nigel
Shepherd showed he is the man for the
off-road life, following up his Saturday run in the Mid-Lancs
cross country with another challenge here,
completing the tough course 178th in a fine 2:42:06.
The
5th Kendal Winter League proved popular with Wesham runners as Peter Cruse
finished 36th (11th
M40) in 41:00; Martin
Bates 39th and 7th M50
in 41:56;
Michaela
Dempsey 6th lady in 47:11 (53rd overall); and Helen
Jolly 12th lady (63rd
overall) in 56:46 for the 4-mile race over 1200ft of climb. Levon Bates
was 43rd
with 10:09
in the Under-12s 0.6-mile race with 80ft climb; Ellis
Jolly was 29th in 8:14.
Written by: Alex Rowe
Submitted: 13th February 2008
Edited by: Brenda J Earnshaw WRR Editor