CROSS COUNTRY REPORTS

(Click on the event you wish to read)

 

MID-LANCS 1 – TOWNELEY PARK BURNLEY 29th OCT 2011

A very successful first Mid-Lancs Fixture - thanks to all those who ran at Towneley Park.


We had six ladies and fifteen men - an excellent turnout and a good result with the Ladies winning the F45s and the Men 2nd in the V50s. We had two Cross-Country debutants – Richard Davies and Dave Preston. Dave was impressed that he could enter on the day and that entry was free!J It was also the first outing for the WRR Flag thanks to Gary M, Dave Y and Mark M.


Thanks also to Mick, Kerry, George F and Anne D who came along to support even though they weren't running. The conditions were good but very soft underfoot which made for slower times than previous years and also strong winds [some  would say gale force!] but at least the rain held off - until we were just about to take the tent down that is!

 

Results Summary

Men [10k]:-

58th Alex 2nd V50 38:01, 81st Lee 39:20, 111th John C 40:44, 126th Steve M 41:23, 144th Richard D 42:26, 162nd Martin B 43:12, 180th Mark M 44:18, 190th John B 44:38, 229th Alan G 46:40, 243rd Russ M 47:46, 255th Dave W 48:27, 285th Dave P 50:51, 299th Brian P 52:38, 306th Pete C 54:11, 309th Dave Y 54:53

Seniors 15th team, V40s 10th Team, V50s 2nd Team

 

Ladies [6k]:-

14th Joanna 25:52, 36th Sarah 27:52, 39th Carmel 28:32, 45th Kath H 29:00, 53rd Tracey 29:27, 112th Sue J 35:54

Seniors 6th Team, V35s 4th team, V45s 1st Team

 

ECCA NATIONAL XC RELAYS – BERRY HILL PARK MANSFIELD 5th November 2011

Another excellent day out to Mansfield with the added luxury of travelling down by coach [Coastal Coaches of Warton] shared with Lytham St. Anne’s Road Runners – thanks to Nigel Thompson and Colin Nelson.

 

Conditions were the worst I have experienced at Berry Hill Park with torrential rain and everyone crammed into the tent like sardines praying for the rain to stop which thankfully it did just before the start of the senior women’s race! The going was very soft and muddy which slowed times relative to previous years but that didn’t stop our Ladies Team and three Men’s Teams putting in some impressive performances.

 

First off for the Wesham Ladies was Sarah Sherratt, clocking 13:23.3 for the one-lap 3k course finishing in 91st position out of 122 very competitive 1st stage runners and also the fastest of the day for WRR Ladies. Kath Hoyer took over on stage 2 picking up 10 places to finish in 14:14.25 for 81st place. Anchor Lady and XC Captain Tracey Hulme ran strongly to maintain the 81st Team position that Sarah and Kath had worked hard to achieve.

 

The Men’s A Team of Rob Danson [new nickname ‘Dan’ thanks to Kath who seemed to prefer calling him by his last name!J], John Collier, Lee Barlow and Alex Rowe clinched a top 100 placing. Rob [‘Dan’] ran a storming 1st leg – the fastest of the day for WRR - to finish the two-lap 5k course in 18:14.8 for 90th place ably followed by WRR’s top V55 - John C - in 21:19.2, keeping the A Team in contention for a top 100 finish. Lee took over from John and ran a swift 20:30.5 to finish in 107th, handing over to anchor man Alex who ran a fast 19:47.05 to pull back 10 places to finish 97th.

 

The B team of Mark Midgley, XC Captain John Bertenshaw, Pete Gleaves and Barry Peatfield had a close run in with Lytham’s A team and were almost neck and neck after stage 2. Lytham saved their best runner to last though with anchor man and top LSARR V55 Graham Webster pulling ahead of Barry [V60] on the last stage to win by just four places. Our B Team finished a creditable 147th.

 

The C Team had a good start with Brian Porter heading up the 1st stage in 25:31.3 [174th], Dave Preston took over from Brian, running strongly in 25:50.55 to secure 181st position followed by Pete Cooke with a solid effort in 27:43.4 for 170th and anchor man Dave Young taking over to put in a sterling effort and pull back 11 places to bring the squad home in 159th position out of 199 very competitive teams.

 

Well done Men and Ladies!

 

And a special thanks to Dave Waywell who came along as reserve [and to support us and the lovely Kath].

 

Lee was reported to be on form off the Country too, touting for votes for something – what exactly, nobody is quite sure!J Anyway, some money was seen to change hands on the coach back so I wonder if any more votes were secured?!J

 

Anyway the poor weather and the ‘Cash for Votes’ scandal didn’t detract from otherwise excellent day out at Berry Hill Park.

 

MID-LANCS 2 – UKA McCAIN CROSS CHALLENGE SEFTON PARK, LIVERPOOL 26th November 2011

The 2nd Mid Lancs fixture was once again incorporated into the UKA Cross Challenge event in Liverpool’s Sefton Park. We had a good turnout despite the usual clash with our Flagship Race.

 

We had eight men at  Sefton Park [one full team + 2] with four men doing ‘The Double’, having run our 10k race the same morning – Alex, John Collier, Lee and Steve Myerscough – a special thanks to them – I couldn’t have done it! Also worthy of note is that John, Lee and Steve did the ‘Triple’ and also came to the Presentation do!

 

Mark Midgley is a Star – making it to Sefton Park early and putting the tent up before the others got there – thanks Mark.

 

Also starring on the day was Dave Preston who gave assistance to a young female competitor who had become ill – he recognised the problem and swiftly brought in the St John Ambulance to her rescue - a commendable act!

 

There was a high level of competition with European Trials at stake and many athletes are enticed to run who would not normally turn out for a league match.

 

Sadly it is just not possible for the ladies to run the Wesham 10k and also make it to the start of the Mid Lancs and we had no Ladies running at Sefton Park.

 

The conditions were good underfoot, better than past years and the weather, although very blustery, was otherwise favourable with some impressive performances, namely Mark Midgley who ran a stormer to nip in front of John Collier and Steve Myerscough and have one of his best ever Mid Lancs performances.

 

Alex found the ‘double’ harder than usual and half way round the 3-lap 9.9km course he started to drop back losing some 10 places before desperately hanging on up the finish straight.

 

Alex finished 206th [UKA Cross Challenge] and 62nd in the Mid Lancs competition and was 1st M50 in both the Cross challenge and the Mid-Lancs in a time of 37:31. Richard Davies ran strongly for 274th [UKA] and 100th [M-L] in 39:27. Lee Barlow, having run the 10k in the Morning, was close behind in 279th [UKA] and 104th [M-L] in 39:32 employing the correct tactic of a steady start which assured that he was gaining all the way round. Mark Midgley ran very well to come in 335th [UKA] and 134th [M-L] in 41:38, ahead of tiring Wesham 10k/Mid-Lancs double-header John Collier who was 340th [UKA] and 136th [M-L] in 41:45. Steve Myerscough finished the 9.8k in 367th [UKA] and 152nd [M-L] with a time of 42:37, only 4 hours after completing the Wesham 10k. Russ Mabbett was 417th [UKA] and 182nd [M-L] with a steady 44:27, and Dave Preston thoroughly enjoyed the course and the run finishing 481st [UKA] and 217th [M-L] with 48:04.

 

The V50 Team, comprising Alex, Richard and John were an impressive 2nd.

Thanks to everyone who ran.

Written by: John Bertenshaw XC Captain

Submitted: 2nd December 2011

Amended: 3rd December 2011

Edited by: Brenda J Earnshaw WRR Editor

 

MID-LANCS 3 – ASTLEY PARK, CHORLEY - Saturday, 10th December 2011

The story of the tent that got stuck in traffic, the XC Debutant, the man who eats mud and the lady who was almost swallowed up by the stuff…

After a long absence, Astley Park was back on the menu for the 3rd Mid-Lancs Cross-Country League Fixture hosted by Chorley AC.

 

With favourable weather - mild and breezy - and the rain holding off, despite the forecast of a deluge of showers, we had a good afternoon’s action.

 

Thanks to Mark Midgley who, although not running himself,  braved motorway traffic hold-ups to get the tent to Astley Park in time and helped co-ordinate erection of same, [so to speak]J  Thanks to everyone who made light work of putting up the tent and for Richard Davies for putting up the WRR Flag.

It was Mud-Lark Pete Gleaves’ 1st Mid-Lancs of the season and he really enjoyed the, [delicious], Chorley Mud after accidentally falling headlong into it on the first lap and taking a mouthful he decided he liked it so much that he just couldn’t stop himself sliding in for another helping at the same place on the next lapJ! That’s mud, sweat and spikes territory just for the entertainment value!

 

Captain Tracey was enjoying skipping over the mud and taking advantage of a pair of waterproof socks to keep her feet dry when seemingly Mick Edge distracted her for a split second J saying how well she was doing and next minute she was up to her knees in mud and the waterproof socks were history – apparently, like wellington boots, they only work if it doesn’t go over the top! 

Anyway, back to the serious stuff.

 

We had six ladies and eleven men - another good turnout, although one short of two Men’s Teams as John Bertenshaw and Mark Midgley were not able to run on the day. Astley Park is an excellent cross-country course with a good mix of grass, mud, stream crossings and wooded parts to keep the interest going.

 

Helen Lawrenson and Kath Hoyer were both nursing bad colds and everyone else seemed to have a multitude of injuries but it didn’t stop them from braving the mud!

Our one Cross-Country debutant and new Member, Duncan Carter, ran well on his first excursion into the Mid-Lancs mud and was a very impressive 122nd in 47:16 and counted in both the open and V40 Teams. Alex Rowe had an easy run protecting an ankle injury and still finished in 1st Club position and 3rd M50. The Wesham Men all ran well, bringing WRR home in 12th place overall, 9th M40s and an excellent 1st in the M50s. Sadly, owing to injury/accident we didn’t field a M60 Team.

 

The Wesham Ladies impressed in the Chorley Mud with a creditable 4th in the F35s and an excellent 2nd in the F45s.

Results Summary

Men [10.1k]:-

52nd and 3rd M50 Alex 42:30; 62nd Lee Barlow 43:33; 77th Richard Davies 44:22; 99th John Collier 45:34; 107th Steve Myerscough 46:15; 122nd Duncan 47:16; 162nd Russ Mabbett 50:15; 172nd Alan Glasgow 51:12; 183rd Pete 51:53; 199th Nigel Shepherd 53:49 and a brave 202nd for Dave Waywell in 54:05.

12th Team Overall; 9th in M40s; 1st in M50s – well done Men!

 

Ladies [6.2k]:-

 

12th Joanna Goorney 28:04; 38th Sarah  Sherratt 30:32; 41st Helen  30:46; 54th Carmel Sullivan 31:45; 64th Tracey  32:48; 77th Kath 33:55

Ladies 7th Team Overall; 4th in F35s; 2nd in F45s [just 4 points behind winners Preston] – well done Ladies!

 

Thanks to everyone who ran.

 

Let’s have a big turnout for the next Mid-Lancs at Hyndburn on 14th Jan and see if we can improve on our league standings!

 

 

Written by: John Bertenshaw Men’s Cross Country Captain

Submitted: 12th December 2011

Edited by: Brenda J Earnshaw WRR Editor

LANCASHIRE COUNTY CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

WITTON PARK, BLACKBURN Saturday, 7th January 2012

 

A successful Lancs Championships - thanks to all those who ran at Witton Park.


Conditions were fair and breezy. The going was fairly soft in places but not as muddy as it has been previously.

 

We had seven men and three ladies running.

 

It was good to see Charlie Pass back in action over the country after a long absence owing to a long-term knee injury. Charlie ran well in this his first race of the season for 16th place and is coming back to fitness.

 

Ever-improving Rob Danson ran his first all-out cross-country race after making his debut in the ECCA Cross-Country Relays at Mansfield back in November and was just 36 seconds adrift of Charlie in 23rd position – an impressive performance.

 

Alex Rowe struggled on the hilly course owing to lack of fitness and was a couple of minutes or so adrift of where he would expect to be although he had a solid run for 4th Lancs V50.

 

Our ladies had a successful outing to the Lancs Championships with Joanna Goorney coming home in 17th position to win L40 Bronze for Lancashire and the Ladies Vets Team of Joanna, Sarah Sherratt and Kath Hoyer running well to win Lancashire Bronze Medals – well done Ladies.

 

Results Summary

 

Men [10k]:-

16th Charlie 38:25; 23rd Rob 39:01; 56th Alex  43:01  4th V50; 71st John Collier 45:15 4th V55; 92nd Mark Midgley 50:07; 100th Nigel Shepherd 51:38;  111th Brian Porter 56:03

8th team Overall and 7th Vets team – well done to everyone who ran.

 

Ladies [7k]:-

17th Joanna 32:20 L40 Bronze; 31st Sarah 34:57 6th L40; 38th Kath 37:26 4th L50

7th team Overall and Lancashire Vets Team Bronze.

 

Written by: John Bertenshaw XC Captain

Submitted: 11th January 2012

Edited by: Brenda J Earnshaw WRR Editor

 

MID-LANCS 4 – WILSON FIELDS, HYNDBURN 14th January 2012

 

Weather conditions were almost perfect for running Cross-Country although the same couldn’t be said for the under-foot conditions with more than our fair share of the brown stuff! The course was very slippery with most people having difficulty staying on their feet – one or two runners even slipped in the mud on the warm-up!

 

There were also copious amounts of the other brown stuff thanks to our four-legged friends and we had to move the tent three times before we found a clean area to pitch it - Yuk!

 

Well, an excellent turn out for the Wesham Men with 17 Runners - almost three teams, with the M50 team comprising Alex Rowe, Richard Davies and John Collier, clinching 2nd Team position.

 

It was good to see Charlie running well in his first Mid-Lancs of the Season and also Richard Davies continuing to run exceptionally well. Lee Barlow had a strong run ahead of Richard and Cross-Country expert John Collier. It’s good to see Alan Glasgow improving with each race and Gary Moore, Peter Bartlett and Norman Bateman back on the Country this season.

 

We had four ladies who all ran well, the Ladies achieving 4th F35 Team position.

 

 Joanna Goorney had a solid run in 17th and Sarah Sherratt ran well in 34th position. Captain Tracey Hulme had a stormer Cross-Country and was well up the field in 51st position just ahead of a strong Kath Hoyer who also ran well, closing the Wesham Ladies quartet in 56th place.

 

Results Summary

Men [10k]:-

25th Charlie 35:01; 66th Alex 39:12 and  4th V50; 84th Lee 40:24; 102nd Richard  41:20; 114th John C 41:53; 147th Martin Bates 44:00; 156th Russ Mabbett  44:35; 161st Alan 44:51;  165th Graham Cunliffe 45:05; 172nd Mark Midgley 45:34; 180th Gary 46:18; 221st Nigel Shepherd 48:52;  248th Peter 52:45; 251st Dave Preston 53:22; 254th Dave Waywell 53:40; 279th Dave Young 1:02:24; 285th Norman 1:08:09.

The Men were 10th Team Overall, 11th M40 and 2nd M50 Team behind a very strong Southport M50 Team, and 6th in the M60’s – well done Men - excellent running!

 

Ladies [6k]:-

17th Joanna 24:59; 34th Sarah 26:31; 51st Tracey 28:17; 56th Kath 28:52.

The Ladies were 7th Team Overall and 4th F35 Team, but Sadly didn’t have a complete F45 Team.

Thanks to everyone who ran.

 

We are more than half way through the Mid-Lancs series now and only two fixtures to go [Barrow next month and Leyland in March].

 

Written by: John Bertenshaw

Submitted: 19th January 2012

Edited by: Brenda J Earnshaw WRR Editor

 

NORTHERN ATHLETICS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

PONTEFRACT PARK RACE COURSE – 28th January 2012

Another excellent day out at the Northerns with twelve men and two women enjoying luxury coach travel to Pontefract courtesy of Coastal Coaches of Warton. I had been very impressed with the service when we shared a C-C coach with Lytham Road Runners for the ECCA XC Relays at Mansfield last November so decided to use them this time too and they didn’t disappoint.

 

Brian P told me he was writing a XC report for this event so I thought it would save me writing one…however after reading Brian’s report I decided that I would have to write an official one to make sure the true facts were recorded J

Apparently, Rob Danson, our top performer and best dressed Golfer on the day, had to run because he forgot his Golf ClubsJ

 

I know nothing of Pontefract being twinned with Wales’s Pontypridd nor of anyone on the Coach who thought we were going to the Welsh XC Champs, contrary to what may have been reported elsewhereJ

 

Gary Moore was suffering from some over-enthusiastic hydration prior to boarding the Coach and before we had passed Manchester he had his legs firmly crossed and was looking for an empty drinks bottle in case he didn’t make it to the next services! J

 

We had set off in good time and made good progress so when we did get to stop we had a good long coffee break and made doubly sure of [Gary]  paying a call before we got back on the road againJ

 

Well, to the serious stuff…the Northerns this year were based at Pontefract Horse Racing Course, being set within the perimeter of the Race Course it was a fairly firm but moderately undulating course with very little in the way of the brown stuff usually encountered on Cross-Country. In horse racing terms the going would be described as good-to-firm.  The distance of the Men’s Race was advertised as 12km or 7.46 miles, (approx. 60 furlongs), but because of some repositioning of the start and finish which was required on the day, the actual distance was nearer to 8 miles (64 furlongs). The Ladies Race was also a little long at approx. 5.3 miles, (approx. 42.5 furlongs), instead of the advertised 8km or 4.97 miles.

 

Conditions were good: cold and clear with plenty of sunshine and only a slight breeze – perfect for some good XC running.

 

Everyone ran well, our 1st Men’s Team coming in 34th and 1st Fylde Team ahead of Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde (37th) and third Lancashire Team behind Preston Harriers (28th) and Blackburn Harriers (22nd). An excellent performance thanks to Rob, Lee Barlow, Alex Rowe, John Collier, Gary and Russ Mabbett.

Everyone ran very well and gave some of their best performances of the season. Alex (27th in 50:10) had a tough race, struggling with his fitness after an ankle injury and lost ground on the final lap, with a strong-running Lee Barlow pushing ahead in the closing stages to finish second Wesham finisher in 258th place in 49:54 behind a very swift and ever-improving Rob Danson (120th in 46:05). John Collier had a strong run in 364th (52:34) ahead of Gary Moore (437th in 55:04) and an improving Russ Mabbett (454th in 55:37). Captain John Bertenshaw made a return to the country after a knee ligament injury and ran strongly to finish in 478th (56:29) just behind Russ and quickly followed by Alan Glasgow in 483rd (56:37) and Mark Midgley in 498th (57:02). Another Cross-country evergreen, Dave Preston, impressed with 647th place (65:36), closely followed by Brian Porter (656th in 66:53) and cross-country stalwart Dave Young in 679th (74:27).

Our two Cross-Country evergreen Ladies, Sarah Sherratt and Captain Tracey Hulme ran strongly on the undulating course, Sarah running 38:08 for 88th place followed by Tracey in 41:58 for 150th position.

 

An excellent day out and some impressive performances with the camaraderie second to none. Well done everyone and roll on the next Cross-Country at Barrow on 11th Feb.

 

Written by: John Bertenshaw

Men’s Cross Co9untry Captain

Submitted: 29th January 2012

Edited by: Brenda J Earnshaw WRR Editor

 

MID-LANCS 5, THORNCLIFFE, BARROW 11th FEB 2012

The weather for the 5th Mid-Lancs was very cold and overcast at around 1 deg C with a biting wind, but at least it was dry and the underfoot conditions were fairly firm, a big improvement on the last Barrow fixture in October 2010 when the mud was a thick red and oozed from the ground on every step and covered the tent groundsheet much to Kerry’s disgust! J The Men’s course was the same as in October 2010 at 5.38 miles [8.66 k], made up of one small lap and three large laps, but times were better this year because of the firmer underfoot conditions. The Ladies was also the same at 2 laps and 5k.

 

The Wesham Flag was conspicuous by its absence - logistical issues - and unfortunately didn’t make it to BarrowLJ

However, it was a different story for the tent - excellent teamwork on the day paid dividends as the tent was up in less than 10 mins which must be a record. That was thanks to our XC stalwarts John Collier, Dave Young, Alex Rowe, and now Dave (Barrow Virgin) Preston together with Women’s Captain the Lovely Tracey, all ably assisted and supervised by the Men’s XC CaptainJ

 

We had a reduced turnout for this fixture though, with only eight Men and two Ladies - mainly the result of injuries and personal/family commitments along with, of course, the nearly 2-hour journey to Barrow.

 

Lee Barlow took an early lead for the men, just ahead of a slow-starting Alex Rowe but Alex wound it up on the second lap and eased ahead of Lee, maintaining the lead to the finish. John Collier was third in for Wesham followed by an improving Russ Mabbett closely followed by Captain John Bertenshaw who had tracked Russ throughout the race, Russ just managing to hold him off. Next in was Dave Waywell, closely followed by that Barrow virgin Dave Preston. Dave Young ably closed off the Wesham Men’s contingent.

 

In the Ladies Race, Ladies Captain Tracey had a stormer, seeing the benefit of some hard training and extra-long runs. Kath followed closely behind throughout the race also running very well – well run to both.

 

A very enjoyable day out and big thanks to all who turned out.

 

Results Summary

Men [8.66k]:-

48th Alex 35:37 and  3rd V50; 52nd Lee 36:09; 69th John C  37:18; 87th Russ Mabbett  39:08; 90th John Bertenshaw 39:17; ; 126th Dave Waywell 45:30; 129th Dave Preston 47:23; 138th Dave Young 53:12.

The Men were 12th Team Overall, 6th M40 and 3rd M50 Team– well done Men - excellent running and thanks for turning out, especially Lee and Russ who had to get off sharpish for the Blackpool Match but still turned up and ran!

 

Ladies  [5k]:-

17th Tracey 24:32; 18th the Lovely Kath 24:40.

The Ladies Sadly didn’t have a complete Team but Tracey and Kath certainly made up for thatJ.

 

Divisional Standings with one Fixture to go are as follows:-

WRR Ladies are leading in Division 2 - BUT need to qualify – no Club in div 2 has qualified yet.

WRR Senior and Vet Men are 4th in Division 2

WRR Men Vet 40s are 5th in Division 1

Men V50’s - WRR are Leading Clayton by a 5 point margin

We have only one Mid-Lancs fixture left now - Leyland on 3rd March - so let’s have a good turnout to end the season and consolidate our Men’s V50 top spot and qualify the Ladies Team for top of Division 2 and Promotion!

 

Written by: John Bertenshaw

Submitted: 13th February 2012

Edited by: Brenda J Earnshaw WRR Editor