TRACK & FIELD SECTION

Track & Field Report

Part 2

Saturday 23^rd July 2011 – Blackburn

In the fourth meeting of the Mid-Lancs Track & Field, Blackburn were the host club which is located at Witton Park and the track is very open but unlike the previous meeting last season, the athletes were welcomed with a sunny and warm day. The season before was extremely windy with heavy downfalls.

Peter Gleaves made his first outing of the season. He had new expectations this season deciding that 400m was a distance he wanted to have a shot at and did very well finishing 5^th in the senior men's race with 71.70. In the 800m, hardcore Alex Rowe who rarely misses the Mid-Lancs meetings ran a solid 2:20.9 for 7^th place, whilst Peter Gleaves ran 2:40.3 for 11^th. In the 1500m Alex Rowe finished 3^rd with 4:47.6. The final race of the afternoon for Wesham was the 3000m where both Alex Rowe and Peter Gleaves ran their 3^rd and final race of the afternoon. Alex was unfortunate not to dip under the 10 minute barrier finishing 3^rd in 10:02.7 and Peter had a solid run despite the two short sprints earlier in the day to record 12:17.9 finishing 13^th in a big field.

Joanna Goorney was the only female representative and like the men, set her stall out on competing in 3 events. First up for Joanna was the 800m where she finished 4^th with 2:33.4, up against some tough competition as she was lacking that in the previous meeting in Hyndburn. The 1500m was next up for Joanna and again had to settle for 4^th place in another competitive race, finishing in a creditable 5:17.1. Finally finishing off the afternoon with the 3000m. Joanna who had been taking part in the long jump of late decided to stick to the track, she finished 5^th in the women's race with 11:38.8.

The men taking a total of 15 points in Division 2, while the women taking 10.

Saturday 13^th August 2011 – Preston

It was nice to have Preston hosting a Mid-Lancs meeting again after a 3 year absence as I find this a good track to run on. The weather was fairly good but a bit windy on the home straight. Once again, Alex Rowe and Joanna Goorney were Wesham's only representatives with the T&F team captain there in support. Alex had a great afternoon of running starting off with the 800m. Alex noticed a gap in the market to stake a claim at the front end and win the race with a solid 2:20.3. Joanna Goorney after watching Alex in the 800m shortly before her race decided to stake a claim at the front to also win the senior women's race with 2:40.1 so a fantastic start for the pair of them. That put them both in good spirits going into the 1500m a few hours later. Alex ran another great run but unfortunately he couldn’t hold on to the lead, losing out in the final 200m. Alex recorded 2:42.5 which was his second fastest time for the distance this season. Joanna also taken 2^nd place in her 1500m running slightly faster than the time she did in the previous Mid-Lancs meeting with 5:14.3. Joanna wrapped up her afternoon with the long jump finishing 4^th with 3.73, despite her position she was 1^st overall in Division 2. Alex finished his afternoon as he started in the 3000m. Alex had a good race plan and started very comfortably towards the rear of the field and let the younger runners take the lead. As the laps wore on towards half way, he decided to wind it up lap after lap overtaking those who went out hard. With about two laps to go in 3^rd position he closed the gap between him and the two ahead of him rapidly and got ahead of them both in the home straight with a lap to go and without easing off, kept pushing opening up a healthy lead finishing with a 2^nd victory of the afternoon with a superb time of 9:54.9. Alex has ran his best times in the Veteran T&F Championships this year but this was the closest he has got to any of those times in a Mid-Lancs meeting.

Saturday 25^th August – Wigan

It was Wigan's turn to host the medal meeting this year on the final day of the Mid-Lancs season who alternate with Blackpool each season. Unfortunately it was a wash out at the beginning with pouring rain and athletes had to put up with a flooded track in the opening heats, including the 800m in which Peter Gleaves participated in. Despite the standing water on the track, Peter still managed to run a very respectable 2:36.9 for 5^th place. Joanna placed 2^nd in her 800m and claimed her first silver medal of the afternoon, she recorded 2:38.8. Peter went on to the 400m which was his second attempt at the distance and he finished 7^th with a slightly faster time than the meeting in Blackburn with 70.4. Joanna Goorney taken her 2^nd silver medal of the afternoon in the 1500m with 5:16.6, having taken the race to the other athletes early on, she dropped back losing out to Southport's Tracey Peters. As soon as she finished the race, Joanna quickly made her way to the long jump where she recorded a good jump of 3.81m and collecting her 3^rd silver medal of the day. Peter Gleaves rounded his afternoon off competing in the 3000m in better conditions than earlier on and was pleased to finish in 12:00.2 to finish in 3^rd position.

I would like to thank everyone who has supported the club on the track this season. For me, I think we have achieved as a road runners club with the numbers we turn out so much. If you look at the final standings in the division and see how many points we have totalled up over the season is an amazing achievement. The club will always struggle to provide big numbers and this makes it hard when we as a club cannot provide officials to help very easily. One thing is for sure, we get looked upon in high respect for what we try to achieve on the track with such a small turnout. Well done to all and remember the new season will begin again early April. I hope we can recruit new runners to the track and the hardest part of all, getting members to turn up to help.

Enjoy your winter running and I’ll be back at some point in the New Year badgering you all to get on the track... The only way to gain speed!

Written by: Karl Lee - T&F Captain