Three Wesham members took on the final Ultra Tour of Edinburgh delayed for a couple of years, with a crack-of-dawn start on Sunday in Waverley setting out along the Royal Mile for a 35-mile, 57km run. On a circuitous loop, the course went out to through Holyrood Park over the iconic Arthur’s Seat and out into the suburbs though Craigmillar Castle and over Blackford Hill and then picking up a range of hill and country estates before heading north to Newhaven and Leith along a network of old railway tracks before heading south again to the finish at the Royal Commonwealth Pool. Julie Paton took on a great challenge in the Tour of Edinburgh on Sunday, a 35-mile, 57km figure-of-eight of the city from Holyrood Park. She was well within the cut-off times at each of the three pit stops, recording 1hr 45min at 10 mile/16km, 3hr 45min at 18.6 miles/30km, and 5hr 15min at 26 miles/42km, finishing with 7:17:29, 2hrs 42mins inside the final timeout. Paul Lancashire clocked 6:38:14; Helen Lawrenson 6:52:09; Julie Paton
Nearer home there were two Wesham members in the Knutsford 10k in Cheshire, with Lee Barlow finishing 67th with a time of 38:49, coming in 11th M45. Martin Bates accompanied him, placing 4th M60 in 44:27 in 193rd place overall.
Otherwise, it was a quiet week even though it was again a busy week with many events on. Except for the parkrun at 9am on Saturday morning, where 33 Wesham members were out and about. Three members ran in Mancunian events, Dave Williams ran the Heaton Park run in 24:31 for an M55 age graded performance of 64.31%; Tracey Hulme at South Manchester Platts Field in 25:51 for a W55 age grade of 71.95%; and Martin Bates in the Alexandra Park run in Moss Side in 22:36 for M60 74.53%. Further afield in Burgess Park in south London’s Camberwell Colin Gibson ran 26:41 for M60 62.27%. Nearer home in the Preston run in Avenham Park Steve Myerscough clocked a good 20:13 for M45 71.23%; Nigel Shepherd had an excellent run with 20:35 for M60 80.00%; and Michelle Tickle 23:37 with W45 68.60%. At the Lytham Hall run Mark Belfield stepped out a week after his marathon personal best for 21:42 over the two-lap 5km course for M35 62.44%; Jonathan Lawson ran 22:55 for M50 66.47%; John Burns recorded 23:12 for an M65 72.99%; Kay and Stephen Twist 24:15 and 24:57 to return a W50 70.86% and M55 61.59%; James Danson ran 26:49 for M55 57.80% with James Birchall clocking 27:57 with 46.61%. Kirsty Holland clocked 28:02 for 52.91%; Louise Lord 28:08 and W45 57.58%; Clare Belfield ran 29:45 for W35 51.09%; Peter Bartlett 31:22 with M70 58.50%; and Sue Rigby and Carl Groome running together for 36:48 and W45 44.47% and M50 40.72%. In Blackpool’s Stanley David Taylor followed the recent Wesham trend for the fastest time with 18:07 for an M35 age grade of 72.77%; Chris Haines ran 21:19 with an M35 grade of 62.24%; Lee Barlow 21:24 and M45 ; Suzanne Leonard had a time of 23:39 and W50 71.74%; George Kennedy 24:24 for M60 68.10%; Kath Hoyer ran 25:13 for W60 76.93%; Vicky Gore and Megan Gore clocked 27:05 and 27:06 for W45 58.65% and JW11 58.00%; Finlay McCalman ran 28:26 with M55 54.98%; Martin Allison 29:20 and M35 45.85%; and Jo McCaffery 29:28 for W40 53.39%. On Fleetwood Promenade Damian Ings ran 21:55 for a new personal best time and an M45 age graded 65.70%; and Dave Young 26:29 for M70 70.36%.
Back in 2011 It was a quiet weekend locally as the emphasis gravitates gradually towards the coming cross country season. There were no Wesham runners though venturing to either the Red Rose League fixture at Hyndburn or the Manchester Area League in Heaton Park so the stage is set for the opening round of the Mid Lancs in Burnley this Saturday. The action for Wesham last weekend was centred on the second running of the Lea Town 10k over a moderately challenging single circuit around Bartle and Salwick. A very promising talent for the future Robert Danson demonstrated a strong performance to finish a fine 4th in 35:19, with the winning time 32:49 by Luke Minns of Blackpool setting the overall pace. Lee Barlow was back in full flow with 36:46 to finish 7th. Alan Hudson is regaining his speed with every race and here he came in 22nd overall and 1st M60 with 39:49. George Kennedy retuned to these shores with a good show to claim 4th M50 slot and 27th overall with 40:42 to secure Wesham the men’s team win. The Wesham women were also victorious with the blossoming talent of Helen Lawrenson top of the pack with another tremendous run to place 4th woman and 2nd W40 in 42:46 in 36th place overall. Sarah Sherratt was 7th and 3rd W40 in 44:38, 48th overall and Nicola Unsworth also excelling in 9th place and 4th W40 with 46:04, 59th overall. Tracey Hulme was 13th woman and 2nd W45 in 47:00, 69th overall; Sara Ward 15th and 3rd W45 in 48:09, 76th overall, and Sue Jones 29th and 121st with 57:38. John Bertenshaw was 4th M55 in 41:05 and 29th place overall; Simon Eaton was 30th in 41:13 close behind and 5th M40; Nigel Shepherd was 77th in 48:37; Stephen Wilkinson was 85th in 49:59; John Howorth 95th with 51:28; Brian Porter back in action after the Kielder Marathon 98th with 51:44; Dave Young 100th and 4th M60 in 52:36; Paul Carter 104th with 53:36; George Flanagan 5th M60 and 108th in 53:36. Mike Walsh put in another fine performance with 58:09 to place 2nd M75 and 124th; Dave Jones was 127th in 59:24, and Norman Bateman 5th M70 and 129th in 59:51. There was some pre-cross country off-road action as a trio of happy Wesham trekkers took on the challenging two lap gravelly 6.2 mile course at the Standish Hall Trail Race on Saturday on the outskirts of Wigan. A very popular bi-annual race this attracts a good field from a wide catchment, and Steve Myerscough finished 24th in a time of 43:28 as he squeezed in a run between weekend work assignments. Alan Taylor took the opportunity to build up his strength for the coming winter season and he placed 71st with a solid performance in 49:15. Kath Hoyer was 1st W50, 8th woman and 94th overall in 51:47. There was a small and select gathering at the Northern Veterans’ best kept secret, their annual Monthly Run fixture at Edgworth, this year reverting to the forty-year old 7-mile course round the Wayoh and Entwistle reservoirs with an ascent and descent through the woods between the two. Alex Rowe got away from the start and although pushed all the way by Horwich’s Rob Jackson finished in 39:14 with more than a minute to spare. Kath Hoyer ran very well considering her efforts the previous day was laughing all the way to the finish line and was 1st woman and 1st W50 in 53:18. Charlie Pass had a Sunday off work and ventured over to Selby in North Yorkshire for the Wistow 10-mile road race. In a reasonable field of 172 runners, he finished 4th in 58:17. Emma Lund was 3rd woman and 41st overall with 69:06, an excellent run. The men’s winner was Ian Fisher in 54:07 and the women’s winner Dawn Broom in 67:13. John Oliver was the leading Wesham runner in the Autumn Breaker 10k road race in Blackpool’s Stanley Park and he ran a good 38:59 on the winding two lap parkland course for 8th place. The winner was Keith Boardman of Salford Harriers in 36:48. Matt Wrigley came 22nd in 42:28 in a competitive finish. Mark Pattinson was 71st with 50:45.
In 2014 It turned out a great weekend for running last week, with the forecast rain on Saturday not materialising and Sunday being the predicted warm temperatures, starting with a lot of mist and fog after a clear night produced burn-off in the morning and temperature inversion giving the first real bite of autumn. On Saturday morning the Lea Town 10k was staged from the quiet village on the east side of Salwick largely following the route of the old Kirkham 10k along Darkinson Lane, past Bartle Hall and down to the Hand & Dagger on the canal. Catherine Carrdus showed her class with a win in the women’s race and a very good time of 39:41 finishing 1st W45. Helen Lawrenson was 3rd woman and 1st W40 in 44:29, while Sara Ward was also running very well to come in 5th woman and 2nd W45 in 47:40 to complete the winning women’s team for Wesham. Rob Danson notched up another win making his 2014 tally 9 races as he stormed round the undulating course to finish 25 seconds clear in 33:03. Lee Barlow was second Wesham male in 6th place with 37:33 and 3rd place in the M40 stakes. Steve Myerscough was 10th and 4th M40 in 38:06 and Garry Barnett 11th and 1st M45 in 38:54, sealing the Wesham men’s team victory as well. Kath Hoyer was 7th woman and 1st W50 in 49:39, a steady improvement as she improves her fitness again, and Sarah Heaps was 9th with a time of 50:16. Diane Blagden was 15th and 4th W45 with 53:18; Sally Deacon 18th and 5th W45 in 55:54; and Julie Rooney 23rd in 64:27. In the men’s results Alan Hudson was untouchable in his new M65 age group as he came across the line in pole position with 41:39, 24th overall. Stuart Topping was 34th with 44:19; Phil Leaver 2nd M60 just missing out to Ray Taylor of Red Rose by 18 seconds in 45:59. Jason Blagden was 47th in 46:17 and Dave Waywell was 1st M70 in 48:17, a tremendous run placing him 55th overall. Alex Rowe returned to the track on Sunday morning at the New Madely Park stadium of Leigh Harriers in misty and chill conditions for the Northern Veterans 10,000m Championships. Setting off fast at a 1:20 lap pace he soon settled down and, with a drop off in speed from 5km, second placed Rob Jackson of Horwich started to recover his 8-second deficit. Reduced to just 2 seconds with 500m to go Rowe started to pick up and with a strong kick over the closing 200m he pulled away to win by 6 seconds in 35:39.4 his fastest 10km time for three years. There were fewer Wesham runners in Sunday morning’s Autumn Breaker around Blackpool’s Stanley Park for another 10k race. The Wesham women were again victorious in the team standings as Carmel Sullivan finished 2nd woman and 1st W45 in 41:46, a very commendable run in 34th place overall. Nicola Unsworth was 4th woman and 2nd W40 in 56th place overall in a time of 43:50. Kath Hoyer was in action again and this morning she clocked 49:17 a considerably faster on the flatter course through the parkland. Karen Davies was 57th in 56:20 a good performance with plenty of potential. There were only two men in action; David Taylor ran 42:00 to finish in 37th place, and Elliot Costello was 64th with 44:53. On Saturday morning at the Preston parkrun Alex Rowe clocked a new personal best, posting 18:03 to revise his M55 age graded course best to 86.61%. Karl Lee ran 18:33 for 69.63%; and David Taylor 10 seconds short of his personal best with 20:47 for 65.21%.