Perhaps the big event in the North West last weekend was the Manchester Marathon, where John MacDougall finished 312^th and 27^th M45 in 2:44:07 having run steadily at 6:15 pace to pass halfway in 1:22:23, an excellent performance. Chris Hastwell ran 3:05:50 to place 1603^rd and 320^th M35, slowing over the closing 12km having reached the half in 1:29:37. Stuart Mulrooney came in 4616^th in 3:40:42. He completed his first half in 1:41:56 and slowed steadily in the second. Tanya Shaw finished 1560^th woman in 4:10:25 and 8037^th overall, reaching the 13.1 miles in 2:00:01 and placing 241^st W45. Emma Wright ran 4:57:41 3058^th woman and 540^th W40. Her halfway time was 2:21:51.

In the Curley’s 5k Trail Series on Wednesday evening Tom Crabtree finished 4^th in 20:04, with Paul Lancashire 14^th in 22:10. Steve Myerscough was 20^th in 23:31, 4^th M45, with Ian Nichols Hogg 49^th in 30:51. Jo McCaffery finished 52^nd in 31:42; Kirsty Holland 63^rd in 34:17; Sally Denton 65^th in 35:08; and Debbie Myerscough 67^th in 41:22. Martin Bates (pictured) does not feature in the results.

David Taylor ran the Fleetwood Spring 10k on Sunday and finished 3^rd in 35:53 behind Jamie Shingler of Ludlow, 30 seconds ahead, and Lytham’s Mike Toft (34:08) on a good morning for running along the Promenade and through the town. David was first M35. Finlay McCalman was 83^rd in 55:24 placing 5^th M55.

John MacDougall ran the Liverpool Half Marathon on Sunday and he finished 1^st M45 and 12^th overall in 1:16:43. Having gone through 5 miles in 29:55 he reached the 10-mile mark in 59:27, a good pace. Chris Haines placed 219^th in 1:35:49, M35 position not given. He had passed 5 miles in 36:03 and 10 miles in 1:11:59. There were 1974 runners in total in this popular event.

Stephen Dagger Swift ran the Coniston 14 on Saturday, and finished 391^st in 2:11:02, having gone though halfway in 54:02, showing perhaps how more challenging the second half of the course is. Andrew Wilkinson was 75^th M50 in 2:54:04 to place 716^th overall. There was a reduced finisher total this year of 809 although the event continues to be very popular.

The spring really kicked off with some gorgeous sunny weather and Wesham members took good advantage of the conditions. In the Pilling 10k on Saturday afternoon eight members contested the rural two-lapper in the sunshine. First Wesham finisher in 3^rd place was Alek Walker in 37:54. Lee Barlow finished 6^th and first M50 in 39:41 with Steve Myerscough placing 8^th and 1^st M45 with 41:01. Kay Twist had a great run to finish 4^th woman and 2^nd W50 in 48:18. Peter Rooney ran 48:48 for 18^th place and coming in first M60. Jonny Allsop was 19^th with 49:17; James Danson 23^rd and 3^rd M55 in 52:14, with Andrew Wilkinson coming in 28^th in 52:45, second M50 behind Lee Barlow. All in all, a good day at the races.

The Pilling 10k was closely followed by the Mad March Hare 10k and 5k on Sunday morning in Moor Park in Preston. Ryan Azzopardi finished 6^th in 23:58, encouraging Michelle Pitt on the second lap who was 33^rd in 40:51.

Chris Hastwell ran the Longton 10k last week, finishing 8^th and 2^nd M45 in 37:43 sporting the running number 1.  There were 163 runners in this popular race with the men and women’s winning times 35:00 and 41:36.

Saturday saw much local excitement with the final meeting of the Mid Lancs Cross Country League for the 2021/22 season, and a mad scrabble for the final points for the overall competition over the six fixtures. Over the Senior Women’s’ 6km two-lap course in Burnley’s Towneley Park Kay Twist once again led the ladies finishing 3^rd W50 and 28^th overall in 25:42. Lucy Neighbour had a good run to place 53^rd and 7^th W40 in 28:52, with Clare Belfield 65^th with 30:47 for 9^th W35. Jo McCaffery was 13^th W40 and 79^th in 32:34. The Ladies were 11^th team in Division 3 and in the W35 rank; and the W45 team were 12^th in their team category. The Over-70s race held at the same time incorporated with the women is becoming a bigger event as the ranks swell with the “baby boomers”, where Dave Young placed 7^th and 4^th M70 in 30:48. Peter Bartlett was 10^th in 38:25, and the team finished 3^rd in the M70 league for the bronze medals. In the men’s 10k David Taylor was the star placing 26^th in 36:54. Mark Belfield was a useful marker in 32^nd place with 37:12, with Tom Crabtree 44^th in 37:53, and Alek Walker 45^th with 37:59. Lee Barlow came in 71^st in 39:50 while Carl Groome performed a double with the parkrun for 82^nd place and a time of 40:18. Steve Myerscough finished 100^th in 42:00; Damian Ings 114^th in 43:39; Nigel Shepherd and John Collier had a tussle for the finish in 128^th and 129^th with times one second apart in 45:30 and 45:31. James Danson placed 144^th in 50:08; and Colin Gibson 154^th in 53:00. The Wesham Senior Men have placed 3^rd in Division 1, a great result for bronze Mid Lancs medals. The M40 men were 4^th in the masters’ Division 1, with the M50 team 7^th. The M60s also finished, adding a third team bronze to the club’s medal haul for the season.

It was a busier week for athletics in the North West last week as spring really takes a hold, although wintry weather was still very much to the fore.

Venturing into Cheshire, Natalie Middlemas and Stuart Topping ran in the Oulton Park 10k with Stuart as mentor and guidance, drawing Natalie to 42^nd place in 49:29 for 3^rd woman and 2^nd W40. Stuart was 7^th M50 and 43^rd overall in 49:30, the pair wearing numbers 1 and 2!  The winning times were 32:41 (male) and 45:23 (female), with 171 finishers.

In the Stan Bradshaw Pendle Round from Barley in the Wesham Trail and Fell running championship Alek Walker finished 70^th in 1:23:40, over 16.7km (10.37 miles) with 1936ft of climbing. Paul Lancashire placed 119^th in 1:31:04; and Jen Salt was 43^rd woman, 17^th W40 and 226^th in 2:08:47. This event was formerly known as “The Half Tour of Pendle” and is classed as a “B” graded Medium distance course with some experience of fell running for all competitors.

Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde had a good men’s team in the English National Cross Country on Parliament Hill in north London, and Preston had senior men and women running, but there were no other Fylde representatives in this culmination of club cross country running in England with Wesham sadly missing for the first time in the club’s history.