Saturday saw the triumphant return of the Wesham 10k on a breezy morning after a night of gales that had brought down a tree across the course, demanding the services of a hastily acquired chainsaw. The morning itself was bright if chilly but the nature of the course gave some shelter from the wind. There was a keen race at the front, with Joseph Moores of Salford AC moving ahead to win in 31:50 and lead his team to overall victory. Second was Luke Minns on Blackpool just four seconds behind in 31:54. Wesham’s Rob Danson, running well but not currently in key training, came in third with 32:42. John McDougall showed his value to the Wesham team placing 6^th. Adam Wilding closed in the men’s team second behind Salford and ahead of third placed Blackpool, as he came in 10^th in 35:59. In the women’s race Alice Bernstein of Ramsbottom RC was first back and first W35 in 41:42, with a thrilling tie for second in 43:18 between W45 Julia Hartley of Accrington AC and a stunning performance by W60 Sue Burns (unattached). Equally impressive was fourth placed and second W60 Gwen Kinloch of Burnden RR with 43:52. The Wesham team was below par with the away trips to Benidorm and Lanzarote, but Becky Ingam headed the team in 24^th place (155^th overall) in 49:49, with Natalie Middlemas 39^th in 53:47 and Kirsty Holland 42^nd with 54:18 to bring the women’s team in 8^th place with Accrington ladies, Swinton and Blackburn RR taking the top three places. Vicky Gore finished 45^th in 55:08; Sharlan Butcher 53^rd in 56:12; training partner Dawn Biggs 56^th with 56:21; Emma Wright 73^rd in 58:40; Liz Sharrocks 84^th with 59:55; and Wendy Hebblethwaite 104^th in 63:39. In the Wesham men’s race Tom Crabtree finished 13^th in 36:52, Ugis Datavs 18^th with 37:42, Chris Hastwell 24^th in 38:04; Alek Walker 31^st with 39:00, and James Green 34^th in 39:35. Steve Myerscough was disappointed with his 42:33 for 66^th place, but behind him Paul Lancashire came in 100^th in 45:22; Rob Wallace 139^th in 48:46; Alan Hudson 141^st in 48:53; Peter Rooney 151^st in 49:14; Ian Nichols Hogg 162^nd in 50:25; Andrew Wilkinson 200^th 53;40; Martin Allison 201^st 53:41; Finlay McCalman 203^rd 53:44; Elliot Costello 212^th 54:18; Lee Lawrenson 216^th 54:23; Andrew Moore 229^th 55:13; Paul Carter 247^th 56:33; Colin Smy 255^th 57:16; and Stephen Twist 294^th 59:56

The Preston 10-Mile on Sunday was the event of the area, with a fine open race incorporating the Lancashire and the Northern Athletics Championships. Wesham had a small but effective team present, with Ugis Datavs taking 30^th place in 59:04 for 7^th M40. Alek Walker finished 41^st in 63:05, 8^th M35. John Collier placed 2^nd M65 in 75:54, 87^th overall with a great run. The Men were third Northern Team behind Salford and Preston, but 4^th Lancashire with Ribble Valley placing third. Peter Rooney was 117^th and 7^th M60 in 1:23:25. For the women, Sharlan Butcher and Antoinette Holton finished together in 24^th and 25^th places in 1:31:13, 8^th W45 and 5^th W35, and 146^th and 147^th overall. Dawn Biggs was 27^th scorching round to take 4 minutesoff her personal best in 1:32:37, 6^th W50 and 150^th. The three ladies won the 2^nd women’s team silver medals. The women were also the only Northern Athletics and Lancashire ladies’ team and so won both of those categories, gold medals apiece! Emma Wright placed 39^th in 1:45:29, 173^rd overall and 3^rd W40.

On Sunday morning Louise Lord ran the Stanley Park 10k in 55:28 to finish in 46^th place, and Finlay McCalman 55:51 for 48^th. No Wesham members ran the Saturday version of the race.

It was a quieter week last week with fewer races on, but there was enough to challenge those who wanted to venture out and not get waylaid by early Christmas shopping.

Finlay McCalman ran the Windmill Remembrance 10k in Lytham, finishing 590^th in a popular race with a time of 58:56 (57:18 chip time). There were just over 1300 runners in this race.

John MacDougall ran the 38^th Authentic Athens Marathon and clocked a very impressive performance with 2:51:42 at the finish line for 42^nd place and 6^th M45 out of 4051 finishers. Most impressive was his regular pace, with his time per kilometre around the 4:04 pace with a finishing sprint well under 4 minutes. His halfway time was 1:25:51.

Adam Wilding continued his current rich vein of form with 3^rd place in the latest Pilling 10k on Saturday, running 35:49 over the village and country course. Alan Hudson was 22^nd and 1^st M70 in 47:51 just behind friend of Wesham Les Hill (M60) from Dumfries. Kay Twist was 5^th woman and first W50 in 50:17, 29^th overall. Stephen Twist was 31^st 4^th M55 in 51:11.

Wesham members were taking part in more local events last week and some further afield as the variety of challenges grows again. Entries for the Wesham 10k in two weeks’ time are filling up with the 450 number reached. Plans are also underway for next July’s Endure 24 run in Leeds Bramham Hall as deferrals can now take up their entries ahead of the main entries.

In last week’s action Dave Young ran the Derwentwater 10-mile road race and he finished 156^th in 1:37:57 placing 3^rd M70, an excellent result. Liz Sharrocks ran the popular and high-quality Reading Half Marathon (winning times 1:02:14 and 1:13:29 for the women!), clocking 2:33:46 for 4583^rd place with a chip time of 2:16:17. Her age category and gender position were not known.

Martin Bates won a Northern Masters Bronze medal in the 5km Championships incorporated in the British Masters event in Barrowford on Sunday. He finished 11^th in the M65+ heat in 21:23, 10^th M65 in the British championships, on a windy day on 4.6 laps of the Steven Burke Cycle Hub track north of Nelson.

Suzanne Leonard came in 7^th woman and 41^st overall in the Spring 10k rearranged from April in Fleetwood, in a time of 49:17 for 1^st W50.

In the Helvellyn Trail Challenge 15k on Saturday Andrew Wilkinson finished 14^th (155^th overall in the combined results) in 1:38:19. Helen Greenhalgh was 409^th in 2:23:34. Sharon Cooper placed 571^st in 1:43:15 on a blustery day.

It was a busy week for Wesham members with cross country and some local road action, and the club is getting into full swing now with club training nights at the Kirkham and Wesham Cricket Club and facilities now fully available.

Action returned to its best in two years as Wesham saw 32 members, 9 women and 23 men run in the Green Drive 5, back after its pandemic sojourn. Not only quantity but also quality. Rob danson was back on form, not his fastest performance, but he was in an interesting competition with Preston’s Daniel Bebbington and Blackpool’s Luke Minns, that saw him spit the pair by 19 and 11 seconds to come in 2^nd in 25 minutes exactly. He was ably backed up by David Taylor who finished 10^th in 28:21 and rising star Adam Wilding following in his father’s footsteps with 28:25 for 11^th place. This secured Wesham both the open team win in the main race and the Lancashire gold team medals in the associated County Championships. Rob Danson took the Lancashire individual silver medal. There were some age category awards with John Collier 3^rd M65 in 36:22 (80^th overall) in a close race with former member John Bertenshaw over the closing stages. Alan Hudson was 1^st M70 and 99^th overall in 37:51. Dave Young was 3^rd M70 in 42:45, 151^st overall, and Peter Bartlett was 5^th M70 in 50:24, 226^th overall. Chris Hastwell 26^th in 30:27 (4^th M35); and Alekzander Walker 28^th with 30:47 (5^th M35) closed in the men’s masters’ team as the Lancashire victors taking the gold medals.