The second fixture in the Mid Lancs Cross Country League held at Hyndburn on Saturday in very muddy and wet conditions, although the early rain held off and the wind dropped slightly to warm up conditions. Peter Bartlett in the Vet 70 Men race over two laps of 6km finished 4^th in 38:04. Dave Young placed 5^th with 38:38 and the pair won the M70 team competition. In the Women’s race over the same course Wesham had 10 ladies running and Helen Lawrenson led the way to finish 59^th and 11^th W45 in 32:17. Kay Twist made her cross country debut and picked one of the toughest and muddiest courses in the League but she finished a fine 98^th and 26^th W45 in 35:34. Louisa Denye ran well and she was 110^th and 27^th W35 with 37:33. Maureen Danson similarly had a good run placing 118^th and 30^th W45 in 38:18. Antionette Holton had her first appearance and came in 130^th with a great effort in39:39, 33^rd W35. Clare Belfield was 132^nd in 40:02, 34^th W35, and Emma Davies also running her first cross country was 136^th with 40:31. Sally Deacon finished 138^th in 40:54, 37^th W45; Tanya Barlow was 147^th and 43^rd W45 with 43:17; and Julie Rooney 159^th and 47^th W45 in 49:49. The “A” team of Lawrenson, Twist and Denye were 27^th overall and 13^th W35 team, with the Open “B” team (Danson, Holton, Belfield) 32^nd overall; and the W45s (Lawrenson, Twist, Danson) were 11^th.

There were some good autumn fixtures on this week and Wesham members were out and about. The most popular event was the highly scenic and undulating Derwentwater 10-mile road race from Keswick. Helen Lawrenson was 13^th woman and 4^th W45 in 1:17:14, 127^th overall in this popular run in stunning surroundings. Jen Salt was 59^th woman and 6^th W40 in 1:27:20, 247^th overall. Sharon Cooper finished 63^rd and 15^th W45 in 1:28:21, 254^th overall with a new personal best time. Sharlan Butcher and Dawn Biggs both took 9 minutes off their previous best running together with Emma Wright, with the trio coming in 382^nd, 383^rd and 385^th in 1:46:15, 1:46:15 and 1:46:23, 138^th, 139^th and 141^st women. Tom Crabtree finished 25^th in 1:03:59, also a new best time. Stuart Clayton was 125^th in 1:17:04, 11^th M50, and Peter Bartlett placed 7^th M70 in 1:40:53, 354^th overall. James Birchall finished 417^th in 1:57:14.

The Fairclough 5 race at Stannah in Thornton was the big event of the week. Rob Danson put in a strong performance with part of the course flooded on a wet day and he won the race convincingly in 26:35 for the undulating 5 miles with a leading margin on 27 seconds. Neil Gregson was 9^th in 32:09 and Charles Colby out for a quick freshen up after the previous evening’s night run was 25^th in 36:12. Stuart Topping finished 27^th in 37:15 and Rob Wallace was 29^th in 37:16 with Stephen Browne 30^th with 37:20. Kay Twist was 7^th woman 1^st W50 in 39:32, 41^st overall. James Danson finished 43^rd in 40:14, and Dave Young was 2^nd M70 in 62^nd place overall with 43:10, with Maureen Danson 17^th woman and 3^rd W50 in 43:16, 63^rd overall. Lucy Neighbour was 19^th woman and 65^th in 43:36; Stephen Twist 67^th in 44:14; Sharlan Butcher 23^rd woman and 70^th with 44:57, and Peter Cooke finished 84^th in 48:31.

Out of 332 finishers there were 175 men and 157 women in Sunday’s Green Drive Five race in Lytham, a very encouraging gender distribution. And hosting the Lancashire 5-Mile Championships there was a 105 to 104 ratio which shows the attraction to this hugely popular event. There were 37 Wesham members running, 16 of them women, with David Taylor the first finisher in 10^th place with a time of 28:11 for a new personal best performance. Tom Crabtree finished 22^nd in 29:46, and Simon Denye was 27^th and 3^rd M45 in 30:22.