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.

Two storms at the weekend, Eunice and Franklin, had some effect on running last week but there were few events in the calendar in the North West for Wesham members, and a time to consider some DIY perhaps!

In the Great North West Half Marathon along the Blackpool Promenade Ugis Datavs stretched his legs with a time of 1:24:17 for the 13.1 miles to return a finish position of 15^th in a race with 479 participants. He finished 4^th M40. Stuart Mulrooney finished 153^rd battling the high winds and rain to clock 1:51:08, M35 position not available.

Martin Bates ran in the Waterson’s Hale 10K in Cheshire’s Ashley Park part of the 2022 Hale & Ashley Race Series, placing 145^th in 46:21 with a 5k split of 23:01 for 1^st M65 (credited as 4^th Over-60). There were 711 runners in this popular run.

There was quite some action last week in the athletics world to give Fylde athletes plenty to have a go at, and Wesham members were out there.

The main action of the weekend was the fifth round of the Mid Lancs Cross Country League staged at the leigh Sports Village on a course running out onto the neighbouring Pennington Flash. In the Senior Women’s 6km over one small lap and two large ones Kay Twist finished 61^st and 11^th W50 in 27:35. Anne Mayers-Smith, also competing in the incorporated Northern Masters Championship was 66^th and 12^th W40 in 28:24, with Lucy Neighbour placing 95^th and 14^th W40 in 31:25. 95^th was Louise Lord in 16^th W45 position with her time 31:34. Clare Bellfield was 103^rd and 15^th W35 in 35:09. In the overall placings for the season after 5 matches with one to go the Wesham ladies are 9^th in Division 3, with the W35 team 10^th. The W45s are 11^th, with no W55 or 65 teams. In the accompanying M70 race over the 6km Dave Young finished 10^th in 31:59 with Peter Bartlett 15^th in 39:33. Wesham were 3^rd M70 team behind Clayton and Kendal. In the Senior Men’s 10km of 3 large laps Andrew Harling ran a blinder to finish 41^st and 8^th M40 in 41:34, ahead of David Taylor who was 44^th in 42:25.  Tom Crabtree placed 53^rd in 43:22; Mark Belfield was 57^th in 43:44, with Lee Barlow was 93^rd and 18^th M45 in 46:21. Carl Groome made his cross country debut after running the Lytham Hall parkrun earlier, coming in 108^th and 7^th M50 to close in the men’s team with 47:03. Steve Myerscough finished 131^st and 24^th M45 in 49:03; Damien Ings was 148^th and 27^th M45 in 50:19; Nigel Shepherd 6^th M60 and 160^th overall in 52:37 with John Collier 4^th M65 and 173^rd in 54:54. Training partners James Danson and Stephen Twist battled it out over the last few metres to finish 199^th and 202^nd for 24^th M55 and 19^th M50 in 1:01:43 and 1:02:08. Colin Gibson came in 13^th M60 and 207^th overall in 1:02:30. The Senior Men are now 3^rd in Division 1 after an excellent season with the “B” team 3^rd in Division 3. The M40 team are also in good stead in 4^th place in Division 1, with the M50 team 7^th and the M60s 2^nd, both good results. The M70 season is very close race behind Kendal and Clayton.