Ladies doing well in the Mid Lancs Cross Country League
Almost unbelievably there was no local athletics action after a quiet January and the best on offer was the top quality Dewsbury 10km and the Alsager 5 mile race, both little more than an hour’s drive away but not attracting any Fylde runners. Both races however were sold out in advance so there was no chance for a late decision to run. The cold weather may have slowed performances as the winning times in the 5-miler were 24:04 for winning man Ieuan Thomas from Cardiff and leading lady Preston Harrier Helen Clitheroe in 27:15. Indeed Preston Harriers were the only local club to turn out a team with some good performances lead by Rob Affleck clocking 26:31 and Matt Livingstone 26:35. There were 896 runners in this popular and high quality race, with 112 runners breaking the 30-minute mark.
Similarly at Dewsbury the winning time was 31:02 by Mohammad Abu Rezeq of Altrincham & District and the women’s winner was Shona Fletcher of Richmond & Zetland in 35:57, times perhaps reflecting the out-and-back course with a steady climb on the way out and the bitter windy conditions. Only 14 men ran inside 34 minutes and 10 females inside 38 minutes. There were 1075 runners in this race with the slowest time just inside 1 hour 28 minutes.
With two fixtures remaining in the Mid Lancs Cross Country League and the next fixture at Blackpool on 14th February clubs are looking at the divisional standings this season to see how they can maximise their positions now for the final end-of-season results. The Wesham women have not yet completed four events and the Senior team could stay in the top division if they can pull out their best team for at least one further fixture. The ‘B’ team also have three scores but are not fighting for more than a final season points tally. The W35 team have two wins to their name but again lack a fourth score so with a good team ate the remaining fixtures should see a medal prospect and a win is possible. The W45 team similarly could be on the border of medals with a good performance at Blackpool and Lancaster.
The Wesham Senior Men look certain to be relegated back to Division 2 and the ‘B’ team have only completed one event so will remain in Division 4. The Men V40 could be promoted back up to Division 1 but they are currently equal 2nd with Chorley. The Vet-50 team are in with a shout of medals as are the Vet-60 team who still have to complete a fourth fixture. So there is all to play for in the next six weeks. The end of season presentation night will be held on Friday 17th April at Bamber Bridge.
At individual level Catherine Carrdus is 5th Vet-35 and 13th overall and Helen Lawrenson is 14th. John Collier heads the Vet-60s and Alex Rowe is 3rd in the Vet-50 rankings. Rob Danson is 5th overall.
Karl Lee had a good run in the Preston parkrun on Saturday morning despite the cold and breezy conditions, clocking 17:51 for a 72.36% age graded performance. Steve Myerscough completed his 65th parkrun with 18:41 for 73.60% grade. David Taylor ran a new personal best of 18:58 for 68.01% performance. Stuart Topping clocked 20:35 recording a new personal best with 68.43%; Jason Blagden ran 21:22 for another personal best with 65.37%; George Kennedy 22:16 for M55 70.21%; Nicola Unsworth 22:18 for W40 70.55%; Gemma Owen 22:19 for a personal best performance with 66.77%; Diane Blagden 25:50 for W45 83:35%.