Stuart Topping in Bank Holiday sun in the Avenham Park 5km
In the wake of the London marathon it was a quiet week for athletics although there were a clutch of extra events with the bank holiday weekend. The weather was patchy with rain and some strong winds to contend with but by and large local events were blessed with favourable conditions.
Wesham came away with a clutch of awards from the opening race in the Kendal 10k series on Wednesday evening on a good night for running. Karl Lee finished 3rd as he moves up a gear clocking 35:19 over the hilly course south from the town to Sedgwick and back. Lee Barlow was 6th in 36:47 taking the M40 prize; and with Alex Rowe in 11th place with 37:24 and taking the lead Over-50 place the Wesham men were assured of the winning team. John Collier was 1st M60 in 41:28 in 32nd place overall, and Peter Cruse was fourth in for Wesham in 22nd place with 39:22 for 3rd M50. Mick Edge ran well to finish 37th in 42:25and Chris Moss was 54th in 45:10. Phil Leaver placed 2nd M60 and 56th in 45:58 ahead of next week’s European Masters Non-Stadia Championships in Italy, where Wesham are taking a team of 5 runners. Helen Lawrenson finished 8th woman and 60th overall in 46:09 taking 1st W40, and Jen Salt was 9th and 65th with 46:53. Stephen Brown was 64th in a time of 46:41 in his debut run for the club. Peter Bartlett ran 50:55 for 90th place finishing 6th Over-60.
Rob Danson finished 2nd in the AvenhamPark 5k on Monday running 16:21. David Taylor was 7th for a new personal best of 17:57. Ryan Heaps was 16th with 19:15; Stuart Topping 19:59; Jason Blagden 21:11; Sarah Heaps 23:49; Diane Blagden 26:10; Graham Vickers 27:36; Andrew Heaps 28:43.
Alex Rowe finished 7th in the Dalton 10k on Friday evening taking in a precursor to the Kendal AC 10k series. He clocked 36:58 and was first M55. He went on to finish 3rd Over-50 in the Wray Caton Moor Fell Race on Monday where he ran 50:25 over the 6.8 miles and 1100ft ascent. John Collier was 1st M60 in the race with a time of 57:00. He had finished 3rd the previous day in the Northern Masters monthly run at Crossford Bridge in sale, where over a 4.7 mile curse along the banks of the Mersey and adjacent Macclesfield Canal he clocked 28:08.
Mick Edge added to his haul of trophies with another M55 victory in the Yarrow Bridge Bluebell Trail race south of Chorley on Sunday morning, running 50:41 for the 10k distance over woodland trails in YarrowCountryPark, finishing 22nd overall. Carmel Sullivan was 2nd W45 and 40th with 53:32 finishing 10th woman. Helen Lawrenson was 13th woman and 3rd W45 in 54:40, placing 47th overall. Dave Young finished 164th and 4th M65 in 1:15:00.
In the Vernon’s 5km Series on 28th April David Taylor came in 13th with 18:09. Graham Cunliffe was 30th in 20:54, 1st M55. Gemma Owen finished 6th woman and 50th in 23:13, and Alan Taylor was 54th with 23:36. George Kennedy was 34th in the Ripley supper Run in Lancaster on Thursday night finishing in a time of 27:45 for the undulating 4 miles. Alan Taylor was 77th in 31:13. This was a very popular evening race with 303 finishers,
Peter Cruse placed 5th in the Sheriff 10k from Scorton on Sunday, with a time of 39:21 and placing 2nd Over-50. Graham Cunliffe was 10th with 43:37, and Chris Moss was 13th in 45:08. Nicola Unsworth was 20th in 47:02, 4th woman and 1st W45.Sharon Cooper was 6th woman with 49:26, 2nd W40 behind Nicola; Alan Taylor came in 32nd in 50:26 over this challenging course. Finlay McCalman was 57th with 1:01:24,
David Taylor ran 18:35 in the Preston parkrun on Saturday morning just a second short of his personal best with an age graded performance of 69.42%. George Kennedy clocked 21:41 for M55 72.10%. Phil Leaver had 24:12 for M60 66.87% and Clive Berry ran 29:55 for M45 48.52%.