Rob Danson man of 2015 for Wesham, Lancashire Championships
The subject closest on most people’s minds over the Christmas week has been the appalling flooding across the west and north of Britain and the local athletics for Fylde athletes was inevitably affected by the persistent and torrential rains.
The RibbleValley 10k set to be the local event of the week sadly had to be cancelled 24 hours in advance as the course was flooded in seven places and the waters were rising. The Boxing Day 10k did go ahead in Leyland although the lower reaches of WordenPark were under water but spirits were high and competitors were rewarded with a truly intrepid experience. The pace was competitive however with 22 runners inside 40 minutes and the winning time 33:14 by Luke Betts. Chris Moss was Wesham’s first finisher in 66th place with a time of 47:01 and Ben Wrigley was 82nd in 48:41.
In the Preston parkrun on Saturday morning John Bertenshaw ran a good20:45 for an M55 76.63% fortunately not affected by floods although the nearby Ribble was very swollen and subject to a yellow warning. At the Lytham Hall parkrun the drive was flooded but passable although the levels rose significantly for the exit two hours later. Dave Young clocked 25:23 for an M65 67.96% in his debut at the event. Steven Gore was tail marker with two walkers and his time was 1:01:13 in constant heavy rain.
Looking back at the year 2015 was all about Rob Danson for Wesham and he was awarded so at the annual presentation in November having won the club 10k race that morning. He won at least 15 races during the year and rounded off with his two fastest 10k times in the Leeds Abbey Dash and Wesham 10k with 32:33 and 32:34 respectively. He ran for Lancashire in the prestigious Inter Counties Cross Country and was the highlight of the London Marathon, visible for much of the second half of the race running with Paula Radcliffe and famously joined hands with her down the Mall to the finish, a finale to her running career and a new personal best for him. He won the Palma Half Marathon and improved his time across 5 runs at the distance to 70:29. He won the local Inter Club series overall with 6 straight wins continuing his dominance from 2014. It was a good year for Wesham all round with many new faces at the club and successful trips to Grasmere for the Gallop, yielding the 17km race winner (M55 Alex Rowe); a large group trip to Palma for the Half Marathon, and a team of six to compete for the British Masters in the European Masters Non-Stadia Championships in Italy. The club had the second largest turnout at the Witton Trail Relays with some 15 teams entered and had four teams in the Northern Athletics Road Relays. With runners on the track in the Lancashire Championships and on the fells in the Inter Club series and a growing squad in cross country the club is growing and taking on new challenges.