Emma Pass climbing the final grade before sprinting to the finish at Hyndburn
Wesham kicked off the opening fixture of the Mid Lancs Cross Country league in god style if favourable conditions at Wilson’s Fields in Clayton-le-Moors after early overcast skies threatening heavy rain. It was warm and without the wall-to-wall mud found on this course in previous seasons further into the winter months. The Wesham women turned out 9 runners with Catherine Carrdus heading the team finishing 13th overall in the women’s 8km race and 4th W35 in 25:54. Sue Coulthurst was 27th and 4th W45 in 27:08, with EmmaPass close behind in 30th place in a time of 27:32. Helen Lawrenson was the next Wesham lady to cross the line in 63rd place, 18th W35 in 29:38. Tracey Hulme was 94th and 16th W45 in 31:14, with Lisa Minns 124th and 24th W45 in 34:44. Diane Blagden was 124th and 25th W45 in 35:10; Karen Davies was 42nd W35 and 146th in 38:47 with Kerry Eccles a great run in 146th place with 39:20 placing 37th W45. On the open results the women’s ‘A’ team finished 6th overall, a great team effort, with the ‘B’ team 28th. The W35 team were 3rd which is a great follow up to their performance last season, with a ‘B’ team 16th, and the W45 team 4th which bodes well for the year.
Lee Barlow was the first Wesham finisher in the Men’s 3-lap 10km course, placing 54th Senior Man and 13th M40 in 40:50. Alex Rowe was 79th and 5th M50 in 42:27, with Steve Myerscough 112th and 38th M40 in 43:48. John Collier was 1st M60 and 135th overall with a time of 45:09; Alex Glasgow 226th and 11th M60 in 51:07; Jonathan Lawson was 236th with a good run, 76th M40 in 52:40. Chris Moss showed good form finishing 239th in 52:56; and Russell Mabbett was 246th and 54th M50 in 54:00. The Wesham open team placed 20th out of 30 teams; no ‘B’ team closed in; the M40 team were 4th which was a good result and the ‘B’ team were 26th. The M50 team were 3rd and they failed to complete a M60 team. The next round is in three weeks time in Barrow.
The chip finishing times in the Palma 10k last week reveal more accurate performance indicators than the gun times, giving the number of participants. Temperatures were also in the 30 degrees, so Anne and George Flanagan’s electronic times of 1:19:01 and 1:19:02 are more favourable than 1:20:33. Similarly Kerry Eccles’ 56:26 marks her best performance recently and reveal a remarkable recovery from a year of injury. John Bertenshaw clocked 50:50 and Tracey Hulme ran 50:36. John Whiteman’s time improves to 1:25:32 from 1:27:20.
Kath Hoyer ran the winter Standish Hall Trail race on Saturday afternoon finishing 1st W50 and 13th woman in 54:35 for the 10km figure-of-eight multi-terrain trail course, placing 74th overall.
The Fairclough Five Mile race was held on Sunday morning from StanahCountryPark on the Wyre estuary around the local lanes and Simon Eaton was the first Wesham finisher in 14th place with a time of 32:23. Alan Hudson was 2ndin the M60-69 age category in 32:48 placing 16th overall although first M65, a great performance. George Kennedy was 28th in 35:51 running with Nicola Unsworth who won the women’s race in 35:52, placing 29th overall, a superb record. Brian Jones was 31st with 37:17; Sara Ward was 3rd woman and 2ndW40 and in 37:59 placing 35th overall. Dave Waywell was 1st M70 in stiff competition with 38:20 for 39th place overall. Kath Hoyer was 6th woman and 2nd W50 in 38:54 in 46th place overall; Gemma Owen was 9th woman and 51stoverall in 39:32; Jayne Hurst was 17th and 4th W40 in 43:34, 75th overall; Angie Kirkham was 18th and 5th W40 with 43:35 in 76th place; John Howorth was 80th with 44:39; and Clive Berry was 85th in 47:52.
Garry Barnett ran the Accrington 10k on Sunday morning finishing 24th and 4th M45 with 40:04. Phil Leaver was 6th M60 and 96th overall in 46:31, and Stephen Wilkinson was 211th in 53:55.
Steve Myerscough ran the Preston parkrun on Saturday morning before the Mid Lancs cross country and he clocked 19:09 for an M40 71.28% age graded performance. David Taylor ran 20:00 for 64.50% and Carmel Sullivan 20:36 for W45 80.42%. Mick Edge scored 21:30 for M50 70.85% and Sharon Cooper 24:15 for W40 63.44%.