The Red Rose Grand Prix continued with the Great Hill Fell Race at Brinscall. Dan Hughes had a great run finishing in 5th place in 41.01.Ben Donoghue must have been aware of the proximity of Chris Charnley as he finished. Both ran excellent times 42.16 and 42.29. More close competition ensued with Chris Brown (47.51) just outpacing John Naylor(47.56) followed by Mark McCrea with his pre race focus bringing him in, in 48.17. Jon Royle was next with 50.49 and Steve Taylor54.56.
Paula Plowman, was our only age category winner, being first F50 in 56.39. Rob Mather finished in 57.48 with Debbie Porter only four seconds behind. The happy Red Rose contingent also included Pita Oates, 62.36, Jenny Fairclough 63.15, Mary Conway 63.17,Lydia Plackett 82.16.
John Shepherd showed he’s not far off in his return to racing with a time of 38.36, taking 2nd place overall at the SSAFA 10k.
The Classic Freckleton Half Marathon also took place this weekend, with Ron Hill’s 50 year old course record safe for another year. First home for Red Rose was Mike Hall in an impressive 1.27.34 and Dave Brunton’s 1.28.57 was well ahead of the rest of his club mates. Neil Whatton ran a respectable 1.35.10 whilst the next four runners all beat the 2 hour mark with minutes to spare. Steve Murphy 1.51.34,Deborah Orritt 1.53.21,Steve Worswick 1.53.48, David Orritt 1.54.07,Lorraine Houghton 1.58.37. A pleasing PB was the reward for a strong run from Sinead Sweeney in 2.07.30. Whilst this is a popular run there is no doubt that the last four miles back along the main road can seem never ending but excellent encouragement from fellow runners and spectators helped everyone perform well. Judy Ingham 2.09.47,Joanna Worswick 2.11.11, Carol Heaton 2.24.50, Emily Ingham 2.24.51, Wendy Ward 2.27.08, Gareth Fairey 2.27.47.
Red Rose, Karl Hodgson, along with Jordan Dashti and Steven Willetts have just completed the mammoth ride, Land’s End to John O’Groats unassisted in 10 days, for their chosen charities. Karl was running for the Christie Hospital where he and many others have received life saving treatment. Jordan was raising money for the Space Centre in Preston and Steven was helping ’Everton in the Community’ who do great work with the homeless. A huge achievement for each of them. Donations still appreciated through their facebook pages.
Parkrun PB’s were achieved by Joanne Malcolmson 23.04 and Bernie Mitchell 23.21 at Preston and by Ian Wharton 23.03 and Michael Hogarth 28.17 at Cuerden Valley. At Preston , Peter O’Grady’s new beginners took their next step into the wonderful world of running. Well Done Everyone.