Red Rose flew the flag far and wide this weekend. The Loch Ness Marathon provided a very tough but scenic backdrop to a brilliant weekend for a close knit group. Lee Burton lead the charge with a time of 4.26.19 followed by Paula Plowman running in memory of her dad to finish in a hard fought for 4.48.34. Martin Foley had reason for celebration by breaking 5 hours in 4.59.20! Ann Donoghue was in her homeland looking for ‘Nessie’, accompanied by husband Ben and John Plowman all finishing in 5.28.03. In the River Ness 10k Klara Burton finished in 1.35.36 and Tracey Westwood close on her heels in 1.36.54.
Damien Russell took on his first marathon in the Robin Hood event with a target of 4.20. He acquitted himself well on his solitary journey with a ‘never again’, 4.19.04. Further afield, in Berlin, John Naylor was running for Prostate Cancer UK and finished in 3.34.56 with Alan Jolly in the same race finishing within a 4 hour target in 3.46. Rachel Fisher was a long way from home in the Bristol Half and finished in a little over two hours, 2.06.
A trip to Disneyland France was the magical event for an exuberant bunch of Red Rosers who somehow managed to fit a half marathon in amidst the rides, their impressions of Disney characters and fireworks displays. Times seem to have been irrelevant on this fun filled weekend. Separate report probably needed for this event!
Rob Mather was busier than most this week. He took on the DT40 (Dales Trail 40K) event. Fantastic organisation, awesome marshalling and amazing support helped all the runners. Rob’s achievement of 75th out of 151 runners took him an impressive 5hours 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, back in Preston, an enthusiastic team of club members took part in the torchlight procession on Saturday night. Undaunted by the sparce crowds they threw themselves into cheer leading and games to highlight the presence of our brilliant running club in the city.
On Sunday morning many of the same runners were out again to take part in the Preston 5k and 10k and later in the 2k fun run. A 9.00am start saw the 5k set off from the Cheapside taking in Ribblesdale Place and the hill down into Avenham Park. It then followed the path to Tram Bridge and crossed the river running back towards Leyland Road and re crossing the river, returning into Miller Park. The hill the runners had run down was there to greet them as they climbed out of the park. A circuit of Winckley Square was further hardship before a final climb of Glovers Court back to the start. Steve Bladon finished in 20.04 to be 7th overall and 1st V40. Chris Brown was 15th in 21.09. Richard Oakley ran well for 21.41 and 2nd V60. Davina Bowling was 1st F65 in 27.12. Hannah Withnell ran for Red rose for the first time and achieved a new PB of 33.03 and Gail Dunlop ran her first Red Rose event with a time of 35.52.
In the 10k event a similar route with added distance on the other side of the river saw a massive entry of Red Rose runners. Great running throughout the race achieved the men’s and women’s team prizes with a host of brilliant individual performances. Simon Croft ran a brilliant 35.29 to be second overall, with Dan Hughes 6th in 37.23. Richard Maughan was 19th in 37.23. A race within a race took place between Vet 60’s Ken Addison and Joe Swarbrick who matched each other stride for stride for the entire race with Joe finally opening up a 2 second gap in the final run in to settle the Vet 60 prize winning places in times of 39.18 and 39.20 Stuart Cann was 2nd Vet 50 in 40.28 just ahead of Jose Pinon Shaw who was 2nd V45 in 40.34. Andy Birkbeck ran a time of 42.41 to be 3rd V50. The ladies success came from Janine Needham as 4th lady and 2nd F40 in a great time of 43.36 followed by Jill Jefferson in 7th and first F55 (also faster than the men’s V55 winner) in 45.03. Alison Parkinson was second F50 in 49.36. Carol Douglass finished far faster than many others in the race to be first F70 in a superb 51.06 with Davina Bowling taking the F65 prize in 60.57 and David Anson celebrating his Vet 70 prize with a time of 61.16. Arthur Green was second V70 in 66.07. Plenty of personal triumphs were celebrated as well. Sian McMonagle decided to put her own ambitions on hold to run with her mum Eleanor. Their teamwork helped them get under the hour with a brilliant time of 58.07. Helen Greenhalgh celebrated her improvement for the fourth year in a row with a new PB of 60.03 and Louise Withnell knocked 7.30 off her time of last year to finish in 62.00. All results are available at runpreston.niftyentries.com/results.
Red Rose flew the flag far and wide this weekend. The Loch Ness Marathon provided a very tough but scenic backdrop to a brilliant weekend for a close knit group. Lee Burton lead the charge with a time of 4.26.19 followed by Paula Plowman running in memory of her dad to finish in a hard fought for 4.48.34. Martin Foley had reason for celebration by breaking 5 hours in 4.59.20! Ann Donoghue was in her homeland looking for ‘Nessie’, accompanied by husband Ben and John Plowman all finishing in 5.28.03. In the River Ness 10k Klara Burton finished in 1.35.36 and Tracey Westwood close on her heels in 1.36.54.
Damien Russell took on his first marathon in the Robin Hood event with a target of 4.20. He acquitted himself well on his solitary journey with a ‘never again’, 4.19.04. Further afield, in Berlin, John Naylor was running for Prostate Cancer UK and finished in 3.34.56 with Alan Jolly in the same race finishing within a 4 hour target in 3.46. Rachel Fisher was a long way from home in the Bristol Half and finished in a little over two hours, 2.06.
A trip to Disneyland France was the magical event for an exuberant bunch of Red Rosers who somehow managed to fit a half marathon in amidst the rides, their impressions of Disney characters and fireworks displays. Times seem to have been irrelevant on this fun filled weekend. Separate report probably needed for this event!
Rob Mather was busier than most this week. He took on the DT40 (Dales Trail 40K) event. Fantastic organisation, awesome marshalling and amazing support helped all the runners. Rob’s achievement of 75th out of 151 runners took him an impressive 5hours 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, back in Preston, an enthusiastic team of club members took part in the torchlight procession on Saturday night. Undaunted by the sparce crowds they threw themselves into cheer leading and games to highlight the presence of our brilliant running club in the city.
On Sunday morning many of the same runners were out again to take part in the Preston 5k and 10k and later in the 2k fun run. A 9.00am start saw the 5k set off from the Cheapside taking in Ribblesdale Place and the hill down into Avenham Park. It then followed the path to Tram Bridge and crossed the river running back towards Leyland Road and re crossing the river, returning into Miller Park. The hill the runners had run down was there to greet them as they climbed out of the park. A circuit of Winckley Square was further hardship before a final climb of Glovers Court back to the start. Steve Bladon finished in 20.04 to be 7th overall and 1st V40. Chris Brown was 15th in 21.09. Richard Oakley ran well for 21.41 and 2nd V60. Davina Bowling was 1st F65 in 27.12. Hannah Withnell ran for Red rose for the first time and achieved a new PB of 33.03 and Gail Dunlop ran her first Red Rose event with a time of 35.52.
In the 10k event a similar route with added distance on the other side of the river saw a massive entry of Red Rose runners. Great running throughout the race achieved the men’s and women’s team prizes with a host of brilliant individual performances. Simon Croft ran a brilliant 35.29 to be second overall, with Dan Hughes 6th in 37.23. Richard Maughan was 19th in 37.23. A race within a race took place between Vet 60’s Ken Addison and Joe Swarbrick who matched each other stride for stride for the entire race with Joe finally opening up a 2 second gap in the final run in to settle the Vet 60 prize winning places in times of 39.18 and 39.20. Stuart Cann was 2nd Vet 50 in 40.28 needing to stay strong up to the line to stay ahead of Jose Pinon Shaw who was 2nd V45 in 40.34. Andy Birkbeck ran a time of 42.41 to be 3rd V50. The ladies success came from Janine Needham as 4th lady and 2nd F40 in a great time of 43.36 followed by Jill Jefferson in 7th and first F55 (also faster than the men’s V55 winner) in 45.03. Alison Parkinson was second F50 in 49.36. Carol Douglass finished far faster than many others in the race to be first F70 in a superb 51.06 with Davina Bowling taking the F65 prize in 60.57 and David Anson celebrating his Vet 70 prize with a time of 61.16. Arthur Green was second V70 in 66.07. Plenty of personal triumphs were celebrated as well. Sian McMonagle decided to put her own ambitions on hold to run with her mum Eleanor. Their teamwork helped them get under the hour with a brilliant time of 58.07. Helen Greenhalgh celebrated her improvement for the fourth year in a row with a new PB of 60.03 and Louise Withnell knocked 7.30 off her time of last year to finish in 62.00. All results are available at runpreston.niftyentries.com/results.