Red Rose Road Runners made the journey to London with high hopes and some trepidation. Even pace was the key to success and everyone should be really proud of their excellent performances. First man home for the club was Mike Hall with a brilliantly paced run and time of 3.09.37. The best performance was Jill Jefferson’s perfectly paced 3.23.47 to take a superb 8thplace in her V 55-59 age category. Anthony Durkin took on the race at sub 3 pace going through half way at 1.27.18 but the second half took its toll with a finishing time of 3.15.06. Next in was Phil Darwen with a metronomic pace taking him through half way in 1.43.21 and a second half only 35 seconds slower, finishing in 3.27.17. Shane Cliffe’s experience carried him through another evenly paced run with a time of 3.37.12.Another consistent pace came from Michael Rushe with a very respectable time of 3.39.20. Paula Plowman’s target of 4 hours proved just out of reach but a time of 4.06.48 was a good performance. Richard Ward was consistent up to 30km but had to dig very deep for the last 12 km. His final time was 4.31.24. Pita Oates’ debut marathon saw her judge her pace accurately only slowing slightly in the later parts of the race. Her time was 5.07.35.
The Blackpool Marathon also took place this weekend. Jose Pinon Shaw showed his quality with the club’s best time of the weekend. His brilliant time of 3.05.20 saw him in 11th place and 2nd V45. Three members chose to compete only a week after doing the Manchester marathon. Michael Pate finished in 37thplace with an excellent time of 3.21.08 to be 8th V40. John Naylor improved on last week’s time by nearly 3 minutes with a time of 3.41.19. Gina Biggs finished in 6.17.00 continuing on her 2015 marathon challenge. In the Half Marathon event Simon Houghon took a top 100 place with a time of 1.37.21. Nigel Britton crossed the line in 1.40.07 and Damien Russell finished in 1.51.49. Relative newcomer, Susan Heatley ran 2.35.49.
The latest Grand Prix race was the innocently named Scarecrow 10k at Wray. As 10k races go, this is a toughie. Red Rose provided 26 of the 106 entrants and came away with the lion’s share of the prizes. Joe Swarbrick took the lead from Karl Hodgson at the 3 mile mark and went on to finish in 39.57. Karl then had to hold off a strong challenge from Ken Addison to finish in 40.04 in 12th place with Addison 13th in 40.14. Next in was Stuart Cann who finished as first V50 in 41.58 with 2nd V50 going to Phil Davidson in 44.23. The highest place Red Roser was Janine Needham who took the Ladies race 2nd place in a time of 45.54. Carolyn Douglass took the F65 prize and Joan Gouldthorpe the F60. In addition the club won both the men’s and ladies’ team prizes.
Competitive rivalries drove us to many excellent performances. David Raynor, 45.23, held off Barry Wheeler, 45.31, who in turn held off Doug Bryden in 45.46. Paul Woan had Janine Needham in his sights as he finished in 46.01. Less than 30 seconds covered the next four RR runners with John Wiseman recording 47.12, Pete Battersby 47.23, Rob Mather 47.30 and Ian Wharton 47.38.
Further results. John Hyde 48.41, Andy Speer 50.02, Anthony Murphy 51.41, Aneese Shaikh 52.37, Vicky Gore 56.14, Karen Clark57.03, Martin Foley 58.27, Helen Orson 59.19, Allan Howard 61.08, Janet Saynor 68.53.