Dave Neilands reports . . . .
The long summer nights give Garstang Running Club members a variety of races to choose from.Regular action man Richard Jones went from one extreme to the other and back again. First it was to Chorley for the four mile “night” race where he finished 78th of the 159 runners in 26.08 minutes. Next up was Windermere for his second marathon of the year where he finished 157th of the 631 finishers in 3 hours 45 minutes. He the “topped” all this off with the Lancaster 5K where he finished 35th of the 61 runners in 19.47 – is this part of a cunning plan to build more speed into his marathon performances? Richard was joined at Windermere by Tim Warner and Julie Graham who were also running their second marathons of the year with Tim finishing 400th in 4 hours 22 minutes and Julie close behind in 404th place in 4 hours 23 minutes.
Action girl Jane Holt found an unusual way to achieve a personal best – most runners “save” themselves for the event in question – in this case the Market Drayton 10k in Shropshire . Julie’s preparation was to combine the race with a 50 mile charity bike ride, so she hopped on a bike in Stoke cycled the 16 miles to the race, completed the 10k in 46.45 minutes for 203rd place out of 731 competitors and then hopped back on the bike to complete the 50 miles and all this in scorching weather.
Mention of “action” would not be complete without a reference to Richard Roberts who again took himself off to Northern Scotland for the week long Cape Wrath challenge. This year Richard finished second in the 10k, 4th in the long hill run, 5th in the multi terrain run and 5th in the Target Zero Beach Run – a race where you have to nominate your finishing time in advance and get as close it as possible – Richard finished within 19 seconds of his nominated time. I wonder if he kept his watch on ? Finally with his chosen partner Richard won the two man marathon in a combined time of 3 hours 9 minutes – did this mean his legs had finally gone and he could not do the full 26 miles all on his own?
What follows may sound more mundane, but did the 3004 competitors who completed the Blackpool 10k feel it was mundane? Certainly not Tony Pritchard who finished 44th in 39.00 or Pam Murphy who finished 705th in 52.15. Pete Gelderd may have a different view after finishing 972th in 55.30. There is no truth in the rumour that the donkeys on the beach were going faster.
The Ripley 4 mile Supper run at Lancaster saw Craig Menzies finish 85th of the 276 competitors in 31.28 with Gordon Slaymaker dusting off his racing gear to finish 147th in 35.31 minutes. It was almost ladies night at the Cuerden Trail race near Leyland where Gary Heyworh finished 33rd of the 124 finishers followed by Sue Richmond 69th, Philippa Olive 71st, Edwina Parry also dusting off her gear, 82nd and Debris Spencer 103rd.The Chorley 10 mile road race brought out some regular suspects with Greg Hunter 103rd in 1.12.27, Gary Heyworth 109th in 1.13.27, Malcolm Vinnicombe 136th and 3rd MV60 in 1.16.49 and Sue Richmond 192nd of the 219 finishers in 1.29.19. Finally it was into the hills for Graham Tagg for the Austwick, near Settle, Fell Race where he finished 17th of the 80 finishers and 3rd MV40.
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