29 August 2011: Fell Grand Prix reaches a peak (by Simon Tobin) |
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Bank Holiday Monday saw the final race of the fell running grand prix at Moel Fammau in North Wales - 4.5 miles with a grueling 1,300ft of climb. Rob Ashworth and Tracey Peters had already been crowned as this year’s winners but I knew that a top three finish would give me the coveted runners-up slot (A.K.A. “first loser”). This once in a lifetime opportunity was mostly due to my nearest rivals having better things to do - Steve McLean putting work commitments first and Neil Adshead’s wife playing a blinder by insisting that he took her shopping! With only myself, Matt Nelson and Brian Davey running in the men’s race a top 3 finish was looking promising. My anxiety levels soared as first Gary Kenny and then a breathless Rob Ashworth pitched up at the start. To make it worse, Brian had just emerged sporting the latest, hi-tech (and rather fetching) compression stockings, “guaranteed to reduce fatigue and improve performance”!
With a rousing send off from the crowd we sped down the first half mile on the road before beginning the ascent of Moel Fammau. Initially fairly gentle, the climb increased wickedly to become unrunable in parts. Having changed places with Brian a couple of times I reached the summit about 50 yards behind Rob with Brian, Gary and Matt only yards behind. The downhill was fantastic – nearly 2 miles of fast, muddy paths a full tilt. Closing in on Rob I passed him with the hellish, uphill grind of the last half a mile to go. Rob then showed why he’s been crowned “King of the Fells” as he nonchalantly flicked on the launch control and disappeared into the distance. He finished in 44th 41:07, I managed to hold off the rapidly-closing pack finishing in 41:22 with Gary, Brian and Matt close behind (41:36, 42:19 and 42:34 respectively). Orienteer Elaine Sutton had a great race racking up 10 points as first (and only) SWAC woman in 59:30. First man was Rob Grantham (Ellesmere Port) in 33:20.
Brian Davey has done a fantastic job of galvanizing enthusiasm for the club’s fell running grand prix. It’s been great to see so many SWAC vests out on the fells over the last few months. More please Brian!
Results |
27 August 2011: 3rd place for Alice Delaney in NWCE Champs |
Two of our Under 11s travelled to Manchester's Sportcity for the North West Counties Combined Events champs. Doing (I think) just three events, Alice Delaney accrued 1758 points to take 3rd place in the Under 13 Women's Quadrathon (designed to give for Under 11s an introduction to combined events).
In the 75m, Alice was 2nd in 12.03, in the 600m she was again 2nd in a new PB time of 2:01.47 and in the long jump she has a best of 3m 08 on the day.
Competing with her was Olivia Pines. She was 4th in the 75m in 12.15, ran a PB 2:13.15 in the 600m and had a best long jump of 2m 96.
Combined events is a challenging and fun form of athletics competition and something more of our junior athletes should try. |
27 August 2011: Individual good news stories from Mid Lancs Medal Meeting |
 There were only 5 Southport Waterloo pre-entries for the Mid Lancs Medal Meeting at Wigan's Robin Park Arena but entries on the day boosted that to 17, six of them taking individual medals. This summer's weather of sunshine and showers produced a heavy down power during the hammer competition but by the time the track and other field events got under way, the rain had stopped, albeit leaving the inside lane of the track water-logged for the next hour!
There were outstanding performances from James Tartt and Andrew Kershaw with Tracey Peters majoring on the medals - 3 golds from her 3 events!
In the Under 13 Girls' events, Emma Alderson took a gold with a fine run in the 800m in 2:35.4. In the same race, Nisha Kumari-Webster achieved a PB with a run in 3:01.5 - a massive 11 secs improvement. Next time maybe sub-3 mins! Leah Ward also achieved a PB, hers coming in the 200m, a close 4th place in her heat in 32.5. Leah also long-jumped 2m 82 and putt the shot 4m 32, just ahead of Nisha's throw of 4m 24.
Harry Peacock was our only Under 13 Boy. In a day of middle distance successes, it was in the 800m that Harry had his best performance. Just outside the medals, he finished 4th in the 800m in 2:33.4. Harry also ran a 200m in 31.1.
Three of our middle distance boys ran in the Under 15 Boys' 1500m. A well-focused Andrew Kershaw was going for gold rather than with a particular time target in mind and achieved his objective. He ran a mature, tactical race. He was in 2nd place with 250m to go and then allowed the 3rd placed runner to come past and stride away. Now, with a runner in front to chase, Andrew came strongly off the final bend, strode past the 2nd placed runner and switched his  sights to the leader, chasing him down with just a few metres to spare. It was a fascinating last lap from Andrew who is growing in confidence and ability as a middle distance runner. Michael Panes was having his own race in the middle of the pack and finished strongly in 4:40.0, Adam Cullen our final runner crossing the line in 4:56.1.
Continuing with the middle distance runners, In the Under 17 Men's events Gary Clark had a great run in the 1500m. He has concentrated almost exclusively this year on the 800m so it was difficult to know what to expect but a strong and competitive run brought him home in silver medal position in a new PB time of 4:39.7, 20 secs better than his previous 1500m run this season and an improvement in his previous best of 4 secs.
Graham Boreham started his day in the rain, throwing a wet hammer a best of 15m 74, giving him a silver medal. In the 100m, he ran 14.2 before joining Patrick Cullen and Owen Williams in the 400m race. Here, it was Patrick's turn to take a medal - a silver - finishing 2nd of 8 runners in 55.5. Owen Williams was 5th in 57.0 and Graham not too far off the 1 minute barrier, in 63.4.
We had only one Senior Woman at Wigan but she did enough running for three athletes, taking part in the 800m, then the 1500m and finally the 3000m. Not many of our runners have attempted all three on the same day. Tracey Peters did and she took a gold medal in each event. Starting with the 800m, she won that race in 2:37.6; then the 1500m in 5:12.2. By this stage you might think Tracey was tiring a bit but then she went on to the 3000m and won the ladies' race in 11:12.7, a new PB over that distance, improving on her 11:18 at Stretford in June!
Finally, we had more Senior Men out than we have seen at a Mid Lancs fixture all season. First up were Tom Peacock and Steve McLean, running in the 800m in 2:14.3 and 2:17.1 respectively. Steve went on to do some speed work, racing over the longer sprint distances, stopping the clock in 62.1 for 400m and 29.0 for 200m. James Tartt, Gerry Lenehan and Tom Peacock lined up for the start of the 1500m race which proved to be a master class in front running by the very talented and still improving James Tartt. Before appreciative spectators, James sped round in 3:53.6 for his first 1500m race this year, improving on his previous best time of 3:56 from last year. With no-one to push him along today, James must be capable of going under 3:50 in the right conditions but it may be too late for that this year.
Thanks to Steve Boreham and Robbie Clark for officiating for the club at Wigan.
Full results | Results for club athletes |
25 August 2011: Southport Beach Race (by Brian Grice) |
The famous Southport Beach Race is back after a gap of 15 years. The DW Fitness Southport Beach 10K starts on the beach next to the pier at 10am on Sunday September 4th with about 2 miles on the beach and the rest on the good tarmac path along Marine Drive. This is a UKA event over a certified accurate course.
The Southport Beach Race was organised by Southport Waterloo AC from 1983 to 1996 when the beach looked very different with miles of compacted sand all the way to Ainsdale and beyond. In the early years the Beach Race was held over 10 miles with an amazing field of more than 1,200 runners in 1984 won by Gerry Helme who went on to set the course record (50.27) in 1986. Kate Harrison had a remarkable hat trick of wins for the club in the Beach Race, including a win over 10 miles in 1990 and then successes over 10K when the distance was changed in 1991.
The revived Beach Race starts with about one mile on the sand from the pier to Weld Rd and then almost 3 miles on the path/pavement along Marine Drive to a point beyond Hesketh Rd. The return leg includes a stretch along the beach before rejoining Marine Drive. There are good prizes at stake with £100 to the winner and £75 to the second in both the men’s and women’s events. Of course, everyone is guaranteed a fast start on the vast wide expanse of Southport Beach. This is a fast course on a calm day with very little of the race on soft sand. Nostalgics will love the new 'Beach Race' even if most of our beach has disappeared under a swathe of mud and grass.
Further information and entry | Winners of past Southport Waterloo Beach Race 1983 - 96 | 2011 Course map |
20 August 2011: 2 new mile club records at busy Open Meeting |
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Despite a soaking in mid afternoon, the club's 5th annual open track & field meeting produced a glorious afternoon's athletics. With 300 athletes coming from far and wide - including our annual visitors from St Peters AC in Ireland - the meeting has come a long way since its shaky beginnings in 2007 as a track relay meeting. This year's 25% increase in numbers was not without its problems. Late arrivals found it impossible to park at the Litherland Sports Park!
Offering competition for all ages from Under 9s to Seniors, the meeting was a great opportunity for our growing numbers of Under 11s to put their training into effect on the track and in the field events, particularly the long jump! And they did in numbers!
 Over 50 Southport Waterloo athletes, plus others training with the club but not yet members, took advantage of a great Open on their doorstep. There was some great competition and not a few medals taken. However, PBs were hard to come by. Conditions looked good for competition - little wind and not too warm - but on the day fickle atmospheric conditions produced times on the track which were a little sluggish. Nonetheless, that didn't stop Ellie Roberts and Tracey Peters from setting new club records in the Larry Hyland 1 Mile races. There aren't many mile races run on the track - one of the reasons we include it in our Open - and so not many opportunities to compete over that distance but it is worth noting that Ellie Robert's new Under 15 Girls' record of 5:36.9 was better than the existing club record for Under 17, Under 20 and Senior Women before today's races. Today, Tracey Peters pushed out her existing senior women record to 5:32.9.
Amongst the Under 9 Girls, Lily-Ann Grayson set the standard with a win in her heat of the 75m in 12.3 secs, a time that was 2nd= overall from 17 girls competing. Scarlett Peacock ran 15.5 in her first race on the track. Lily-Ann took another medal with a 3rd= placing in the 150m, finishing 2nd in her heat in 25.9. Annabel Riding ran 27.2 in the 150m and went on to finish a great 3rd for a bronze medal in the 600m in 2:15.9. Annabel was also just outside the medals in the long jump with a 4th place jump of 2m 82.
We also had 7 Under 9 Boys competing! Alex Day was a medallist in the 600m, 3rd in 2:23.4 after a good run in the 75m in 12.8. Max Davies was just outside the medal positions finishing 4th in the long jump with a best of 2m 63 and Sam Regan was another 4th place finisher, this time in the vortex ball competition, where his best throw sailed out 17m 80. Callaghan (surname not given) featured in the 75m and ran 13.7, the same time as Max Davies in a very close finish.
In the Under 11 Girls' events, we had Alice Delaney, Sophie Barry, Eleanor Horswell, Anya Day, Olivia Pines, Molly Riding and Emily Tipping. Surely we should have a good Sportshall Athletics team this season! Olivia Pines and Eleanor Horswell were joint bronze medallists in the 75m, Olivia 3rd in her heat and Eleanor winning hers, both girls running 12.0 secs. Sophie Barry was 4th in her 75m, in 12.6 secs and Emily Tipping ran 13.1.Alice Delaney, another youngster with a bright athletics future, won her 150m race in 23.8 to take a bronze medal overall, 1st and 2nd coming from the other time trial. Molly Riding was 3rd in her race in 26.5. In the 600m, Alice Delaney was out of the medals but 2:02.3 was a new PB on a day when they were hard to come by.
Four of the girls competed in the long jump where Alice jumped farthest with 3m 29 but Olivia's 3m 06 was a new PB by about 40 cms! Anya jumped 2m 98 and Molly 2m 94.
The Under 11 Boys were Joseph Grimes, Josh Morgan and Ed Peacock. Our lads didn't take any medals in this age group but Ed Peacock achieved a rare PB running 2:08.4 for 600m, a 3 secs improvement on his previous best. Joseph Grimes was in the 75m, long jump and vortex ball, his best coming in the field with a 3m 20 long jump and a 22m 77 throw with the vortex ball. Josh Morgan ran a 33.1 150m race and competed in the long jump.
Moving on to the Under 13 Girls, we had our biggest squad of the day with 9 girls competing. They were Emma Alderson, Ellie-Mae Barry, Jessica Beasley, Lily  Edwards, Elle Grosz, Sarah Glover, Nisha Kumari-Webster, Sally Laughton and Caitlin Pih. There were two medallist in this group. Elle Grosz ran a great 75m in 10.6, a massive new PB. In a quality field, 7 girls ran under 11 secs to qualify for the final which was won in 10.0. Elle didn't run that final but did get a medal in the 150m. She won the 4th heat in 21.3 secs and was 3rd in the final in 21.2, just outside the 21.0 she ran at the Merseyside Schools Champs.
The other medallist was Emma Alderson who was 2nd in the 800m race in 2:38.6. Emma was 2nd in her heat of the 150m in 24.5, just ahead of Caitlin Pih, 3rd in 25.0. Lily Edwards, in her 150m race, was 3rd in 23.8. Lily was also our best long jumper, with a best on the day of 3m 73 although Jessica Beasley's 3m 44 was a new personal best, as was Ellie-Mae Barry's 3m 24. NIsha Kumari-Webster ran a 1200m race in 4:59 and competed in the javelin, I think for the first time in club colours, with a best throw of 12m 79.
Sally Laughton ran a 4:49.4 for 1200m and the final team member was Sarah Glover, 12.0 in the 75m and 24.6 in the 150.
And there were plenty of club vests to be seen in the Under 13 Boys' events with Jimmy Alderson, Oliver Burrill, Harry Peacock, Tom Peacock and Jamie Tipping. Again, no medals here but good solid performances. All the boys ran in the 800m with Harry Peacock our fastest, just scraping a new personal best by a tenth of a second with 2:29.7 for a 4th place. Jimmy ran 2:55, Tom 3:05 and Jamie 3:11. Oliver Burrill chose to run in the 1200m, not a distance often run by Under 13 boys, and got around in 4:43.4.
Amongst the Under 15 Girls were Ellie Alderson, Lucy Hunter, Ellie McKinley, Ellie Roberts, Abby Sutton and Emma Wilson. Lucy Hunter took two medals, a third in the javelin with 16m 15 and a 3rd in the shot with 6m 11. Ellie McKinley threw 6m 10 in her final putt to place her 3rd and then Lucy took her last throw of 6m 11 to take the medal by 1 cm. Lucy also achieved a season's best in the 800m with 3:00.3.
The second medallist was Ellie Roberts, a gold with a fine run in the 1 Mile stopping the clock in a new club record time of 5:36.9. Ellie ran 5:54 in the School Mile races in Victoria Park in May so her time today just shows how much she has improved over the summer.
The third medallist in this age group was Abby Sutton who took a 3rd place in the 100m. In a very close finish, we saw three girls cross the line almost together, each given 13.8. Ellie Alderson and Emma Wilson also competed in the 100m, running 14.5 and 15.1. In the 200m, Ellie Alderson was 3rd in her heat in 31.2 and Emma Wilson 4th in hers in 32.8.
Our Under 15 Boys taking part were Drew Warnock-Dumbell, Tom Shearer and Luke Tyson. Drew very powerfully stamped his authority on the 100m and 200m in 12.1 and 24.7 taking the gold medal in both. Tom Shearer ran the 800m in 2:44.7, his first competitive 800m in a Southport Waterloo vest.
Luke Tyson ran his first (I think) 3000m and took the Under 15 gold in 10:25.8. There were 9 runners in this race across a number of age groups and Luke was the overall winner.
In the field, Liam Harrison took two medals, a gold in the shot with a best of 9m 83 and a bronze in the javelin with 30m 11 in a close competition, fortunately getting a valid throw in his final attempt.
Sophie Lewis was our only Under 17 Woman but she certainly represented her club well in the 3000m where she ran 12:16.3 to top the club rankings.
In the Under 17 Men, Jonathan Foster also ran the 3000m, clocking 10:40.2. Earlier, Gary Clark ran 2:14.0 in the 800m for a 2nd place silver. In the last 250m he strongly challenged a senior runner but couldn't quite haul him in.
With no Under 20 category at this meeting, Beth McBride competed as a Senior Woman in the 100m. She easily took gold with a time of 13.2 secs. Later Tracey Peters warmed up for the mile with a win in the 800m in 2:31.3, a new PB. In the Mile she took a silver in a new PB and club record time of 5:32.9. An excellent afternoon's running!
Finally, we had several competitors in the Senior Men's events. First, Jon Hunter had a go at long jump and perhaps surprised himself with a best jump of 4m 56 giving him the gold medal. In the javelin he took silver with 28m 67 and was just out of the medals in the shot with a best of 8m 70 for a 4th place.
Chris Burgess took a bronze with 12.1 in the 100m and was just out of the medals in the 200m in 24.8. Under 20 Craig Wilson ran 13.5 and 27.4.
In the Men's 800m, Southport Waterloo runners took 1st and 2nd places. Tom Peacock won in 2:11.9 and Steve McLean was 2nd in 2:17.7. A royal blue and gold vest also led the way in the men's mile race as Joe Vis swept around to win in 4:42.5 a new PB for him, improving on his 4:53 time from last year that set a club Under 20 record.
This was the biggest open meeting the club has put on and it simply couldn't have happened without a host of officials and volunteers. Thanks to all the club helpers, to Arwel Williams of Liverpool Harriers for bringing along EDM equipment, and for all the support particularly from local clubs. Thanks too to Jon Hunter for photos taken on the day.
Full Results pdf results
One runner not at Litherland was senior James Tartt who was at Birmingham for the British Milers Club Nike Grand Prix. He was 2nd in his 800m race in a season's best 1:52.59, just 9 hundredths off his PB and senior club record, and exactly the same time he ran at Stretford in late July.
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14 August 2011: Northern League reaches end-of-season (anti) climax at Stretford |
 If Trafford AC had failed to turn up at Stretford for the fourth and final round of the Northern Track & Field League, it was just possible that we could have done enough to stay up in Division 2. But, of course, back in the real world, Stretford is Trafford's home track; so that dream quickly faded! And so the yo-yoing continues as we move down to Division 3 next season and set our sights once again on a promotion back up to Div'n 2.
With the holiday season upon us and the promotion and relegation issues largely decided, many of the teams at Stretford were less than full strength. West Cheshire were the clear winners, however, and go forward to the promotion play-off as Div'n 2W champions. The provisional scores were West Cheshire 402.5, Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton 385, St Helens Sutton 366.5, Trafford 359, Southport Waterloo 268 and Altrincham 146. Both Southport Waterloo and Altrincham, last year's promoted clubs, both go down.
In terms of performances, there was an end-of-term feeling about the match and this was bourne out with very few updates to the club rankings. However, James Tartt is in fine form and ran a superb 800m from the front in 1:53.2. And Jordan Kelly beat his own Under 20 club record in the high jump.
In the Women's match, our seven competitors, including team manager Barbara May, scored 125 points; 5th of the 6 teams. With Stephanie May giving the pole vault a miss after injury, there were no event wins but the girls can be pleased with a season's best performance in the 4 x 100m relay. With sprinters Beth McBride and Eleanor Newton in the team with Stephanie and Louise Leek, they got the baton safely around in 54.7 secs.
Beth McBride took a 2nd place in the 100m in 13.1 secs with Eleanor Newton 3rd 'B' in 13.8.Beth also featured in the 200m race where her 28.0 put her in 4th place. Eleanor also did well in the high jump - an event we haven't easily filled this year - to take 2nd spot with a best clearance of 1m 50. And she triple jumped a decent 8m 96.
 Once again, Stephanie May was the most prolific scorer with 6 events excluding the relay. On the track, she ran 28.6 for 200m, 64.2 for 400m and did the short and long hurdles in 19.3 and 78.1.
Sophie Lewis justified her selection once again as the only Under 17 in the Southport Waterloo team. She ran 2:33.6 for a 4th place in the 800m and 5:27.9 in the 1500m. Louise Leek joined her in the 800m, in 3:03,2, and Louise and Sue Cooper covered the 3000m, Sue clocking 11:49.0 in a well paced run and Louise stopping the clock in 13:37.2.
In the Field, Ann Dignan was again our dedicated thrower in shot (6.79), discus (15.17), javelin (16.96) and hammer (13.99). Stephanie May produced some good throws too with 15m 13 in the hammer and 18m 43 in the javelin. And Barbara May putt the shot 5m 61 and threw the discus 11m 76.
In the Men's match, we had nine competitors in action who produced 125 points between them.
Jay Tartt was our only event winner, running impressively over 800n to win in 1:53.2. That's a senior grade 2 time and and he ran faster at Stretford on 26th July - 2:52.59 - so he is clearly in great racing form! Jay was also in the 400m, running 52.3 and it goes without saying that his was the fastest leg of the 4 x 400m - a leisurely 55.7.
Jordan Kelly made a welcome return to the Northern League team and produced some good results in both sprints and jumps. He equalled his personal best in the 100m with a run in 11.8 secs and set a new PB of 1m 80 in the high jump, replacing his own Under 20 club record of 1m 75. Although better known for his horizontal jumping, Jordan actually cleared the bar twice at 1m 85 but the bar inexplicably fell whilst he was still on the mat. So that doesn't count; but 1m 85 is clearly within sight.
Jordan earned more valuable points with 2nd places in both the long jump (6m 82) and the triple jump (12m 58).
Steve Wilkinson was again the busiest athlete competing in a maximum 7 events. In a good day, he had season's bests in both hurdles races, 22.4 for 110m and 66.7 for 400m - equalling his best from last year - and in the discus with a best throw of 27m 67. A good run in the steeplechase brought him home in 3rd place in 11:15.1.
Chris Barrett covered both short sprints, in 12.2 and 24.6 secs, and Craig Wilson ran 13.4 in the non-scoring 100m race, one of the best and closest races of the afternoon! In the longer 400m sprint, Matt Goddard joined Jay Tartt to race around the track in 56.3 secs.
Both Vis brothers featured in the middle and distance races. Joe did the 800m (2:09) and 1500m (4:29) and Patrick ran a 5000m, his first over that distance I think, finishing 4th in 16:34.0.
In the throws, Jon Hunter enjoyed his 2nd outing of the weekend, competing in the shot (8m 54), discus (19m 85), javelin (28m 31) and hammer. These performances just show how well Jon has emerged as a club thrower.
Thanks to our team manager Barbara May and to our team of volunteer officials; Steve James, Chris Henders, Ann Dignan, Craig Wilson, Paula Kelly and Lesley Scott.
Results for club athletes. Full results |
13 August 2011: Girls win Mid Lancs promotion at Preston |
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It was hardly a spectacular team performance but the five junior girls and one senior lady who traveled to the Mid Lancs League's final fixture at the Preston Sports Arena did enough to win promotion, by securing a 2nd place in Division 2 - 200 points behind divisional winners Lancaster & Morecambe and 59 points ahead of Rossendale in 3rd. Our girls were 3rd at Preston behind L&M and Rossendale but taking best points from 4 of 5 matches gave us 2nd overall.
Our boys will remain in Division 2 next year. There was an outside chance that, if we arrived at Preston in good numbers, the boys might win promotion. But with only 5 athletes, and only one of them completing more than one event, any prospect quickly evaporated. Our best result this season was a win at Blackpool but we were 4th at Preston
There were several PBs achieved and a graded standard performance. Harry Peacock achieved a grade 4 run in the Under 13 boys' 800m, our best individual performance of the day.
Our three Under 13 Girls achieved three new personal bests. Caitlin Pih dipped her 100m best time to 16.1 and produced a massive improvement in her long jump. Her best going into today's competition was 3m 09 and she recorded 3m 24 on her first jump at Preston, giving her an 8th finish out of 18 girls in the event. She finished her day with a 34 secs run in the 200m.
Leah Ward ran 33.4 in the 200m after setting a new PB in the 800m; 2:51.4. She too did the long jump getting a best of 3m 08.
Finally, Nisha Kumari-Webster long jumped 2m 85 and ran 3:17 in the 800m.
In the Under 15 Girls, new member Ellie McKinley joined the experienced Lucy Hunter. Ellie looks to have the potential to be a very good thrower and in fact won the discus competition with a best of 19m 34, her first round throw. You have to go back in the rankings to 2008 to find a better throw by an under 15! With a 14m 55 javelin throw and a 6m 14 shot putt it was a great first outing in a Southport Waterloo vest.
Lucy Hunter started her day with a season's best in the 800m; a time of 3:03. In the field, her shot putt of 6m 25 was a new PB - an improvement of 17 cms - and in the javelin she threw a best of 14m 33.
Our final female competitor was Tracey Peters who won the Senior Women's 1500m in 5:10.1, just outside the 5:11 time she recorded at Stretford last month. In a hard afternoon's running, she went on to record 11:23.3 in the 7 1/2 lap 3000m.
In the Under 13 Boys, Harry and Tom Peacock ran in the 800m. Both boys show a real aptitude for distance running and Harry achieved a grade 4 run today in 2:30.8, just 1 second outside his PB set at the Merseyside Schools Champs this year. Brother Tom ran 2:55.6, just 3 secs outside his PB.
Oliver Burrill competed in the long jump, achieving a best of 3m 39. He was also a runner in the 1500m but experienced a problem and was forced to retire.
Under 17 Man Gary Clark ran a consistently well-paced 800m to cover the distance in 2:14.1, just outside his 2:11 PB also set at Merseyside Schools.
Finally, Senior Man thrower Jon Hunter had a good day to finish 2nd in the javelin with a best of 27m 65 and was 3rd in the discus with a new personal best throw of 20m 86. With a shot putt of 8m 28, Jon has had a good season in the League - and will be out again supporting our Northern League team at Stretford on Sunday.
Thanks to team manager Chris Henders, officials Robbie Clark and Steve Boreham and to Jon Hunter for the photos reproduced here.
Results for club athletes. Full results are on the Track & Field page of the Mid Lancs League web site.
The Mid Lancs Medal meeting is on Saturday 27th August at Wigan. All members can enter but only those who have taken part in at least two league fixtures this year can win a medal.
And, of course, our own club medal meeting is next Saturday at Litherland. |
12 August 2011: Fell Grand Prix reaching its climax (by Brian Davey) |
With 5 races now completed in the Fellrunning Grand Prix, Rob Ashworth and Tracey Peters have both scored the maximum 30 points and cannot now be caught for the No.1 spot in the respective championships. However, there is still a lot of competition for the 2nd and 3rd spots with 6 men and 4 women still in contention in the respective championships, so there is a lot to be decided in the last race of the Grand Prix series which takes place over Moel Fammau on 29th August starting at 1.00 pm from Cilcain Village near Mold.
So far the Grand Prix has seen 18 men competing (13 in 2 or more races) and 10 women (7 in 2 or more races) and for the latest standings please see the attached tables.
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6/7 August 2011: Matt Campbell takes 400m bronze at Northern Champs |
 Its hard to believe but the entry list for the Northern Athletics U15/U17 Championships at Cudworth this weeekend included only three Southport Waterloo athletes - and only one actually competed.
These championships, previously held on the last weekend of May, were moved to early August for the first time this year and summer holidays almost certainly affected attendances. We had several medal prospects but, as they say, "you have to be in it to win it!".
We had four competitors in each of the last two years but the best in recent times was, I think, 2008 when eleven Southport Waterloo juniors competed these championships; and took 6 medals!
This year, our sole competitor was Matthew Campbell who has only recently taken up the sport and joined Graham Pilkington's sprint squad at Litherland. He competed in the YAL and ended the League season with best of 55.7 for 400m, an Under 15 grade 2 standard, and so he came along to Cudworth with well deserved confidence.
In the heats, he ran 57.26, for a 3rd place finish to qualiffy for the final but was struggling in the last 100m after a touch of cramp set in. However, he sorted out that problem and emerged fully fit for the final where he came out of the stagger in 3rd place and easily held on through the toughest part of the race to that medal-winning position, crossing the line in 56.47 secs.
A Northern medal and an entry on the club's Honours Board in his first season is a great achievement.
Full Northern results.
Track and Field continues next weekend with a Mid Lancs League meeting on Saturday, at Preston, and a final Northern Senior League fixture at Stretford on the Sunday. |
7 August 2011: 25 seasons and counting (by Steve Marshall) |
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 The other day I was looking at some of my old racing diaries and realised that this season is actually my 25th consecutive season competing in the
Northern Men's Track and Field team (now joint men and women).!!
My first
meet was a not-too-impressive debut at Barrow in 1987 competing in the 100,
200 and 400 but myself and Rob Berry had been pestering Ray Bishop to let
us compete for so long he had to let us run. I was 18 and Rob 17 years old.
Unfortunately we don't have to pester now!!
Over the years, the team has had a number of team managers (the hardest job
in athletics) including Ray Bishop, Ron Scott, Martin Phillips, myself,
Norman Marshall and our current manager Barbara May.
The highlights in that
time on a personal note was my run at Blackpool in 1990 when I smashed my
pb in the 400m hurdles by a couple of seconds (57.2). I didn't even win
the race!! On a team level was our victory in the Northern Plate final at
Cudworth (probably our only ever senior team victory, although I'm sure
Ron can correct me on that). We had a great team that year with Peter LLoyd
Jones, Kieran McGing, coach Graham Pilkington, Steve Wilkinson, Gerry Helm
to mention just a few competing. I think Graham still has the trophy!!
The team's trip to the Isle of Man in 1998 was a good weekend with me
competing in the 3000m steeplechase. Thinking I could hurdle I volunteered
whilst having a drink on the Friday night but I found out very quickly that
this event is a totally different kettle of fish than the shorter hurdles
races and I still have the scar to prove it some 14 years later!!!
But the biggest highlight was witnessing Steve James break the 5000m 60
year age best world record at Ormskirk with running commentary from Geoff
Caton just showing what a legend Steve is. From memory I think he ran 16
mins 24 seconds!!
Things have changed over the years and the standards
have dropped and it was great seeing-up-and coming athletes such as Paul
Burgess and Craig Winrow of Wigan develop and come 1st and 2nd in the
world junior championships. It was nice to say that you had competed in the
same events as these athletes. But it is always great catching up and
watching the younger athletes coming through such as James Tartt and the
rest of the middle distance squad who under Richie Shearer are improving all
the time; and those athletes that clubs can't do without such as Steve
Wilkinson, Ann Dignan and Steph May who make the difference between
promotion and relegation.
The only disappointment is that more athletes don't
compete because if they did I'm sure we might one day get to that next
level.
Here's hoping and for the next 25 seasons.
(Ed: photo shows the August 2000 Northern Plate winning team of Emlyn Owen, Steve Wilkinson, Ted Maguire, Gerry Helme, Peter Lloyd-Jones, Graham Pilkington, Steve Marshall, Kieran McGing and Brian McEvilly. Ray Bishop is off to the left.) |
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