Southport Waterloo A C
NEWS REPORTS - APRIL 2009
| News reports and results should be E-mailed or telephoned to Ron Scott | Statement of Practice on the use of photographs |
29 April 2009: New
Grading Standards
The AAA Common Standard Scheme for track & field athletic events has
been updated for 2009/10. These grades give useful targets for athletes and
indicate just how good a performance is on a national scale.
The standards, which are upgraded every 2 years, are based on grade 1 applying
to the top 7.5% of performances, grade 2 on the top 15%, grade 3 to the top
30% and grade 4 to the top 65%.
For 2009/10, about 2/3rds of the standards have increased, ie harder to achieve,
about 1/4 have been eased and about 8% remain unchanged.
The new gradings are listed on the Reference
page and a PDF copy is available to download.
28 April 2009: Young
Athlete Team Captains
Jenny Girdler and James Armstrong have been appointed as this year's Southport
Waterloo young athlete team captains. Both are experienced track & field
athletes and excellent role models.
26 April 2009:The
good and the not-so-good from London (by Mark
Ashby)
It was a warm day and most of us were disappointed with our times - a number
of Personal Worst's posted! However, the good news stories - Rick Bowker returned
after a 6 year absence to run 2.51, only a minute slower than his PB set 10
years ago.
After almost missing this year's event through injury I managed to get to the
start line and completed my 15th consecutive London. Paul Cain managed to knock
about 30 minutes off the time he ran last year to set a new PB.
19 finishers is the most we have had for a long time.
Times are as follows:
BOWKER, RICHARD H (GBR) M45 2:51:15
ROOME, PETER M (GBR) M45 3:04:42
DUNN, CHRISTOPHER H (GBR) M40 3:06:39
ASHBY, MARK (GBR) M45 3:07:44
WILSON, JOANNE C (GBR) W40 3:23:29
CAIN, PAUL D (GBR) M40 3:24:01
PETERS, TRACEY R (GBR) W18 3:26:21
TOBIN, SIMON (GBR) M40 3:29:04
STEVENS-OLSEN, ANDY (GBR) M40 3:39:30
WILKINSON, STEVEN M (GBR) M18 3:55:04
NORBURY, ANTONY (GBR) M40 4:08:02
FARRINGTON, DEREK J (GBR) M45 4:17:56
THOMAS, RACHEL K (GBR) W18 4:23:29
MORGAN, MICHAEL P (GBR) M18 4:25:46
CUTNER, CHRISTINE J (GBR) W50 4:37:04
WILLIAMS, KENNETH (GBR) M50 5:31:58
SINCLAIR, NICHOLAS (GBR) M60 5:40:55
BURNS, GRAHAM S (GBR) M55 5:55:08
Updated table of SWAC
London Marathon performances.
25 April 2009: Three
Peaks and Kinder (by Steve McLean)
Although the main endurance event of the weekend was in London, two of our off-road
long distance specialists were in action in the Yorkshire hills on Saturday,
competing in the 55th running of the 3 peaks race. The race is 24 miles with
5250' of climb, including the peaks of Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.
There was a short section of road, several grassy sections and plenty of gravel
/ rocky paths and some severe sections. Many competitors, including the leaders
had to tackle a couple of the toughest sections on all fours!! This race is
of a high standard (one of the entry criteria is a recent sub 3:20 road marathon)
so Steve McLean was pleased with his run, finishing 241st out of 688 starters
in 4:17:09. Not bad, considering after running for 2:46 (a time he'd be close
to finishing a road marathon) the 2400' Ingleborough loomed in front of him
ready to be climbed, and still 7 miles to go. Also competing for Southport Waterloo
AC was Edwin Sherstone, 511th in 4:58:36, a great achievement.
Testing his fitness to the limit, Steve also took part in Sunday's Kinder Downfall
fell race in Derbyshire. Michelle Spencer had targeted this race in her quest
to develop her endurance hill racing experience and Steve kept her company,
the pair completing the 10 miles/2500' race in 1hr 50, overtaking many in the
final couple of miles.
24 April 2009: Update
on recent ladies road races
Looking at recent results, I see that whilst many of our senior runners
were at the Liverpool Half, two senior ladies were competing a little further
afield. On Saturday 28th March, Sue Cooper was at Coniston in the Lake District
for the annual 14 Mile race. She finished 1st LV55 in 1:38:34 gun time. Heading
in the opposite direction, Sam Dean-Howard was 10th woman finisher in the Wilmslow
Half Marathon, improving on her 2007 Bath time with a magnificent 1:25:53.
The following weekend Sharon Pardoe was in Blackpool for their Marathon race
where she clocked 4:16:13.
19 April 2009: Several
athletes at Liverpool Harriers Open Meeting
Liverpool Harriers hosted three open meetings at Wavertree over the weekend
with their Jumps and Throws meeting on Saturday, their Ernie gallagher Medal
Meeting for younger athletes on Sunday morning and the Tom O'Mahoney Open Track
Meeting on Sunday afternoon.
Adam Davies was there on the Saturday and, despite several No Throws managed
a hammer throw of 44m 41 for a 2nd place. In the discus his best throw was 28m
59. Hopefully Adam is returning to competitive fitness.
On Sunday morning, four of our young athletes were in action. Competing in school
year groups, Becky Sinclair ran a 21 secs 135m in the Year 6 category. Year
6 Amy Sinclair ran a PB 2:16.4 for 600m and 12.1 for 75m.
In Years 4/5 boys, Joe Roberts ran a 600m in 2:13.4.
In Year 8/9, Thomas Neal ran new personal bests of 27.2 for 200m and 13.2 for
100m.
On Sunday afternoon, 6 more wore the blue and gold vest, all in the Under 17
age group. Having just moved up to the age group, Eleanor Newton debutted in
the 300m hurdles where she won her race in 50.0 secs. Beth McBride was 2nd in
her 200m race in 27.0 and Lucy Whitehead featured in the 300m race where her
47.8 was a new personal best.
For the boys, Joshua Hughes ran a season's best in the 100m where he almost
closed down the winner on the line, both boys given 11.8. In the 200m he ran
23.8, the same time run in Wigan a couple of weeks earlier.
Danny Driver was in the 100m hurdles where his time of 15.3 for 3rd place was
a new personal best. Danny also ran in the 100m where he achieved another PB
- 12.5.
Finally, Ryan Williams ran a great 400m race. In a strong field at the end of
the meeting he smashed his previous PB of 60.1 with a great 56.5.
18 April 2009: Good
start for boys at Mid Lancs
The
Track & Field league season kicked off with the Mid Lancs League holding
their first meeting at Blackpool today. A track with a stand is always chosen
for the first meeting because of the uncertainty of the English weather but
we needn't have worried as the sun shone down on Stanley Park and athletes and
parents jostled for prime position on the surrounding grass.
The good weather brought out lots of athletes but the turnout from Southport
Waterloo was more mixed. Last season, poor support from athletes resulted
in both male and female teams being relegated to Division 2 so we were hopeful
that the teams would get off to a good start on their fight-back season. The
boys answered the call in numbers with 19 mainly juniors turning out at Blackpool
and the team finishing top scorers in Div'n 2. The girls didn't! With just 8
athletes they finished 4th - which might be good enough in Div'n 1 but on this
level of support we will have no chance of promotion back to the top division.
With the best 4 scores from 5 matches to count, there is still plenty of time
but, as they say, "you have to be in it to win it!"
The
conditions looked good for those competing but there were surprisingly few good
performances. I guess Niall Cullen was the best on the day with 4:37.4 to win
the Under 15 Boys' 1500m, not far off a grade 2 time. Michael Panes' 5:04 to
win the Under 13 Boys' 1500m was another grade 3. For the girls, a grade 3 performance
was achieved by Erin Donagh in the Under 13 Girls' 800, and by Sally Wareing
and Katie Morris, both in the 300m.
Our Under 13 Girls were Ellie Roberts, Alice Cribb, Lucy Hunter
and Erin Donagh. Erin won the 800m race in 2:37.2 with Ellie not far behind,
in 2:47.7 and Lucy running 3:24.9 in the 2nd race. In the 1500m, Alice ran 6:17.2.
Several of the girls chose a short and longer distance run and a field event.
In the 200m, Ellie was fastest in 32.3, with Alice running 35.6 and Lucy 38.1.
The chosen field event was the popular long jump with Erin best here, jumping
3m 25, ahead of Alice with 3m 24 and Ellie 3m 14.
The girls also ran a relay, finishing the 4 x 100m 3rd in 64.4.
In the Under 15 Girls we had just 2 athletes in what is traditionally
our largest and strongest squad! Where are they all? Sally Wareing ran a 300m
in 44.0, the fastest time from two Under 15 girls' races. In the 200m she ran
28.1, despite running 26.8 at Blackpool a month earlier. Both girls long jumped,
Sally achieving 4m 09 and Ami Aitchison 3m 57. Ami also took points in the shot
with 5m 90 and the javelin 17m 37, not a bad effort for what I think is a first
time.
Our Under 17 Women were Katie Morris and Catherine Hulme. Both
girls are excellent competitors and always there in support of their team and
club. After an 800m run in 2:31.4, Katie ran a very good 300m, winning her race
strongly in 43.8 secs. Catherine opted for a 1500m today and despite a touch
of laryngitis got around comfortably in 5:36.8.
There
were lots of Under 13 Boys taking part for us at Blackpool. Most
were middle distance runners and so it was good to see 6 graded performances
in the 800m and the 1500m. Michael Panes won his 1500m race in a grade 3 5:04.4,
managing to hold off a strong challenge in the last 100m. Andrew Kershaw, who
also finished the cross country season on a high and was 3rd in the Southport
3K fun run, ran a graded standard with 5:14.9. In the 800m, Tom Lodge was strongest,
finishing 2nd in race 2 in 2:34.3. Greg Cooke (2:38.2), Adam Cullen (2:39.5),
Chris Fallon (2:39.5) and Andrew Yates (2:43.2) will give the YAL boys' team
manager plenty to choose from!
Many of the boys chose a short sprint as well with Chris Fallon in his first
outing for the club proving fastest with 15.5 secs for 100m. 
Adam Cullen ran
16.5, Greg Cooke 16.8, Lewis wright 17.9, Andrew Yates 18.2 and Kieron Andrew
18.6. In the 200m Tom Lodge was fastest with 30.9, Chris Fallon running 31.8
and Lewis Wright 37.4.
In the field events, Matthew Lawson featured in the shot (5m 48) and the javelin
(7m 34), Greg Cooke high jumped 1m 10 and Michael Panes was the best long jumper
with 2m 98 ahead of Adam with 2m 72 and Andrew 2m 67.
The Under 15 Boys' team was also strong with 5 boys producing
14 performances. That's what we want to see! Niall Cullen was the best of the
bunch with his win in the 1500m in a new personal best time of 4:37.4. George
Ingram ran a sub-2:30 800m with Gary Clark not far off with 2:35. In the sprints,
Patrick Cullen ran 31.0 for 200m and in the 400m, Owen Williams ran 66.5 and
George Ingram 67.0.
Several
PBs were achieved in the field events, most noteably by Graham Boreham with
a PB in the long jump of 3m 75 and in the discus with 15m 14, a half metre improvement.
Patrick Cullen's long jump of 4m 12 was another PB, as was Niall's 1m 30 clearance
in the high jump. With an interesting range of events, Niall also threw the
hammer 19m 62. Other performances were a 5m 80 shot put by Owen Williams, a
high jump of 1m 25 by Gary Clark and a 3m 87 long jump by George Ingram.
In the Senior Men's events, Carlos Irizar put down his camera
and donned his running shorts for the 3000m where he finished in 11:04.1, a
time we can expect to drop as the season progresses.
Senior Mark Blackburn made his debut for the club in the 800m, running 2:12.5
- a performance likely to be noted by Northern League team manager Barbara May!
Under 20 David Gough was also in action, producing two personal bests from 3
events. His 2:21.5 for 800m and 62.1 for 400m were both PBs and in the discus
he threw 11m 17.
Thanks to everyone who supported the club today; to team manager Sarah Lawson,
to our team of officials Sue Gellett, Robbie Clark and Lesley Scott and to Carlos
for the photos. Sarah Lawson would like to hand over the team manager reins
so if you are interested please let her or the club secretary know.
The next match is at Hyndburn on Saturday 30th May. So come on girls, lets make
it a date to come along and actively support the team and enjoy a good afternoon's
athletics.
Full results.
Results for Southport Waterloo athletes.
10 April 2009: Amanda
Crook wins Good Friday race
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The weather forecast didn't look inspiring but, despite heavy cloud
cover, the rain mainly stayed away for the Good Friday races in and around Victoria
Park in Southport.
Sponsored this year by Brooks, the event went extremely well with many runners
returning annually to enjoy this Easter holiday fixture. And new race director
Robbie Clark was rewarded with increased numbers in all the three races, the
men's race attracting 
185
finishers. There were 438 finishers overall; that's 60 or 16% up on last year
- but still a way off the 600 or so of a few years ago!
The fun run and the men's races in particular were well supported by Southport
Waterloo runners.
In the 3K fun run, the club had 8 of the top 15 positions. George
Curran of LPS was 1st in 11:03 with Warren Turner, running for Muscular Dystrophy,
2nd in 11:15 and Southport Waterloo's Andrew Kershaw was 3rd in 11:17. Lauren
Clarehugh of Southport Waterloo was the first girl finisher in 12:08. The club
had 21 runners overall in the shorter distance race. Other finishers were Gary
Clark, an excellent 6th in 11:31 with Thomas Lodge 7th in 11:46. Tom Clarehugh
was 9th in 11:57, Alex Roome 11th in 12.06, Scott Rhodes just returned to the
UK from Canada was 14th overall in 12:19 ahead of George Ingram, 15th in 12:30.
Lauren Deane was 4th female finisher in 12:55 with Alice Cribb 5th in 13:00.
Ashleigh Jackson ran 13:50, Oliver Birrill 13:56, Samuel White 14:08, Matt Ashby
14:21, Kieran Andrew 15:13, Niz Bowker 15:46, Hannah Ashby 16:13, Emma Lippit
16:53, Claire Lippit 16:53, Joseph White 17:57 and Debra Vis 21:16.
Club endurance coach Steve Boreham also ran, completing the 3K in 16:08. As
Steve said, "running at the back means I can keep an eye on the running
styles of my younger runners up ahead".
Amanda Crook was the winner of the Women's 4 Miles race in her
fastest ever time of 23:40. Catherine Draper of Liverpool Harriers was 2nd in
24:04 and Maria Lowe of Wigan Phoenix 3rd in 24:30. Sue Cooper was 6th and 1st
vet 55 in 25:37 . Tracey Peters is returning to fitness and ran a good race
to finish 13th in 
26:24,
faster than she ran last year!
16-year old Sophie Kelly was 20th overall in 27:57, taking the Junior Women's
prize, just ahead of vet star Karen Faloon, 1st L60 in 28:08. Under 17 Louise
Leek was 24th in 28:53 in her first race over the distance. Rachel Thomas was
31st in 30:23 and Carole James 33rd in 30:30. Other club finishers were Helen
Rigg, 32:50, Sandra Waters, 33:35, Gill Gillison, 36:48, and Shiela Marshall,
37:16.
There was a quality field at the front of the Men's 4-Mile race
which was won by Richard Burney of Liverpool Harriers in 19:44, ahead of Sale
Harrier Simon Mills, in 19:52, and Steve Littler of Wesham was 3rd in 20:17.
Richard Burney's time was only 30 secs off Paul Freary's 2002 course record.
Richard Shearer was first home for the club, 8th overall in 21:07, with Rob
Berry 15th in 21:43. The next group of finishers was well packed with Southport
Waterloo runners. Steve Wilkinson was 18th in 21:58, Gerry Lenehan, 19th in
22:02, Rob McGrath, 20th in 22:05, Rob Ashworth, 22nd in 22:11, 17 year-old
Joe Vis 23rd in 22:12, with twin brother Patrick 24th in 22:28 - almost two
minutes
faster than last year! - Peter Roome 26th in 22:38, Rick Bowker 30th in 22:44,
Richard Cary, 35th in 22:59, and Steve McLean, 37th in 23:04. Twelve finishers
in the top 40 was an excellent result for club runners, 11 of them running sub-
23 minute times.
Other finishers were Chris Dunn, 24:00, Mark Ashby, 24:14, Phil Bailey, 24:21,
Mike Cunningham, 25:11, Mike Morgan, 25:33, Paul Cain, 25:40,Ian Kilshaw, 26:21,
Carlos Irizar, 26:23, Chris Barrett, 27:46, Phil Baxendale, 28:42, Nick Sinclair,
29:27, Clive James, 32:07, Richard Hughes, 33:07, and Jon Singleton 33:40. David
Gough retired injured.
Thanks to race director Robbie Clark, to his team of helpers who were on the
course from 8 this morning, our team of technical officials and all the runners
who supported the race.
Full results - Fun
Run | Women's
4 Miles | Men's
4 Miles. Updated Grand Prix table and
updated club rankings for these 4 mile
races, thanks to Brian Grice.
5 April 2009: Senior
men return to Northern 12 Stage (by Steve James)
After a gap of several years the club entered the Northern 12-stage Road
Relay Championship at Stockport. Hopes that it would be easy to field a 12 man
team this year proved over-optimistic, with many runners unavailable. Hero of
the day was Paul Cain, who covered a late withdrawal at short notice by coming
off a night shift and running only 5 hours later to make up the team.
Against some impressive competition the team were between 30th and 40th for
most of the race, finally finishing 35th in 3 hours 55:26. Best runs were by
Jay Tartt and Gerry Lenehan on the short leg.
Team performances:
Long leg Richard Shearer (23.03) Rob McGrath(24.37) Rob Ashworth
(24.38) Steve Wilkinson(23.30) John Sprackland(25.54) Peter Roome (25.04)
Short leg Paul Cain (16.05) Jay Tartt (13.23) Keith Middleman
(14.27) Mike Cunningham (16.07) Chris Dunn (15.06) Gerry Lenehan (13.32)
Full results
3 April 2009:
SWAC runners collect Mid Lancs awards
A
number of club members travelled up to Bamber Bridge this evening for the Mid
Lancs annual cross country awards evening. More medals were won by Southport
Waterloo this year than in any year since these news reports were started. And
a number were present to collect their awards on the night.
Our Under 13 Boys were well-deserved champions having won all 6 of the 2008/9
season's fixtures. Looking at their trophy we are reminded of glory days with
Southport Waterloo appearing as winners on at least 7 occasions, including several
successive years in the 1980s. Hopefully the success of this year's team will
be the start of another good run!
The equally well-deserved win by our ladies team means they are promoted as
divisional champions.
Liam Ellis and Sue Cooper took individual silvers and Michael Panes an individual
bronze.
The Under 13 boys took gold and the Under 15 Girls and Under 17 Men took bronze.
The Senior Women took Div'n 2 gold, the Senior Men 'B' and Vet 40 teams took
silver.
Full season's results are on the Mid Lancs
web site.
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3 April 2009: Churchtown Primary wins Challenge Cup
The Southport Waterloo Challenge Cup was presented to Churchtown Primary School
today by club President Steve James. With the largest number of entrants in
the Sefton Junior Schools Cross Country Championships on Birkdale Common, the
largest number of finishers - although only the first 4 count for awards - 2
medallists, 8 top ten finishes and winning 3 of the 4 team awards, Chuchtown
were worthy winners. Congratulations to them!
See report of the 2009 championships.
Photos from the day.
