26_29 July 2007: Peter in Scottish Border medal raid

Transplant member Peter Miles spent the weekend north of the border and returned with gold and silver.
Peter competed, as a veteran, in the GB Transplant Games held at Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh. This was the 30th Games and received a fair bit of TV and radio coverage on BBC Scotland.
The aim of The Games is to encourage transplant patients to regain fitness and to promote friendship and co-operation between individuals concerned with transplantation, whilst increasing public awareness of the value of organ donation.
Peter won gold in the discus with 21.56m (one better than last year) and silver (two better than last year) in the shot with 9.18m. He also represented Royal Liverpool in the 100m relay but came 5th in the heat and so did not reach the final. Straight afterwards, he took part in the 400m final (no heats) but pulled up with a calf strain after 250m.  As 'thrower' Peter says "I don't think running is my thing!  But all in all I was very pleased with the outcome particularly as I had the mumps last week and have had a shoulder injury all year."

29 July 2007: New Club Record at NJL

Several under 17 and under 20 athletes were at Ellesmere Port on Sunday for the 4th and final match in the Mersey Division of
the National Junior League.  Once again, attendance was poor - not just from Southport Waterloo although as the scores will evidence we had fewer athletes out than most clubs here.
Aggregate team Cheshire Tigers were the winners with 475 points, Southport Waterloo finishing back in 6th place with 113 points, only managing to beat St Helens Sutton (82) who had no female athletes out.   That should leaves us with a final 6th place in a Division of.  Fortunately, there is no relegation from this Division!
In terms of performances the star athlete was Joe Vis who set a new Club record in the 2000m steeplechase.
In the women's match we had just three athletes.  Rachel Everett was in the first event of the day, the women's shot, and won that with 9m 83.  Both Steph James and Sarah Docherty ran in the 800m, in quite a strong headwind in the home straight.  'A' runner Steph found herself up against Rebecca Craigie, 5th in the U17 Northern Champs won by Steph back in May and a silver medallist at English Schools over 1500m (4:32).  It was Rebecca's day today, winning in a season's best 2:12.5, Steph not yet back to full race fitness finishing 2nd in 2:19.8.  In the 'B' race, Sarah Docherty was also 2nd, finishing in 2:29.5.
In the men's match, Sam Moran was the main points earner competing in 4 throws.  In the hammer he was 3rd with 22m 89, 3rd in the shot with 9m 23, 4th in the discus with 22m 05 and 4th in the javelin with 29m 06; that's 30 of the men's total 59 points!
Ste Gellett ran his first 800m race of the season and was rewarded with a PB time of 2:13.7.  He went on to run a 400m shortly afterwards so a time of 57.7 isn't a good indicator of form.
Finally, both Patrick and Joe Vis came along to compete in the 2000m steeplechase.  Patrick started off faster but Joe worked his way past in the latter stages, finishing in 6:58.9 with Patrick running 7:08.9.  Joe's time means his name is written into the Club records, displacing Steven Donegan's previous record set in 2000.
That's another T&F League finished for the season.  Thanks to our team managers Stephanie May and Sam Moran, who also officiated today.
Full results are available on the NJL web site

28 July 2007: Sue and Steve BMAF silver medallists (by Sue Cooper)

While many of Britain’s top athletes were in Manchester this weekend, competing in the UK Championships in the hope of selection for Osaka, our ‘veteran’ counterparts were heading off to Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium with slightly more modest ambitions.  Finish times may have been slower, throws and jumps may have been shorter, but there was no doubting the commitment, dedicated training and sheer professionalism behind the many excellent performances of so many of the competitors.  In effect, you don’t turn up at the BMAF championships just for the fun of it and you don’t go unless you’ve prepared and feel you can give a reasonable account of yourself.  So when you line up at the start, the pressure is certainly on to do yourself justice.
Steve James and I both took part, we had both chosen to run the 5000m and we both came home with silver medals!
My race was first and this year the W50 winner was never in doubt.  Fifty year old Jane Laws from Barnet AC ran the race of her life to finish in 17:40, setting a new British record.  Jane surged ahead of the rest of the field at the start and I quickly found myself neck and neck with W55 British record holder, Janette Stephenson.  I decided to stay with her, which proved to be a good tactic at first but I made the mistake of not attempting to pull away from her after about 4000m. Looking back, I probably had the strength at that point but not the confidence and this allowed Janette to sprint ahead in the last 100 metres. However, I finished in 18:56 and gained a W50 silver, so I can’t be too disappointed.
Steve’s race was rather different.  His main competition came from Ilford’s John Batchelor whom he beat in convincing style at the BMAF 5K Championships last month.  This time the tables were turned and, after a fast start with both men neck and neck, John pulled away to win in a time of 18:41.  Steve ran an even paced race and finished second in 19:17.  He was obviously disappointed but just felt he lacked form on the day.  It hardly detracts from what have been some excellent race times in recent months.
Next year, we both move up to the next age group category so… watch this space!
Full results

28 July 2007: Mid Lancs League hosted at Litherland
 

Southport Waterloo hosted their 3rd match of the season at Litherland when the Mid Lancs clubs visited for Round 4 of the League. And it was the first club meeting hosted there since the track opened in June 2006 when it didn't rain! A very pleasant day, following the wet weather of recent weeks, brought out a good numbers of athletes.  We might have hoped for more Southport Waterloo athletes for a home fixture but the balmy conditions meant those attending did so with a smile and helped create a really great atmosphere.
The numbers and performances were, however, good enough to give us 2nd place in the girls' match, behind Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde, and 3rd in the boys behind Preston Harriers and Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde.
The girls may have done better as a team but the best individual performances were by boys with Jordan Kelly's grade 2 long jump of 5m 48 and Adam Davies' grade 2 hammer throw of 52.22, just short of the grade 1 standard of 52m 85; and rapidly approaching the 30 year-old Club record of 54m 28 set by Paul Jenkins in 1977! Adam's throw puts him in about 18th place in the national rankings and just 2cms behind Adam Reynolds of Liverpool Harriers at the top of the North West Power of 10 rankings.
In the under 13 girls, just Patsy Irizar and Lauren Clarehugh competed. Patsy ran another good 800m in 2:38.8 to finish 2nd in the race. She ran 32.3 for 200m and her shot put of 5m 96 was just 2 cms off her previous best throw. Lauren Clarehugh shaved 2 tenths off her previous best 200m time with 33.1, long jumped 3m 39 and cleared 1m 15 in the high jump.
The under 15 girls' team was once again our largest squad. (Thank Heavens for under 15 girls!) There were several PBs achieved in this age group and particular mention should be made of Hannah Roberts who knocked a full 5 secs off her 800m
time with 2:42.8.
Eleanor Newton had a really good day with PBs of 14.2 in the 100m and 4m 43 - an improvement of 70 cms - in the long jump. Louise Kelly continues to improve in the sprints, running today a PB 13.6 in the 100m and 28.2 in the 200m. Another
sprinter Emma Lyons equalled her previous best with an excellent run of 43.7 for a 2nd place in the 300m and she was just a tenth of a second off her PB with our fastest 200m time of 27.0 secs. Training mate Lucy Whitehead ran 29.7 after clearing 1m 35 in the high jump.
Middle distance runner Katie Morris had another sub 2-30 time of 2:29.5, to finish 2nd in the 800m, and went on to run a PB of 29.5 in the 200m. Jenny Girdler and Catherine Hulme featured in the 1500m, Jenny with 5:30.5 and Catherine 5:48.8.
The under 15 girls also gave us one of our 2 relay teams, finishing 3rd in 55.3 secs.
Numbers declined for the under 17 women with just Rachael Flynn and Charlotte Roberts. Rachael easily won her 200m race in 27.3 secs, equalling her previous best from last year.
Charlotte impressed with an improvement on her previous long jump best of 84 cms to 3m 55 which takes her to the top of the Club rankings. She also high jumped 1m 25.
Under 20 Rachel Everett featured in the senior throws with 9m 08 in the shot and 21m 49 in the hammer. And senior woman runner Stephanie May ran 60.5 for 400m and 2:23.9 for 800m, just 2 secs off her season's best.
In the under 13 boys we had another good turnout with Danny Cannon, Sean Vis, George Ingram, Gary Clark, Niall Cullen and Liam Ellis.  Danny, our fastest under 13 by a long way, ran a 100m in a new personal best time of 14.2 secs.  Both Sean and George both ran 14.8 for 100m, George's time also a PB and Graham Boreham ran 14.9.  All also long jumped with Sean jumping furthest (3m 78) and George achieving another PB of 3m 53.  In the 200m, Sean ran 32.2 and Liam 35.1.
In the middle distance races only Niall ran the 1500 - in 5:19.1 - the others preferring the shorter 800m today.  Graham was fastest in a new personal best time of 2:41.1, George running 2:46.0 and Gary 2:49.6.
The boys won their relay race, even faster than one of the under 15 boys' team.
In the under 15 boys events we only had three athletes.  Jordan Kelly had another great day with PBs in both the 100m (12.3secs) and the 200m (25.4 secs) and long jumping a grade 2 standard distance of 5m 48 to take 2nd place. Elliot Barron was the other sprinter, running 13.3 and 27.9 and Jai Vernon-McGuigan had no difficulty winning the 1500m race, in a slowish 4:40.0.
Amongst our under 17 men it was the field eventers who were putting in the best performances.  Adam Davies is just getting better and better in the hammer, throwing a PB 52m 22 today and a pretty good discus throw of 29m 04 - winning both events.  Unusually, 4 of the 5 triple jumpers were from Southport Waterloo, Leon Jacob winning with 11m 50, Scott McDermott 2nd with 11m 24, Patrick Vis 3rd with 10m 61 and David Gough 5th with 8m 70.  Leon's jump takes him to the top of the Club rankings, I think in his first triple jump competition in a club vest!  Both Leon and Scott featured in the long jump.  Leon was 2nd with a PB jump of 5m 59 and Scott was 3rd with 5m 41.
Back on the track, John Cunningham ran a PB in the 100m, shaving a tenth to 12.8 secs. Patrick Vis and David Gough ran 400m in 64.6 and 75.3, Patrick ran a 2:17.3 800m and Harry Boyd was tempted by the conditions to run a 3000m running an even-paced 9:34.9, ahead of David Gough in 10:19.4.
Under 20 Ciaran Brennan made a first appearance this season in the 400m, running 58.5 and senior runner Steve Wilkinson took to the track for some speed work, running 4:31.6 for 1500m.
Today's event was hosted by Southport Waterloo which involves a lot of people helping out.  Thanks to Steve Boreham our 'stand-in' team manager for today; to our T&F officials Norman Marshall, Martin Liversage, Dave Whitehead, Lesley Scott and Paul Davies; to Sandra Waters for help with the results; to Graham Ellis, Barbara May and Lesley Scott who took on additional first aider duties; to Carlos Irizar, Chris Ellis, Rhea Ellis, Sheila Marshall, Lauren Brennan, Ciaran Brennan, Harry Boyd, Jackie Lyons and Emma Lyons on refreshments / shop sales; to Carlos Irizar who once again took the photographs used in this report; and to the others who I have inevitably but unintentionally missed.  (Edit: Including Greg Owen who made several trips to the supermarket to restock the refreshments tent with sugar and milk!)
Results for Club athletes.  Full results are on the Mid Lancs web site.

27 July 2007: SWAC is Clubmark accredited

Southport Waterloo's Chairman, Secretary and junior team captains Rhea Ellis and Harry Boyd represented the club at Sportcity this evening to receive the club's clubmark award.  We has been working towards this award, which signifies our commitment to being a safe, effective and child-friendly athletics club, for a long time and passed the final hurdle towards the end of last year.  But England Athletics were keen to recognise the achievement publicly and we were invited to Sportcity on the opening evening of the televised UK T&F Championships and World Trials, as guests of England Athletics.  Sandra Waters received the award on our behalf from England CEO Dr Alan Harrison.
 

25 July 2007: Mud, glorious mud at Harrock Hill (by Rick Bowker)

The July edition of the Harrock Hill race turned out to be a muddy affair as 11 members of the SWAC team lined up for the start. After weeks of rain, fell shoes were the order of the day. Conditions were very muddy, more like a winter X country than  the dry, dusty conditions of the first race in May.
After the start, we climbed a mile upwards to the top of Hunters Hill.  Steve Wilko was close to the front and had a battle with Sean Bolland [Terry Bolland's brother], Sean just coming out the better with 3rd place 33.06 to Steve's 33.09 and 4th place.
Coming down the first downhill, I went past Sean's team mate who had stopped to find his shoe in the mud!!! yes it really was muddy.
In form John Sprackland seemed to enjoy the mud and finished in 10th place in 35.19, a very good run in the gooey conditions.
Rob Ashworth, still not yet finding his best form, had to follow in John's wake for 13th place in 35.40.
Not known for my liking of the sticky stuff, I was not very happy with my performance, finishing in 37.03 and 18th place.
Brian Davey showed his strength finishing close to his best time for this year with 39.58 in 43rd place.
Andy Hudson and my brother Andy had a bit of a battle with Mr Hudson pulling away on the last downhill section, past the old windmill.  (Andy Hudson is well known for his dare devil descending ability!) Both Andy and Margot Bowker had not trained for over 5 weeks due to getting their house ready for sale. Mr Hudson finished in 41.46 with Mr Bowker just behind in 42.10.
Sam Howard, short of racing, was not happy with her time of 42.35 some 4 minutes off her time last year but am sure Sam will be back to her best with a few more races and anyway, Sam, you beat over half of the men running including Mike Morgan 46.13.   Vicki Harvey was hot on Mike's heels with her time of 47.18.
Margot Bowker did well to finish  in 52.46 some 3 minutes off her best and showing that decorating the house is not good for your running.  But after no training for 5 weeks I don't think I could run up one hill let alone the 3 hills in this race !!!
Anyway it was all good training for next month's grand prix here at Harrock Hill.  If it keeps raining, make sure you bring your fell shoes as its bound to be a muddy one!!! Lets hope summer makes a return in August.
Race results

22 July 2007: Young Athletes 2nd at Wavertree; Steph James takes 'Athlete of Match' award

On paper, it looked a tight match against Preston, West Cheshire and Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton in the 5th and final round of the Young Athletes League.  And so it proved!  At 3 pm, we were in 1st place; but Preston are a strong Club and overtook us in the end.  The final scores were Preston 389, SWAC 373.5, LPS 366.5 and West Cheshire 344.  Another 2nd place finish is excellent and leaves the team in 6th place in the Northern Premier league table - just 2 positions away from the auxiliary finals!
Judging from the feedback and the results it was a funny old day!  But, with a safe position in mid-table, some of the match stress was relieved and everyone seems to have had an enjoyable day, despite the heavy downpour that totally drenched the under 13 boys' running the 1500m and that caused the meeting to be suspended for 20 minutes!
There is always a touch of sadness as well at this fixture as it was the last time some of the under 17s would compete in the Young Athletes League.
Girls' team manager Chris Ellis commented on the "fantastic team spirit and commitment" of all the young athletes today.  What a fantastic team we have had all season!
One feature in the results was the number of personal bests achieved today, the lowest of any Young Athletes match this season.  But there was no doubting the effort and many performances were affected by the conditions which just makes it an even more well deserved and special occasion when a new PB is achieved on such a day.
There was just one grade 1 performance - yes, James Armstrong, running 23.2 in the 200m (where his PB this year is 22.7!) There were several grade 2s - some by established athletes and some by new, emerging talent that shows great promise for the future.  They were: under 13 Sally Wareing running 2:33.7 in the 800, a PB by over 3 seconds; under 13 Ellon Hart, running 4:08.7 in the 1200m; under 13 Charlotte Scarisbrick, high jumping a PB 1m 36; under 15 Rico Dalle Mulle, winning the 80m hurdles in 12.4; under 15 Jordan Kelly, winning the long jump with 5m 48; under 17 Lauren Brennan winning the 300m in 41.6; under 17 Steph James, winning the 800m in 2:17.4; under 17 Alex Martland winning the javelin with a throw of 47m 24; and under 17 Adam Davies winning the hammer competition with a new PB throw of 51m 89.
Steph James' performance won her an 'Athlete of the Match' award and 10 athletes with performances at grade 2 or better gives tremendous optimism for the future.
In the Under 13 Boys, the race people will remember is the 1500m where new runner Niall Cullen and Liam Ellis ran in the most horrendous rain storm looking, as Steve Boreham reports, "like drowned rats as they crossed the line."  Hopefully, Niall will come back for more as his time of 5:12, just behind Liam's 5:10, was an excellent start to his athletics career.  Graham Boreham moved down to the 800m today and ran 2:42.2 ahead of Gary Clarke's 2:53.1.  Unusually, middle distance runners featured in the sprints with Graham joining Sean Vis in the 100m and Liam joining Adam Mackie in the 200m. Sean and Gary covered the sprint hurdles, Gary running 16.9 as against Sean's 17.4.
In the field events, Rob Flemming equalled his previous best in the high jump with 1m 10, Adam Mackie had the best shot putt of 5m 96 and Sean Vis was our best long jumper, clearing 3m 60.
In the Under 15 Boys, James Armstrong easily won the 200m in 23.2 secs, over 2 seconds faster than the 2nd placed runner.  Andrew Starkey ran 25.4 to win the 'B' race and was himself the clear winner of the 400m in 58.2, ahead of Elliot Barron winning the 'B' race in 63.8.  Rico Dalle Mulle took over the 'A' spot in the 100m and ran 12.6 before going on to win the 80m hurdles in 12.4.
We are short of middle distance runners in this age group and today there was just Joe Flemming in the 800m (2:54.7) and Jai Vernon-McGuigan running 4:41.1 in the 1500m, relinquishing the lead on this occasion to Mike Bride of LPS.
In the field, Jordan Kelly earned great points with wins in both the high jump (1m 55) and the long jump (5m 48) and Tom Johnson did well in the throws, with a PB 24m 90 in the hammer and a PB 23m 81 in the discus where James Armstrong lived up to his name with 25m 05.
Up in the Under 17 Boys, throwers Alex Martland and Adam Davies were the stand-out performers. Alex won the javelin competition with 47m 24 and Adam pushed out his hammer PB to win his event with 51m 89.  Both came together in the discus where there is little between them, Adam equalling his PB of 33m 13 and Alex setting a new PB of 32m 62.
Back on the track, Rob Anderson and Lewis Armer ran the 100m and 100m hurdles, Rob running 12.2 and Lewis 12.4 in the flat race and Rob winning the hurdles in 17.7 ahead of 'B' race winner Lewis in 21.5. Scott McDermott set a new personal best in the 1-lap hurdles in a time of 66.6 before going on the take good points in both the long jump (5m 79) and the javelin (23m 39).  John  Cunningham also ran in the 400m hurdles (69.5) and had a best throw of 6m 80 in the shot, an event won by Adam Davies with 10m 55.
Sam Reynolds was our fastest 200m runner running 25.0 and he picked up more valuable points by clearing 1m 55 in the high jump and 10m 48 in the triple.
Paul Gavan ran the 400 and the 800, setting an overdue PB of 2:08.5 in the 800m.  David Gough ran 400 and 1500, the latter in 4:59.1.  Harry Boyd ran the more conventional double of 800m and 1500m running 2:06.1 and 4:44.3, leaving Joe and Patrick Vis to cover the 3000m and the 1500m steeplechase!  Joe got the better of Patrick in both.  In the flat 3K, Joe ran 9:50.2 and Patrick 10:20.6 but I think they must have been pretty exhausted by the end of the steeplechase, judging by the times. (Edit: Looks like it was Joe Vis & David Gough in the steeplechase and the times corrected to 5:24.2 and 5:41.4.)
Other PBs were set in the field by Mark Hughes, throwing the hammer 18m 72 and Luke Wynne long jumping 5m 03
Team manager Chris Ellis reports on the girls' match:  We got off to a great start with the under 17 Girls 300m hurdles which featured Rachael Flynn and Charlotte Buckingham. They got off to a flyer and what a race, Rachael storming it as if running a flat 300.  She looked a natural hurdler. Both girls gained us maximum points and a great start to the meeting.  Rach was also running 300m and two relays, Charlotte the triple jump and high jump.
Lauren Brennan won both the 200m and the 300m but again had a fantastic run in 4 x 300m relay in a very close finish, just taking 2nd.   Sarah Spencer was in both 100m 200m in which she ran well. Sarah Docherty ran a good 800m and threw the shot.  Steph James dominated the 800m to win and gain Athlete of the Match award.  She also featured in the 1500m and
led most of way until the last 200m when the earlier 800m started to take its toll and she finished 2nd.
Rhea Ellis won the 3000m metres and again, when asked, doubled up on the 1500m to gain us valuable points.  Louise Leek who never says "no" ran 3000m, 100m and threw the hammer.  What a combination!  Hannah Riley long jumped, Jacqueline Parry and Rachael Gibbons were our throwers and finally Charlotte Roberts did the high jump and the long jump.
Under 15 Girl Emma Lyons ran good 100m and 200m races and also threw the discus.  Louise Kelly ran a good 200m and also threw the discus.  Lucy Whitehead 75m hurdles and 100m.   Again, Katie Morris ran a fab 800m ,coming 2nd.  Eleanor Newton ran 75 hurdles,  high jumped a new pb 1.45m and threw the shot.
Jenny Girdler and Sophie Kelly both featured in the 1500m with Sophie getting the better of  Jenny today and both threw the javelin.  Maria Stanfield was in both the long jump and high jump.  Jane Ingram ran 800m , long jumped and threw shot.
In the Under 13 girls, Ellon Hart ran 150m, 1200m and long jumped.  The 1200m was a fantastic race to watch with three competitors racing for the finish line, every one of them giving everything. Ellon finished 2nd, less than a second off her pb. Nell Vitty ran a good 150m crossing the line with a great smile.
Sally Wareing and Patricia Irizar featured in the 800m, Sally getting off to a great start and pleased with her grade 2 time, Patsy also having a good race and gaining us valuable points. Sally also high jumped and long jumped and Patsy threw the shot putt.
Lizzie Hillston ran a good 70m hurdles and was joined by Lauren Clarehugh who had never done the event before but showed real potential.  Lauren also ran 1200m and was unfortunate in shot after missing 1st throw was given two 'no throws'.  Charlotte Scarisbrick ran a fantastic 75m  and high jumped a new pb 1m 36. Emily Martland ran 75m and was part of the relay team.
Thanks to today's officials Dave Whitehead, Steve Boreham, Susan Ingram, Jackie Lyons, Dave Kelly, Ciaran Brennan, Josh Gamble, Frank Reynolds, Rob Clarke, Sue Gellett and Graham Martland and to Carlos Irizar who once again supplied the photos used in this report.  Thanks to team managers Tina Pilkington, Chris Ellis and Gillian Brennan who have done an incredible job this year.  Thanks to all the athletes and their parents for all the help and support they have given to Tina, Chris and Gillian throughout the season.
Results for Club athletes.  Full results.

18 July 2007: Steve Wilkinson leads SWAC team at Sefton Park 5 (by Brian Grice)

Sefton Park, one of the largest parks in England standing at 200 acres and surrounded by elegant Victorian mansions, provided a beautiful setting for the annual Sefton Park 5 Road Race on the nicest summer evening of the year. The park, designed by Edouard Andre and Lewis Hornblower in a French style was opened in 1872 and has been rejuvenated in recent years with the restoration of the Palm House and the Peter Pan statue.
Southport Waterloo had fifteen runners for the seventh stage of the Club Grand Prix, including a number of our best athletes. But this is not a fast course with its steady gradients and twisting configuration. The men’s Grand Prix is now wide open with Steve Wilkinson emerging as the hot favourite if he can complete his quota of races. Steve was first home for the club in 9th place (27.20) behind Liverpool Harrier Mark Keeley (25.19) in a good quality field of 223 finishers, including 56 women. In-form John Sprackland 14th (27.55) at last turned the tables on David Hamilton 16th (28.24) though David may be a bit rusty at present as he has not raced recently. John started fast and led David in the early stages but by the 1½ mile point David had taken a narrow lead. However, by the 3 mile mark passing the palm house John had reasserted his ascendancy and went on to increase his lead.
Steve James 41st (31.01) had his usual close encounter with Mike Cunningham 43rd (31.10) followed by Colin Wolfarth 70th (33.33). Anthony Grice 85th (34.16) made his annual appearance in the race ahead of Alan Gray 100th (35.43) and Norman Marshall making his debut as a very young V70 207th (50.11).
Sue Cooper 4th and 1st L50 (32.46) faded over the last two miles followed by Karen Faloon 10th and 1st L55 (36.21) and the ultra consistent Christine Cutner 19th (38.41). Sarah Reynolds 32nd (42.58) seems to racing every week this summer and this has been reflected in her much quicker times as she aims to realise her ambition to get down to sub-8 minute paces this year. Norman was disappointed to see that Sarah has found her MP3 player but even that obstacle may not prevent her winning this year’s ‘most improved athlete’ award. Sheila Marhall 33rd (43.41) showed her wellbeing with another good run with Emma Felton 37th (46.53) our other counter
The next Grand Prix race is the August Harrock Hill race followed by the Rufford 10k on September 2nd. The updated Grand Prix Table shows that 72 SWAC runners have made 171 appearances in this year’s competition with a further 5 races to go. Seniors wishing to improve their times might wish to join the flourishing speed sessions at Greenbank School on Mondays starting at 6.30pm. And seniors wishing to represent the club at the next Mid Lancs meeting on Saturday July 28th are asked to contact Norman Marshall.
The organisers of the Sefton Park 5 were unchivalrous enough to include everyone’s age on the results sheet. It seems that the age profile of most of our seniors makes the cast of ‘Last of the Summer’s Wine’ seem young. But the age-adjusted times of our veterans are impressive, including Norman’s age-adjusted 37.05. And Steve James’s age-adjusted time of 23 minutes 12 seconds would have seen him win the race by 600 metres. The age-adjusted times of our women were: Sue Cooper (27.40), Karen Faloon (29.09), Christine Cutner (33.18) and Sheila Marshall (34.16). Veterans wishing to age-adjust their times should google ‘WAVA calculator’
Sefton Park 5 Results

15 July 2007: Rob Mac 19th in High Wycombe Half (by Rick Bowker)

Rob McGrath ran his second half marathon in two months when he made a return visit to his second home in High Wycombe running for his old club Handy Cross Runners.  With a grass start and then a steep uphill first mile, the High Wycombe half marathon is a testing course and with humid conditions to challenge Rob he put in an excellent performance to finish 19th in a time of 1.24.13
The race was won by 52 year old Vale of Aylesburry runners Paul Gregory in 1.14.15.  Rob commented that he still had a few years before he was old enough to win this race!!!
Results

13/14 July 2007:  James takes a silver at English Schools

The English Schools National Track & Field Championships are the championships that all young T&F athletes aspire to take part in.  It is the biggest English championships, event following event with military precision; athletes always at the right place at the right time.
A packed Alexander Stadium in Birmingham was treated to two days of fabulous athletics, the quality of this meeting at last recognised with 4 hours of the Saturday afternoon's finals televised live on Sky Sports.  The presence of television cameras may have added to stress levels but Sky gave the sport an excellent platform in the long run up to 2012 and gave athletes an added incentive - if one was needed - to progress to the finals.
Several commentators and star athlete guests on Sky described these championships as the Schools' Olympics and that explains well the desire young athletes have just to be a part of these championships.  Apt, too, in the run up to 2012 with several of the older athletes expected to become stars of the London Games.
Southport Waterloo had a record-breaking 9 athletes there as part of the Merseyside Schools' team.  That is a measure of the excellent progress our young athletes are making and we can all be proud of their achievements.  Coach Graham Pilkington described the attitude of our athletes as "professional" and I can only agree with that, a point well illustrated by Katie McHale.  In the televised final of the 100m hurdles, she remained totally focussed on the race ahead despite a camera on her as she stood on the start line.  The whole experience is invaluable and prepares athletes for national and international level competition.
Most of our young stars progressed  through to the finals in their event, producing two club records and three new personal bests in the process.
First up on Friday was Rico Dalle Mulle in the Junior Boys 80m hurdles.  In his heat he ran a personal best 11.77 secs to finish 2nd and qualify for the final.  In a tremendous race on Saturday morning, Rico was lying 2nd with 2 hurdles to go and just lost out on a medal in a blanket finish, 3rd place finishing in 11.54, 4th and 5th both given 11.56 and Rico in 11.58.  So close! but 11.58 is a great time, a new PB and a new Club Record.  Rico started this year with a best of 12.1 and has had a number of races around 12 seconds with a best before today of 11.9.  To get down then to 11.58 in the final of a major championships is just fabulous!
Next on Friday were Steph James and Rachael Flynn in the Inter Girls 800m.  Rachael is still a 1st year Inter Girl and did well to qualify for these championships.  She drew a tough heat and ran 2:21.14.  This was good experience for Rachael who is a very talented runner and the 2nd fastest female 800m runner in the Club's history.  Our fastest is Steph James and she was 3rd in her heat in 2:20.22.  Time wasn't important here.  With the first 3 to qualify for Round 2, Steph ran the perfect tactical race just doing enough to progress to the next round.  However, Steph has been battling an infection for some weeks and these championships have come along at the wrong time for the Under 17 Northern 800m Champion.  Steph was quite ill after Round 1 but spent the afternoon building herself up for Round 2.  There, she ran one of the most incredible races, staying with the pack at the bell and then taking them on up the back straight and making her way to the front.  At 200m she was leading by 2 metres and held that around the bend; but then she had nothing left and the other girls started to come past.  She finished 6th in 2:20.16 - faster than Round 1 - and so didn't progress to the final.  Steph has never really going to be sufficiently well to be a medallist here but it is some time since I last saw a middle distance runner give as much as Steph did today. Galling, too, that the silver medallist here on Saturday was beaten by Steph in the North of England Championships in May.
Next, James Armstrong was also recovering from an infection; one that could have prevented his appearance altogether.  James did enough to qualify in both the heat and the semi-final of the Junior Boys 200m winning both in 23.3 and 22.88.  In the final, it was a close race, with James the first to show coming off the bend but Joseph Hutchinson, 2nd in James' semi, went on to win, James taking the silver medal in 22.86.  Interestingly, readers will know that James achieved an English Schools qualification in 4 events this year and chose to compete in the 200m, his preferred event.  His best this year would have taken gold in the 100m and silver in the 400m in these championships!  Such is the talent of this young sprinter.
But the 200m silver wasn't James only medal.  He ran the last leg of the 4 x 100m for Merseyside and powered down the home straight for a bronze this time, almost catching the silver medallists 4 hundredths of a second ahead.
Then another hurdler and another club record.  Katie McHale was running in the Senior Girls 100m hurdles.  Katie has been running consistently just over 15 secs this year but a 3rd place in her heat in 15.03 was a new personal best.  In the final, running in the outside lane, she finished 7th but in a great time of 14.99, dipping under 15 secs for the first time.  Katie is a talented sprint hurdler and being a finalist as a first year Senior Girl was a great achievement.
Eddie Simpkins has had a difficult season but he has made it back from injury and did well to qualify for these championships.  He ran in the Senior Boys 200m in a time of 24.03, not back to full race fitness yet.
The final track athlete was Lauren Brennan, running in her favoured 300m.  On Friday, she won her heat of the Inter Girls event in 40.74.  She was well ahead until she stalled a little with 90m to go but steadied herself and raced to the line just getting the better of the Staffs girl by 7/100ths of a second.  40.74 was a personal best.  In the final she was a bit slower, running 41.26, but again we have a 1st year Inter Girl making it to the final which is excellent!.  Lauren also ran in the relay but another of the Merseyside girls had a GB men's team moment with the baton!
In the field events, Jordan Kelly was first up on Friday in the Junior Boys triple jump.  Jordan has only recently taken up athletics with the club and has already written his name in the club records.  His extraordinary progress was recognised by his selection for English Schools and he did well to made it to the final jump off, finishing 8th with a best jump of 11m 81.
Finally, Adam Davies was throwing in the Inter Boys hammer.  You have to feel for those throwers who are unable to compete in front of the crowds in the main stadium.  There are so many events in these championships that it is impossible to mount them all in the main arena.  So Adam had to throw in an adjacent field (indeed, throwing slightly uphill!)  Last year at these championships in Gateshead, Adam also had to compete outside the stadium.  Anyway, his best throw was 48m 60, for 11th place.  Again, an excellent performance by a 1st year Inter Boy although I know Adam would have wanted to throw over 50m.
So there we have it.  Some great results and some thoughts of what might have been.  But all these young athletes will have gained so much valuable experience and all can take pride in being part of these great championships and having given their very best.
Full results Click on 2007 in left panel

13 July 2007:  First AGM at Litherland fails to attract members

The 2007 annual general meeting of Southport Waterloo was held, for the first time, in the Activity Suite at the Litherland Sports Park on Friday.  As Litherland is the home base of the club, it was felt by the Committee that the annual meeting should be held there; but in the event it was poorly attended.
In fact, there were less than the 20 voting members or 30%, if smaller, of the members entitled to vote, required to form a quorum.  The meeting decided to continue anyway and a copy of the minutes is attached.  However, the absence of a quorum means we will need to hold another meeting to endorse or amend the decisions taken.  Details will be considered at the next meeting of the General Committee and a further announcement made.
The main highlights from the meeting were:
Chris Henders has agreed to take on a new role as Track & Field Secretary;
John Sprackland has agreed to take on the vacant role of Cross Country Secretary; and
whilst the club element of the annual subscription remains unchanged, the fees paid by members will need to be increased from 1 April 2008 by £3 to reflect the new England Athletics registration fee for each athlete being set at £5 as against the £2 charged under the previous North of England scheme.

11 July 2007:  Steve Wilkinson 3rd at Haig Hall (by Rick Bowker)

Steve Wilkinson was an impressive 3rd at the classic Haigh Hall 5 mile hill race.  After a year of consistant training Steve's true potential is really starting to shine through this season.  Running 27.28 on this 3 lap hill course, Steve took 31 sec off his last month's race time and finished only 16 sec behind 2nd place man Simon Bruton [Radcliffe AC].  Andy Ward [Wigan Phoenix] was 1st in 26.01.
Some way behind, I was running with sore legs.  After mile intervals on Monday and a speed session on Tuesday, I should have known better!  This course is very hard if you don't feel great, and each time up past the hall just got harder and more painful as my legs expired!  In the end I salvaged 1st vet 45 but ran some 18 sec slower! and was more than happy to see the finish line.
Mike Cunningham ran 32.02, some 11 sec up on June's time, not bad considering he has not been training this year!
Sarah Reynolds 43.49 running without headphones [we think Norman nicked them!] went almost a minute faster maybe because she could hear Sheila Marshall breathing down her neck!
Sheila Marshall put in a fantastic run to pick up first lady 60 and add to the SWAC's winnings with a time of 44.41 which was just too good for well built Jon Singleton, who looked like he needed an ambulance when I lapped him near the top of the steep hill.  Lets hope this is not Jon's last race.
On a final note, Katie Ingram [Howich] broke the course record with her time of 28.32 and 8th place.

11 July 2007: Lancashire stars (by Steve Boreham)

Not all Southport Waterloo athletes live in Merseyside.  Believe it or not there are four in Lancashire who today competed for their respective schools at the West Lancashire schools district sports at Robin Park Arena, Wigan.
The day started off cold, windy and showery, well what do we expect from Mid July? the sun eventually putting in an appearance just as the event came to a close around 3PM.
Eight schools competed today and track events started just after 10 am and first to run was Graham Boreham in the Yr 7 1500M. Now Graham has been running with a niggling ankle injury for a while now which just will not go away, so a gutsy performance saw him finish in a creditable 5th place.
Next up was our much improved 800m runner, Patsy Irizar running in the Yr 7 800m and what a outstanding performance she put in today. This was not a race  against the clock but one of cat and  mouse. Patsy led from the start and dictated the pace seeing off the competition on the final lap taking 1st place and gold medal a good 50m ahead of second place. Well done.
Over on the field another star performance was taking place, Alex Martland was showing just how much he has improved this year. In the Yr 10 Javelin his first throw broke the championship record with just over 46 metres, but he put the icing on the cake with his third and final throw of 47m 10cm to seal that championship record and take 1st place and another gold medal. Outstanding performance.
The sprint relays provided plenty of excitement, as they usually do, to bring the event to a close. First blood to Yr 7 Emily Martland who was part of the Ormskirk 4 x 100 team taking 1st place and a gold medal. Patsy, running for Burscough Priory team, came home 3rd. Both Girls ran the first leg .
Graham also running for Burscough Priory in the Boys Yr 7 4 x 100 team finished 4th, that just left Alex Martland, running the second leg for Ormskirk's Yr 10 boys team to take another gold medal as their team cruised into 1st place.
A fine days athletics then and well done to all our competitors.

11 July 2007: Southport Waterloo to host Open Relay Meeting

Southport Waterloo is to host an exciting first open track meeting at Litherland.  We wanted to do something a bit different that would add value to the athletics in the North West and decided on a series of relay races for under 13s to seniors.
The meeting will take place on Sunday 16th September and will start with a series of open graded 100m races.  There will then be a Paarlauf race (2 runners sharing 3000m), 4 x 100m, 4 x 400m (300m for under 15 girls and under 17 women), 4 x 200m, 3 x 800m and some medlay relays- 100, 100, 200 and 600 for under 13s and 200, 200, 400 and 800 for other ages.
There have been no relays in Merseyside outside of league meetings since they were last run in the Merseyside County Championships in about 2002.  Merseyside County have therefore agreed to award County medals in the 4 x 100m, 4 x 300m and 4 x 400m races.
Further information is on the entry form.
Hopefully, lots of blue and gold vests will be seen on the track on 16th September, including many of our senior road runners in the Paarlauf event.

10 July 2007: Litherland short listed for award

Litherland Sports Park  has been short listed from 640 sports projects for the National Lottery Awards. It is the only sports project from the NW to make it onto the short list.
There will now be a public vote so if you want to see Litherland progress then vote for them at www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards

8 July 2007: John Sprackland 7th in Penny Lane (by Brian Grice)

John Sprackland continued his rich vein of form finishing 7th in 34 minutes 46 seconds behind Liverpool Harrier Mark Keeley (32.01) in the annual Penny Lane 10K. The race attracted 477 finishers including 134 women, which represented an increase of about 100 runners on recent years. Conditions were ideal for running despite a heavy burst of rain as the runners turned at the 6k mark. Peter Roome was next home for the club finishing 30th (37.31) ahead of Paul Ashby 68th  just breaking the 40 minute barrier (39.58), Ian Kilshaw 95th (41.16) and Richard Hughes 325th (52.06). The Club Grand Prix table has been updated.
Samantha Dean-Howard used the race as a fast training run finishing 7th (39.52) in a very competitive women’s race behind Jenny Clague (36.22). Ann Egginton is back in good form after her injury problems last year but had the disappointment of just missing the 40 minute mark finishing 8th  and 2nd L40 (40.04) in front of Karen Faloon 19th and 2nd L55 (45.04). Christine Cutner 27th (48.01) ran within seconds of her run in last year’s race with Sheila Marshall 71st and 2nd L60 (55.37) enjoying a steady run with more than 60 women behind her.
The next Grand Prix race is the Sefton Park on Wednesday July 18th starting at 7.30pm. The course record set by the late Benson Masya in 1996 stands at 23 minutes 37 seconds. Benson, of course, went on to win the Great North Run and twice won the Southport Good Friday 10K including a 29.49 finish in 1992.

Ed: Ann Eggington tells me that the ladies in fact won the team prize which Ann collected on their behalf.  Well done Sam, Ann Karen and Chris.

8 July 2007: Promotion now a distant hope for seniors

(Late news: The SWAC 'B' steeplechaser was omitted from the results - well spotted by Barbara May - and this has now been corrected.  The extra points mean we finished above Barrow in 3rd place.  We are are still 3rd overall but now only 2 league points behind Liverpool Harriers.  Ed.)

After a 2nd place at Preston in Round 2, hopes were high that we could overtake Liverpool Harriers in the Northern senior track & field league.  At Round 3 in Stretford, however, a weakened team finished 4th, leaving us in 3rd place overall in Division 3W, 3 league points behind Liverpool and 5 behind the combined Lancaster and Morecambe / Kendal team.  Only if Liverpool Harriers fail to turn up at the final fixture in Litherland do we have any realistic chance of promotion now.  The scores on the day were, subject to scrutiny, L&M/Kendal 396, Liverpool 339, Barrow 321, SWAC 317, Altrincham 302 and Isle of Man 217.  So we were pushed into 4th place by just 4 points.
Once again, the strength was in the women's team where we were joint 2nd with Barrow behind Lancaster & Morecambe.  The men won fewer points than any other team at Stretford!  Most noticeable in the team sheet was the absence of any jumpers.
At an individual level, the best performances too were in the women's team where both Stephanie May and Rhea Ellis recorded grade 3 standard performances.  The men's team did produce two Club Records in the 5000m and 3000m steeplechase but only by Dominic Cooke and David Gough exceptionally running as under 17s.
All in all, Stephanie May had a very good afternoon, starting with the pole vault where a season's best 1m 90 could well have been exceeded but for knocking the bar as she released the pole.  In the 800m, she ran 2:21.7, just outside the 2:21.5 she ran at Preston in the Mid Lancs which has now been recognised as a senior women's Club Record. 58.9 was run in the 400m and 26.8 in the 200m before appearing again in both the relays.  In the 4 x 400m she was in 5th place with 200m to run and fairly flew around the bend to hand the baton over in 2nd place, running the fastest leg of 59.1.  The team then dropped back to finish 4th, however, in 4:20.2.
Rhea Ellis ran much better than expected in the 3000m after an absence from training for several weeks due to GCSEs and a holiday (returning with a tan to die for!) She was 2nd home in 11:06.4, ahead of Sue Cooper who won the 'B' race in 11:11.4.  Rhea was also persuaded to do a long jump and was pleased just to edge younger brother Liam's jump in the Youth Games on Saturday.
Middle distance runner Louise Leek featured unusually in both the 800m and the 1500m and aquitted herself exceptionally well against senior opposition.  She ran 2:37.8 for 800m and 5:36.8 for the 1500, not a bad double!
Elsewhere in the sprints, Katy Hooton ran 13.6 for 100m and 28.2 for 200.  Lorna Graham ran 14.5 for 100m and 64.8 in the flat 400.  In the 400m hurdles, Lorna's 75.2 was a PB, behind a season's best of 74.9 from Jemma Wright.  Jemma also ran a PB in the sprint hurdles of 18.3 although Charlotte Buckingham was faster in the 'B' race with 17.9.
In the field, Jemma's 1m 40 high jump equalled her best this season.  Charlotte Buckingham was our sole triple jumper with a best of 9m 50.  And Ann Dignan and Rachel Everett covered all the throws.  Both had a season's best in the discus, Rachel throwing 20m 07 and Ann 16m 66.  Positions were reversed in the javelin where Ann's 21m 18 was ahead of Rachel's 17m 50.
Amongst the men, we had two event winners in Rob Berry and Stephen Marshall.  Rob warmed up in the 800m, running a good 1:59.3 for 3rd place.  In the 1500m, he came from 3rd to win in 4:10.2, both season's best times.  Stephen appeared in both hurdle events winning what he would call the easier event, the 110m hurdles - for me one of the most intimidating events on the track! - in 20.0 secs and running the 400 hurdles in 70.1.  John (JC) Cunningham was the other 400m hurdler in 70.6.
Paul Gavan ran a very fast 800m, clocking 60 secs at the bell, to finish in 2:09.7, just outside his best time.
In the 5000m, fell runner Rob Ashworth was joined by under 17 Dom Cooke.  Rob ran a convincing 17:07.0 and Dom got around in 21:04.8.  As I have no record of an under 17 previously running 5000m on the track, Dom's time will be recorded as a Club Record.
In the sprints, Lewis Armer ran 12.1 and Eddie Simon 12.5 in the 100m.  In the 200m, Eddie Simpkins had the faster time in the 'B' race running 23.8 ahead of Lewis' 'A' race time of 25.1.  In the 400m, 'B' runner Mike Evans equalled his best time for this distance from last year of 53.8 with Steven Gellett running 54.8 in the 'A' race.  Not surprisingly, Mike and Steven ran the fastest legs of the 4 x 400m relay in 54.2 and 54.4 although Paul Gavan will be pleased with his 56.0!
David Gough was generous enough to agree to do both a 3000m steeplechase and a 1500m.  I have no record of an Under 17 running in the 3K steeplechase previously so David's time of 11:24.7 is recorded as a Club Record.  5:19.9 for 1500m after such an energy sapping event was also pretty good.
The only field eventers in the men's team were throwers Peter Mason and Sam Moran.  Peter has been suffering from a back problem but still managed 2nd place in the hammer with 24m 82 and 3rd in both the shot (9m 07) and the discus (24m 19).  Sam got the better of him in the javelin throwing 28m 36 but Peter's throw of 22m 94 in his least favourite event was a season's best.  Sam was 2nd 'B' in both the hammer (21m 67) and the shot with a season's best 8m 53.
Thanks to team managers for today and to our officials team - Peter Mason, Ann Dignan, Chris Henders, Lesley Scott, Sam Moran, Stephanie May, Jemma Wright and Norman Marshall.
Results for Club athletes.  Full results will be on the Northern Athletics web site shortly.
The final match will be at Litherland on Sunday 5th August.

6 July 2007: Last of the Chorley Nights (by Richard Cary)

So, the last of the 1mile/5k races. Another breezy night and whilst there was no rain, there was plenty of evidence that there had been deluges beforehand. Both of these factors affected the youngsters far more than the seniors as they had to battle across an open park area with most finishing covered in mud as if they had been on a cross-country run. Daniel Abdous (hope that's the correct spelling - I'm relying on the official results, so apologies if it is not) led the club contingent with a commendable 7:22. He was shortly followed by the enthusiastic Lauren Clarehugh in 7:30. I think Lauren's hopes of being nearer the 7-minute barrier were dashed by the conditions. And just a short way back was Ashleigh Jackson in 7:44 - down on the result of a couple of week ago, but not too surprising given the mud etc. Winners once again were Andrew Kirkham from Horwich with a fine 5:50 and Lucie Patry of Blackburn, again third overall with an equally commendable 6:12.
As said, I suspect that conditions were slightly better for the seniors - we were more sheltered by the trees and our woodland trail is now compacted sand rather than mud. The usual Southport suspects were out again for this race - Sheila Marshall managed to improve yet again with 28:45 for 61st place. Clive, 'the metronome' James knocked out another 25:45 for 52nd. Carole (who didn't stop 3 times in the previous race, only 2, sorry!) had a much better outing this time with 24:26 for 43rd. Still jollying a very sore Achilles I managed to get by in 19:27 for 12th. We'll miss this race - a demanding route, although not in 'fell race' territory, and well-organised with a generous prize list. See you next year for more of the same?
Senior resultsJunior results

4 July 2007: 4 for Chorley 4 (by Rick Bowker)

Four of us made it to the Chorley 4.   After a day of heavy showers, we were lucky that by 7.30pm conditions had dried up, leaving only a troublesome wind to slow us down.
Warming up, my legs felt heavy and lifeless.  "How could it be possible to run faster than last month?" I thought.
After starting to follow some of the training tips of legendary coach Arthur Lydiard, I was hoping for better things!!!
On the starting line was fellow SWAC runners Rob McGrath,  who was building up his mileage for an autumn marathon and was looking for a bit of speed, Chris Barrat was racing for the first time in over two years after major knee surger -and was looking nervous! - Sarah Reynolds was back again.  Taking advice from coach Norman, she was listening to the sounds of Motorhead and AC/DC on her headphones in a attempt to get her legs moving faster.
I was shocked !!! The first uphill mile went by in 5.33.  Maybe my new training was paying off.  Mile 2 went by in 10.56.  This was looking good!  By this time I was hanging on to the back of first lady Katie Ingram. Mile 3 came in under 16.50, a sub 23 min 4 miles looked on the cards now!
The last uphill mile seemed hard, legs filled with lactic acid screamed at me to stop.  I could not even raise a sprint at the end but was well pleased to finish in 22.32 and first v45, 8sec behind first lady Katie Ingram [Horwich].
Behind, Rob McGrath, running on tired legs, came in to finish 7 secs up on last month in a time of 23.19 - good training for Rob's marathon attempt later this year!!!
Chris Barrat, fighting off stomach problems, fullfilled a dream to race again by sprinting in to finish with 31.22.
Not far behind, Sarah was speeding along at a rapid pace to the sounds of " ACE OF SPADES".  Sarah took an impressive minute off last month's time - 34.30 [hope your ears have stopped bleeding now Sarah!].
Ben Fish of Blackburn AC was the winner in a very fast 19.24.
Race results
On a final note its Haigh Hall next week.  This is a great race so try to make it down.  See you there!

4 July 2007:  Sue and Richard lead senior Grand Prix (by Brian Grice)

There are two Grand Prix races in July, the Penny Lane 10k on Sunday July 8th at 11am from Aigburth Cricket Club and the Sefton Park 5 on Wednesday 18th July. Entry forms for both races can be downloaded from the fixtures link on the SWAC homepage. Last year the Sefton Park race was held on the hottest day of the year but there are no signs of similar conditions this time round. Richard Hughes and Sue Cooper lead the rankings coming up to the halfway stage with 70 SWAC runners (42 men and 28 women) having made 146 appearances so far, a slight increase on last year. The updated Grand Prix table can be downloaded.
The August Grand Prix race is the Harrock Hill Race on Wednesday 22nd August. There have been 26 runnings of the race since it was first held in May 2000 and is always well supported by SWAC runners. Steve Wilkinson (33.09) recorded the fastest ever SWAC time at Harrock Hill last Wednesday while Samantha Dean-Howard (38.16) boasts the best SWAC women's time. An almost complete record of SWAC performances at Harrock Hill can be downloaded.

1 July 2007: Poor turnout for NJL Round 3

The Club's 2nd home fixture of the season at Litherland was Round 3 of the Mersey Division of the National Junior League and, once again, yes ... it rained!  Round 2 at Wigan was poorly attended as the date clashed with the Northern Under 17 Championships.   It was poorly attended again today, perhaps because of English Schools in 2 weeks, but I would have expected more Southport Waterloo athletes to turn out for a home fixture.
The final score left the Club in 4th place, just behind the big 3 in this Division, and 2 points ahead of Wirral whose younger athletes pushed us into 3rd place at the YAL the week before.  Points, subject to scrutiny, were Wigan 291, LPS 285, Cheshire Tigers 274, Southport Waterloo 165, Wirral 163, Warrington 92 and St Helens Sutton 63.
Seven of our junior women took part, producing several good wins.  Rachel Everett won the hammer with 23m 19, just 4 cms off her personal best, and she was 2nd in the shot with 9m 90 - just 1 cm behind the winning throw.  Although placed 3rd, her 19m 58 in the discus was a good throw and a season's best.
Stephanie James featured in the 400m for some speed work before English Schools and won the race in 59.9 secs equalling her previous best.  Another English Schools' finallist, Katie McHale, was flying over the hurdles again, winning in 15.7 with Charlotte Buckingham winning the 'B' race in 19.5.  Charlotte also competed in the triple jump, winning that event with a good jump of 9m 99.
The 3rd of our English Schools' finallists in action was Lauren Brennan.  She was 3rd in the 100m but her time of 13.0 was a season's best and just off her personal best of 12.9; so it looks like Lauren is peaking nicely.  The other sprinter was Katy Hooton running a stylish 13.5 in the 100m and 28.8 in the 200.
Finally, Sarah Docherty was our sole middle distance runner, running the 800m in 2:27.6.  I believe that's her first sub 2.30 time and takes a massive 7 secs off her personal best; so an excellent run.
Just four of our junior men took part.  Greg Owen competed in the pole vault, the first time that equipment has been used at Litherland.  All performances were affected by the weather, however, and Greg's best clearance was 2m 60 for 2nd place.  Greg also threw a PB javelin with 19m 46 and guested in the steeplechase running 7:44.9.
Mike Evans was another 800m runner running 400m today and completed the lap in a season's best time of 54.3 secs.  Ste Gellett ran 55.0 to win the 'B' 400m and went on to run 25.6 in the 200m.
The 2000m steeplechase had 5 competitors, three of them from Southport Waterloo.  The scoring runners were the Vis brothers who are taking a liking to this event.  The brothers have quite different styles and strategies but its never easy to predict who will reach the finish line first.  Today it was Joe, in 7:08.3, but only 2 secs ahead of Patrick, finishing in 7:10.3.
Thanks to all who came along to compete or help today, particularly to team manager Stephanie May who looked after the boys as well as the girls today and helped out with the running of the meeting behind the scenes.
Results for Club athletes.  Full results