News reports and results should be E-mailed or telephoned to Ron Scott Photographs always welcome within 24 hours of event.

Statement of Practice on the use of photographs

30 September 2007:  Staying up close and personal in Great North Run(by Emma Felton)

Having stayed in the back of beyond, which included a 1½ hour drive into Newcastle at 6.30 am; (the nearest place we could find!), excited with anticipation we made it easily to the start.
Seeing Paula Radcliffe was a fantastic highlight, she looked amazing and was greeted with lots of cheers from the crowd and fellow runners. It was great to see her back!
As we made it to our pens (E), I kept reminding myself not to take this race too seriously. It’s been my first season at the longer distances, so with the Great North Run being the final ½ marathon planned for this year, my friend Clare and I just aimed to enjoy it.
The start was great and we jumped up and down and went a bit crazy when the red arrows flew over head as we left the Tyne Bridge, (don’t think Norman would have approved! – lost a few seconds and wasted energy there – but great fun!)  But by Gateshead, mile 6, the weather was warm and the run had become more difficult, as the crowd of runners were still tightly packed, as we continued along the carriageway. The course offered some steady inclines and descents, which I really enjoyed, but I found it increasingly difficult to keep a constant rhythm, as we continued to weave in and out passed fellow runners.
By mile 12, I had a massive strop! Despite not taking this race seriously, I realised at this point in the race I was suffering from claustrophobia! Just too many people still surrounding me! The fabulous people of South Shields however took me to the finish. (They were just brilliant!) together with the wonderful sea view and the determination from my friend Clare not to let me walk! Our times were the slowest this year - 2 hours 16 mins - but I think it’s the longest ½ marathon I’ve ever run! The race organisation was, however, superb. I can imagine looking after 50,000 runners is not easy and, despite my running worries, Clare absolutely loved it and wants to run it again next year!   Mmm we’ll see - if I can overcome my issues!!!

Ed: Sam Dean-Howard ran 1:28:52 in this race and David Hamilton was 2 minutes faster than last year, recording a PB 1:16:32, 128th and 2nd V40.  It was 8 years ago that Mark Ashby last ran this race.  He finished in 1:24:50 which is about what he expected this year but a long way short of his 1.16.09 PB set at the Great North in 1992. Ian Kilshaw ran 1:35:13 after it took him 5 mins to get across the start line.

Sam Dean Howard writes:  I still had the problem with my foot, but it was a lot better than when running the last 10k.   I wasn't sure whether to do the race, but when I heard Paula was running, and I already knew I had qualified months ago for the elite race, I thought well I cant miss a chance like this, to stand on the start line with the worlds fastest women.  So I thought I will have a go.  Although not feeling on form for some time now, as shown in my season of races, I gave it a shot.
It was my first proper big race, and what an atmosphere it was.  The crowds were fantastic, to say the least.  As I was in the elite women's race, it was just ourselves along the route, and I felt like a star, everyone would be shouting you on, as you couldn't really see anyone in front or behind all the time.  I caught a few people, but it was mostly you and yourself out there. I had kids giving me high fives, and bands shouting and singing to you, "hey you in the pink top", it was the best thing I have ever done, and will stay with me for a long time.
Well,  I had a pretty fast 1st mile, all down hill, 5.45 mins, and did well there on 15 kms, 1 hr min, so doing well.  A few miles on, times varied, but so did the hills, a lot hillier than I thought and quite warm.  I had to go through the showers en route, as did two men, one blind the other his guide, and shouted him on when I slowly went past, they were doing some pace. I really admire such amazing people. Well I had another hill to come, but they seem to go on forever, and along came the elite men. We were told to keep to the opposite side of the road, far away from the race line, and police vehicles, bikes, and more cars. What an entourage!  Then the camera crew; huge cameras on this pickup truck.  Lots of them.  I looked behind and nobody to be seen, so I thought my chance for fame, and tucked in as near as I could for 10 metres.  What a pace they were doing!  So I believe I was on telly for a few secs - my claim to fame! The last hill was down, and was it down,. Awful as my legs cramped up, and still a whole mile to go to the finnish.  That was the hardest mile, and it was flat.
So there it is.  My time for my 1st big Half, 1 hr 28 mins.  Respectable I think, after the year I have had, and I shall be back. It was the best thing I have ever done, and I am now thinking of the London Marathon, with a half in the run up.

And Christine Cutner writes:  Having completed this race three times in the nineties, I saw it from a different angle this year. My two daughters, Caroline and Vikki, both former SWAC members, now aged 22 and 19, had decided to take up this challenge to raise funds for the Trauma Team at Royal Preston Hospital.
Due to busy lives their training had not been ideal, but they ran the Liverpool Women's 10k in May, and Vikki had run regularly during the summer.   Caroline is fairly fit and has loads of determination !   Armed with first aid, bin liners, and advice, Paul and I saw them depart for the Start then drove to the Finish at South Shields.   We found an uncrowded spot near the top of the hill down to the seafront and awaited action.   First the wheelchairs, and recognised Shelley Woods leading the ladies.   Then the ladies' race - and a surprise not to recognise Kara Goucher in the lead.   However Paula was not far behind, then Hayley Yelling, Tracey Morris, and our own Sam Dean-Howard - who I would have recognised sooner and shouted louder had she worn her club vest!
Then in the men's race, David Hamilton and Mark Ashby.
We moved down to 800 metres from the Finish and eventually Paul spotted Vikki skipping along still wearing her silver wig!   We had an emotional reunion in the repatriation area, and quite some time later were joined by a reassuringly fresh-looking Caroline whose boyfriend had accompanied her the entire route.   We were so proud!  Vikki ran 2:15:30 and Caroline and Richard 2:52:03.   They even want to do it again  - and I might even join them.

23 September 2007: Rob Ashworth wins Anglesey marathon (by Rob McGrath)

The two Robs(Ashworth and McGrath) went to Anglesey for the marathon on Sun 23rd Sept. The early morning weather was atrocious as the high winds swept the rain in horizontally over the grey sea. However, by the start of the race the rain had stopped although the wind was as strong as ever. By 5 miles, Rob Ashworth was in the 2nd group, just ahead of Rob McGrath by about 30 sec, going through in just under 32 min, into a head wind. At this stage Rob M was in 10th place. At 8 miles, Rob A made his move on the lead group leaving all in his wake. Rob M kept a constant pace and just kept picking off the people in front of him one at a time. Meanwhile Rob A was closing in on the lead. At 18 miles Rob M had moved into 6th place and Rob A was only a few hundred yards behind the leader. Rob A finally moved into the lead at 24 miles and finished beaming in 1st place in a time of 2hr 53min 42sec, meanwhile Rob M had moved into 4th place and finally finished in 3hr 1min 9sec. Well done to Rob Ashworth for winning his first ever race!
Results. See also Welsh Daily Post report.
 

23 September 2007: End of the track at Blackpool (by Steve Boreham)

So another Track and Field season draws to a close with 13 of our athletes turning out at Blackpool Stanley park arena for the annual end of season open meeting collecting 6 medals, which as there were 470 athletes listed to compete, was a great result. The weather forecast was not promising, but low cloud and showers in the morning were replaced by warm sunny intervals in the afternoon. The list of competing clubs was vast, ranging geographically from South Lanarkshire AC from Scotland down to Tamworth AC from the Midlands and this showed in the attendance of the supporters, the grandstand being packed to capacity by 11:30 and not starting to empty until after the many heats of U9 & U11 short sprints. So the rest of us were truly grateful for the fine weather!
In terms of PB's, I don't know of any achieved today (of course I could be wrong - Ed: In fact Amy Carroll's 80m time is a PB and Sally's 80m time equalled her PB) but there were graded performances by Ellon Hart, Sally Wareing and Patsy Irizar in the U13G and by Katie Morris and Jenny Girdler in the U15G.
In the U9 Girls, once again Amy Carroll represented the club, this time trying 3 events. A time of 14.3 in the 80m gave Amy 4th place overall, 2m 29cm in the Long Jump was good enough for a Bronze medal and 3:45.8 in the 800m gave Amy another Bronze medal. I'm not sure if Amy will be remembered for all the medals she has won in the 2 Blackpool open meetings or for the shocking pink shorts she ran in!!
In the U11 Girls Rebecca Carroll was our sole entrant in this age group. A good all-round performance saw Rebecca run 14.0 in the 80m achieving 5th in her heat and 32nd overall out of 45 runners. A leap of 2m 87 cm on the long jump gained 27th place overall out of 41 entrants and finishing with a good solid performance of 3:33.3 in the 800m.
The U13 Girls competed in the 80m sprint and 800m. Ellon Hart took the Gold medal in the 800m with a Grade 2 time of 2:33.0 and finished 2nd in her heat of the 80m (6th overall) with a time of 11.3 This puts Ellon at the top of this year's 80m rankings.
Sally Wareing competed in the same events, achieving Bronze medal in the 800m with a Grade 2 time of 2:34.4 and also finished 2nd in her heat of the 80m (12th overall) with a time of 11.8 Patsy Irizar just missed out this time on a medal but can still be very proud to finish the season with a Grade 3 time of 2:40.3 in the 800m.
There were 19 runners in the U13G 800m and to have club runners finish 1st, 3rd & 6th is really a great achievement.
We had Six U15 Girls out today, In the 800m Katie Morris ended the season with another sub 2:30 time finishing a strong 4th in a Grade 3 time of 2:29.9 Sarah Murphy recording 3:15.9 in the same event.
In the 1500m Jenny Girdler ran a steady pace and was rewarded with Bronze medal in a Grade 4 time of 5:33.3 followed close behind by Catherine Hulme who finished 5th in 5:49.6.
Finally having waited all day, Lucy Whitehead and Beth McBride ran in the 200m, Lucy just edging it with 30.5 against Beth's 30.6 to finish overall 14th & 15th respectively.
No U17 or Senior women turned out today so it was over now to the boys, both of them!
In the U13 Boys our sole athlete was Graham Boreham taking the 1500m Bronze medal in a time of 5:27.7 just missing out on silver by 0.1 of a second after a titanic sprint finish with a runner from Barrow.
No U15 or U17 so over to Ste Gellett in the Senior Men's 400m, 6th place with a time of 56.2 This was more of a proving run for Ste as he is still carrying a knee injury from a training session. A positive performance then.
Full results are available on www.bwfac.co.uk

16 September 2007: Out and back at Hoylake (by Norman Marshall)

While some of our members were running track relays, we decided to go and run the Hoylake 10K; some of you will know that our chair person Sandra Waters now lives on the Wirral. The course was an out and back run on the Hoylake sea front. Down wind going out, but it didn’t feel like that. Coming back didn’t seem too bad, until the last 2K.
The first home was Tim Dickenson from Blackheath Harriers, a full minute before the 2nd.place came home. First home for the club was Mike Morgan in 40-37, the results said Mike Mireau but I think that was wrong. The winning lady was our own Ann Eggington, 40.51 beating her Rufford time, so conditions didn’t stop her - must be coming back to form, Margot Bowker 50-10 and Sandra 56.51, will this be her last race, I think she might turn up for The Seaside10K on Oct.21st in Victoria Park. Sheila Marshall found the last 2K hard, this showing in her time, two mins slower than Rufford. Norman came to do some speed work, [that’s if you can call it speed] in readiness for his Coniston Trail race in Oct. He thought 63 min. would be his time, but he ended up with a time of 65.27, not too bad, but going back to Sandra’s after made it worthwhile.
Sandra Waters adds: It was great to see that Ann got first lady and she was a good way ahead of 2nd place when she passed me on her way back! It’s a very popular race despite the publicity for it being low key. Only £6 to enter (it’s advertised as a fun run) and everyone gets a tee shirt and certificate at the end. There was a good feeling about it despite the conditions – which the organiser warned us about before the gun went off!
The race starts on the sea wall and after about 2K cuts onto a path which can make overtaking a little difficult and hard on the ankles. After passing Leasowe Lighthouse we were back on the sea wall again before the turnaround point took us back on the path. The wind was swirling to start but the nearer we got to the finish line in Hoylake, the stronger the wind became and, as Norman says, the last 2K were pretty gruelling. We all found it very trying, my own time just shows how a summer of domestic and house problems and little training can play havoc with my level of fitness. We had an intimate lunch for five – with lots of cups of hot tea!
Results
 

16 September 2007: Track Relays bring County Champs to Litherland
Late news: The under 15 boys' 4 x 100m time of 48.2 secs is now recognised as a new Merseyside Championship Best Performance. The 4 x 300m race was held for the first time as a Merseyside Championship and so our under 17 women have set a Championship Best Performance with their time of 2:56.4. Those of you who watched the National Lottery Show on BBC television on Saturday evening will know that the Litherland Sports Park, was one of three in the country to be short-listed for the Sports Project award.  In the final voting, it lost out to an over 60 fitness club (?), but it certainly put Litherland on the map and, with Club jumper Jordan Kelly featured on the programme, it was great national publicity for Southport Waterloo.
And on Sunday, the Litherland Track Relays, generously sponsored by McGoff & Vickers, brought Merseyside Relay Championships to the Litherland track as part of our inaugural open relays meeting.
It has to be admitted that we had hoped for better numbers, particularly from local clubs, and we will have to think again about the timing of this meeting; but I am in no doubt that those who came along had a very enjoyable afternoon's athletics. And virtually everyone went home with a medal - or two.
One of the attractions of relays is the excitement of team events and the noisy support from other club members.  And its a delight to see sprinters and middle distance runners mixing in the teams and bringing their individual strengths to the event. In a series of closely contested races, there was plenty to excite the athletes and spectators and more than enough to vote the meeting worth doing again.
The closeness of the encounters was evident from the very start in all of the open 100m races, including race 2 where under 17s Charlotte Buckingham and Sarah Spencer went head to head, both girls crossing the line in 14.1 secs, a season's best for Charlotte.  Then in race 3, under 13 boys Sean Vis and Graham Boreham matched each other stride for stride, both finishing in 15.4 secs, with Sean getting the nod from the track judges.
The 3K Paarlauf race attracted 6 teams of 2 runners, getting the baton around between them.  I think all the teams chose a fast 200m start and then changed every 400m - but they didn't have to.  Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton won the the senior men's race with John Sprackland / Richard Carry 2nd in 8:50.3 and Carlos Irizar / Graham Ellis 3rd in 10:30.3.  They may have been together in a fun run before but this was the first time Graham Ellis has run on the track in the same race as daughter Rhea - not that he expected to be racing as he drove to the track this morning!  Rhea was teamed up with Steph James and after their county road relay on Saturday and Rhea's knee injury they can only be delighted to win the Under 17 women's race in 9:18.3.  East Cheshire Harriers entered two Under 15 girls' teams to take the medals there, the gold being won in a remarkable 8:56.7!
Four teams contested the 3 x 800m relay and despite the mix of boys and girls and different age groups the race was very close throughout.  Once again, East Cheshire took the Under 15 girls' race with Southport Waterloo's Katie Morris, Laura Riley and Jane Ingram taking silver in 7:54.3.  The girls managed to stay ahead of the younger trio of Patsy Irizar, Sally Wareing and Ellon who finished in 7:57.2  to take gold in the Under 13 girls category.  Our Under 13 boys got the better of both our girls' teams with Niall Cullen, Gary Clark and Liam Ellis getting the baton around in 7:53.5.
The 4 x 100m relays proved to be the most popular with 11 teams taking part. Under 17s Charlotte Buckingham, Sarah Spencer, Rachael Flynn and Lauren Brennan took Merseyside gold with a run of 53.7; Under 15 girls Beth McBride, Louise Kelly, Jane Ingram and Emma Lyons took meeting silver and Merseyside gold running 54.3; Under 15 boys Joshua Murphy, Joshua Hughes, Andrew Starkey and James Armstrong gave a master class in sprinting to take Merseyside gold in 48.2 - Jordan Kelly having to drop from the team when invited to attend the National Lottery Show in London; and Under 13 boys Sean Vis, Graham Boreham, Gary Clark and Niall Cullen taking county silver behind St Helens-Sutton's gold with a run of 62.4.
The other relay within the Merseyside County Champs was the 4 x 3/400m where our Under 17 women Steph James, Sarah Docherty, Rachael Flynn and Lauren Brennan romped home in the 4 x 300m to take gold in 2:56.4 - a season's best time and now recognised as a Club record.
Our Under 15 boys were the only Southport Waterloo runners to compete in the 4 x 200m and gave another masterly display, winning in 1:44.1.
Finally, in the 200m, 200m, 400m, 800m medley relay, our Under 15 girls Louise Kelly, Emma Lyons, Jane Ingram and Katie Morris added to their medal haul with another win in 4:38.1.
These meetings cannot take place without a lot of help and the support from both Southport Waterloo athletes, mums and dads and other officials was excellent. Thanks!
Results

15 September 2007: North West Counties starts a weekend of relays

With the Merseyside County Road Relays being held together with Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Cheshire County events as the North West Road Relays on Saturday at Sefton Park in Liverpool and the Litherland Track Relays incorporating Merseyside track relays, there was certainly plenty of choice for both sprint and distance runners this weekend.
The North West Relays rotate amongst the four North West counties with Merseyside hosting this year on a slightly altered course through Sefton Park.   The number of clubs taking part looked well up on previous years for what has proved a popular course.  Southport Waterloo had runners out in various age groups although it must be said that in the younger age groups in particular a choice had to be made between the road relays on Saturday and the track relays on Sunday.
Our first runners appeared in the Under 13 Boys' race, 3 stages of 2.65 km.  Graham Boreham led off with a fine run in 10 mins 32, with George Ingram running almost exactly the same time (10:30) but picking up 2 places, and Chris Lawson bringing the team home in 11th place, picking up another place with the team's fastest time of 9:59.  That left the lads just outside the medals as 4th 'A' Merseyside team.
In the Under 15 Girls' race, run together with the Under 17 Women over 3.5 km, Sophie Kelly went off first, handing over in 10th place in 13:05.  Catherine Hulme held that position with a good 2nd leg run for 14:11 and Jenny Girdler pulled back 2 positions on the last leg, bringing the team home in 8th place with a run of 13:22.  That gave the girls bronze medals in the Merseyside championships!
Disappointingly, we had no boys to run with Jai Vernon-McGuigan in the Under 15 Boys' race.  It often happens that there are gaps in the age groups and it is unfortunately true that we are not strong in middle distance in this age group at the moment.
In the Under 17 Women's race, Louise  Leek teamed up with Rhea Ellis and Steph James.  Louise took the first leg, finishing in 10th place in 14:07. Steph James ran the 2nd leg and a strong run in 13:00 took her up to 5th place overall.  Then it was Rhea's turn and she went off confidently despite a knee injury a couple of days before.  In one of her best runs this year, Rhea pulled back another 3 places to finish 3rd overall, giving the girls silver medals in the Merseyside championships.  It was the best performance of the day in Southport Waterloo colours.  Rhea's time of 12:13 was the 2nd fastest amongst the Under 17 women, all the more remarkable with a knee that was still swollen after a fall and with a stiffness that prevented a full range of movement.
Next up were the Under 17 Men and Harry Boyd led off for us, finishing 6th in 17 mins 34 for 5.3 km.  Joe Vis was the 2nd leg runner, 18:15 , pulling back one position, followed by Patrick Vis, running 18:21 and finishing in 6th place overall.  As 2nd Merseyside team they took county silver.
With such a strong squad of Senior Women runners in the club, team manager Norman Marshall was confident that we could put out two teams in these championships and be strong medal contenders.  However, as all team managers know, there's 'many a slip twist cup and lip'.  By Saturday morning we were down to one runner and no team at all!
John Sprackland as Senior Men's team manager had better fortune, getting two teams to the start line - although that wasn't without frantic 'phone calls the night before to fill a last minute vacancy.  Junior man Michael Evans led off the 'A' team running 18:48 for 5.3 km, followed by David Hamilton, 17:12 and pulling back 10 places no less, then Rob Ashworth, 17:38, improving another 3 places, with new member Richard Shearer running our fastest leg of 16:53 to bring the team home in 15th place overall, a further improvement of 4 places.  Not a bad result but Liverpool Harriers were rampant in this event, finishing 4 teams in the top 7!  St Helens Sutton took Merseyside silver and Wirral took the bronze.
In the 'B' team, Peter Roome kicked off with 18:49 - Michael Evans just managing to hold him off on the first leg - with Rick Bowker running 17:51, then both John Sprackland Rob McGrath running 18:08.
These were good, competitive relays and very enjoyable for both runners and spectators on a warm late summer's afternoon in the park.

9 September 2007: Blackpool No 1 attracts 16 juniors

It was disappointingly cool at Blackpool for the first of their two September open medal track & field meetings but whatever the weather these meetings always attract a good field anxious to try for a late season PB or just to enjoy their athletics before the track spikes are put away until next year.
Several PBs were recorded by our enthusiastic contingent.  James Armstrong managed to break his own club record in the 400m race and Ellon Hart, Sally Wareing, Steph James and Adam Davies all recorded grade 2 performances.
One of the stars of our contingent was, however, under 9 Amy Carroll who came along with her elder sister Rebecca.  Amy fancied an 800m but after an impressive 14 girls turned up for the start of the under 11 girls race, Amy was the only under 9 and so she ran with the under 13 girls and recorded a good time of 3:42.8.  Later, in the 80m sprint, she had other runners to compete against and beat the lot of them to win in 14.4 secs.  2 gold medals from 2 events in her first athletics event! You can't get better than that!
In the under 11s, Rebecca Carroll and Lauren Deane, who train with the beginner group at Greenbank High, had their turn in both track and field.  Rebecca had the faster 80m time of 13.9 against Lauren's 14.5 but Lauren did the 800m in a good 3:04.9.  In the long jump, Rebecca cleared 3m 02 and Lauren 2m 40.
Training partners Ellon Hart and Sally Wareing were our under 13 girls, taking part in both the 200m and the 800m.  Both girls are strong 800m runners but they were up against a sub 2.30 runner, Bethany Jones from Leigh. Bethany won in 2:29 with Ellon 2nd in 2:32.9 and Sally, finishing very strongly, 3rd in 2:34.1.  Interestingly, Ellon has faster 200m and 1200m times than Bethany, supporting my view that it is just a matter of time before Ellon dips convincingly under the grade 1 time of 2:30.  Sally won her 200m heat in 30.3 and Ellon recorded a new PB time of 28.5 secs - just half a second off a grade 1 time - and yet that was only good enough for 4th place in a very strong field here today.
In the under 13 boys, Gary Clark, Graham Boreham and Jordan Angell were our runners on the track.  Jordan ran 15.1 in the 100m, took a silver with a PB 31.7 in the 200m and another PB of 2:46.9 in the 800m.  Not a bad day's work!  Gary had our fastest 800m time, a bronze medal winning PB 2:40.9, showing a nice gradual progression this year, after starting the day with a 17.0 secs 75m hurdles. Gary's 800m time puts him in 2nd place in the rankings above Graham and George Ingram so the final meeting at Blackpool in 2 weeks might be interesting!  Graham Boreham was just behind Gary in the 800m today, recording 2:43.7.
Katie Morris was our strongest under 15 girl out today.  Katie ran a grade 3 2:31.0 in the 800m, taking a bronze medal.  Training mate Catherine Hulme was in the 1500m, running 6 minutes, well outside her season's best of 5:33.  Eleanor Newton featured in the 75m hurdles running 13.7 and the long jump, clearing 4m 28 but it was the 200m that gave Eleanor a PB of 30.5 secs.
Under 15 James Armstrong came along to Blackpool for another go at the 400m and won the (under 17) event in 51.5 breaking his own club record of 51.8.
Steph James was our only under 17 girl.  With a noticeable wind, a fast PB looked unlikely but Steph easily took the gold in the 800m with 2:17.6 and a bronze in her only 300m race this season with 44.3 secs.
In the under 17 men, David Gough was on the track running a 4:46.1 1500m, taking a silver medal, and also had a go in the hammer cage where Adam Davies won the competition with another throw just under 50 metres.  In terms of personal bests, Mark hughes did well, improving his best in the hammer with 23m 03 and in the shot where his best throw of 7m 84 was a full metre improvement!
Blackpool No 2 is in 2 weeks time on Sunday 23rd September.  An entry form is on Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde's web site or on our Fixtures page.  But before then we have our own track relays meeting at Litherland next Sunday.  We should do well as a club but several age groups haven't entered yet. You have to be in it to win it!
Results for Southport Waterloo. Full results.

2 September 2007: Medals galore at Pendle open meeting (by Steve Boreham)

Ten Southport Waterloo junior athletes competed at the Seedhill stadium in the 29th Pendle AC open medal meeting collecting 12 medals between them.
The weather was not kind with heavy rain on and off (more on, actually) throughout the afternoon giving everyone a good soaking at some time.
First off was under 10 Ashleigh Jackson in the 75m heats.  Ashleigh ran strongly to win her heat in 12.5 secs and make it into the final. Another gutsy performance saw Ashleigh into 2nd place to take the silver medal in 12.75 secs. For some reason Ashleigh missed the start of the 800m but on today's confident performance is one to watch in the future.
The U13 girls were on top form again today.  Ellon Hart qualified for both sprint finals taking silver in the 100m in 14.0 secs, and another silver in the 200m (although it was a very close finish) in 29.0 secs (both Grade 2 times). The best was by far the 800m with both Ellon and Patsy Irizar putting up another excellent display of middle distance running and once again both getting grade 2 times. The 3-way battle down the finishing straight saw Ellon taking the gold in 2.35 and Patsy taking bronze in 2.36.2.
In the field events, Patsy finished just outside the medals, this time with 4th place in the shot putt.
The U15 girls saw Katie Morris taking silver in the 800m, with Catherine Hulme entered for the 1500m but retiring unwell.
In the U17 ladies, we had Louise Leek down to run in the 3000m but Louise decided on the day to change to the 800m which made her a non-counter for a medal.  However, Louise finished 4th in a time of 2.45.8.
Steph James, down to run both 200m and 400m, decided they were too close together so opted for the 400m only.  Having waited all afternoon, the 400m races were the very last track events, and being by then very damp and cold put in a good show taking gold in 59.9 secs.
The U13 boys had new athlete Jordan Angell competing for the first time for SWAC running in the 100m, then came 4th in the 200m in 32.5 secs and ran 2.55 in the 800m with a very creditable 4th place. Well done!
Graham Boreham also ran in the 800m picking up the silver medal in 2.49.3 As soon as that race had finished it was over to the field for the U13 boys long jump where he picked up the bronze medal with a rain soaked leap of 3m 35cm. Finally to the 200m where Graham picked up another bronze medal in a time of 30.8 secs (by this time it was a torrential down pour!)
Finally to the U17 men where our sole competitor did not need the steeplechase water jump to get soaking wet,.  David Gough ran a new PB 2.22.6 in the 800m for the silver medal followed by a 10.38.6 in the 3000m, again collecting the silver medal.
Carlos Irizar found a few seconds worth of dry weather to supply today's photographs.

2 September 2007:  David Hamilton 'happy birthday' (by Brian Grice)

David Hamilton celebrated his 40th birthday and graduation to the veterans' ranks by finishing a good 5th (35.02) and 1st V40 behind Horwich Harrier Rick Hayman (32.51) in the 16th annual Rufford 10K. David improved 10 seconds on his time in last year's race despite the blustery conditions on the outward section of the course. The race attracted 122 finishers, mostly club runners taking part in the Central Lancs Grand Prix, including 26 women. The organisers deliberately avoid much publicity for the race as the first 2.5 miles are along the Rufford-Southport road. Rob Ashworth made a rare road race appearance finishing 11th and 2nd V40 (36.07) a bit slower than his 35.26 last year.
Steve James was 3rd counter for the club finishing 44th and 1st V65 (39.46) and looks set to break more world best times when he moves into the next veteran category in March. In the meantime Steve is more concerned with encouraging seniors to line up in the winter's cross country fixtures which commence next month. Newcomer Brian O'Reilly was pleased with his brisk run taking 64th place (42.20) ahead of Brian Grice 108th (50.54) and Richard Hughes 112th (53.17) both of whom were pleased just to get round after very little running over the summer.
Sue Cooper ran her fastest 5 miles of the summer but faded over the last mile to just miss the 40 minute barrier finishing 2nd and 1st L50 (40.05) behind Jean Mann, Wigan Phoenix (39.17). Samantha Dean-Howard may well have won the women's race but was forced to drop out with an ankle injury. Two year's ago Ann Eggington virtually collapsed in the hot, humid conditions at Rufford but had a good run this time finishing 5th and 1st L40 (41.26) ahead of newcomer Tracey Peters 9th (44.25), Angela Delaney 11th (45.13), Karen Faloon 13th and 1st L55 (45.55) and Carole James 18th (49.07). In the second running of the Rufford 10K in 1993 a sprightly Christine Cutner was 2nd (41.58) but had to content herself with 19th place (49.28) on this occasion. Sheila Marshall ran 49.02 in the inaugural 1992 Rufford 10k and finished 24th (56.09) this time.
The next Grand Prix race is the Liverpool 10K on Sunday October 7th followed by the Southport Seaside 10K on October 21st. Incidentally the co-organiser of the Southport 10K, Darrel Soden, finished 2nd (32.37) in the 1992 Rufford 10K. As usual the Preston 10 mile completes the Grand Prix schedule. The Grand Prix rankings have been updated.