Four Fab Events!

Fab 4 at Trafford

The road and trail races have started to stack up as we move into Autumn.  Here’s what’s been going on outside of our league events.  If you haven’t seen the reports from Nicola and Anna for the final track and field events of the season click on their names and you can read about LP&S performances on those days.

Finishing off the track season we had four athletes attend the Trafford Open on 15^th August.  It was good to see Mark Roberts back after an injury hit few months back in the 800M BMC event clocking a sub 2:00 time. That’s 2 comeback races both under 2 minutes so there’s plenty more to come from him as he regains strength and race fitness.

Joe Niven was impressive in the 3000 m and finished the season off with a PB of 8:36.47 following on from a decent 5k performance in the Sale sizzler a few weeks earlier.

Sé Loughlin ran a season best in the 1500m in 4:09.13 as he builds up for the 5k and 10k road races.

The evening belonged to Sarah Yates, who finished 1^st in her 800m heat with a 2:30.40.  Sarah led from the front confidently and the result was never in doubt.

The Fab 4 at Halewood

Our friends at Knowsley Harriers do a great job of putting on some really good events throughout the month.  In addition to the monthly 5k Knowsley put on a 4 mile race, which has become very popular, it’s aptly named the Fab 4.

This month we had five athletes taking part with stand out performances from debutant Dave Cartwright, who finished in 25:43, and Sarah Yates, who seems to be running 8 days a week at the moment, finishing in 26:09.

Our very own Rocky Racoon, Mark Hudson, finished 2^nd in his age category with finish time of 26:51, whilst Rachel Yates made it a successful family trip finishing 1^st in her age category in 27:12.  Stephen Lennon, donning the LPS vest for the 1^st time in a while came 3^rd in his category with a strong 28:45.

The 4^th Harrock Hill Race

On 23^rd August another of the running series closed with a team of 9 LPS runners ready to do battle for the cabbage and courgettes. 

Jake Dickinson was impressive in 2^nd place whilst our over the “Harrock” Hill Mob all performed well with notable performances on the night from Thomas Harkin and Andrew Foster, finishing 2^nd and 3^rd in the M50 category and Chris Pedder who was the 1^st M65 in 42:58.

In the ladies’ race, Joanna Durkin and Jate Clancy also finished 2^nd and 3^rd in the W40 category

As this was the final event of the 4 race series, the overall winners were announced. Super performances throughout the series by Mark Hudson meant that he won the M60 category and Chloe Leather, fresh from her England call up for the mountain running event in Snowdon, showed that the Parbold “Mountains” are no barrier as she won overall female.

Antrim Coast Half Marathon

We had two runners in the Antrim Coast Half marathon at the weekend, Tom Fair really was “Top of the Mornin’” and finished in an impressive 75:26 putting him in 29^th place overall.

Over in the ladies elite race, Kirsty Longley, finished in 1:24.15 despite feeling a tweak or strain during the race and taking it more cautiously.

Mid Cheshire 5K

You know that summer is coming to an end when the 2^nd Mid Cheshire 5k of the year happens. It’s certainly one of the best quality 5k races in the calendar, this year attracting athletes such as Samantha Harrison and James West.

LP&S had 7 athletes running on the night with some excellent performances.  Chris Melling and Tom Mattack continued their rich vein of form with PBs on the night.  Chris with a time of 16:46 and Tom with 17:02.just 1 second behind Paul Milburn. Our other Chris, Chris Maher finished in a very credible 16:14.

Izzy Livesley ran a great 20:09, off the back of training for other events, so to come within spitting distance of her PB was very encouraging.

Bernie Murphy continues to roll back the years with a solid 18:43, though something must be in the genes as his teenage daughter was 30 seconds ahead in a super 18:13.

Se Loughlin continues to improve as the season progresses and was delighted to nip under the 15 minute mark ensuring season’s best time of 14:59. It was a good test against some excellent athletes and he was delighted to finish 12 seconds ahead of Sam Harrison, who took the female course record on the night.