Accrington road runners was formed in 1985 and presently train at the
recently refurbished Wilson playing field facility in Clayton-le-Moors, Accrington.
The final race of the season, and the scene was set for an exciting afternoon of racing. Sarah was on course for the overall individual championship and our ladies team had a good chance of winning the 2nd division title. After a tense journey up we arrived to see our arch rivals Chorley limbering up next to their massive tent. Michael Leeming was sent to listen in on their team talk while our girls warmed up out of sight at the other side of the field. This seemed to work quite well as Michael reported back that the Chorley team thought we hadn’t arrived and the title was theirs for the taking. Their faces soon dropped when our girls arrived at the start line looking very focused, accompanied by our supporters all in matching “team hoodies”. Once the race started we didn’t have it all our own way, and at the halfway stage we were in second place. Sarah made a great start to lead, after the first lap she was briefly challenged but eventually won by a comfortable margin to clinch the overall championship. Nicola and Gretel timed their race perfectly, carving through the field on the last lap, overtaking a number of runners (being coached by Team Barnes) to finish strong and give us a win by 6 places. Overall we finished the top ladies team on the day from 15 in total.
Big thanks to Michael Leeming and Chris Barnes for giving up their afternoon and driving up to Cumbria to support our ladies. Also to all the ladies that have competed this season in the league and helped us win the division and gain promotion to the 1st division in only our second season.
1st Sarah Ridehalgh 19:35 13th Nicola Wood 22:12 14th Gretel Jackson 22:24
Division 2 - final table 1. Accrington 2. Chorley 3. Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde 4. Kendal AC 5. Lytham St. Annes RR 6. Clayton-le-Moors 'B' #NUM! 7. Glaxo Hoad Hill Harriers
Submitted by: Graham Morris
March 2010
Title: Noonstone Fell Race
Location: Todmorden
Date: Mon 01/Mar/2010
First of our fell races this season, Noonstone - advertised as Todmorden's toughest race for its harsh terrain making it one for the true fell runner. It tests speed, stamina, and navigational skills, as much of the route is unmarked. The route has 2300ft of ascent over 9 miles and this year was part of the English Championships. With limited entries available we had 4 runners competing, Chris was our first runner to finish, although not fully fit, his time put him comfortably in the top half. Vicci gained 100 club points as our first lady; she finished 26th overall in the ladies race from over 100 competing - well done. Next in Debbie, her time was good enough to place her 6th in her age group. Great run by Steve Davies he finished a fantastic 2nd in his age group. Well done to you all. 429 runners completed the race with Matthew Speak of Dark Peak winning in a great time of 68 minutes, the ladies winner was Olivia Walwyn of Altrincham in 78;38.
Chris Barnes 1:29:29 Vicci Mousley 1:35:27 (26th lady) Debbie Gowans 1:36:48 (32 lady 6th V45) Steve Davis 1:54:12 (2nd V70)
Submitted by: Graham Morris
February 2010
Title: Cross Country - Mens Race Wilsons 2010
Location: N/A
Date: Sat 20/Feb/2010
Although our ladies are very good; “just for the record” the men’s times are slower because their race is longer!!!! The men couldn’t match the ladies result, but did perform well: overall the team finished 13th from 19 teams with the vet 40 men an impressive 6th from18. The general trend for Accrington Road Runners seems to be improvement, whether in team relays or individual races the times just get better. This cross country was no exception, from the 13 men competing, 5 ran last year and all improved by a combined time of 20 minutes.
Graham Morris 36:03 - 2:30 faster than 2009 Matthew Baldwin 38:50 - strong finish to overtake Glen on last lap Glen Goodwin 38:54 - great run – first time under 40 for a cross country Andrew Bush39:21 - also first time under 40 mins Steve Ball 40:45 - great time in first race back after injury David Gaskill 41:49 - 3:00 faster than 2009 Philip Morton 44:38 – good improvement on last race David Graham 45:45 - 6:00 faster than 2009 Paul Calverley 45:55 - could have been faster if hadn’t missed the start!! Peter Waring 47:29- good time in first cross country Ged Kitchen 47:56 - 4:00 faster than 2009 Neville Watson 48:59 – under 50 mins for first XC – well done Nev Michael Leeming 54:01- 6:00 faster than 2009
Submitted by: Graham Morris
February 2010
Title: Cross Country - Ladies Race Wilsons 2010
Location: N/A
Date: Tue 16/Feb/2010
Yet again another fantastic performance from our ladies at Wilson’s in the Mid Lancashire Cross Country League. They finished 2nd overall from 21 teams, just beaten by Liverpool AC. With only one race remaining they look certain to be promoted into the 1st division. We had 10 ladies competing with the first five all finishing in the top 20 and 6 improving on their 2009 times. Well done girls.
Sarah went “one better” than last year by finishing 4th overall; 40 seconds quicker and kept her position on top of the individual league. Debbie also finished 40 seconds faster and was 2nd overall in her age group. Vicci bettered her 2009 time by over a minute and was closely followed by Julie, our most improved lady on the day, she finished 2 ½ minutes up on last year. Nicola and Gretel both in the top 30 ended the race within a minute of each other. Louise in only her second cross country finished strong in a great time with Carole (45 seconds better than 2009) a further minute behind. Fiona made a great debut for the team finishing under 30 minutes, followed by Alison also improving her time from last year. Thank you to everyone that came to support the team.
A freezing cold Sunday morning saw a handful of Accy runners- those with a bad conscience for missing the cross-country and those who just like races with ridiculous hills. The Blackburn winter warmer is famous for its first 2 1/2 miles which just climb up and up . After that its quite a pleasant mix of downhill, a small hill and then some off road through Pleasington and Witton parks. The race was won by Ben Fish in a course record, Leanne Sheehy was first woman home. Accy runners felt is was not a day for personal bests especially as we were hampered by ropes and crampons! Shaun Livesey 38.29 John Wieczorek 40.55 Dave Smith 47.13 Larry Greenwood 49.29 Nancy Bailey 50.59 Peter Blackledge 54.03 David Heppenstall 57.54
