LOUTH AC REPORT – W/E 28TH JANUARY 2018
Folksworth 15 mile race (near Peterborough) – Sunday 21st January 2018
Now in its 29th year, the route takes in some great scenery over two laps of an undulating course, all on country roads. With three fairly steep hills on each lap the course is testing.
Nick Marsh had a good run at the Folksworth 15 mile road race, running in a snow blizzard throughout and struggled to stay on feet at times. Nick finished 12th overall out of 433 entries and 5th Vet 45 age category in a time of 1 hr 34 min 17 secs in the worst conditions that he had ever raced in. This was a great training race for Nick as he prepares for the Manchester Marathon in April hoping for a time of around 2 hrs 45 mins.
Northern Cross Country Championships – Harewood House near Leeds – Saturday 27th January 2018
This is the first time that Northern Athletics have used this venue, and it provided excellent races in the landscaped South Park below Harewood house itself. On the day with inclement weather, and after plenty of rain in the week leading up to the race, there were inevitably some tough muddy sections but also some stretches of fast running with plenty of variety with some testing hills, while strong winds added to the challenge.
6 me
mbers of Louth AC took part in the Championships and did the club proud.
In the senior female competition there were 435 competitors and the first home was Kerry Stainton 186th in 41 min 09 secs, followed by Trudy Roberts 319th in 46 min 56 secs and Jane Cope 381st in 51 min 09 secs.
In the junior races starting with the Under 13 Girls, Evie Brooks 66th from 235 finishers and was Club performance of the day. The Under 15 Girls Hannah Reid 81st from 186 finishers. A top half finish is always a great achievement at this level. The Under 15 Boys Matthew Spendlove 141st from 197 finishers. A great performance considering he will still be in the Under 15 age group for the 2018/2019 Cross Country season.
Ferriby 10 – Sunday 28th January 2018
The race is hosted by the City of Hull Athletic Club every winter since the early 1950s with some course changes due to construction of new roads. 6 members of Louth AC took part in the popular Ferriby 10 mile hilly course run from Skidby, anti-clockwise around the East Yorkshire villages, back to Skidby Mill via a final 700m steep climb to the finish. The weather conditions were variable with a headwind for the first half and for the majority of runners finished in the warm winter sunshine.
From the UK Athlete website listings 5 members had completed the 10 mile for the first time and a 6th member achieved a Personal Best.
There were 708 runners out of 850 entries. Jack Darnell continuing his great form ran an excellent race in a time of 01.05.48, 63rd overall and 24th out of 73 in the senior male age category.
Kerry Drewery is another member who is racing very well finishing 267 and 6th out of 67 in the Veteran 45 category 01.18.58.
Ruth Edison ran a controlled competitive race and was rewarded with a time of 01.21.30 finishing 314 and 11th out of 67 in the Veteran 45 age category.
Betty Gash ran a determined race, starting off well in the first mile but found the headwind a challenge, however was able to race more fluently in the second half on the mainly flat straights and downhills to finish 337 in 01.22.46. To win the Veteran 55 age group category and taking 3 minutes 26 seconds of her previous Veteran Personal Best.
Shirley Willett ran an excellent race to dip under the 1 hour 30 minutes to 01.29.24 finishing 459 and 14th out of 33 in the Veteran 50 age category.
Kate Simons, a new member to the club, worked hard to complete the distance in 01.31.21 and finished 487 and 25th out of 56 in the Veteran 40 Age category.
Amanda Young is racing consistently and finished 503 and 16th out of 33 in the Veteran 50 age category in 01.32.41.