Bike Ride - Sunday 3rd January

We are meeting up this Sunday 3rd January at Atherton Train Station at 9.20am to set off at 9.30am for a low key bike ride, probably 2 loops of the duathlon course which is around 24 miles in total.

Everyone more than welcome.

If in the event of bad weather check the blog or ring 01942 799162.

Monthly Club Meeting

Hi All

Monthly club meeting this Sunday, all welcome.

Committee meeting 7pm and main meeting from 8pm.

Happy New Year, hope 2010 brings you all that you wish for!

Pete

Training - Monday 4th Jan

All

A reminder that training on Monday 4th Jan is AT THE TRACK

Cheers

Christmas Handicap

With conditions around the Gin Pit trails still treacherous, the Annual Christmas 4 mile Handicap was transferred at short notice to the track at LSV.

16 hardy souls turned out for 16 laps of the track on a cold, windy and wet morning. Simon Ford, nursing a slight niggle, pulled out of the race at the last minute, but was very active as he cleared one corner of the track of ice.

Recording the number of laps completed by the runners was a bit of a nightmare, but was well controlled by Cerys Baines, whose father almost made a hash of things when he took over for the final part of the race.

The eventual winner was Peter Mulleady, who unbeknown to the handicapper, had completed a 38min + PB for the 10km a few days before. Had this been known prior to the event, then his handicap would have been much more severe. Nevertheless, Pete performed extremely well on the day, completing what I suspect is another PB for 4 miles and recording the 2nd fastest time of the day, 2 seconds behind Mark Riches.

The runner-up was Suzanne Gregory, who ran extremely strongly throughout the race and with an actual time of 31:00 collected the award for Run of the Day.

3rd was Craig Bradbury, looking something like his old self, just over-taking Carole Baines on the last lap who finished 4th. A host of runners soon followed with Terry Gardiner 5th, Mark Riches 6th and Steve Foster 7th.

Terry Hughes and Josie Maley set off together and ran the whole race together except for the final 100metres when Josie stretched her legs to finish 8th, with Terry in 9th. Josie will be a valuable asset to the Ladies Team and the club in general during the 2010 Road Season.

Next came Fiona Saunders, very pleased with a PB of 37:23, closely followed by Wayne Babynec.

Gary Atherton and Rufus Bennett came in 12th and 13th respectively, and Laura Babynec stuck to the task well to finish 14th.

Helen Minshall, completing her 3rd race in few days crossed the line in sub 40 time with the eccentric Dave Pritchard, who has made a habit of running the race in fancy dress, bringing up the rear.

Full Times as follows:-

Click on image to enlarge

Ribble Valley 10km

Peter Mulleady made a last ditch attempt to stay in the 2010 premier league by making the trip to Clitheroe to compete in the ever popular and fast Ribble Valley 10km.

Peter clocked a very impressive 38.48 just finishing behind the ever consistent Steve Coleman who did 38.41

Other finishers were Paul Mason 49.33, Helen Minshall 58.32 and Joanne Fairhurst 68.48.

Christmas Handicap Pictures - Supplied by Emma Stevens

Helen you should not be smiling at the camera !

Mark, Rufus and Peter battle it out.

Dressed to impress Dave Prichard

Terry and Josie

"Does my bum look big in this?" says Fiona

The two Gary's

Wayne Babynec

Steve Foster

Super timekeeping!

Monday / Wednesday Training

We will no longer be posting the Monday and Wednesday training sessions on the blog or Internet.

A copy of the training schedules will be emailed or can be requested by emailing a committee member.

These schedules are for members only.

Bike Ride

Again due to the hazardous conditions we have cancelled the planned bike ride for the 29th December.

Xmas Handicap

Hi All

Change of plan now for the Xmas handicap. The trails are lethal at the moment. We could have a handicap race but the initial plan was handicapping by time not with broken arms and legs! So we are going to have it at the track. Same time and format , meeting at 10.30 for 11am start, bring something with you and everyone takes something home with them (hopefully something different!).

Cheers
Pete

Whinberry Naze Fell Race-Boxing Day

This race wasn’t about times and P.B.’s, it was about the club getting together and having a good day out in the fells..........and that’s exactly what we did.

The smiles on the photos speak for themselves.

There was no let up in the wintry conditions, but that didn’t stop a dozen of A&T’s finest donning silly hats, red noses (some not intentional) and fancy dress to run this annual event.
There was a great atmosphere from the minute we landed at Marl Pits.

After registration there was a photo call at the start line and then we were off. Although this is one of the shorter fell races, the start goes straight up, no messing, into a steep climb. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to look back from the top at all the runners in a variety of fancy dress gear, including one brave soul who wore only a bow tie and a thong!! This also gave an opportunity to throw snowballs at our club mates as they clambered up.

Santa and his helpers were at the trig point dishing out tubes of Smarties to everyone before we started the descent back to the village. Franz Klammer would have been proud of us as we threw ourselves down the icy slope to the finish line, and of course someone had to end up on his backside. Good job no one was around to photograph it, eh Mark? (Told everyone afterwards that it was his special superhero slide......ok mate)

A great time was had by all and I’m sure that there’ll be a few more turning out next year once word gets around.

Runs of the day go to Helen Minshall and Marcus Taylor who were running their first fell race.
Well done to Brenda - 5th lady and first Lady V45

Link to race photos

Thanks to everyone who took part.

Christmas Canter Bike Ride - CANCELLED

Due to the hazardous conditions we have decided to re-schedule the Christmas Canter Bike Ride up Horwich until Sunday 10th January.

In the meantime if the weather improves we will be doing a low key training ride locally on Tuesday 29th meeting at Atherton Train Station at 9.45am.

This is likely to be 2 loops of the duathlon course.

I will post confirmation on Monday evening.

CLGP Celebration Evening - Saturday 16 January

Hope you're all enjoying the Christmas festivities....here's something to add to your new 2010 calendars.

*Curry Night along with a quiz, karaoke and music*

Date: Saturday 16 January

Venue: Miners' Welfare, Gin Pit Village

Doors open at 7.30 pm until midnight

Menu:
Chicken curry and rice
Naan bread
Samosa
Popadoms, red onions, salad and sauces

Vegetarian option:
Mixed vegetable curry
Chick peas and potatoes

Cost to members: free of charge

Cost to non members: £5

If you would like to attend please drop me a quick email sharonandwarren@tiscali.co.uk
advising whether or not you will be bringing a guest and if the vegetarian option is required.

Many thanks

Sharon Adair
Social Events Organiser
Astley & Tyldesley Road Runners

Xmas Night Out - Wednesday 30th December

Just a note to say we are having our usual Xmas pub crawl up Tyldesley on Wednesday 30th December meeting in the George and Dragon at 7.30pm.

Xmas Handicap - Wednesday 30th December

Wednesday 30th December

Hi everyone. Just a quick reminder about our traditional Christmas Handicap which takes place on 30th December.

Those wishing to compete should arrive at Gin Pit by 10.30 am for a 11 o'clock start.
The course, as usual, will be 2 large loops of the Gin Pit 5 - approximately 4 miles in total therefore.
Each competitor should bring a bottle and the winner gets first choice of prizes, the second-placed gets second choice and so on.
Everyone in the club will be given an handicap time and start times for each individual will be staggered. The idea is that everyone crosses the finishing line at approximately the same time.

This really is a very informal event and no matter what your ability you will not feel out of place or daunted. Literally anyone can win.

Hope to see you all there. In the meantime have a great Christmas

Garry.

Christmas Canter Bike Ride 28/12 - Update

The weather forecast tells us that from boxing day onwards we are in for the big thaw so if it is correct the bike ride up Horwich will still be on.

Bob wants all cyclist if possible to bring a spare inner tube.

A couple of the cyclist have suggested making the bike ride even harder by doing it out and back so we hit more hills but after taking advice from Bob we shall see how people feel around 15 miles (Horwich barn).
We are meeting at Atherton Train Station at 9.45am to set off at 10am.

Keep posted to the blog to check the latest news.

Have a great Xmas.

Xmas Training

Hi All

Between Christmas and New Year we will meeting daily 9.30am at Gin Pit for a steady run. Everybody welcome, nobody will be left on their own.

There’s also the fancy dress fell run on the 26/12, bike ride on the 28/12 and A&T Christmas handicap on the 30/12.

Have a great Christmas & New Year!

Pete

Boxing Day Night Out

The hardy souls that are taking part in the Marl Pits fell race on Boxing Day are having a few drinks around Tyldesley in the evening.
Everybody is welcome to join them - meeting in the George at 7.30

Marls Pits Boxing Day Fell Race

What a better way to blow off the cobwebs after a hearty Christmas dinner than getting your fancy dress kit on and running up a hill! No seriously..that is exactly what this blog is about.

We'll be going up to Marl Pits, Rossendale for an 11.30 race start. Fancy dress is optional (but preferred), and there are prizes for the best, maybe we could have an A&T theme?
Sweets will be dished out at summit by Santa.
The run is 4 miles with only 750' of ascent making it a perfect run out for fell debutants.
Anyone interested can email me or meet up at 10 am on Boxing Day at Atherton Railway Station with the rest of us.

£3.00 entry on the day.

It should be a right laugh..Go on..you know you want to!

Paul Jackson

X country champs - standings after race 9

A&T x-country – Burnley 19 December 2009

We had a little snow on Friday night so I got a text message from Simon Ford on Saturday morning asking if the race would still be on. I told him that it is VERY unusual for x-country to be cancelled. However, I got a phone call a couple of hours later when I was about 5 minutes away from Townley Park; - it was Simon. “It’s snowing really hard in Leigh are you sure the race will be on?” We decided unless he got a note from his Mum there was no getting out of it!

Despite the conditions (see above) we had a good turnout, 14 runners (including Simon!)

Our 3 ladies arrived about 10 minutes before the start & set off to tackle the snow covered course with little or no warm-up. Mary-Anne, with only her third outing on the country, was the first A&T finisher with another great run. Brenda Wane & Carole Baines both had good runs with Brenda making it 6 wins out of 6 starts in the 35 & over category

Next it was the turn of the men with 3 large laps; first A&T finisher (as usual) was Simon with another impressive run (despite spending most of the morning trying to get out of it!) Yours truly, Mark Riches, spent the first lap & a bit trying to catch Peter Mulleady & managed to pull away slightly (less than a minute at the finish). The fast finishing Shaun Moran also managed to catch Peter & he was catching me too but ran out of course! Mark Ruscoe was next, after going through a bad patch during the race, followed by good runs by Terry Gardiner, Mark Lysycia & Derek Coop (Mark beating Derek for the first time in X-country race) Steve Foster, Craig Bradbury & Terry Hughes completed the line-up with solid runs

Next race Beacon Park, Skelmersdale Saturday 16th January 2010 – see you all there

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Link to XC Photos

Presentation Night Raffle

All,

It is the clubs presentation night on Saturday as I am sure you are all aware.

It is customary for us to hold a raffle with all of the proceeds being added to the money that was raised at the Gill Pimblott Memorial 5k race.

Will members that are attending on Saturday please bring along a donation for the raffle - bottle / chocolates etc.

Hopefully, with a good turnout at the do and a good raffle we will take the money raised to over £1000

Thank you

The committee

A&T cross-country 19/12/09

All

The next race in the x-country champs is this Saturday at Townley Park Burnley

This is a Mid Lancs race so please wear the number you wore at the previous Mid Lancs race at Kendal. If you didn't race at Kendal then I will provide you with a number on the day

Start times - ladies 2:00 pm & men 2:30 pm

For those of you wanting to travel in convoy please be at Atherton train station ready to leave at 12:30

Travel directions & parking information

"Leave the M65 at Junction 9 & take the A679 East heading for Halifax. In about ½ mile turn right onto the A646 & continue for 2 - 3 miles to traffic lights at the junction with the A671. Turn left & continue to the Townley Park entrance at the bottom of the hill, ignoring signs to the golf course & picnic site

Park in the car park at the back of the park - not by Townley Hall A parking charge has been introduced & was 80p last year. Do not park on the access roads as there are wardens likely to fine you!"

Postcode for Satnav BB11 3RQ

Cheers

Mark

Longridge 7

2 A&T runners travelled to Preston to compete in the gruelling Longridge 7, a notoriously tough road race.

Mary Anne Tracey Aguera showed her quality and capped off another solid year in the blue vest by finishing 1st lady in an impressive 47.23, surely a sub 40 Min's 10km is only a race or two away.

Mr consistent John Foulds clocked 51.40.


http://www.ukresults.net/2009/longridge7.html

Thank You by John Lee

Just a quick note to say a big thank you to Bob, Craig and the timekeepers for organising the A&T duathlon series, it was a fantastic event.

Keep up the good work and hope we do more events during 2010.

1st A&T Paarlauf - By Peter Chan

Around 29 runners from A&T and (some guests) gathered at Sport Village for the 1st ever A&T Christmas Paarlauf…. The weather on the night could well have been worse … but not much!!! .. It started off with that type of rain that gets you very wet and gradually got worse.

I was ably assisted by Lindsey Carter in keeping score on which teams had completed how many laps … does not sound too hard but when peoples numbers started dropping off and the rain came down harder… how Lindsey managed to write on a wet piece of paper was straight out of the Ray Mears ‘How To’ guide.

The race was actually quite a closely run thing and a very competitive evenings session, it was unfortunate we had 1 person short but two absolute heroes, Scott Christey and Steve Foster agreed to do 400s and did fantastic to keep this going for the full 40 minutes of the Paarlauf…. A really gutsy evenings training from both those guys.

As we got underway the first group set off at ultra impressive speed and by the hand over at 200m I was a bit worried and asking myself “ooh err did I mention it was a 40 mins continuous relay”

More drama was to come for team 6 who lost one of their men (Steve) after the 1st 200m due to what looked like a strained hamstring … I hope Steve was ok afterwards as my time was taken trying to count teams and shout numbers back to Lindsey… Special mention must go to Cerys Baines who slotted into team 6 to help out Louise Chan and Paul Jackson who had actually been running 400s since Steve dropped out ……and that meant at one time we had Mum Carole, Dad Garry and young Cerys all on track at the same time … a very proud moment I am sure for all of them… and brought a smile to my face also… after all it’s what athletics is all about…. Continuity.

The teams were chosen by approximate race times and drawing numbers but by halfway it became obvious that the groupings were bringing some very exciting races and at one point around halfway a mere 80m separated the first 3 teams, 20m the next 3 teams and the rest not far behind, so… as was hoped…. The contest came down to a combination of strength, speed, teamwork and pure endurance.

It was fantastic to see the effort and determination of all the teams a real credit to the club and especially from the people who do not normally come down to the track, not for the first time I was extremely proud to be a member of A&T, as an indication of the sheer effort I actually considered for a moment ending it at 35 minutes because people seemed to be working so hard and suffering so much …… this thought left me after around 3 seconds and was replaced by a wry somewhat disturbed smile.

After the full 40 mins had elapsed everyone looked totally spent and ready to stop, but we had a clear winner and a close 2nd place.

In first place was team 9 with Mark Ruscoe, Michaela Shaw and Robin Chan just holding off team 8 of Pete Mulleady, Mark Crowley and Terry Gardiner by around 80m.

As I said before it was a foul night weather wise, of course that was all forgotten when we did get underway, but a huge round of applause to everyone who came along.

I intend to make this a Bi-annual competition with a summer version also being held.

This was our first such event and of course any suggestions to improve the format are very welcome.

A very Merry Christmas to all our members and in fact anyone else out there reading this.

Peter C.

Duathlon Championships Race 3 13th December. Written by Craig Bradbury.

In the final race of a fascinating series,numbers were down due to illness,injuries and Christmas parties but the bitterly cold frosty morning didn't dampen anyone's spirits.Bob took charge of the stopwatch and ably assisted by Debbie they set us all off.

It was great to see Gary Stevens back, amazing considering he had major surgery less than two months ago,but he didn't seem any the worse for doing it as he powered up Newbrook Road!!.I think Bob and Debbie were ready for taking refuge in Bob's car when Rufus turned up , a touch late.Understandable as he was still enjoying a Jack Daniels or two at 5.30.a.m. yet he still put in a good performance.

Everyone back safe and well and off for the run.

Pete Chan,Sean Spillaine and Rufus were soon breaking away from the pack to form a big gap.One of the great successes of the series,Gary Atherton,was unfortunately forced to drop out of the run due to a back injury.The performance of the day must surely go to Sonia Gadsby who knocked a massive 7 minutes off last month's effort.Congratulations to all Category winners and overall champion Peter Chan who has shown what an awesome athlete he is.Thank you to the timekeeping ladies without whom there would have been no series.

Due to popular demand we will be doing a "one off" Duathlon in February,details of which will be posted on the Blog.

3rd Race results

Final Standings

The Innaugral Christmas Paarlauf

Reminder to ALL members - lets have a big turnout and make this a great night

A&T will be holding the innaugral Christmas Paarlauf at Sport-Village running track on Monday the 14th of December, Arrive at 6.15 for a 6.30 start.

What is it?

A Paarlauf is a team relay with 2 or 3 team members (in our case it will be teams of 3). Each team member runs 200m and ‘tags’ the next member, who then sets off for 200m and so on. So before we start 1 team member will be on the start line and 1 at the 200m point. Once underway the 3rd team member will go stand on the start line (where the last one has just set off) and wait for their team member to come round and set them off … thus we then have 3 team members on the track at one time.

We will do this continuous relay for 40 minutes and the winning team is the one covering most distance in that time.

Teams will be drawn on the day, and any ‘tweaks’ made to try and ensure all the teams are as equal as possible.

Numbers will be provided but bring your own pins (if anyone has a box of pins ….. please bring it along also)

Prizes for the first 2 teams to finish.

This will be a good training session, a competitive race but above all a great deal of fun and a fantastic ‘no pressure’ opportunity for non regulars to sample running on the track …. So please let’s try and get as many along as possible because the more we have the better the event will be.

GREAT LANGDALE XMAS PUDDING 10K BY MARK LYSYCIA

Derek Coop, our good friend Barry Almond from Horwich RMI and I, drove over ninety minutes for this 10k road race which is described as ”a beautiful, undulating run along England’s most beautiful valley", I'm certainly not going to disagree with that! The stunning scenery and gorgeous sunshine, even if it was freezing cold, helped make this a very enjoyable race.

With a large field of 446 runners, this race was staged over two days, with 378 on the Sunday race. Not an event to record a PB, partly due to the 1100 feet climb and the second 5k descent which was 1050 feet (thanks Barry for your Garmin statistics!) It's a bit like being on a roller coaster, so anyone who does the Langdale half and full marathon, hats off to you and total respect (mad I would say!)

However, having said that Derek ran a brilliant race and finished 38th overall and 4th in his age category, with a PB this year of 40.20.

I had Derek in my sights from the start, but once he’s in front of you, he's very hard to catch. As you can see from the picture, Derek slipped on black ice, cut his leg, grazed his hand and had to have some first aid treatment from the St John’s Ambulance.

Winning time was 33.05 by Lee Cook of Tri Clan. I was still pleased with my fiftieth position, sixth in my age category and a PB for me this year of 41.05. This is nearly a minute faster than I did on this same race three years ago.

We stayed at the finish to see Barry come in at 120th in 46.28, which was a great time considering he told us both he just wanted to “jog it round today and enjoy the stunning scenery”.

We immediately collected our prizes; a large Xmas pudding (what else?), and devoured a few mince tarts. As you can see from the picture Derek tried to tackle his in one, tin foil included!

We then headed over to the ambulance to sort out Derek's leg.

Presentations were held in the Sticklebarn Tavern, with everyone drinking hot coffee, chocolate and hot gluhwein. We sipped our energy drinks aka Guinness at the bar. We also had another free mince tart, (hot this time) and soaked up the post-race atmosphere. I think Derek had his eye on another mince tart, think it was his fourth! He changed his mind and ordered a large plate of chips instead, which were delicious. Unfortunately he then soaked them with at least six grams of salt, the daily RDA, pepper and red sauce. I’m sure this was only to put me off having some more!

Not only did the legendry Ron Hill do the race himself, he also handed out the prizes.

Pictured here are the three of us chilled out and relaxed after having enjoyed a superb day out in the Lake District, well worth the long drive……

A&T Christmas Canter Bike Ride - Sunday 10th Janaury

Christmas Canter - Sunday 10th Janaury
(Re-arranged from the 28th December due to bad weather)

Meeting at Atherton Train Station 9.45 to set off at 10am prompt.

For those who are interested in a little festive fun pedalling off that turkey then you won't want to miss this, oh i should have mentioned the fact we are heading up towards Horwich moors with a couple of tough climbs!!

This ride is geared (pardon the pun) towards athletes who have some biking experience as it will be quite tough, the ride will last around 2 hours and is approx 30 miles in distance.
This is a group ride and as Bob would say 'its not a race'

We are hoping for a nice morning to do the ride but in the unlikely event of thick ice or snow then ring me on 01942 799162 to check the ride is on or keep posted to the blog.

Everyone is welcome including our friends from Leigh Harriers who have took part in the recent duathlons.

For more information see Craig Bradury, watch this space for more information.

For any cyclist interested in a less enduring bike ride I'm sure that can be arranged just drop me a line on stevensgary@hotmail.com or again see Craig Bradbury at training.

Regards, Gary Stevens.

Message from Matt Crompton

For anyone fancying a bit of a change from running over Christmas or some extra training, I've got 2 complimentary passes for David Lloyd Health club in Bolton.

The passes are for 12 days and are available (for starting) until the 18th December. For those who arent familiar with whats on offer at the club here's a quick insight:

Gym with all the latest cardiovascular and resistant equipment as well as an extensive free weights area.
Indoor and outdoor pool
2 squash courts
8 tennis courts
Badminton
Over 80 weekly classes on offer covering all the normal things you would expect.
Sauna, Steam and Jacuzzi.

All the above is included in the complimentary passes.

If anyones interested drop me an email to mailto:mattycrompton25@hotmail.com or call me on 07736572429.

Cheers
Matt

Swimming

1. Thursday Nights at Howe Bridge...

1.1.  Open Session at 7:30-8:30 - I believe this is still on (and it's free once you've got a Wigan Lifestyle card). Not sure if anyone goes to this session at present.

1.2  Howe Bridge Marlins Session at 9:30-10:30 (run by Dan Reasons Dad - Dave Reason). This is a swim fit session with training plans & coaching organised by Dave each week. It's £3 and they'd be glad to get more people down as they're struggling for members at present (Sometimes there's only about 5 or 6 people in the whole pool). All abilities are catered for.

People who normally go: Terry H, Mark Ruscoe, Brenda & Lyndsay. I think Craig Brad is going to start back now and Paul Bohannon.

2. Sunday Nights at Horwich Leisure Centre...

2.1 Swim fit Session - This has stopped while Pool is being re-furbished. Starts in February.  It used to cost about £3.50, but not sure what prices will be. Pool membership is available for about £15 per month (but they can't seem to make their mind up whether the Sunday night Swim Fit is session covered by the £15 membership fee). Was normally 5:30-6:30.

People who normally go: Terry Hughes, Mark Ruscoe, Brenda, Lyndsay & Craig Brad.


3. Other sessions available...

3.1 Mon 6:30-7:30 Tyldesley Baths

3.1 Fri 8:00-9:00 Walkden Baths (Howe Bridge Marlins Session)

3.2 Sat 5:30-6:30 Tyldesley Baths (Howe Bridge Marlins Session)


People who normally go: These are extra sessions, not regularly attended. I think Brenda, Mark & Craig have been to the Monday session a couple of times. Craig Little regularly goes to the Saturday session (which is really aimed at very good swimmers).

All above information supplied by Terry Hughes with thanks.

Sorry for the delayed report but I’ve been invading Poland all week.

17 A&T runners turned up at Guys Thatched Hamlet near Garstang for the final Road Championship Race of the season on Sunday.

After a delayed start and a heavy downpour, the race got underway in near perfect conditions with a flat fast 10 mile course ahead of the runners.

A new course record was set by Antony Ford of Sale Harriers who completed the run in an impressive 48:52. He was closely followed by Ben Fish of Blackburn.

First home for A&T was Simon Ford, finishing 15th overall and smashing his PB (yet again) to record 57:42. Simon has truly enjoyed a memorable last half to the season and will feature prominently in the 2010 races.

Paul Mannion was the 2nd A&T finisher in 1:04:15, having strolled round the course. Steve Coleman gave him a run for his money and crossed the line one second behind, marking the end of a fine season for him.

Rufus Bennett and Mary-Anne were neck and neck in the last half mile with Rufus just having the legs to score 1:04:54 against Mary-Anne’s 1:04:56 – both excellent efforts.

Mark Lysycia showed what a consistent runner and a valuable addition to the club he is with 1:09:42 and it was good to see John Foulds closing down on him with 1:10:16.

Terry Hughes and Steve Eldridge ran solid races, Steve helping Dan Reason to a PB and to the 1st Division Title. See you in the Championship next year Dan.

Wayne Babynec enjoyed a good run, but if you see the photo, was pursued by a lorry for part of the last mile – it wasn’t Denise driving was it?

Carole Baines completed a fantastic race, under the close supervision of Steve Foster, to cross the line in 1:17:49 – augurs well for a fast marathon time next year.

Ray Taylor was please with 1:19;16 so soon after his ½ marathon in Benidorm and Matt Crompton, in his first since March, got round comfortably.

Ian Hamilton struggled a little on the day but did enough to secure the runner-up spot in the 1st Division.

Finally Lorraine Broadhurst, a recent recruit from South Ribble Runners, stuck to the task well and was cheered on to several A&T members as she approached the line.

With the final race of the season now complete, I would like to pay homage to our members and thank them for the fantastic support they have afforded the championships during 2009.

Garry Baines

A reminder about the final Duathlon this Sunday

All competitors will receive a new number this time which will be handed out on the day.The number must be clearly visible on the chest for the bike ride.

Everyone to meet at 8.50 a.m. for the briefing.

A&T Road Champs 2009 - Final Positions

Here are the Final Road Champs tables for 2009 with trophy winners highlighted.

A close run thing in a couple of the tables.

Men

Ladies


Well done to all of the trophy winners.

Guys 10 - By Matt Crompton

15 A&T runners made the trip up the motorway for Sunday’s final club race to Garstang for the Guys 10. A bit of a drop in numbers from the 35 at Lostock at the start of the season, but still a good turnout given x country was on the same day.

This was a well attended race which was over subscribed and the car park, which was like a water park, certainly reflected this with spaces in short supply. The race itself was delayed by 10 minutes, which allegedly was down to waiting for the rain to slacken off (well that’s what the marshal was telling people). The race eventually started and was pretty congested until we got out of the grounds and onto the road, with a sea of runners already in the distance by the time I got to the top of the hill at the entrance.

Overall a great course in my humble opinion, nice and flat with a cracker of a view of the country virtually all the way round. I particularly liked the 2 water jumps at the 7 mile point, although my shiny new trainers will never be the same again. The course certainly was quick and the first runner home broke the course record with a time of 48:52 by Antony Ford of Sale.

1st A&T runner home was Simon Ford with a time of 57:42 placing 15th overall. Next was Steve Coleman with 1:04:16 closely followed by Rufus Bennett with another great run. If you look on the results site it shows Gary Baines as second runner home for A&T but this was an unknown ringer as Gary had a calf strain and unfortunately didn’t run. 1st lady home was Mary-Anne in 5th overall followed by Mark Lysicia, Terry Hughes, Dan Reason, Steve Eldridge and Wayne Babynec all within 5 or so minutes of each other.

Run of the day has to go to Carole Baines with 1:17:49 and 4th lady home in her category. Next were Steve Foster, Ray Taylor and yours truly followed by a very under the weather Bacon Man. Hope you’re feeling better Ian.
A special mention to Lorraine Broadhurst, who was competing in one of her first races and yet another racer from Bob’s Tuesday/Thursday stable. Well done Lorraine .

Saturday Run by Peter Mulleady

Hi All

We’ve not had any weekend club runs for a while due to road champs and cross country races. Going to meet as usual at Gin Pit 9.30 this Saturday for a steady run. Probably do about 8 miles or more if some fancy it. All welcome.

Cheers

Pete

How "not" to descend

X Country captain Mark Riches gives the team a valuable lesson in descending steep muddy hills at Marl Pits

A&T x-country champs - change of date

All

Lilford Park (SEL) race is now on 13/02/10 same day as Hyndburn (Mid Lancs)

The last time there was a clash we went in favour of the Mid Lancs race (in order to chase promotion) & I propose we do the same again.

Therefore, the Lilford park race is no longer part of the Club Champs

Mark Riches

Central Lancs Grand Prix AGM - 02/12/09

The Central Lancs Grand Prix had its annual AGM on 02/12/09 held at the Gin Pit Welfare Club. If you want to see all the minutes kindly produced by Garry Baines please click on the CLGP link http://centrallancsgrandprix.blogspot.com/

Reminder - 2009 voting forms

All
Returns of voting forms are very slow at the moment, we need all members to return their voting forms ASAP so that the votes can be collated and all of the prizes allocated.

You should have recieved your voting form for the Annual Club awards via email.  You can email returns to Mark Riches, Club Secretary at mark.riches1@blueyonder.co.uk  or you can fill in a paper copy and hand into any committee member. Closing date for voting is the 15th of December. If you have any queries about the form just ask Pete Mulleady or any committee member.

Please vote for your number 1 and 2 in each category.

Benidorm Half Marathon - By Paul Basnett

Can I give a big thanks to the people who sponsored me for my first half marathon in Benidorm.

I must admit I was very surprised to hear BA Baracus on the flight over because I thought he would never get on no damn plane!

As for the half marathon itself it told me, as if I didn't know, that I don't do enough training as my legs didn't really want to know after about 10 miles with cramp in my calves but I still enjoyed it!
I am not even sure I was that good at the other half of the marathon, which was the drinking and I thought I could drink :S

All in all though a good trip and would go again.

If you haven't sponsored and would still like to then you still can at http://www.justgiving.com/paul-basnett

Thanks again, Paul

Red Rose x-country Marl Pits Sunday 6th December 2009 by Mark Riches

Troy was the first to arrive but he was 24 hours early as he turned up on Saturday & phoned Peter Mulleady to ask where everyone was!

Only 8 A&T runners turned up on the right day & at the right time but 2 of them either didn’t finish or didn’t start the race (more of that later)

The first drama was the blowing away of the Club tent; myself & Mark Ruscoe put up the tent but obviously not too well as when we came back the others were chasing the tent across the field. Peter M took charge & with Terry Gardiners’s help the tent was securely erected within site of the start line

The second drama was much more serious & happened during the ladies race. Three A&T ladies sent off, Lyndsey Carter, Marjorie Leigh & Eva Tuer but only two returned. Marjorie beat Eva by just over 2 minutes but Lyndsey dislocated her shoulder on the way round & ended up at the local hospital. Her boyfriend (Mark Ruscoe) got the news when he was on the start line so didn’t race. Thankfully, Lyndsey is now back home with her shoulder back in place & we look forward to seeing her at the next race

The other A&T men set off to tackle 3 large laps of this very demanding course. Peter M has been looking forward to this one & had a great run finishing about 50 seconds in front of yours truly, who managed to fall a couple of times as you can see from the photo above! Next was Dave Potter making a welcome return to racing & beating Terry G by just under two minutes

See you all at the next race on 19th December at Townley Park Burnley


Link to xcountry photos
(you may need to create a snapfish account to view photos)

Benidorm Trip 2009 - By Pete Mulleady

8 A&T runners made it for our latest adventure in Benidorm. Myself, Bob, Craig Bradbury, Ray, Bacon man, Steve Coleman, Paul Basnett, and Alan Steeple.

First up was the 4.30am meeting at Gin Pit for the minbus to the airport. Might as well not have gone to bed. I nearly didn’t bother because by the time I had packed my stuff it was 2am but Alan went one better. He decided to start the party atmosphere early and came directly to the airport after a long session with his mates in Salford.

The flight out to Alicante was smooth. The entertainment on board was provided by BA Baracus and Rambo. Didn’t quite cause an international incident but thought WW3 might start when it was asked where the Germans were!

At the other end we had to wait for our baggage, well Ray’s baggage as he comes prepared! Must have had the kitchen sink etc in his bag. We were inside the airport waiting at belt 6 while Alan decided he would wait outside the airport at bus stop 12! We then booked our rental cars with no sign of Alan. Bob got on the case to find Alan, based on Bob’s sense of direction it was now doubtful if we would ever see either of them again! Eventually found Alan by the bus stops and we went to pick up our cars. Ray had kindly volunteered to follow me in the other car. Seem to have a different volunteer each time, can’t understand why! Anyway usual case of cutting people up and jumping red lights while you get used to driving on the wrong side of the road and we were safely on our way to Benidorm.

First job when we got to our Hotel as usual was food, well you might as well make the most of full board! Then it was off to get our numbers. Bob and Craig (due to injury) weren’t running. The numbers were in pb order. Bacon man’s number was 68 (pretty impressive from a race entry of 3000) due to his half marathon pb of 1.13. As a result for the rest of the trip he was rightly referred to as the master and you had to bow down to speak to him. Everyone had a fairly early night and most missed the Parrott show this time. Alan had his photo taken with the parrots and then decided to show the locals some dancing techniques with his marathon number on.

Big breakfast the following day and off we went to the race start. All the runners made way for the master and he even had the top Kenyans weighing him up. Think word has spread about his bacon! Thought the Basque separatists had descended on Benidorm but then realised it was fireworks and we were on our way. As it was such a big race there was a lot of weaving in and out for the first couple of miles before you could really get into your running. By mile 3 I was already knackered so slowed down, didn’t really help as it was still one of the hardest races I’ve done. Mt tip for a half marathon, get some mileage in! The course is pretty flat and loops around a bit which was great as you got to see the frontrunners quite a lot and every time we passed an A&T runner we gave them a high 5. There was great support all around the course including our fan club of Bob and Craig. Half marathon expert Steve (15 this year) had his usual good run and beat his previous Benidorm time. I was next in and then the battle royal was between the master and pupil, Ray. Ray hauled back over a minute lead and was next home. Even though the master wasn’t at his best he still couldn’t help himself trying to shave fractions of a second off his time as he literally dived over the line! Paul was next with a great first run over this distance. Alan didn’t make the start, think he ran his race the previous evening!

After the race it was a quick shower and off to the Guinness bar for a few drinks. Started to rain so unfortunately we had to stay a bit longer than intended! Thought we had brought the weather from Manchester because up until then it had been really nice. A few hours later and we made our way (staggered) back to the hotel. Had our tea and then we were out on the town to see Benidorms finest entertainers. The entertainment in Benidorm ranges from extremely good to dire. We were pretty lucky this night with a good comedian, singers and dancers. Our favourite act, the three tenors wasn’t on though, I suspect he’s been signed up to play Las Vegas. Anyway Ray reckoned we could form a boy band so Ray, Bob, Me & the Master will be playing at the Xmas do and we’ve canceled Glamorize. Just need a good name, open for suggestions but Bacon Man and the rashers springs to mind. Eventually we got back to the hotel at about 5am.

Next day after breakfast as it was nice and sunny so we decided to have a wander around Benidorm. Tried out some exercise machines that they have along the front. Don’t think the locals liked our technique though as we got told to get off. In the afternoon we had a trip to the hill of death. We drove a few miles uphill and it still looked pretty daunting. We managed to walk about 50yds up it though. Maybe need Paul Jackson & Mark Ruscoe and some ropes next time! We made our way back and settled for a run along the front. The next evenings entertainment was more of the dire sort. The comedian was that bad we had to walk out, think he was the worst I’ve ever seen. Later on we decided we’d do our own version of the 3 tenors as me, Ray and the Master emptied the karaoke bar. Once you’ve heard us nobody else compares! Found our way back to the hotel at a similar hour.

Next morning I decided to do something about my mileage so joined the master for a run before breakfast. Then is was checkout of the hotel and a day trip out. Last time we had a trip to Calpe a very scenic little town. This time I took the guys to Denia as I had to nip off. Think my mind was playing tricks on me as I remembered it as being similar to Calpe whereas it was more like Liverpool dockland. Still the guys made the best of by eating their way through the town, they even managed to find some pasties! Then it was back to the airport for the flight back to rainy Manchester.

A&T cross-country 06/12//09

All

The next race in the x-country champs is this Sunday at Marl Pits, Rossendale.
Ladies race starts at 1.35 pm & men's race starts at 2.15 pm
If you raced at Witton Park, Bury and/or Bolton then use the same number (Red Rose)
If you haven't got a Red Rose number I will provide you with one on the day.
Due to clash with Guys 10 we are expecting reduced numbers so everyone should make their own way there

Directions can be found on http://www.redrosecrosscountry.co.uk/

Cheers

Mark

2010 Road Championships - First race - Chernobyl 10k

All,
The first race of the 2010 road Champs is the Chernobyl 10k on 24th Jan 2010.

No need to book planes tickets to Ukraine it's only in Preston!!

However it is highly recommended that you pre-register for this race as soon as possible if you want to be assured of a place. Even though it's got a limit of 500 runners, it is very popular and does get fully subscribed.

Online entry

Entry Form

Please Sponsor Me

Hello,
I'm taking part in the 2010 Paris Marathon on 11/04/2010 to raise money for Hearing Dogs For Deaf People and would really welcome your support.

Please take a moment to sponsor me. It's really easy - you can donate online by credit or debit card at the following address:
http://original.justgiving.com/eva-running-vet

All donations are secure and sent electronically to Hearing Dogs For Deaf People. If you are a UK taxpayer, Justgiving will add an automatic 28% bonus to your donation at no cost to you. Please join me in supporting Hearing Dogs For Deaf People and a fabulous cause!

Thanks and best wishes,

Eva

Tuesday and Thursday training this week

Dont forget:-
Tuesday and Thursdays training sessions this week are from Gin Pit

Cheers
Terry

Guys 10 - Sunday 6th Dec

Meeting point for the Guys 10 race this coming Sunday is Atherton Station at 9.00 a.m.

Entry form for anyone who's not yet registered http://www.ukresults.net/forms/091206guys10.pdf

A&T x-country – Liverpool 29 November 2009

The second Mid Lancs race was also the second McCain Cross Challenge race, which incorporated the European Cross Country Trials so there were a lot of class athletes on show like Hayley Yelling pictured above who won the ladies race


A&T numbers were down on previous races due in part to the infamous Benidorm trip. However, we still managed to turnout 11 runners in cold crisp conditions to tackle the muddy course of Sefton Park, Liverpool. Although with a 1.20 pm start our ladies only just made the start line (no time for a warm-up!)

Our 4 ladies set off to tackle 1 small & 2 large laps (8.1k). They all did themselves proud in a very strong field. Sue Hopkins held off the challenge from Brenda Wane & Lyndsey Carter to finish first A&T runner & Carole Baines finished strongly to complete the line-up

Next it was the turn of the men with 3 large laps (9.8k); first A&T finisher (as usual) was Simon Ford with another impressive run. Yours truly, Mark Riches, had a terrific battle with Mark Ruscoe but managed to pull away on the last lap. We got plenty of encouragement from the A&T contingent with shouts of “well done Mark & Mark” Shaun Moran had an excellent run but just couldn’t catch Mark Ruscoe. Next home was Terry Gardiner with another outstanding run. Garry Baines & Steve Foster both ran well with Garry beating Steve home for the first time

Next race Marl Pitts Sunday 6th December – see you all there