We meet every Wednesday for a 6:30pm start at the Helsby Community Sports Club. We’re now on the winter program of a rotating set of mainly road runs. Getting started: give it a go. Come and say hello, make yourself known. Something like “Hello I’m new, I’d like to go for a run” should do the trick. More…
Shell four villages half marathon now full
Race now full – 17 January 2010 is the date. Race Packs out in due course. Half Marathon web pages.
Border League 15th November
Quick note. The next Border League race to be held by Wallasey on 15th November at 11am is actually at Birkenhead Park http://www.wallaseyathleticclub.co.uk/
Further details should appear here in due course http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/lindleyjane/BorderLeagueResults/ Let’s hope we can field full teams :d
Night run tonight – 5 Nov
Fancy a night run? 6:30pm at the club. Something like the summer offroad hill route. A whole lot more fun than you might imagine.
Bring a headtorch and a sense of humour. Friendly pace.
We’ll try and make these semi-regular. Bring a friend.
If you need a light the Alpkit over there on the left is a great starter and good enough to run with. Absolute bargain for 15 quid. You can of course spend a heck of a lot more.
http://www.alpkit.com/gamma …unfortunately out of stock till Dec, so you might like to treat yourself to a Hope 4-led, like Andy. Ahem!
Review: http://furiouscycling.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html
Other dates for your diary:
Thu 3rd December, 6.30pm
Thu 7th January, 6.30pm
Thu 4th February, 6.30pm
Thu 4th March, 7.00pm
Clarke Gardens XC Results – Sunday LR2
Hi all – Well, a week ago and a day we had our first Sunday League Cross Country race at Clarke Gardens. Well done to Andy Smith for also running on the previous day at Arrowe Park. I think it was also Chris’s and Stephen’s first time @ xc….I wonder if those trainers will ever be white again?
I’ve been waiting for a link online but it appears that no official results have yet appeared. But the link should be a handy way of getting the results for all the sunday league races, plus a link to some photos taken on the day
http://pennylanestridersrunningclub.co.uk/XCHome.aspx
In the meantime here were positions for Helsby runners. Unfortunately, the results sent out do not have times.
13th Adair Broughton
74th Stephen McCue
95th Chris Newman
96th Andy Smith
and big congratulations to Jane finishing 4th lady!
4th Jane Ashbrook
Please note the next XC Sunday League race (free sandwiches and tea/coffee and biscuit afterwards btw) is at the interesting course in Beacon Park on Sunday 22nd November, 11am. More ladies and gents will really give us strong positions in the club table.
And if you can’t wait that long for a race remember the next Border League Road Race is Sunday 15th November at Wallasey …and even closer still I’ll be doing a Helsby Hill Headtorch run this Thursday 5th November meeting at the club at 6.30. Just bring a torch/headtorch, jelly babies, a sense of humour. All welcome as it will be a training run only, tracking mostly the route of the summer runs.
Monday night training meeting at the Club at 7.00pm for a shorter session of hill reps/speed work etc. And I think this Wednesday is the club curry night!!
What a difference a day makes
What a difference a day makes — Phil Gillard’s UK FRA Relays report
Saturday 18th October 2009 was a glorious day in the Western Lake District; as we drove from our hotel to the Ennerdale hills, they seemed to welcome us “come and play on us” was the very clear message and so we did.
A good recee was the order of the day; the gradual climbs (in parts) and grassy descents seemed an ideal location for the 2009 fell relays.
The following morning was very different; taking the same route to the tented village at the start of the event, the message from the hills was a menacing; “come and play on us if you dare”. It is funny how your basic senses can smell this kind of change.
The event consisted of 4 legs:
Leg 1: AS Solo – 5.8 m/1500’
Leg 2: AM Pairs – 6.7 m/2500’
Leg3: Orienteering Pairs– 5.6 m/1410’
Leg 4: AS Solo – 5.1 m/1600’
One hundred and forty nine team started the event, the Helsby team of Adair, Rachel, Georgina, Sally, Jackie and Phil finished in 120th position, a very creditable performance given the worsening weather conditions.
The clag came in during leg 2 and became gradually thicker during the event with leg 4 requiring the use of a compass even though it was a non navigation leg. These conditions do tend to reduce the advantage of the faster teams and mountain craft was more the order of the day; the three teams who finished first were all disqualified for missing out the first check point on leg 4.
This Youtube clips shows how it should be done; a fantastic descent from Tim Davies – even though he was one of the athletes who missed out on the first checkpoint
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHQuGrZizZc
This is my favourite running event of the year, a combination of; team spirit, friendly atmosphere, superb athletes and scary challenge give me real buzz – roll on Scotland in 2010.
Cross Country – Liverpool and District Race 1 (Arrowe Park)
This winter’s cross country season kicked off with the first race in the Liverpool and District series.
The race took place on a 6 mile, 3 lap course in Arrowe park, Wirral.
Despite heavy showers whilst driving to the event these had cleared before the start of the race and the sun broke through. This made for an excellent race on a fast course with very little mud. The race was won be Jon Mellor in 30:14 nearly 1 minute clear of the rest of the field. We were also treated to a fly past by a couple, of helicopters from the Air Craft Carrier HMS Illustrious which was docked in Liverpool. Almost as good as the Red Arrows at the Great North Run.
The results were:
76 Ian Landucci 40:06
126 Andy Smith 50:24
Full results can be found at www.lps-athletics.co.uk/l&d/
(Though I am not sure about the spelling of my name (one of the more interesting variations)
This was the first cross country I had done for about 10 years and I’d forgotten how much fun they are. No traffic to worry about and the varied terrain on the course saw a lot more position changes during the race than you would get on a normal road race. I will definitely be getting some more in this season.
Cheers Ian
Andy Todd @ Hellrunner
Andy Todd who is now an OAP (don’t worry, these are his words!) will be retiring from running with a number on.
His final race is the “Hellrunner” Delamere on Sunday 1st November at 11.00am
However, if he survives, by 3.00pm he will be in the Helter Skelter, Frodsham and invites you to join him for a drink.
I’d like to quote another Andy now because his words sum up genuinely what Andy has done for the club regarding fell running
“having largely instigated the habit within the club and pursuading the then club captain to incorporate fells into the club championships. Without his efforts, I doubt we’d be running the fells these days and I probably wouldn’t have joined the club (it was the fells and seeing the green vests on them which brought me to Helsby in the first place).”
So if anyone fancies a drink as way of thanks to Andy or just to rib him about his efforts at Hellrunner, it’ll be great to see you there.
Sport & remedial massage
Article from Liz Dobson, Helsby runner and member
I have been a member of Helsby RC since 1996 and qualified in Sports Massage in 2001. Immediately after qualifying I practised on a professional basis for 12 months and for the past 8 years I have been doing Sports Massage on a voluntary basis for friends and family.
I have just completed an additional Diploma in Advanced and Deep Tissue Massage and have set up my own home based therapy business in Runcorn (however, can be mobile by arrangement).
I am fully insured and affiliated to the FHT (Federation of Holistic Therapists), so please don’t hesitate to contact me should you wish to discuss any treatment or just have a chat!
I offer a FREE consultation, a free gift for my first 30 customers plus reduced rates if a block of 3 massages are booked at the outset.
I will be offering complementary pre & post event massage at the Helsby Half Marathon in January so you can come along and try out my service then!
Alternatively, hope to see you all at the Border League races!
Thanks
Liz
Three peaks cyclo cross
It’s not all running… as well as running, training and racing lots of club members get involved in all sorts of other sports.
One fool recently thought it would be an idea to do the Yorkshire Three Peaks. On a bike.
“As it got proper steep, I found my own lines out right away from the fence and crowds, and picked off places, without getting too in debt. Fell running fitness I guess. This thing went on for ages though, you go into another zone. One foot, other foot. Keep off the calves if you can. Zig-zag a bit for relief. Eventually the angle eased. More pushing, more carrying, some riding… [read more on Steve's site]
Border League – Race 1 (Christleton)
A good turn out of Helsby runners completed the first Border League race of the season. The race was run on a one lap course of just under 6 miles. Most of the course was on the road with a small section of rough track between the fourth and fifth miles. This section had the added interest of 3 small cobbled bridges which required care to avoid tripping.
The race finished on the playing field next to the Cheshire View Masonic Lodge the start and finish point for the race.
The Helsby counters were
| 86 | Ian Landucci | 37:35 |
| 110 | Jim O’Hara | 39:04 |
| 141 | Geoff Shaw | 40:23 |
| 152 | Mike Searle | 40:47 |
| 206 | Chris Hatton | 42:57 |
| 216 | Mike Hallsworth | 43:30 |
| 220 | Vanessa Giffiths | 43:50 |
| 233 | Carol Shaw | 44:50 |
| 235 | Steve McHue | 45:00 |
| 279 | Liz Dobson | 48:17 |
| 284 | Betty Grieve | 48:32 |
| 296 | Graham Lloyd | 50:30 |
| 297 | Robbie Webster | 51:01 |
| 303 | Janet Shaw | 52:13 |
The Helsby Team
The Full Results can be found on The Borders League website
Well done to all those who took part. The good turn out ensured we had a full set of runners for both mens and womens teams. The next date for your diary is Wallasey Sunday 15th November.
Breidden Hills Fell Counter Results
Hi all
Please find attached the results for the ‘penultimate’ Fell Counter of the series, the Breidden Hills (AM)
Helsby positions and times as follows:
18th Adair Broughton 1:07:05
29th Jim O’Hara 1:11:36
68th Phil Gillard 1:18:49
95th Chris Hatton 1:25:21
99th Andy Todd 1:28:56
116th Robbie Webster 1:42:29
Congratulations to all taking part on what was a really nice day in gorgeous surroundings with an interesting and tough course (7 miles and 2300ft).
Thanks to Andy Smith for fellside support and nice to see a new member Jim O’Hara running so well in his first official race in the Helsby vest. I’m sure he’ll be at the Borders so make sure you say hi!
There are also some good photos of this event for those who like a little interaction with their emails and can be looked at via the link in the race summary taken from the Mercia Fell Runners homepage (but link included below)
“The Shropshire Hill Winter Series kicked off it 2009 – 2010 campaign with a good turn out at The Breidden Hill Race, The race in its 25th year had one of the best turn outs for with 124 starters. Tim Davies was comfortable winner of the men’s reace in a time of 52:22 ahead of Steve Cale, the first lady was Andrea Rowlands of Eryri, next race in the series is the Wrekin Wreker on 22nd November…
Photos can be viewed on Alistair’s webs site at http://www.fellrunningpictures.co.uk/ there will be another link from there to Pete’s website for even more pictures.”
Good luck to everyone running in the Borders Road Race this coming Sunday, unfortunately on the same day as the British Fell Relays.
Regards
Adair
