St Helens Sutton AC

Saturday 15th October saw the first Manchester Area Cross Country match of the season, held at Wythenshawe Park.

The club had 9 representatives, including under 13 girl, Jasmine Scott who competed for the first time. She finished the 3225m course in 52nd in 16.46! Also representing the under 13 girls, Lucy Bridge finished 40th in 15.48. Under 13 boy, Michael Dobson finished 12th in 13.22 whilst Harley Chadwick was 41st in 15.28.

For the under 15’s; Michael Brussels was the first one home finishing 23rd in 18.15, Charlie Roberts completed the 4275m course in 30th place in 19.15 and Liam Houghton 36th in 21.13- meaning that the team finished 9th overall. Alyx bridge represented the under 15 girls and finished 33rd in 22.52.

Senior man, John Greenall completed the 9675m race in 148th place in 41.26.

Well done to everyone who competed!

Hope to see more athletes from the club next time!

Next match: Saturday 12th November at Boggart Hole Clough, Charlestown Road, Blackley, M9 7DH.

Team manager- Helena.

This years Presentation Evening is on Friday 18th November 2016. It is being held at Rainhill Ex Services Club on Rainhill Road. Starting at 7pm there will be the presentation of trophies and medals, raffles, games and our FREE hotpot, followed by a great disco. Tickets are available on training nights in the clubhouse, please see Jane or Chris. Ticket prices are £4 per ticket or £12 for a family of four, any additional tickets required after that will be £2 each.

3 senior men took part in the TrailFfest trail half marathon on Saturday 24th September. The event is a fund raiser for the Welsh air ambulance and South Snowdonia search and rescue team and starts with a pleasant train ride from the finish at Porthmadog Ffestiniog railway station to the start at Tanygriseau, beneath the Moelwyn peaks.
With the start at 700ft above sea level and the finish at the coast this looked, at least on paper a nice easy course. Well, only if you don’t read the description on the website:-
“The Trailffest half marathon is one of the most scenic you could hope to run, with dramatic changes of scenery and terrain the whole way to the finish line. With the start up in the mountains at 710 feet elevation and the finish down by the sea, it may sound easy – but don’t be fooled! There are some very steep and challenging climbs along the way”. Oh, and if you completely ignore the 1500ft of ascent.
I was made to eat my pre-race comment of “I cannot conceivably see how a trail half marathon can take more than 2 hours”.
A beautiful undulating route returned to Porthmadog via the the Vale of Ffestiniog. It was both much harder and much better than I expected, culminating in a mile run over the Cob with the finish in sight but seemingly never getting anywhere nearer. A couple of pints of post-race recovery drink were most welcome in Spooners Bar on the platform after the finish.
Andy Wilson finished in 6th place in 1:47:30. Mark Liptrot claimed 1st MV50 and 14th place in 1:55:21. I finished 35th in 2:08:10 – must do better next year!

Nine members of St Helens Sutton A.C. took part in the Rainford 10km road race which starts and finishes outside Rainford Technology College. Steve Anders continues in his current good form taking second place with a time of 35 min.   19.3 secs.. There was also a second placing for veteran John Greenall (M50) for his run of 38 min.28.1 secs. and third in her group was senior lady Rachel Beesley who ran 45 min.3.9 secs.. Dorothy Fairhurst (F60)’s time of 62 min.18.1 secs. was good enough for her to take second place in her age group. Other club runners were Christopher Coatsworth (M40), 45 min.39.6 secs. (16th. in class), Amy Corfield (SL), 46 min.53.6 secs. (7th in class), Jane Ashcroft (F40), 56 min.42.2 secs. (11th in class), Sara Odonoghue (F40), 57 min.51.2 secs. (13th in class) and Jane Makin (F40), 72 min.43.8 secs..

Lorraine Kelly Swan (F40) ran in the Natterjack Seaside 10km. road race which starts in Southport’s Princes Park, finishing 722nd in a large field with a time of 63 min.53 secs.

Ian Conway, competing in the last Wrexham Throws competition of the season putt the shot 8.44m. and threw the hammer 21.24m., both pleasing performances.

St Helens Sutton A.C. had teams in Sunday’s Northern Road Relays which started at, and then circled, the Etihad stadium in Manchester. The club had 13 representatives, including the Under13yrs. Boys. On their first leg, Michael Dobson finished in 27th. place running the 3.3km. course in a time of in 11 min.05 secs, then Charlie Young finished 33 rd. in 13 min.56 secs.. On the third and final leg, Max Young ran 13 min.48 secs. for the team to finish in 28th. place For the “B team” Harley Chadwick finished 33rd in 11 min50 secs.. .

In the U15yrs. Boys event, Michael Brussels led the team off to a good start finishing in 31 st. spot in 10 min.52 secs., Liam Houghton moved up a place with his run of 11 min.55 secs. and Charlie Roberts brought the team home with an 11 min.01 secs. run for the team to finish 30th overall. For the Senior men, Matt Crehan opened finishing 41st in 17 min.56 secs., Steve Anders held the position finishing in 18 min.44 sec.. Ian Hayburn dropped to 48th in 19 min.56 secs.. Jake Healy finished in 58th spot in 21 min.30 secs., Ian Costello ran 21 min.02 secs. but still dropped to 64th and Jamie White ran the last leg and finished 64th in 20 min.27 secs.. The team was 63rd overall in the race of 6.4km. stages.

Three senior ladies represented the club at Wigan 10K, all having a great race recording personal bests. First home was Rach Beesley in 43:47, 13th female, 7th in her age category and 207th overall. Next was Amy Corfield in 48:13, 32nd in her age category. Karen Harrison was delighted to beat her PB by 2 seconds, finishing in 56:42, 23rd in her age category. Well done ladies and congratulations on your PBs!

Results:-
227 Rach Beesley 43:47 Cat Pos 7/516
501 Amy Corfield 48:13 Cat Pos 32/516
1253 Karen Harrison 56:42 Cat Pos 23/169

Matt Crehan is coming back into form, finishing 1st in 17:37. John Greenall must have thought he’d got the highest age grade after finishing 3rd in 19:00 (age grade 79.56%). But he was narrowly pipped by first timer Arnold Melling, who finished 8th in 21:28 (age grade 79.58%). Not bad for someone in the VM65-69 category)! Rach Beesley was second lady in 24:26.

Results:
1 Matt Crehan 17:37 (Age grade 73.23%).
3 John Greenall 19:00 (Age grade 79.56%).
9 Wayne Joyce 21:31 (Age grade 61.66%).
33 Rach Beesley 24:26 (Age grade 60.57%).
78 Jane Ashcroft 27:56 (Age grade 58.59%).
113 Amy Corfield 30:11 (Age grade 49.03%).

Well done everyone!

Sadly we report the death of Roger McCall who died on 21st August 2016. He was taken ill and admitted to hospital recently with a suspected stroke but it was in fact a serious problem related to the cancer that he had. He did come home from hospital and was cared for by his wife, Rosemary.

Roger was heavily involved in NW athletics for many years, he was an ever present at competitions throughout the north and his friendly smile was familiar to many. Roger had been a member of  St Helens Sutton for over 40 years and although it was 20 mile drive to club training that didn’t stop him being a regular at training nights and acting a mentor to up and coming coaches and officials.

He also advised the local leagues on optimising their competitions to make them more efficient and enjoyable. Roger contributed so much to athletics and anyone who  had the pleasure of working along side him would agree.

Funeral details 
7th September at 2 pm at St Mary Magdalene church, Moss Lane, Ashton-on-Mersey

Roger (left), recieving his award as England Athletics official of the year 2015.