Cheryl Orrick is organising a Club fundraising event on 13^th February 2011. The Swimathon will take place at the Leisure Centre and we hope all members will take part. Look out for posters and sponsor forms.

           The Committee approved  5 Under 11, 1 Junior and 3 Senior applications for new members.
Three adult members have registered for coaching courses, increasing again the number of volunteers able to help with coaching and supervising athletes.

           The Club is resurrecting and revamping the logo that used to appear on Club clothing and documents. It will be used on the new Welcome Pack which will be issued soon.  If you can help us find a good quality electronic image of the oak tree, please e-mail us at info@st-helens-sutton.co.uk

           The Christmas Handicap will take place on Sunday, 19^th December at Sherdley Park for age groups from U9 to Seniors. Prizes to all junior members, please make sure we know you are coming.  Parents get in touch with coaches or e-mail to the above address.

Advance notice - Presentation Evening, Rainhill Club and Sports Lounge : Friday 21st January 

Tickets for Presentation Evening will shortly be available from the clubhouse.  Last year's event was a real success; a great event and in addition a major boost to the club's finances.   As well as the popular disco, awards are presented for last Winter and Summer season for both Juniors and Seniors.  The evening is an important social event in the club's calendar, please make every effort to attend.  Come and celebrate the performances of your team mates and have some fun at the same time!  The Senior's will again have the choice of a "local" real ale afterwards or a taxi to the bright lights of St Helens.  Discussions of the Plantagenet dynasty will of course be optional (Mark!).

Buy your tickets now, tell your friends & family and come along for a great night. Venue Location

City of Salford Women's Race - Swinton, Sunday 28th November

On a freezing Cold morning in Manchester (9.30 a.m start and -7 degrees reading on the cars' thermometers anyone!)  seven senior ladies braved hypothermia to race in the ladies only Salford 5.25 mile race. Gemma Connolly won the race overall in a time of 31.47 with the next three ladies packing well to bring the scoring team home in second position only 10 points behind home winners Swinton Running Club. The first of this trio was Cheryl Orrick (who managed to fall over mid race whilst trying to get a tissue out.  Can I suggest that you use your gloves next time!) in 42 minutes dead (3rd L35 and 31st position overall) followed by Helena McGoldrick (42.57 in 39th position and 7th L45) who obviously felt sorry for Cheryl falling over and decided to even things out by also falling over and having to be caught by a marshall (you can't take them anywhere!).  Cecelia Schroder managed not to fall over whilst finishing in a time of 43.27 (41st overall and taking the prize for the 1st L60) to complete the scoring team.  Following up were Sarah Hattersley (44.45 in 51st place and 10th L35), Joanne Keogh (46.18 in 63rd position & 14th L35) and Dorothy Fairhurst in a time of 55.53 (119th overall and 4th L65). Well done to everyone who took part, especially those who stayed on to cheer at the presentation as I think it was warmer outside than in the room they held it in. Gemma Connolly
 
Results

McCains Cross Country Challenge, L&D Match 2 - Sefton Park, 27th November.

Another great turn out of a dozen club senior athletes completed in the MCCAIN UK Cross Challenge at Sefton Park on Saturday 27th November 2010 on a  raw, bitter cold day.  10 of the 12 athletes were running 'back to back' Country fresh from the home Cross Country event at Sherdley park the previous weekend. The course was the traditional 3 laps (9.8k) but given the frozen ground and absence of mud,  even more like a road race than usual.  1st home Ian Costello (193) 36.33 returning from injury, 2nd Barry Graney (214) 37.04, 3rd Rob Marsh (227) 37.35, 4th Mark Davies (243) 38.04, 5th Alan McNally (285) 39.43.. In 6th Chris Leavy (304) 40.21, 7th Paul Kay (322) 40.38 with a strong finish, 8th Steve Cooper (330) 41.06 another running well after returning from injury, 9th Ray Vose (342) 41.32, 10th Phil Robinson (415) 46.31.  Next in debutant Anthony Young (427) 11th in 48.06 who chose this prestigious event as his first cross country race, hard on Anthony's heels in 12th the only club female runner Sharon Nunn (439) 50.14. Pete Johnson,  despite suffering from a cold,  acted as stand in for captain Steve Tate who had also succumbed to the lurgy.

 
A great result by all the athletes that took part, lets keep up the good work with another good turn out next week at Boggart Hole Clough. (ST)

L&D Results (Provisional)

On Saturday; seven Junior athletes competed in the McCain Cross Challenge, Sefton Park-Liverpool. The Under 11 Boys and Girls were first to run. We had Caitlin and Michael running 1.9km. They both did the club proud by completing the course. Michael was the 29th boy and Caitlin was 10th the girl. A big Well Done to Michael on participating and completing your first race for the club!

Danielle was next and ran the 3km route in 12mins 46seconds finishing 40th. Up next was Matt running 3km and finishing in 9mins 7seconds. It was an extremely close race and Matt narrowly missed out on 1st place by 2 seconds. Well Done!

The Under 15 Girls were next to run the 3km course. Rachel lead the team home in 12mins 13seconds-59th place. Vickie finished in 12mins 57seconds -82nd place, and Maria finished 13mins 17seconds-94th place.

The Under 17 Boys were next. Nathan ran 5.5k in 20mins 3seconds-88th place.

 WELL DONE TO ALL EIGHT COMPETITORS ON THIS BITTERLY COLD DAY!!!!

Helena McGoldrick (Team Manager)

Provisional UK Cross Results  Results

UK Athletics Youth Advisory Group

Please See the following email received by the club from UK Athletics.  If you are interested in applying please fill in the application form. 

 As part of our commitment to develop a vibrant, attractive and sustainable sport, we have decided to create a Youth Advisory Group (YAG), who will work with us to shape the future direction of the sport. As we look to 2012 and beyond, we are faced with many exciting opportunities, and we feel passionately that young people should have a say in how we take the sport forward, and what we try to achieve.
 
By creating the YAG, we hope to make the most of the experience, knowledge and understanding that these talented young people have, to help our future projects meet their needs more effectively. The group will act as an influential voice for all young people within athletics, and will be used to ensure that The Athletics Governing Bodies and partner organisations can respond more effectively to issues that they face. The YAG will work closely with our staff to ensure events and resources for athletes, coaches, officials, and club volunteers, are developed in a way which will have far reaching benefits for young people who are involved in all aspects of the sport
 
We are now inviting applications to be part of the group. Applicants don’t need any specific qualifications to apply, but simply need to be committed, well organised, creative, a team player, and aged between 16 and 25. It doesn’t matter what their background is, where they come from, or how they are involved in athletics. To get the maximum benefit from the group, we want to receive applications from as wide a range of people as possible. That’s where you come in.... 

Do you know any young people within your athletics club or McCain Athletics Network who may be suitable candidates for this exciting opportunity? If the answer is yes, then we would really appreciate it if you could pass this email on to them, and encourage them to apply.

Online application forms are now available at http://www.uka.org.uk/governance/yag/. On this webpage, we have also provided some more information about the YAG, and a full role description, which may help the young people to complete their application form. The closing date for applications is Wednesday 15^th December. Once we have reviewed the applications, we will contact all applicants to let them know if they have been shortlisted and what the next steps are.

In the meantime, if you would like any more information about the Youth Advisory Group, please email us on volunteer@uka.org.uk, or call us on 0121 7138 400.

This is a great opportunity for the young people within your club to use their skills and experiences to help us to develop athletics in a positive way. Please encourage them not to miss this chance!

Overseas Result  22 November: NCAA Cross Country Championships Terre Haute, Indiana.

Dave Forrester recorded 30.38 over 10k finishing fifty-third at the National Collegiate Championship. Dave was fourth counter for Florida State University who finished second in the team event. The Florida State ladies' team, however, finished first in their event.

Manchester League Cross Country, Match 2 - Sherdley Park, 21 November.

There was an excellent turnout with 19 Senior men representing the club at the home Cross Country Race which took part on Sherdley Park on Sunday 21st November 2010.  The home course was as always tough, undulating and heavy going, over a 10km 3 lap course.  Leading the pack and setting the race pace Matt Crehan ran strong but pulled up injured during the second lap. 1st home for the club was John Ashcroft (5) (2nd U20) 34.27, 2nd Tom Griffiths  (23) 36.05, 3rd Barry Graney (65) (10th V40) 38.50, 4th Maurice Colins (75) (9th V45) 39.09, 5th Rob Marsh (79) 39.20, 6th Mark Davies (104) 40.28, followed by a trio of V45 athletes running a tactical race in a tight pack, 7th Alan McNally (117) (18th V45) 41.12, 8th Mark Liptrot (118) (19th V45) 41.17, 9th Cross Country Captain Steve Tate (119) (20th V45) 41.18, 10th Jake Healey (137) (10th U20) 42.11, 11th Steven Clague (143) (11th U20) 42.21, 12th Ian Hayburn (154) (26th V45) 42.43, 13th Chris Levey (159) 42.54, 14th Ray Vose (160) (32nd V45) 42.57, 15th running his inaugural race Bob Kennedy (162) 43.09,  16th Mark Barrow (174) (31st V40) 43.44, 17th John Appleton (190) (7th V55) 44.42, 18th Phil Robinson (239) (39th V40) 50.00. The club Senior men produced an excellent result in both the league team competition and the Veterans' league.

Seven senior ladies competed at Sherdley  where there were surprisingly dry underfoot conditions (where had that lake near to the finish gone?).  Gemma Connolly was first home in 3rd place overall in a time of 25.40 with Julia Eccelston making her Manchester League debut for the season coming in next with a time of 31.55(11th L35 and 59th 0verall).  Sharon Nunn was the next lady home followed closely by Cheryl Orrick recording times of 33.21 and 33.44 respectively (79th and 81st overall and 13th L40 for Sharon and 15th L35 for Cheryl).  Chris Dempsey finished in 35.46 (106 overall and 6th L50), followed by Joanne Keogh in 37.53 (117th overall and 19th L35).  The team were brought home by Judi Drummond in a time of 46.37 (141th overall and 24th L35).
A big thankyou to all the ladies who ran on the day and brought the St Helens team in to finish in 8th position.  Let's try to maintain the team turn out for the next race at Boggart Hole Clough on the 4th December.
 

On Sunday we had a very good turn out from the junior section. In the under 11's we had three teams in the girls and boys races. There were two teams in the under 13 girls and one team in the under 15 girls. Unfortunately we had no teams in the boys for the under 13's, under 15's and under 17's.   Come on boys lets have teams in the three remaining races.
A special well done to: Ellie Farrell, Ellie Mawdsley, Caitlin, Jasmine, Joe, Ben, Callum, Thomas, David, Peter, Elliot, Dean and Patrick, they all represented the club for their first time. I hope they will all compete in the next race at Boggart Hole Clough on the 4th December, if you need directions please see Helena.

Matt once again ran away from the field by a staggering 2mins 06 seconds! The under 13s and under 15 girls are both lying fourth over all at this stage. Nathan was the lone runner in the under 17s due to illness and injury.

Under 11 girls:(teams:8th,9th,10th)  Alex, 20th  11:02  Chloe, 27th  12:01  Hannah, 20th  12:19  Abbie, 30th  12:20  Rosie, 31st  12:25  Ellie M, 32nd  12:31  Ellie F, 34th  12:34  Caitlin, 36th  12:49  Jasmine, 38th  13:23
Under 11 boys:(teams:4th,7th,8th)  Joe, 10th  9:26  Ben, 11th  9:28  Anthony, 24th  10:34  Callum, 28th  10:52  Dean, 33rd  11:16  David, 35th  11:27  Thomas, 38th 12:17  Elliot, 39th  13:54  Peter,40th  14:24
Under 13 girls:(teams:4th,15th) Rosie, 3rd  9:00  Danielle, 17th  9:30  Lucy, 35th  10:02  Shannon, 54th  10:59  Lauren, 57th  11:23  Adele, 59th  11:30
Under 13 boys Johnathan, 25th  15:54  Patrick, 26th  15:56
Under 15 girls:(team:4th) Rachel, 9th  14:24  Vickie, 15th  14:50  Maria, 17th  15:10
Under 15 boys:  Matt, 1st  15:06
Under 17 boys:  Nathan, 10th  25:11

Many thanks to Shannon's Mum and Dad for supporting all athletes/children. Well Done to all participants and competitors. 
Team manager: Helena McGoldrick.

 
A big thanks to all the course setters too many to mention (many who raced during the day), the marshals and all those that help organise a very successful home Cross Country Race. (ST)

Results Senior/Junior Men   Senior Women/Juniors

McCain Cross Challenge Liverpool : Sefton Park, 27 November

Colin Spark, Sue Clague and Ian Hayburn’s Groups will be training at Sherdley again on Saturday 13^th November. Meet at 10am at the Driving Range Car Park. Spikes or Football Boots are advised. You may also want to tape them on.