East Lancs 10km Race Report

Wriiten by Liam Moden

Sunday 15 January 2023.                          

East lancs hospice 10k.                          

Accrington road runners trail race 2 of 7                                                                 

 East lancs hospice 10 k starts and finishes outside Gaskell Motor Bodies on Alan Ramsbottom Way . Great Harwood . The event is organised by Nick Gaskell , a long time supporter and sponsor of our Accrington ten k race . As a club we like to return the favour so this race is usually on our points race list . Indeed , as a club , we would positively encourage anyone needing motor repairs to visit Gaskell Motor Bodies!   

 The route begins on the road for a short while before joining a series of trails consisting of various states of mud before a lap around Cutwood Park, returning to the trail via a section of canal towpath. Compared to most road races it’s probably 5 minutes slower than average. So a 60 minute E L H time is maybe equivalent to a 55 average road time                                                             

 Accrington road runners had our best turnout for many a year with a bumper turnout of 37 . This includes, hopefully, Kamil our new recruit who is a great young prospect. Who alongside Leo Woodstock (who won the junior race ) can help our club encourage younger members.                  

 It was a very successful day with first place in 4 vet categories.                  

Josh Woodstock, Dave Tomlinson, Catherine Derbyshire & Karen Jackson.                           

 Also we won an excellent mens team prize against some strong opposition.

Congratulations to James McLeod, Josh Woodstock & Scott Slater.                          

Scott s first team prize with the club . Hopefully more to come  There were some other noteable performances further down the results sheet. Both Matt Long and Ben Lee put in great times. Ben continued his good form from last year. Nick Hargreaves ran sub 47 even though the course is probably 30 miles too short for him. Scott Howard continued his good work from group 2 with 48.27. Bethan Walton showed she is on the way back (much to her delight) with a fabulous 50.39 . One of the performances of the day was by Andrew Sharples who ran 51.38 . Andrew is moving up the groups at ARR very nicely indeed.  Chris Clarke and Stephen Teasdale both ran very solid races around 55 minutes. Welcome to the club both of you                                              

As a running club it’s easy to take for granted running a distance of six miles but to a novice runner it can be quite daunting. So on behalf of Zoe Rawsthorne thanks to Lee , her husband, for helping her round the course. Thanks to all who represented Accrington road runners in the event. Please look out for other points races in the future. They will be advertised on our website/ Facebook and what’s app groups. Try to cheer your fellow club mate along and generally build a good team spirit .                                 

 Next points race: Road race 1 of 7       Blackburn Winter Warmer.        Sunday 5 feb