National Cross Country Report 22 February A beautiful day at Parliament Hill Fields for the National Cross Country Championships over this classic course. As a spectacle it has declined over the years but still remains a wonderful celebration of club athletics. There were some memorable performances from club members but also the usual collection of disappointments. Without John Bradshaw`s youngsters there would have been little point in spectators travelling down. Although there are no `stars' in the U15s one is impressed with the efforts of Chris Melling(45), David Furlong(72), David Wilkie(133) and Ben Johnson(137), not forgetting `back-up' from Joe McKenna in 156. A team position of 14th from 35 was respectable. Ben Jones ran with his usual courage and determination in the U17 race to finish 10th, with an equally determined Rob Stocks(28) not too far adrift. Recurring injury caused Michael Rimmer to drop out and it was left to Carl Williams(114) and Mark Leicester(129) to complete, with yet another useful back up from Andrew Donaldson in 157. Tenth team this time but only out of 17. The Sheffield and Warburton trophies won at Bristol last year were on their way to another home. The depth of our Junior men is very encouraging. Henry Stewart(37), a rejuvenated Dan Taylor(73), Mark Donoghue(85) and Rory Smith(90) closed in for seventh place but astonishingly there were only 8 complete teams. Chris Watson(99) and Steve Donegan(105) were also there. At Senior level Adam Clancey was the only one to show up and finished 396 out of over 1200 runners. He will be happy with that... for the moment. Our only two girls, in the U20 Women, were Lindsay who was 48th Junior in the combined U17/U20 race, and first Merseyside runner overall. Maria Barrett was 69th. There can be no praise too high for these two who have, shown throughout the season, an enthusiasm and dedication second to none. One could only wish such spirit would infect others.  Results Report Charles Gains, Photo Karen Doyle.

Mid Lancs Victories at Carlisle 15 February John Bradshaw's lads made the trip up to Carlisle for the Mid Lancs and came away with their usual good record in tact. Under 13 Boys Andrew Bowen led us home in 5th place followed by Sam Hutchings 7th, David Hodgson 9th, Sean Goodwin 15th, Andrew Liversey 18th and Paul Martin 28th. This good packing was enough to score a slim team victory over Preston by one point with SWAC taking third place. Under 15 Boys In a reduced field Tom McCarten was first LPS athlete home in 10th place followed by David Wilkie12th, Matt Brooks 13th and Robert Bland 15. We had to settle for second place behind our local rivals SWAC losing by a four point margin. Under 17 Boys Again this was a small field with no club finishing a team. Mark Leicester was 5th and Robert Walmsley 6th. Junior Men Henry Srewart won once again to keep his claim as being the top junior in this league. Mark Donoghue was 3rd, Dan Taylor 5th, Tom Wade  6th, and Chris Watson 7th ensured another team victory in what was again a small field Going in to the final match Pembroke Sefton have already retained three of the four trophies won last season(U13, U15 and U20). The Under 17 Trophy is still up for grabs but there is a determination that the strong grip on this competition will continue and that shield will also remain in Ormskirk Results

Paul Cadwallader wins Parbold Hill Race 15 February Paul Cadwallader kept up his families fine tradition by emulating his younger bother Lee's achievement of winning this prestigious event. On a fine still day a field of over 400 set off on the 33rd running of this popular event. Although a heavy frost the previous night the course was still sticky and the runners had a more plough to contend with this year. All of this did not stop Paul from running away from the gun which he translated into a winning margin of 66 seconds. Paul's Dad Alan was there to witness his son victory as Alan been coming to this event since he was running in it himself in the 1970s & 80s. LPS came third in the team race behind with the other counters being Adam Clancy 16, Greg Callaghan and then quite a gap to last counter Robbie Wood 61. Also running Dave Fairclough 133, John Dobie 157 and Reg Armstrong 330.Results

Phil Taylor wins grant 10 February
Talented LPS 400 runner Phil Taylor has a grant from the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund. Phil who trains with Ray Twentyman and Trisha Farrell has just made consistent progress over the last few seasons and is a real prospect for the future