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Women shine again 3at Mansfield 31 October
The English Cross Country Relay Championships are traditionally seen as a guide
to the post-Christmas championships and are keenly fought. Again it was largely
a day for the Liverpool Pembroke Sefton girls to flourish. Although teamless
Rhea Ellis made the trip to test herself against the country`s best Juniors and
emerged with a magnificent 9th placing and reminding spectators of the potential
she displayed as a youngster.
The Senior women were led off as usual by the fighting Kirsty Longley(11.22.05)
in 39th place. The season`s re-discovery, Lyndsay Doyle then ran an almost
identical time(11.22.90) but lifted the club ten places to 29th. Cath Terry had
a daunting task but is visibly improving each time out and closed in 37th with
12.36.50 and in the top half of the field. An intriguing domestic Merseyside
battle is now on the cards as the perennially dominant Liverpool Harriers find
themselves yo-yoing with an emergent LPS and here were less than a minute clear.
The gap is narrowing.
Elsewhere sickness and injury depleted the club teams. At Under 17 Mike Bride
opened with a modest 10.38.90(62nd) but Jai Vernon-McGuigan took off like a
scalded cat, charging past no fewer than 22 runners with 10.11.15 and leaving
the solid Ed Rimmer(10.43.45) to hang on to 40th place. At Under 15 Warren
Turner(7.12.45) was 53rd, James Grundy(7.16.60) jumped to 38th and David
Reece(7.34.30) closed in at a respectable 45th. The Under 13s were 56th, Nathan
Browne(7.52.95/45th), Ben Haines(8.07.95/44th) and John Bride(9.00.85).
Results
Report Charles Gains
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LPS recovery in men's distance
running? 24 October
Although Liverpool Pembroke Sefton have
achieved an astonishing range of success over all disciplines senior
men's distance running has for many years been in the doldrums. Even
the women's equivalent is prospering but stubbornly the men have
stood still. At the first of the Liverpool and District League cross
country matches in Arrowe Park there was a hint that this corner
could be turned. Although still heavily reliant on vets the club
finished a respectable fourth behind local rivals Liverpool
Harriers, Wirral AC and Southport Waterloo. The club's first three
home, Bernie Murphy(18), Sammy Rashid(22) and Greg Callaghan(26)
were predictably strong and reliable but additionally there was an
astonishing cross country debut from Mark Salter in 33rd spot
followed by an amazing 51st from super-vet Jeff Mason. At the other
end of the age spectrum gutsy Junior Sean Dignam(59) closed in. For
a change the club also had three spares, John Bebbington(113),
Robbie Wood(117) and Mark Bleasdale(121).
A very modest day was the first reaction
but the hope that springs eternal lies in the fact that there were
four other good juniors not available on the day plus at least
three useful seniors who have yet to emerge from hibernation.
Liverpool Harriers currently overwhelm the opposition but there is
certainly a vacancy for runner up that is well within the LPS reach.
The next encounter in Sefton Park at the end of November will be the
true test of character.
Results
Report Charles Gains
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Fantastic four flourish at Sutton Park
18 October
The bare results will show that in the National Road Relay Championships
at Sutton Park, Birmingham the Liverpool Pembroke Sefton senior women's
quartet finished 32nd.But that is only a small part of the story as this
was the first time ever that the club had fielded a team at this level.
Little could have been expected but the first stage runner, the ever
reliable Kirsty Longley, ran a great 15.45 in 37th place and in close
proximity to a galaxy of talent. Rhea Ellis, the Liverpool University
dentistry student, then took up the challenge with relish waltzing past
no fewer than 14 athletes in 15.48 before handing over to Lyndsay Doyle,
a Birmingham University physiotherapy graduate. At this point LPS were
clear of city rivals Liverpool Harriers and it took their best,
international Jenny Clague, to haul back the deficit and put them
marginally in front of the battling Lyndsay who recorded 16.30 in 26th
spot. It was always going to be a difficult task for the far from fit
Cath Terry on the final circuit but she came home 32nd in a solid and
determined 18.10. To finish that high in the country and sixth Northern
club at the club's first sortie bodes well for the future and the
delight was apparent.
Results
The following day saw the Young Athlete national relays and this proved
another memorable moment for rising star, Alistair Nelson. Always in the
leading group of Under 15s from the start he engaged in a monumental
battle with Liverpool Harrier rival, Will Reynolds, before steaming away
over the final 800m and giving his club a 3 second advantage over the
field in 12.39, a time, incidentally, that ended up fifth fastest of the
day. The fast improving Warren Turner had a tough job staying in front
and understandably slipped to 5th but with a useful timing of 13.32. It
was left to James Grundy to close in at 13th with 14.19. A very
respectable position in such hot company. B team members Kyle
Nicholls(14.45) and David Reece(14.56) lacked a runner to complete.
The U17s saw Toby Loveridge finish 9th on the first leg(12.06) followed
by Jai-Vernon-McGuigan 13th(12.49) and finally Mike Bride 14th(13.07).
Another decent performance among the country's elite on a day of
exceptional standards. Ed Rimmer 49th(13.18), Sean Kirkbride also
49th(13.30) and John Meakin(15.15) finished 53rd.
Results |
Alistair Nelson |
Warren Turner |
James Grundy |
Greg strikes again
After running a recent 10K in the splendid time of 35.03 Greg
Callaghan almost duplicated this feat in the Southport 10K with a 35.15
posting, finishing fifth in the race and second O45. He is obviously
going to enjoy a good winter.
Bernie Murphy at Abingdon
While the club was occupied at Sutton Park Bernie Murphy made the trip
to Abingdon and completed the Marathon there in a very respectable
2.43.08. He was 10th in the race and fifth Vet overall. Obviously still
plenty of fire in the old war horse!
Report Charles Gains
Photos Steve Nelson
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Cautious start to the cross country season
11th October
The Liverpool Pembroke Sefton athletes were at two venues for a
relatively cautious opening to the cross country season. The Merseyside
Schools at Croxteth Park unexpectedly attracted large fields with Toby
Loveridge and David Forrester attempting a first place dead heat after
destroying the Under 18 field. Jai Vernon-McGuigan(5), Ed Rimmer(9) and
Chris Hesketh(10) completed the LPS interest in this age group. Toby,
David, Ed and Chris additionally secured a comfortable team victory for
KGV Southport. At Under 16 Sean Kirkbride was third and and Michael
Wilson 6th with James Grundy another third at Under 14. There were club
interests elsewhere but immediate results are not to hand.
The numbers for the first of the Mid-Lancs Cross Country League matches
at the attractive Kendal Show Ground venue were obviously affected by
the Croxteth Park event. The star performance here was Alistair Nelson
who opened his winter account with second spot in the Under 15 race.
Kyle Nicholls(14) and David Reece(19) attended but without a fourth
counter a decent team placing was out of the question. The Under 13s
were, however, intact and Nathan Browne(11), Ben Haines(34), Dillan
Bousique-Green(36) and Jonathan Bride(46) were delighted with their
third team result. The Bousique-Green family also provided two Under-11s
in the shape of Paul(13) and Colin(23).
Kirsty Longley was coolness personified as she treated the Senior
Women`s event as a warm up for another demanding season. She cruised to
fifth place with plenty left in the tank. Her year has already been
peppered with personal bests and more will surely fall before the
Spring. The Men`s race saw the welcome return of Bernie Murphy who also
used the race as preparation, in his case for the Abingdon Marathon. He
was 20th out of a very large field and third in the Over 40 age group.
Report Charles Gains
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Superb performances from Kirsty and Greg 4
October
The Asics Liverpool 10K at Sefton Park attracted over 2000 runners and
proved yet another opportunity for Liverpool Pembroke Sefton star Kirsty
Longley to shine. Still not back into full training she recorded a fine
time of 37.42 and fought off tough challenges to come home third woman.
Club mate Greg Callaghan is in equally outstanding form and will be
delighted with a 9th place time of 35.03 which enabled him to collect
the first over 45 prize. Elsewhere Sean Dignam was 19th in 38.10.
Report Charles Gains
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