St Helens Sutton ACGeneral training at club nights take a break over Christmas as below.
Last session 2015 – Tuesday 22nd December 2015
First Session 2016 – Tuesday 5th January 2016
Note Training sessions may continue with individual coaches throughout the Christmas period, see your coach for details. In addition please note that Sutton Leisure Center is open until 4pm on 24th December 2015 and reopens on 2nd January 2016.
The club presentation evening has been booked for Saturday 30th January at the Ex-Services Club, Rainhill (same venue as last couple of years)
If you have competed in 2011/12 season please be sure to attend and bring your family along. Hot Pot and Disco included.
As the annual trophies are presented on this night it is essential that they are returned by the end of the year. Please return any special trophies to Chris Causer
Tickets now on sale at the club, Tickets cost £4 each for up to 3 family members then £2 each for each additional family member.
The Christmas Handicap is Sunday 20th December at around 10.30am. It is a fun run for ALL Athletes and Parents around Sherdley Park with head starts given to slower runners so that everyone has a chance of winning.
There are prizes for all junior runners, the winners and for the best fancy dress (optional). Hopefully some seasonal refreshments should be available for supporters and runners too. Come and support the club even if you don’t fancy running – you can wear your Christmas jumper!
Meet at the Yellow Gates on Marshalls Cross Rd at 10.15am.
Saturday 5th December 2015 saw the third Manchester Area Cross Country League held at Boggart Hole Clough. The conditions were extremely windy, muddy and wet. There were 5 representatives for the club, including: under 11 girl, Hollie Brussels. Hollie covered the distance of 2.4km and finished in 34th place in 13.02.
Charlie Roberts ran in the under 13 boys 3.3km race, alongside Michael Brussels. Charlie finished in 17th place in 14.48 and Michael finished in 18th place in 14.49.
For the under 15 girls, Lucy Price covered the distance of 4km and finished in 32nd place in 26.12.
Gemma Connolly represented the senior ladies and completed the 8.5km race in 5th place in 33.53.
Well done to everyone who competed for the club!
Next match: Heaton Park on Saturday 16th January 2016.
REMINDER- Merseyside Cross Country County Championships on Saturday 9th January 2016 at Arrowe Park (entries close before Christmas).
25 athletes from St.Helens Sutton competed at Widnes on the 15th November in 3 age groups, U11’s U13’s and U15’s with a quite few of the athletes competing for the club for the first time.
U11 Girls
The girls had a strong team with 8 competitors, Olivia Byrom, Niamh Abbot, Beri Salihi, Hannah Shaw-Binns, Hannah Whitney, Hollie Brussels, Grace Moffatt and Emilia Lamb
The girls managed to amass 139.5 points to finish 3rd on the day which was a fantastic effort.
Performances of note were Niamh Abbot winning the 2 lap race in 28.5 seconds , Olivia Byrom finishing runner up in the speed bounce and Beri Salihi who jumped really well; 1.86 m in the long jump and 40 cm in the vertical jump. Olivia, Beri, Niamh and Amelia then teamed up in the relay to finish the race in 3rd.
U13 Girls
There were 4 competitors in the U 13 girls, Amber Escoffery, Elizabeth Greenall, Holly Scott and Celine Virton.
The girls did exceptionally well in scoring 149 points to finish 2nd behind a strong Wirral team.
Performances of note were Celine Virton winning the speed bounce with 74, Elizabeth Greenall winning the Shot Putt with 6.21 m and jumping 2.03 m in the long jump and Holly Scott who ran a superb 6 lap race in 1.36.7 to finish 2nd. All 4 girls came together for the relay and posted a good time to finish 3rd.
U11 Boys
There were 6 competitors in the U 11 Boys, Max Harrison, Edward Leach, Aaron Leach, Callum
Lynch, Adam Beardsworth and Jonny Vaughan.
The boys did fantastically well and with 143 points they finished 2nd.
Performances of note were Adam Beardsworth winning the Chest Push with 6.50 m and also finishing 2nd in the Speed bounce and Max Harrison wining the long jump with an impressive 1.96 m.
Max, Callum, Adam and Jonny ran the relay in a good time to finish 3rd
U13 Boys
There were 4 competitors in the U 13 boys, Michael Brussels, Dylan O’Brien, Aidan Lamb and Luca Noonan. The lads did really well and scored 131 points to finish 2nd.
Performances of note were Luca Noonan winning the 2 lap race in 26.10 seconds and finishing 2nd in the Shot Putt, Michael Brussels finishing 2nd in the 6 lap race in 1.35.5 and Dylan O’Brien finishing 2nd in the long Jump with 1.88 m. All 4 boys came together for the relay and ran well to finish 2nd.
U15’s
There were 3 competitors in the U15 category, Nathan Harrison and Daniel Dobson in the boys and Lauren Henry in the girls. Lauren performed consistently and scored 47 points from her 4 events and the boys also did well and scored between them 76 points which was good enough for 4th.
All are now training really hard to improve further at the next and final qualifying round which is again at Widnes on 6th December.
More wet than muddy!
Saturday 7th November 2015 saw the second Manchester Area Cross Country League held at Sherdley Park.
First off for the club was the under 11 boys and girls 2.5km race. This saw Lucy Bridge lead the girls home in 24th place in a time of 10.34, she was followed by Niamh Abbott who competed in her first cross country and finished in 37th place in 11.13. Also participating in their first cross countries were Libby Pearson and Kaitlin Hawsworth. Libby finished in 42nd place in 11.56 and Kaitlin finished in 44th in 12.28. The girls team finished 9th overall.
For the under 13 boys; Charlie Roberts took to the 3.5km race to finish in 18th place in a time of 12.44 whilst Michael Brussels finished in 24th place in 13.18 and Ben Toole: 29th place in 13.40. Liam Houghton completed the race in 36th place in 14.53. The boys team finished 7th. Under 13 girl, Shana Rigby, ran in her first cross country and finished 48th in 16.43.
Representing the under 15 girls- Lucy Price covered the distance of 5km in 24.12, finishing 12th and Chloe Orrick finished in 13th in 24.13.
The under 17 men’s team consisted of Anthony Walker, Ben Oldham, Joe Walker, Leon Hill and Lochlain Fisher. Antony completed the 6km course in 26.10 finishing 23rd, Ben finished in 25th in 26.34 and Joe finished in 26th place in 26.47. Leon completed the race to finish 29th in 28.00 and Lochlain finished in 31st place in a time of 29.32. The team finished 6th overall. Also in this race, Samantha Price represented the under 17 girls, she finished in 16th place in 29.32.
The senior ladies 8.5km race saw Gemma Connolly lead the ladies home in 15th place in a time of 30.49. Rachael Fairclough finished 17th in 31.17, Rachel McGoldrick finished 48th in 34.19 and Maddie Williams completed the race in 64th place in 35.18. Also Louise Hogg finished in 124th place in 39.29 and Carla Langley competed for the first time finishing in 156th place in 43.02. The ladies team finished 5th overall.
Finally, the senior men’s 10km race, Tom Griffiths finished 44th in 35.22, Steve Anders finished 77th in 37.07 and Greg Williams finished 90th in 37.46. Andy Wilson finished 101st in 38.32, John Appleton finished 109th in 39.00 and Ian Costello finished 165th in 41.10. Barry Graney ran out of time to catch Ian after Chris Dempsey woke him up and completed the race in 167th place in 41.14 followed by Ian Hayburn finished 210th in 43.10. Overall the men finished 16th and the vets team finished 11th (Andy, Ian, Barry and Ian).
Many thanks to all course setters and marshals- much appreciated!
Well done to all who competed!
See you all on Saturday 5th December at Boggart Hole Clough for the 3rd match
Those members who entered the London Marathon should have received their acceptance magazines by now. If you are unlucky enough to have received a rejection, you can apply to enter the ballot for one of the club places.
For the first call, as well as having a rejection from the ballot, applicants must currently be members of the club and have been so for one year. Please let your captain or the secretary know as soon as possible (with proof of rejection) if you want to apply.
As usual if there are any places not filled from this first call a further ballot of members wishing to be considered will be held, again let the secretary/captains know if you wish to be considered in any second ballot. In order to maximise training time the entries to the ballots will close at the end of this month.
Six of the club’s runners turned out to race this new trail race. Organised by our local ‘rivals’ to celebrate their 30th Anniversary it was run on the paths and trails around Carr Mill dam, starting and finishing in Blackbrook.
Steve Anders (31:02, 1st) saw off an early challenge from Matt Crehan to win the race outright with a fantastic run. Mark Liptrot (35:59, 19th M) and Ian Hayburn (36:14, 20th M) had a good battle finishing close together. Matthew Crehan (45:39, 69th M) recovered from a rapid start! Two of our ladies ran with Karen Harrison (51:39, 32nd F) finishing ahead of Megan Crehan (52:52, 34th F)
The club has taken the decision to cancel general training on Thursday 5th November.
Its bonfire night and the leisure centre car park is used for official parking for the display in Sherdley Park. The roads are generally chaotic and there are problems getting in and out of the centre. There is also a slight safety risk of falling debris.
Some coaches and leaders may have made alternative arrangements so you should speak to your coach.
The Snowdonia Marathon voted the best marathon in the UK twice and recognised as the toughest marathon in the UK. So, who would attempt the 26.2 miles and 1,700 feet of climbing? Well, over 1800 runners, including 5 runners from St Helens Sutton Athletic Club.
On Saturday the 24th of October Greg Carns, Sonya Moynihan, Mark Liptrot, Gary Oldham, Ian Roberts and Andy Wilson attempted the gruelling race in the cold wind and rain of North Wales.
The first half of the race is straight into the hills from Llanberis up through the infamous Pen Y Pass and down off road through the valley to Beddgelert. Then 13 more miles back on the roads – straight into the next hill to Pont Cae Gors. Finally, after 21 miles the last hill and what a hill! As Ian said “mountain goats would look at it and say, nah we’ll get the bus”. The steep downhill back to Llanberis offers little comfort to tired legs. The heavy rain made the grassy surface like ice. “It wouldn’t be a Vets day out without a visit to the first aid tent and Ian duly obliged after taking a flyer on the treacherous final descent” commented Mark.
An amazing finish by Andy, 3’05” coming 42nd and 11th in his age group. Then, followed by Greg at 3’30”, Mark in at 3’40”, Gary in at 3’58” and Ian at 4’05”. Sonya came in at 4’14” slower than last year’s 3’55” but still 18th in her age group. A great day out on an epic course!
Remember “great oak trees from little acorns grow” if you’re new to runing why not start small with a 5K like parkrun every Saturday at 9 am in Victoria Park.
Report from Gary Oldham