Berlin Marathon 30 September

Steve Tate took part in the 34 real,- Berlin Marathon completing the course in 3hrs 27 min 32 sec. However, severe cramp set in after 36km and Steve struggled over the last 6km to complete the course in agony (which, as we all know, is a little place outside Berlin where the race finishes). Information from Steve Tate. Jokes from Phil Thomas.

Northern Road Relays - Birchwood - 29 September

History was made at Birchwood today when both the senior women's and men's teams finished in the top twenty of the Northern Road Relays.

On a course longer than the advertised 3km the ladies started as they intended to continue, Gemma Connolly (21.40) finishing 21st, Sarah Charnock (20.48) improving four places, Louise Hogg (23.43), hanging on to a place in the top twenty and Julia Eccleston completing the task with 23.33.

The B team were 33rd Karen Jarvis (24.30) followed by newcomer Lara Mason (27.11), Chris Dickinson gaining three places (25.38) and Eleanor Reynolds (25.11) picking up another three on the final circuit.

For the first time the club beat Trafford A C and Clayton Le Moors and we were the second Merseyside club to finish as Wirral didn't appear and SouthportWaterloo failed to enter. It's unfortunate that because of injuries, working commitments and holidays the club will not be able to contest the Nationals this year.

The last time the senior men contested a National Road Relay was in 1969 when they took part in the 12 man event. Having shown improvement over the past few seasons today provided an opportunity to make the finals of the six stage by finishing in the top two dozen.

From the time Greg Williams (27.57) returned in 27th position on lap one the club was always in the mid-twenties, Marc Laithwaite (28.28), Tony Smith (29.08), Barry Graney (29.43) and Matt Cullen (now concentrating on his running) 28.23, completing the penultimate circuit in 26th place. It was left to Dave Forrester to ensure history was made and he went round in 26.18 to finish twentieth.

Ian Costello renewed his rivalry with Barry Graney by recording 29.21 on the first lap for the B team in 51st place, while Ian Hayburn (32.18) was only six places down on that after the final circuit. Between times Peter Johnson (33.51), Billy Mousdale (34.28), Steve Mayers (30.05) and Ian Pass (33.13) all competed well.

The club was the second Merseyside outfit home, beating LPS (who declined to compete in the National) and Wirral (who accepted the final place on offer) while SouthportWaterloo failed to appear.

There was good support from athletes who were available in emergency, including Chris Dempsey and Ray Vose, while everyone hopes Rosie O'Hagan soon recovers from illness. Phil Thomas and Julia Eccleston were joint team managers for the ladies while Ian Hayburn looked after the men and Ray Vose collected the entry forms for the National.

Two complete teams in each race, history making places, reserves on hand just in case and the girls going for a night out tonight. Hopefully they should be recovered by Tuesday.
Mens Results
Mens Pictures
Womens Results

Blackpool & Fylde Open Competition 23 September

Two Sutton athletes returned with bronze medals from the final open meeting of the season at Blackpool.  Sophie Rigby gained her third place in the U15 Girls high jump with 1.45m in addition to running a 100m in 14.0 s.  Michael Causer's third place was in the U13 Boys long jump with a distance of 3.38m and he also ran the 80m in 11.4 s.

Two U11 Girls competed in the same three events. Chloe Rigby ran 80m in 12.4 s (fourth overall), 800m in 3:00.7 while Shelby Jack ran 80m in 12.7s and 800m in 3:12.8  Both girls also competed in the long jump, Sophie finishing fifth with 3.53 and Shelby recording 2.62.

The U11 Boys were represented by Jonathan Causer and Daniel Elston. Jonathan ran 80m in 13.3 s, 800m in 3:03.5 and long jumped 3.13m.Daniel competing in the same three events recorded 13.0 s,  2:48.1 (fifth overall) and  3.08m.

Liane Bibby competed for the U13 girls in the 80m sprint with a time of 11.8 s then stepped up an age group to compete in the U15 girls Javelin competition throwing 18.88m for a respectable fourth place.  Heather Drillingcourt completed the U15 Girls 800m with a time of 2:36.1 as she returns to fitness after injury. Report by Carl Bibby.

Miscellaneous 23 September

Chris Reid finished 79th in the Formby 10k in 48.20 while there were some interesting results at the Worsley 4.5.k trail race which were attributable to a "directional error" by a marshal. That means he sent quite a few people the wrong way which might account for two of the first three finishers being veteran ladies. Matthew Shillabeer was 46th in 36.38 while Dorothy Fairhurst was second over 65 in 44.52. Two ladies took advantage of the switch to include the Guilden Sutton Six in the Grand Prix, Julia Eccleston (125 - 41.32) and Eleanor Reynolds (158 - 48.53).

Tom Fillingham Memorial Trophy - Sutton 20 September

A dozen athletes took part in the Tom Fillingham Memorial 5k at Sutton. The actual race was won by Dave Forrester with a time of 15.40 which constitutes a new under 20 club record, beating Steve Mayers' old time, set in the same race in 2004, by 69 seconds.

Dave was fifth on handicap, first place going to Pete "I really have been injured" Johnson (18.26 - 15.16),  who finished five seconds ahead of Barry "at least it's a pb" Graney (17.06 - 15.21) with Greg "No excuses" Williams third (16.33 - 15.23). Ian "I'll try anything" Costello was five seconds behind Barry on the track with Steve "I'm checking the distance for next year's winning run" Clague recording (18.35 -16.00). Billy "I was just getting warmed up" Mousdale finished seventh (20.15 - 16.15).

 The other competitors included Lawrence Walker who took in a training run in 16.12 and Cheshire's finest Gemma Connolly, who recorded 19.27. John Appleton pulled up with injury, Adam Fackey did not finish and Tony Raffle pulled out as he felt it would be unfair if he won the handicap off so little training.

Steve Tate sacrificed his own chances so he could help Ian Hayburn grapple with the intricacies of timekeeping and compile the results. Ian did a great job of handicapping (so he told me afterwards).

For those of you who are unaware, Tom Fillingham started running cross country for Sutton Harriers before the second world war. He won the West Lancashire Youths title in 1938 and competed for Great Britain in a Junior International before the conflict. Tom was reckoned by his contemporaries to be one of the finest cross country runners of his generation and it remains a moot point as to how much more he would have achieved but for the Second World War.

As it was, having served in the Forces for the duration of the conflict, he won the first West Lancashire Senior championship title after the war (1947) and ran in every one of Sutton's medal winning teams in the National, Northern and West Lancashire Championships between 1947 and 1951. In the case of the West Lancs this extended to 1953 when Billy McMinnis won the individual title and Sutton the team title with six counters in the first nine and all nine runners in the first fifteen! Tom was captain of Lancashire when the old Red Rose county were the undisputed kings of the inter-counties cross country. Following his retirement from running he became the club's timekeeper and treasurer, posts he still held when I joined the club in 1962. He stepped down in the late sixties but remained a keen supporter of the club until his death. Phil Thomas

Hoylake 10k - 16 September

David Bradshaw and Cecilia Schroeder competed in this event, David finishing 146th in 48.26 and Cecilia 245th in 52.46.

Great Langdale Half Marathon - Lake District - 16 September

Karen Jarvis, Sue O'Hanlon and Chris Dickinson completed the Great Langdale Half Marathon finishing only 5 minutes and 12 seconds apart and taking first, fourth and fifth places in the Over 45 category.  Karen was 25th overall in 1.55.44, Sue 38th in 1.59.58 and Christine 43rd in 2.00.56. Had there been a team race for the over 45's the club would have won. Results

ESSA Pentathlon Championships - Exeter - 16 September

Samantha Fraser set a new under 15 Club pentathlon record when she scored 2939 points to finish fourth in the ESAA Pentathlon Championships at Exeter. Samantha recorded 12.19 secs for the 75m hurdles, 10.71 (shot), 1.52 (high jump), 4.98 (long jump) and a personal best 2.45.5, over 800m. As a result of her endeavours Samantha has been selected to represent the English Schools' AA in a school' international pentathlon in December, thus becoming the club's second schools' international in recent years.

Litherland & Open Track Relays. 16 September

Sixteen club athletes travelled to Litherland to compete in the Merseyside County Relay Championships and Litherland open track relays.

Two U13 girls team competed Amanda Paton,  Liane Bibby,  DanielleMcGifford and Tricia Spark ran the 4 x 100m in a season's best time of 57.7 to become County champions while Becky O'Brien, Amy Shaw,
Lucy Renshall and Vicky Lamb competed in the open event coming fourth (62.8) 

The U15 Girls team of Natasha Le Surf, Sophie Rigby,  Francesca Calvert, and  Jenny Lamb took County silver medals in their event running 4 x 100m in a time of 55.9 while the U13 boys team of Kieron Fahey,  Ethan Allen, Carl Hargreaves and Michael Causer completed their 4 x 100m relay in a time of 56.1 to become County champions and break the club record despite Kieron pulling a muscle after about 50m.

In addition, the U13 Girls team were second in the open event, the U13 boys first in the open event and the U 15 girls third in the open event all of which will become clear when the results become available. Report from Carl Bibby, who also acted as team manager on the day.

Merseyside and North West Road Relays - Sefton Park - Liverpool - 15 September

It was at this competition in 2002 that we were able to announce that St Helens-Sutton were back in the medals and we've been there ever since, claiming a record number 23 medals at this year's event. The under 13 trio of Chelsea Jarvis, Louise Hayes and Rachel Wilcock claimed silver, Chelsea recording 9.35 for the fastest lap of the day coming home first overall on the opening lap..

The medal winning feat was emulated by the boys' team of Andrew Cowley, Andy Harvey and newcomer Sean Kenny, who held off the challenge from LPS for silver.

The under 15 girls team of Jemma Shaw, Heather Drillingcourt and Lauren Bradshaw missed out on third place by just over a minute but the under 15 boys' teams took two sets with John Ashcroft, Danny Hughes and Jamie White finishing second to LPS and David Griffiths, Jamie Webb and Joe Williams collecting the B team prize.

Adam Fackey hurt his ankle on the opening lap for the under 17 boys but Jake Healy pulled the team back into contention for Merseyside medals which was rounded off by an equally outstanding run from Steve Clague to defeat Liverpool for the county bronze.

The senior ladies team called on the services of Rosie O'Hagan who held regulars Louise Hogg and Julia Eccleston together as the team held off the challenge from Penny Lane Striders for the bronze medals. It was Rosie's first county medal at the age of 49(Ow - that hurt Rosie).!!!!

Yet again the senior men took the county silver, Greg WIlliams, Marc Laithwaite, Ian Roberts and Steve Mayers taking 11th place overall with Barry Graney, Steve Tate, Ian Hayburn and John Appleton finishing for the B team and Paul Burgess and Phil "5k's not much more than 800m is it?" Robinson making up an incomplete C team after injuries to Stan Erlam and Peter Johnson forced both out.

John Irwin and Julia Hayes team managed, Pam Appleton and Janet Holmes kept the times - and there was plenty of parental and coaching support available. Results

Road Racing Miscellaneous:

Recent results include Dennis Wharton's 42.16 (57) in the Kirkham 10k on 9 September, Julia "I thought you'd never notice" Eccleston's run in the Salford 5k (35.11 52nd) on 26 August and a number of athletes competing in a triathlon for a £44 entry fee!!!!!! Never complain again about entry fees people. In addition, Gill Laithwaite's win at Ulverston recently was achieved in a course record time.

Cheshire League - Final Positions 2007.

The final tables have been published for the Cheshire League which show that the under 11's were fifth with 311.5 pts. The women were 11th (382.5), the men 13th (311) and the combined men's and women's teams 11th (693.5). Congratulations to everyone who took part and to Julia Hayes who has stepped down from the team manager's role and has been succeeded by Andy Drillingcourt.

Cheshire and Open Junior Multi Events Meeting - Macclesfield 9 September.

There was a triple success for club athletes at the Cheshire and Open Multi Events meeting at Macclesfield. Michael Causer was first in the under 13 Boys with 224 points consisting of 100 (13.5 -78), long jump (4.47 - 75) and shot putt (8.17 -71) an excellent end to the season for Michael who was injured for most of it.

Danielle McGifford was third in the under 13 girls with hurdles (11.91 -89), long jump (3.68 - 60) and javelin (15.85 - 48),for an overall total of 197 points. As the existing  hurdles record of 11.9 was recorded in 1999 and records at that time were rounded down rather than recorded in one-hundredths, Danielle's hurdles time has been accorded equal status until such an 11.90 is recorded.

John Ashcroft was third in the open competition recording hurdles (16.5 -281), high jump (1.35 - 28.3), long jump 3.96 (199), 6.87 (shot putt - 300) and 800 (2.15.8 - 515) for an overall total of 1578 points.

This competition is an excellent one at the end of the season for athletes who like to try different events and hopefully others will try it in 2008.

Blackpool Open Meeting 9 September

Seven clubs athlete competed in the first of  two Blackpool September open meetings earning seven medals. Phil Robinson cleared 2.90 to win the pole vault, Samantha Fraser won the shot (10.81) and was second in the long jump (4.97) and hurdles (12.2). Tricia Spark was second in the shot (8.63) and Danny Hughes made it a trio of shot putt medals with 9.41(2nd) before claiming bronze in the 800m (2.21.1).

Michael Hughes weighed in with a 7.85m shot and 24.75m hammer. Becky O'Brien achieved a 4.83 shot and 15.1 (100m), Tricia Spark recording 14.6 (100) and 30.3(200). The enthusiastic Daniel Elston competed in three events in the U11's recording 2.50.5 (800), 12.7(80) and 3.30m (LJ). Report from Colin Spark.

Colwyn Bay Games 8 September

Two club athletes competed at the Colwyn Bay Games, Rachael Woosey in the under 11's and Liane Bibby the under 13's. Both girls qualified for their respective age group finals in the 100m, Rachael going on to win her final in 15.8 secs while Liane clocked 14.7 s. in her event.  Rachael added two more first places in the 600m 2:08.2 and long jump 3.19m while Liane was first in the javelin with her second best throw of the season measured at 21.91m. Report from Carl Bibby

Two new Level 1 Coaches: 8 September 2007

Jessica Drillingcourt and Matthew Pilling both successfully completed their Level 1 coaching courses today.
 

Ken Crouch Memorial Trophy - 6 September 2007

This annual 3k handicap for ladies attracted a record number of entrants when nine club members toed the line to compete against each other. It would have been more but for Eleanor Reynolds' food poisoning (get well soon Ellie).

The handicapping was outstanding with just three seconds separating the self-effacing Linda White running off 30 seconds finishing with a handicap time of 15.53 from the evergreen Dorothy Fairhurst who recorded 15.56 off scratch.

Sarah Charnock was the winner on time (10.55/16.05), striding majestically away with Gemma Connolly, gradually returning to fitness, just beating her Cheshire colleague by one second (11.24/16.04).

Louise Hogg(12.25/16.25) was two seconds clear of Christine Dickinson (13.27/16.27) at the finish with Karen "Smiler" Jarvis(13.18/16.33) a further six seconds behind as the top six were handicapped within 30 seconds of each other.

Julia herself would have been the next finish (12.39/16.49) while Christine Dempsey's first training session for two months (15.02/17.12) has given her the incentive to bid for a place in the Northern Road Relays B team.

If the forthcoming Tom Fillingham Trophy race is as well handicapped as this one, it will be a cracking race.

Annual General Meeting - 3 September 2007

The Annual General Meeting of the club took place under the chairmanship of Billy McMinnis in the Training Room at Sutton Sports Centre on Monday 3 September. Reports were received and approved from the Treasurer and Chairman and Life Membership was awarded to David Forrester in recognition of his having achieved international level in club competition by virtue of his appearance in the World Junior Cross Country Championships in Kenya. David is the youngest club member ever to have received this honour which was accepted on his behalf by his father, Paul Forrester.

The following persons were elected to office: President: Billy McMinnis; Chairman: Phil Thomas; Treasurer: John Irwin; Secretary: Julia Hayes; Senior Ladies' Captains: Sue Lowrie & Julia Eccleston; Senior Mens' Captains: Ian Hayburn & Ray Vose; Committee Members: Pam Appleton (Membership Secretary); Barry Graney (Website Development); Sue Clague; Christine Dempsey. Vacancies will be filled by cooption.

The following have been invited to act as team managers for the 2007/8 season. Senior Cross Country and Road Running: Ian Hayburn & Julia Eccleston. Young Athletes Cross Country & Road Running: Julia Hayes. Sports Hall League: Julia Hayes & Colin Spark; Sports Hall Town Team: Andy Drillingcourt & Carl Bibby.

Northern Senior Track & Field - Phil Thomas; National Junior League - Sue Clague; Young Athletes League: Carl Bibby; Cheshire League - Andy Drillingcourt. Phil Thomas will coordinate the administrative support to all areas for the time being..

The purpose of appointing a variety of people to team management positions is to spread the workload and enable more people to learn the skills required. The club will not be promoting any home League matches in 2008 while training takes place to teach the requisite skills to anyone interested in taking over responsibility in these areas for the 2009 season. Report from Phil Thomas

Cheshire League - Eccles 2 September 2007

Following requests from parents and others, it was decided to travel to Eccles to compete in the final Cheshire League match of the season. Individual results have been placed on the notice-board thanks to Carl Bibby's deciphering skills and it is known the men were fourth with 77pts, the ladies fourth with 54 pts and the under 11's second with 77 pts. Our computer experts have been unable open the files for the full results but I understand they will appear in accessible form on the Cheshire League website, via the Cheshire County website, shortly. Here is the team manager's report.