There will be a meeting at 8.30 pm on Tuesday 26th for all senior members who would like to discuss the structure of the training
groups and any coaching issues.  All coaches and senior members are welcome, we look forward to seeing as many people there as possible.

Update - a good turn out crammed into the club house for some fruitful discussions.  Lots of ideas were discussed and we hope to act on them soon.  
Keep an eye on the website and club house notice boards for more details.

Ian Costello continues his year of debuts. Following his first 13 mile race last weekend, Ian made his indoor debut running the 800m in 2.10.85.

The U13 girls had a great team run finishing 9th overall with Rosie Johnson (15th), Rachel Woosey (58th), Danielle Webb (66th), and Lucy
Griffiths (127th) making up the counting four. Great team support from Rachel Mcgoldrick (133rd) and Maria Mcgoldrick (160th)..
In the U13 boys,  Joseph Walker enjoyed the atmosphere running in an age group above for fun but still finishing an excellent 162nd.

The U15 boys had Matt Shirling battling it out with the pack to finish a fantastic 4th. His team mate,  Chris Garrity (200th) also had a very good run, and as both are Year 1 we can expect more to come next year. 

The U15 girls were just one short of a team, Chelsea Jarvis (20th), Vicky Lamb (122nd) and Louise Hayes (151st).

The U17 boys unfortunately had no team for the first time this winter due to injury and illness. John Ashcroft (29th) had a very good run, but .
Jamie White had to pull out after one lap.

Team managers on the day Lynn and Adrian would like to thank all who turned up and made it a most enjoyable day. Lets have a good turn out
for the last Manchester Area League on Saturday 30th at Wythenshawe.

Gemma Connelly (34:24, 25th) followed her fine performance at Frodsham with a strong run.  

The Junior Men lost Matt Crehan who had been running well up with the leaders when he fell, twisting his ankle.  This left Jake Healy (33:43, 67) and Steve Clague (37:18, 83) to represent the Junior Men. 

The Senior Men were led home by Barry Graney (51:50, 239) who enjoyed the hills (and a slow start this week).  Next in was Ian White (56:01, 354) 
with a good return from injury, and Mark Davies (56:57, 378) not too far behind.  Rob "Big W" Marsh (57:29, 397) and Peter Johnson (1:04, 523) 
raced away to a quick start, followed briefly by Ray Vose until a recurrence of his hamstring problem ended his race.  
Tony Raffle and Sue Clague were there to provide welcome support on the course. 

Results

The Merseyside County Committee voted seven to four to cancel this year's county cross country championships owing to an overcrowded competition calendar. Cheshire will be holding their championships on Sunday 13 February.

Sue Clague has received a cheque to cover all those who entered so anyone wishing to have their money returned should see Sue.

The track and field areas at Sutton Leisure Centre are completely snow free and now available for use. The dates for the three Warrington Open Track and Field meetings have been added to the fixtures page.

Given the recent weather, and the amount of snow and ice still around on Friday, the fact this race took place at all was a surprise.  The fact that it took place in perfect conditions even more so.  Gemma Connelly took advantage of the opportunity to race in fine style with a new PB and finished first senior lady (1.19.53, 34th).  After showing two of the clubs senior men how it should be done, Gemma caught the leading senior lady with a mile to go and passed her to win by 10 seconds, finishing first for the club. Next home was the debutant Ian Costello (1.22.31, 55) with a fine run but glad to see the line for another PB.  Barry Graney (1.28.07, 141) thought about running a PB too but soon realised you need to train harder to do that, and then struggled home for a painful nine miles.  Alan McNally was next home (1.31.37, 218), followed by Dave Hampson (1.40.52, 462) and John Skinley (1.45.55, 625).  Pam Appleton (1.58.36, 993) broke into the top ten finishing 8th F55, followed by Lynsey Wilson (2.11.22, 1218), Linda White (2.14.54, 1270), and Pauline Picton (2.29.49, 1392). Report from Barry Graney.

Results

Matt Crehan took bronze in the U20 3000m championship in 8.38.46, while Sophie Rigby was fifth in the U17 high jump with a leap of 1.50m.

Ian Costello finished 25th at the Woodbank Park race on 2 January recording 24.22 while on 10 January Matthew Crehan recorded a personal best 8.44.93 finishing third over 3000m. Matthew is currently under consideration for representative honours by Northern Athletics. Chloe Rigby was third in the long jump (4.38) while sister Sophie was second in the high jump(1.50) and long jump (4.78).

The Four Villages Half Marathon is likely to go ahead this Sunday, final decision will be made on Friday and posted on the race website.

The Sport Centre and Club house will be open as normal from on Tuesday  14th Jan.  Although the track will be closed, alternative training will be organised.  The council will be posting updates on the GoActive website along with more general updates on the Council webpages.

The St Helens Schools Cross Country, due to be held at Sherdley Park this Friday 15th Jan, has been cancelled.

Sutton High school will be closed on Thursday 7th Jan and it is likely the leisure centre will also be closed, assume there are no training facilities available. Keep checking with the Sports Centre to find when it is open.

The Greater Manchester Cross Country Championships have been cancelled for this year. The Merseyside Cross Country championships have been moved from Stadt Moers park due to the frozen and rutted ground. An alternative course will probably be used (Wavertree) but the approaches to the site are hazardous so the championships will take place when a free date is available. News of all races can be found on the Northern Athletics Website.. 

Some great individual performances on a cold day in Stockport.  Results below, reports to follow.

There was one senior lady competing on a cold, snowy and icy course (little did we know that it was heading our way!) at Woodbank Park on the first weekend after NewYear. Gemma Connolly came home in 5th place in a time of 26.26 and is currently lying in second in the aggregate competition with one match to go. Let's see if we can get a bigger turn out of senior ladies for the last match at Wythenshawe on the 30th Jan when hopefully the weather will be a bit better (less snow please) so that we can finish the league with a strong result. Report from Gemma Connolly

Entries are required immediately for those wishing to race at the Northern Cross Country.
We urgently need your details and payment for the National Cross Country Champs. ( No U11s in this race) 
Please bring this to the race on Sunday or Tuesday 5th at the latest in an envelope with:
Full name DOB Age group Email Phone number

Note - Entries now closed.