The latest news and events will appear here! If you would like any news to be added to the blog please email blackpoolwyrefyldeac@gmail.com

1st April 2021

March 29^th was a significant date for the Club’s athletes as the Stanley Park Track re-opened for training and many athletes took the opportunity to attend the organised sessions by the Club’s Coaches and what a joy it was to be back together after 3 long months of lockdown. For the Juniors it was something that they had been looking forward to especially and this is what some of them had to say about the return to formal training:

Looking to this moment Rosie said “I can’t wait to get back on the track to continue to do what I really enjoy! I have really missed it”. Millie was “happy and great to be back with my training friends”.

Jack commented that it provides “more space to train and lines & lanes to run in”. Grace has a similar view in that “I can run in a straight line!”. Oliver is “really happy to get back doing proper sprinting on the track.”

Chloe commented: “There’s only so much training we can do at home/open spaces (particularly in pole vault) so being back on the track means we can do more technical skills for our events. Also great to see everyone back doing a sport we all love. Have missed my sprint group and the laughs we all have.”

This is now the start of the long road back to full fitness, and then competition, for many of these Junior athletes who will have missed the regular routine of organised training with their friends during the long Winter months. So many articles recently have stressed the impact on general health, fitness and mental health of the pandemic and hopefully being part of BWF AC has been important in assisting members to remain fit and healthy during the last year. It is recommended that all children should be active for an hour a day and by being part of BWF AC this is one target that is achievable on at least two or three days a week.

During this week many of the Senior runners will have been taking part in the Club’s Virtual Road Championship over a 4-mile route of their own choosing. The first Club Night since December offered the opportunity to run this distance over a measured 4-mile route, in a Covid safe environment, following the England Athletics Guidelines or to just go for a social run with their friends to catch up on news and developments. With 20 athletes taking the opportunity for a harder and faster run than usual it was considered a success and many were just glad to see others for the first time in three months.

Thanks go to the organisers and also to the volunteers who turned out to marshall, even though one or two runners decided to make their own route up towards the 4 mile distance! All in all an enjoyable evening which was ideal for racing.

24th March 2021

There is an air of excitement around the Fylde Coast because from 29^th March the Track at Stanley Park should be re-open for Club Training sessions and this means that the Juniors, in particular, can get together with their clubmates to enjoy their company and train together in a Covid safe environment. This is hopefully the start of the journey back to some normality and the opportunity to commence preparations for the first Track & Field Competitions in a few weeks time.

This is a really significant step forward, but care must be taken by all individuals to ensure that health and safety remains a priority and that all Government and EA Guidelines are followed to ensure there is no backward step in the Road Map.

As a Club BWF AC has appointed two Covid-19 Officers to ensure that all coaches and athletes are following the guidance and are aware of their own personal responsibilities and to make club training sessions as safe as possible, though nothing can be guaranteed given the nature of the virus.

A year on from the first lockdown we are mindful of the lives lost and the disruption caused to the lives of everyone and our thoughts go out to all those who have lost loved ones during this time. As a Club we have tried to keep members motivated and supported with various activities, but nothing can beat the joy of running, jumping or throwing together in a group and sharing experiences and recollections and hopefully from Monday this can become an important part, once again, in the lives of club members.

By the time you read this article the British Athletics Olympic Marathon and 20km Walks Trials will have taken place on Friday at Kew Gardens due to the fact that the 2021 London Marathon has been postponed from its usual April date and rescheduled for October. It will certainly have been a very different atmosphere for the few athletes competing as no spectators will have been lining the route as they have done every year since 1981 – 2019.

What these elite runners will be chasing is the qualification time to represent Great Britain in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games which will still hopefully take place later in the year. In what could have ended up as a very lonely journey for some of the athletes we hope that they achieved their dreams or that they achieved their own personal goals.

Then later in the year the London Marathon will resume and those athletes from the club who have gained places will be able to step out on to the start line and experience something that is unique in British athletics. For what began in March 1981 with less than 8,000 athletes has now become a global phenomenon with over 30,000 runners racing, walking, skipping their way around the streets of London in a carnival atmosphere unlike any other. Fingers crossed that the class of 2021 will once again have this joy in their hearts as athletics makes it long welcome return over the coming months.

17th March 2021

BWF AC is looking forward to 29^th March, along with all the other local clubs, when organised training sessions can re-commence in a Covid-19 safe and secure environment and groups of 6 can run together on informal training runs. However, this number does not apply on Club Nights but consideration will still have to be taken of the general public who might not be aware that the guidelines for sports clubs is different to that for those out for a walk. At this time the advice is to check first with the Government Guidelines and also those issued by England Athletics as they will have been agreed with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Everyone has a responsibility in this area to ensure the safety of everyone around you and to avoid any undue confrontation.

For the Junior Members there is now a buzz in the air that they will be able to train together with their friends and begin their preparation for competition in a few months’ time. Coaches will be planning their sessions with care and also revisiting their Risk Assessments to ensure that all reasonable pre-cautions have been taken to ensure the safe welfare of all participants as well providing their athletes with advice and guidance on how the “new normal” will operate in the next few weeks.

At this time athletes continue to train and it is interesting to note that as well as enjoying running outdoors there is also a move towards indoor trainers, especially in poor weather, whether it be for running, or for variety, cycling. Members have also been taking fitness classes and personal 1 – 1 “boot-camp” type sessions to maintain their core fitness though it is not for everyone.

If anyone is interested in joining BWF AC please get in touch and further details can be provided but please bear in mind that for Junior Sessions there could be a waiting list due to the restrictions on the Coach to Athlete ratio. The email address is blackpoolwyrefyldeac@gmail.com

During a normal week track training for Juniors is generally held on a Tuesday and Thursday evening, though some coaches do utilise other nights as well. Road Runners meet on a Wednesday evening at the Blackpool Sports Centre for a social run with varying distances and speeds which cater for runners of all abilities. There are also other sessions held by the Club Coaches during the week and further details can be provided if interested. Runners will also meet up with friends for their own training runs at convenient times during the week supporting each other and providing company on the longer runs.

As competitions re-commence athletes can take pride in representing BWF AC in any number of events from Local Leagues, to County Championships, to Area Championships and National Championships. However, many just enjoy the local competitions and the sense of health and well-being that athletics promotes and as it covers such a wide range of disciplines – running, throwing, jumping, trail, fell – there is an event for all.

10th March 2021

It is a pleasure to be able to report about an actual competition for the first time since late December and last week was the first race in the BWF AC Virtual Club Championships. This was a 5k and athletes had to find a suitable course near their home, ideally traffic free, and run as hard as they were able for the stated distance. As well as a test of their current fitness it is also a lesson in pace judgement especially when running alone as most of those taking part did. Go off too fast and suffer in the last kilometre or set of too slow and finish wishing you had gone faster! That is why it can be so much easier in a race when there are other athletes to chase or stop from passing you.

At the end of the allocated week 42 runners had submitted times which was slightly down on expectations given the numbers out running. In the Senior Men’s Age Group 4 recorded times under 19 minutes with new member, Marco Parolin, stopping his watch at 16.45 which is a great solo time. Another new member, Adam Hartley, ran 18.28 whilst Simon Reason and Mark Warner recorded 18.46 and 18.54 respectively. Top Junior was Rafael Eaton with 19.01 with M50 Tony Terras running 19.27. First M40 was the running Rev, Steve Dunn, with 19.57 with Paul Beech in 19.59 first M45. The fastest M60 time was Nick Hume with 22:00 whilst Simon Scarr took the M55 time with 23.19. Club Coach, Tony Airnes showed the way to do it in the M65 category with 28.40 whilst Alan Wilkinson, now living near Aberdeen, was the fastest M70 with 26.28.

For the Women it was good to see Caroline Betmead running 19.40 for fastest Lady and F45 whilst Jenny Clarke, who joined last year, recorded 20.37 in the F40 category. Dawn Maher was the leading F35 athlete with 23.33 whilst Karen Dunford with 23:38 was leading F55. Women’s Team Captain, Laura Lawler took the F50 honours with 22.28. Those taking part covered the full spectrum of running and illustrated just how much running is for everyone, no matter the time taken. The enjoyment comes from the inner challenge and being outdoors in the fresh air and taking pleasure in the positive benefits that exercise brings.

Hopefully, though, more members will participate in the next event which is over 4 miles and starts on March 29^th. The aim of the series is to provide a challenge for runners, especially whilst so many races planned at this time of year are being postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic.

March 29^th is also an eagerly awaited date for many of the Club’s Junior Members as it is hoped that Track & Field Training will recommence at Stanley Park. Club Coaches should be able to provide more information about their proposed sessions and what difficulties there will be with regard to the throws and jumps events and the guidelines surrounding the cleaning of equipment and the handling of implements.

At the moment England Athletics are in discussion with DCMS and Sport England in relation to being able to provide further guidance relating to the return to competitions and until this is realised it is hard for race organisers, especially Track & Field, to plan ahead with any certainty. Events in April and early May are having to be postponed or cancelled due to the uncertainty and also to give time for athletes to be “competition ready”. This is really important and coaches have a vital role to play in ensuring that their athletes are ready for competition after perhaps not being very active for almost three months. Above all it is also the chance to reconnect with friends and enjoy socialising with them whilst the road to full fitness commences.

3rd March 2021

As reported last week the plan for a return to “normality” was published and initial plans for the return to training and racing have been drawn up, but Athletic organisers are still awaiting the more detailed lower level Guidelines on how events can and should be organised. Already this week the Lancashire AA Combined Events Championships planned for April and the County Track & Field Championships planned for early May have been postponed but with plans to hold later in the season. The UK Youth Development League has cancelled its first Matches in April and up to mid-May and at the moment news is awaited from the Northern League and Mid Lancs Association as to their tentative early fixtures.

Whilst all this might seem like more bad news, rest assured that the volunteers are trying their best but are constrained by the Covid-19 Guidelines and the over-riding necessity to ensure the health and safety of all those involved from Officials to Volunteers and the athletes themselves along with any spectators.

Parkrun has announced that Junior parkrun will return from 11^th April for those aged 4 – 10. Then all 5k parkruns from 5^th June but again this is subject to certain conditions being met. Fells Races can start applying for licenses from 29^th March so again there might be some races on, but the popular Pendle Fell Race on 4^th April has been cancelled due to the sensitivities in the Barley area.

Now onto something more exciting! During February 16 BWF AC Ladies signed up to Captain Laura’s “Keep Active Every Day in February Challenge”. The aim was to exercise for 28 minutes a day for every day in February 928 days!). 13 of them of them posted activities for all those days and this ranged from walking, running, yoga, cycling, open water swimming and even hula hooping. This proved to be a really popular and positive exercise and many have been asking for a “March Challenge”.

BWF AC Club members are now looking forward to being able to train on the Stanley Park Track from 29^th March and to running in “groups of 6” again and along with the lighter nights and the return of organised Club Events this will hopefully provide an incentive to carry on running and training. However, for field athletes there are still great challenges to be met with regard to the cleaning of equipment and sandpits etc but hopefully some sense will prevail. Hopefully the worst of winter is now behind us and a slightly brighter future lies ahead.

The first event of the Club’s 2021 Virtual Road Race Championship commenced on 1^st March with a 5k to be completed between 1^st – 7^th March. In the coming months there will be 10 more designated Races with the best 6 counting towards the Championship. Hopefully this will provide some incentive for the Senior Club Runners to test themselves, as a number of new members have joined during the last 12 months and must be keen to show how their training has been progressing.

Above all stay safe and well and follow the current Guidelines so that the country can re-open as planned without any more delays due to spikes in cases in various areas.

24th February 2021

On Monday the Prime Minister announced his Road Map for moving out of lockdown and the gradual easing of restrictions which is good news for the country and all those involved in sport. Whilst more details are awaited as to when athletics training and with how many can resume from a club perspective, along with the competitive side of the sport it does mean that competition providers can start to think about the forthcoming summer season and which events it might be possible to hold and the restrictions that might have to be overcome.

It is around this time of year that many cross country runners are looking forward to the English National Cross Country Championships which this year were due to be held at London’s Parliament Hill course on 6^th March. This race has traditionally been the highlight of the year when the top English runners battled for a place in the team for the World Cross Country Championships and Parliament Hill is regarded amongst many as the spiritual home of cross country running.

Believe it or not the National has been staged in Blackpool on a number of occasions with the first being on Saturday 3^rd March 1894 when it was run over a course of about 10 miles with stream crossings from the Blackpool Athletic Ground. It went around Marton Mere and New Whinney Heys Farm and was described as a “heavy course, a lot of plough and no road” with three laps to make the distance. A number of teams travelled up from London, the Midlands and the Manchester area but no team was entered from Blackpool as there was no “official club” in the town! In all 8 teams competed with 84 athletes with Crossland of Salford first in 68 minutes followed by Watkins (Walthamstow) amd Martin (Essex) third. Salford Harriers were the Champions with six men in the first seventeen according to the London St James Gazette (5^th March). There was only one race and that was for the Senior Men.

The National finally returned to Blackpool in 1962 when local club runner Gerry North scored a fine home win but Derby and County took the team honours. By this time there were more races and Martin Heath won the Junior Men’s Title with North Staff & Stone H & AC the team champions. The U17 Men’s Race was won by J Simmons from Derby & County AC with Birchfield Harriers taking the team title. It is interesting to note that there were only 3 categories and the Women held their National elsewhere!

The last time the National was held in Blackpool was in 1970 when Trevor Wright of Hallamshire Harriers was victorious and City of Stoke AC were team Champions. K Rollason, Tipton H, won the Junior Men’s title and Brighton & Hove AC the team award. The U17 Men’s champion was C Falconer of Springburn Harriers and team gold went to Small Heath Harriers. It is unlikely to be held in Blackpool again as with the growth of interest in the National and the increase in Age Groups from U13 upwards and the rightful inclusion of the Women’s Championships the infrastructure is just not there for a successful promotion.

During week commencing 1^st March the first of the Club’s Virtual Road Championship events takes place with a 5k to be completed and times submitted. Over the coming months there will be 11 events that will count towards the Virtual Championship with the best six to be taken into account in the final reckoning. The hardest part is finding a suitable course, running hard on your own and staying within the current lockdown guidelines. Hopefully there will be a good response and some stiff competition within the various age categories as there are a number of new athletes in the club this time round and who will be out to show how good they are which bodes well for the future.

Hopefully the Juniors will be back competing within a few months after being able to train with their friends once again and I am sure that they are looking forward to this and seeing how their lockdown training has been going.

17th February 2021

This week the weather has turned and it is now milder than it was last week when the temperatures were close to zero and the wind chill certainly made it feel much lower. This can cause problems for those athletes who love to go out and run as the conditions certainly add another factor to bear in mind. How many layers do I wear to keep warm? Do I need leggings, though that can be much debated, as many prefer to run in just shorts even in the coldest of conditions and recent research appears to vindicate this idea and even goes on to say run in only a vest and shorts (for modesty purposes) as it helps the bodies circulation? A few club members do take a dip in the sea but with wet suits unless I am much mistaken.

If it is icy underfoot that makes it dangerous as no-one wants to slip and end up in hospital at the moment and one or two athletes took the wise decision to enjoy rest days rather than risk injury. Running in new snow is one pleasure many on the Fylde Coast are unable to experience but what can be better than making fresh tracks through the snow across the fields and paths! Although denied this pleasure here one BWF AC member had plenty of opportunity now that he lives up in Aberdeen as the photo illustrates.

The joy of running has been written about for many centuries and even today more and more people are finding it away to relax and enjoy some time in the great outdoors and it is ideally suited for the current conditions we find ourselves in. With the limitation of only running with one other person this can be a challenge in itself, but can also be about “the loneliness of the long distance runner” when you can reflect on things and enjoy nature at its best. Throw away the headphones and listen to the sounds around you and you might just be surprised! We are lucky here on the Fylde Coast as runners can enjoy running along the coast, around the Wyre Estuary, up and over the sand dunes and beach from South Shore to St Annes, along Lytham Green and around Stanley Park and Marton Mere as well as much more.

Keep on running and hopefully races will return later in the year, though not in quite the format that we as used to.

10th February 2021

This time last year the 5^th Mid Lancs Cross Country Race was held at Lawsons Showground in Blackpool. Co-hosted by Lytham St Annes RR, Wesham RR and BWF AC it was an excellent example of local clubs working together to stage an event that had races for U11s up to the Over 70s who ran within the Women’s Race. On the day 720 athletes competed over a good course and just before a storm blew in that night. For some of those setting up the course and then dismantling it afterwards it was a long but rewarding day and certainly appreciated by the athletes as finding suitable courses and venues is becoming harder each year for one reason or another.

Last year’s event was certainly very different to the first ever Mid Lancs Cross Country Race held on 24^th October 1931. The race was run at Ashton, from the headquarters of Preston Harriers and would have followed a course marked by a paper trail which could – and did – cause difficulty in windy conditions. The courses were a mixture of road and country over 6 – 8 miles and where for Senior Men only contesting the Meyler Cup. As is similar today the League operated without a limit on the number of competitors but the first 6 runners home counted for their club’s team. Team standings were and still are, based on adding up the finish positions of counting runners.

The early members of the League were the three Lancaster clubs of Lancaster H & AC, Lancaster Freehold Harriers and Primrose Harriers together with Clayton Harriers, Leyland Motors AC, Preston H & AC and Rossendale Harriers. In the 1930s a field of over 50 was considered large whereas today the Senior Men can be anywhere between 200 to 350 runners with almost 200 Senior Women as well as all the Juniors. How things have changed from those early days!

It was not until after World War 2 that a team was entered from Blackpool when the League resumed its activities on 1^st November 1947 when seven teams participated – Clayton Harriers, Blackpool & Fylde Harriers, Lancaster Harriers & AC, Lancaster Primrose Harriers, Leyland Motors AC, RAF Weeton and RAF Kirkham. The course was about 6 miles around the Walton Bridge area of Preston. The winner was W H Rispin of Blackpool and Fylde Harriers as it was known at the time.

During the last 90 years it is strange to report that Blackpool has only won the Men’s Title in 1958 – 59, 1967 – 68, 1968 – 1969 as Blackpool & Fylde AC and as BWF AC in 2008 – 2009. The Team is now in Division 4 and the challenge, once the League resumes is to work back up to Division 1. The Club now has the athletes to make this achievable and it must be a long term aim for all involved.

The Women first had a Team award in 1978 – 79 and BWF AC were Champions in 2006 – 07, 2007 – 08, 2008 – 09, 2013 – 2014, 2015 – 16, 2016 – 17, 2017 – 18 and 2018 – 19 which is a tremendous record and reflects the successful amalgamation of North Fylde AC & Blackpool & Fylde AC in September 2006 on the Women’s side.

The League has always moved with the times and over the years races for every age group have been introduced with the U11s the most recent. In the U13 Boys BWF AC were Champions in 2006 – 07 and 2007 -08 whilst the old Blackpool Club won in 1999 – 00 and 2000 – 01. In the U15 Boys the old B & F AC won in 1990 – 91 and 1992 – 93. At U17 level BWF AC won the title in 2017 – 18 with a very strong team. However, there has been more success from the Girls with the U11s Champions in 2015 – 16 and 2017 -18. The U13’s won the title in 2008 – 09, 2009 – 10 and 2015 – 16 whilst B& F AC won in 1999 – 00, 2001 – 02, 2003 – 04 and 2004 – 05. At U15 level BWF AC took the Title in 2010 – 11, 2015 – 16 and B & F AC in 1992 – 93, 1997 – 98 2001 – 02.

Hopefully there will be more success to come and a new generation of athletes writing the records for future posterity as cross country is a great sport for building endurance and stamina.

3rd February 2021

Whilst it is the athletes who are usually the centre of attention for their performances, it must not be forgotten that behind them there is a vast army of volunteers who ever since competitions first commenced have been there in all weathers and also spent countless hours planning and meeting to ensure that the athletes are well catered for.

At this moment in time Club Committees continue to meet via Zoom and look forward to the future pencilling in dates for the various Leagues and Races, which in their turn have been pencilled in by other Committees at League and Association level. This looking forward in hope to a time when we can meet outdoors keeps us going, but for the last few months those dates have been crossed out as more and more restrictions have been imposed upon the country in an effort to halt the pandemic. Yet it is hope that keeps us going and the belief in a brighter future.

It might not be realised but many of the existing officials are in their 60s and 70s and some even in their 80s and this is the group that are the most vulnerable. Already some have indicated that they will not be renewing their official’s licenses and perhaps some coaches will also decide that the time is right to retire. This all has consequences for event organises and clubs as without this loyal band of unpaid volunteers the sport will be severely impacted.

For example at a cross country event whilst the athletes could be at the venue for less than 2 hours many of the organisers, course officials and volunteers will be there for anything up to 4 – 8 hours to ensure that the races from U11 to Seniors can take place safely.  It is similar for track and field as many of the officials have very little time for a break from duties as there are not sufficient of them to provide that vital cover.

Whilst some tasks can be undertaken by a willing volunteer many others require a valid license from England Athletics and sometimes that can only be obtained through many hours of work and practical experience. This though also provides that all important insurance cover just in case an accident occurs and someone decides to make a claim for damages! Please think whether you wish to start on the journey to becoming a coach or official in order to ensure that the sport survives.

BWF AC gratefully acknowledges all the work undertaken by the athletics officials and volunteers within the Club, other local clubs, the Lancashire County and all over the country and hopes that you will continue to perform these roles in the coming years.

At the moment the BWF AC Ladies are responding to the Captain’s Challenge to exercise for at least 28 minutes every day in February and record their efforts whether it be running, cycling, walking, yoga, weights etc. Details of a Virtual Road Championship from March to September are now being finalised and will be announced very soon which will hopefully provide the Senior athletes with some targets to aim for. The Juniors have not been forgotten and hopefully something can be planned for them, especially if the Track & Field meetings do not take place as planned.

It is with sadness that BWF AC heard of the death of Dave Burns just over a week ago. Dave was a good friend of the club and over the years raised thousands of pounds for various charities as well as funds for BWF AC. Despite being confined to a wheelchair he could often be found at the Sports Centre and his contribution to local sport was recognised in 2012 when he carried the Olympic Torch on its journey through Blackpool.

27th January 2021

Last Saturday the North of England Cross Country Championships should have taken place, as it has done since 1883 with the only exceptions being the years during the World Wars. The first Race was held in 1883 when it was for Senior Men only with a Junior Men’s Race introduced in 1899 whilst the Youths (U17) were allowed to compete from 1922 with Boys (U15) only racing from 1951 which is a reflection of the times that people lived in. As is the fact that Women had their own Association and events for many years before the two joined together to become one Association.

The NoE Championships were always a great day out for Northern Clubs and for many it meant an early start and late return home depending upon where the races were staged. For some, overnight stays became the norm especially if they were in with a chance of victory. Having only the Men’s Records to hand Blackpool athletes enjoyed some successes in the late 1950s and early 1960s but never fully consolidated and built upon this for one reason or another.

In 1960 & 1961 (Royal Lancashire Showground, Blackpool) Gerry North won the Men’s Title and then in 1962 the Blackpool Team were victorious in the team event, the high point for a very talented squad. It probably came as no surprise to those in the know as back in 1957 Gerry North had won the Junior Title, with the Team taking Silver Medals, followed in 1959 by Brian Craig taking the honours and then in 1960 it was Dave Swarbrick. 1963 was the culmination of these very talented athletes peaking on the day and being ably supported by their teammates. The positions of the 1963 Team were G North 2^nd, B Craig 4^th, Geoff North 9^th, G Hodgson 24^th, D Swarbrick 46^th and M Palmer 53^rd.

As well as the Junior Individual Champions in 1959 & 1960 the Team Titles came to Blackpool as well. The winning team in 1959 were B Craig 1^st, Gerry North 3^rd, M Palmer 9 and D Swarbrick 10^th whilst in 1960 it was D Swarbrick 1^st, Geoff North 3^rd, J Cunningham 10^th and P Baron 30^th as the counters.

Can these glory days occur again for BWF AC is a question that has been asked many times over the years? Whilst athletes continue to train and compete there is always hope, as runners love to dream when training of what could be and at times it is the dream of competing in an Olympic Stadium and winning gold that gives them the motivation to continue through the hardest of times.

It is now during this pandemic that motivation becomes key as running is a simple sport at its most basic. Buy a decent pair of training shoes and start off slowly and many people over the years have shown just what can be achieved from those small beginnings and by being part of a club which can provide that vital support structure to progress even further. Help is always at hand and for the young athletes the accredited coaches and their knowledge provide a structure to the training, especially in the more technical and demanding events.

BWF AC is there for you and all it takes is an email or a phone call and that can be the hardest part of the process, but after that who knows what you can achieve. For many it is the loss of weight, the feeling of improved physical and mental health, the new PBs, the chance to beat a certain person and the joy of being outside exercising with friends and maybe taking part in a competition. Everyone has their own reason for taking part in athletics and for some it can be just for giving something back to others which is why volunteers are a key part of the Club. If running is not for you, could volunteering by an alternative option?

21st January 2021

With very little going on at the moment and with no idea when racing or even training can return to some normality here is something I would like to share:

I had a dream and it was of muddy fields, somewhere in Lancashire, with the rain pouring down and a quagmire under foot. What was unusual was the brightly coloured tents and all the happy and excited people milling around, some wrapped up against the elements but the younger ones running around in vests and shorts flapping their hands and stretching their legs. All of a sudden a shot is heard and as if a flock of sheep they all head to a line on the ground and huddle together for warmth. Strange looking men wander up and down telling them to stand back and wait whilst looking at the watches for the time to move on. As it does so the youngsters are told to move forward to the rope which is then moved away but they will only be released when all feet are behind a now non-existent line.

Nerves on edge another shot is heard and those at the front start running and those behind realise that the game is a foot and dash of in pursuit. Slipping and sliding they make their way around the field and head off into the woods whilst parents, managers and coaches shout encouragement to spur them on. All too soon they re-emerge covered from head to toe in mud and sweat and race for the line where numbers are recorded (those that can still be seen) and times taken and handshakes and hugs abound. “What a tough course that was” and so much mud but what a great feeling to finish and look forward to a hot drink and that special cake.

During the afternoon this scene is repeated a number of times as the distances increase and the runners take longer to complete their courses and the ground becomes almost impassable by the time the Senior Men start. The tale-enders, running for almost an hour, are in great spirit as it brings back happy memories of years gone by races almost always seemed to be muddy unlike some of those in recent years when the ground was so firm no spikes were required. Hardly any spectators are left to cheer these stalwarts in as they have long since departed with their offspring to get home and dry off. However, the volunteers and officials remain until the last runner has crossed the line and then the task of clearing the course commences. Without these hardy souls there would have been no race and perhaps now, we only really appreciate all the dedication and perseverance that goes into ensuring that an event can take place.

Unfortunately, I then awoke and it was all a distant memory, but there was something lingering there that soon this would not be a dream but reality and that once again athletes of all ages could come together in harmony and do battle upon the fields of England, relishing the opportunity to be out in the fresh air and testing themselves against the elements and each other.

Hopefully this scene can be replicated for Track & Field, Road Running, Fell and Trail Races sometime in 2021. BWF AC believes that activity is important for all ages and will continue to provide that for the foreseeable future as athletes encourage and support each other through these difficult times.

14th January 2021

Over the last few weeks England Athletics (EA) have been holding a Mixed Team Virtual 5m Relay Challenge for their affiliated Clubs and Runners. The format is for runners to run a 5 mile route and then upload their performances to a website which then calculates the overall team positions based on a club’s 4 fastest Men and four fastest Women. The leading teams then proceed to the next round.

Round 1 finished on 13^th January and almost 2,500 runners across the country uploaded a result. BWF AC had 19 athletes taking part – Mark Warner (30.24), Layla Foley (31.45), Paul Sparrow (34.42), Steve Dunn (34.36), Marco Parolin (28.05), Paul Eaton (33.47), Tony Terras (34.37), Laura Lawler (39.09), Amanda Fuller (41.33), Simon Reason (34.43), Claire St John (52.27), Chris McCarthy (26.51), Jenny Clark (34.09), Josh Mathias Davey (35.50), Caroline Betmead (33.10), John Dunn (34,46), Claire Dunn (49.36), Fiona Martin (51.24) and Fran Connolly (39.09).

Those scoring for the Team Competition were:

116: Chris McCarthy (26:51), 238: Marco Parolin (28:05), 583: Mark Warner (30:24), 805 Layla Foley (31.45), 1,013: Caroline Betmead (33:10), 1,116: Paul Eaton (33:47), 1,172: Jenny Clark (34.09), 1,770: Laura Lawler (39.09).

128 Teams completed the Relay with 2,443 runners taking part the BWF AC time of 4.17.20 appears to be the fastest for a Lancashire Club. This was a great effort and hopefully provides some motivation during these difficult times. The leading Team from Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow AC clocked 3.34.17.

Apart from that event there is very little going on at the moment due to the National Lockdown but many athletes still continue to train in order to maintain their fitness and because it is important to them that they maintain a healthy lifestyle.

7th January 2021

Another Lockdown is now upon us and there is great concern about the impact of this upon the health and well being of the nation, especially for the young people of the country. Activities taken up in childhood can last a life time and this current lack of opportunity is a great worry to many of us at the Club.

Coaches are continuing to provide training advice and guidance, but from a distance, but what can beat the comradery of training with your friends, pushing each other to the limits and listening to the advice from your coach? For runners it is a little easier to run but can be a struggle on cold winter days with few hours of daylight. For sprinters, jumpers and throwers it is much harder and new ways of keeping fit have to de devised but with added pressure from schooling on-line it is not always easy to maintain the motivation.

Challenges can play a part in this and the latest one is a journey around England based on miles submitted each week by anyone Under 18. Regular updates will be provided on how far has been travelled and a little bit about the venue reached as there is an athletics theme behind this one.

Competitions are, seemingly, becoming a thing of the past and even on-line virtual events seem to be losing their appeal in some areas. Last Saturday BWF AC should have been at Witton Park, Blackburn, for the Lancashire AA Cross Country Championships which is always a great occasion and an opportunity to strive for a place in the County Team or to win a coveted Lancashire Medal. Over the years Lancashire has had an excellent record in the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships and has provided many Great Britain internationals but what of the future?

Only time will tell what the Covid pandemic has done for the health of the nation but at least BWF AC is trying to ensure that its members can remain fit and healthy and provide support and encouragement to each other.

Christmas Predictor 2020

Here are the results from BWFAC’s Christmas Predictor event.

Photographs taken of the event can be found here.

21st March 2020

On the road, at the Trimpell 20, which started in Morecambe, went along the Lune valley and, through Lancaster and back, Paul Sparrow was 70th in 2:27:18.

Three BWFAC runners tested their speed at the latest Podium 5K, held on a fast course at Barrowford in east Lancashire, all posting PBs.  In the A race Luke Minns was 11th in 15:06, while in the B race, Michael Brent-Reid was 2nd  in 16:57, and Chris Wylie 20th in 19:09.

At the Skyline Liverpool Half Marathon Isabel Mcnamee was 1959th in 2:24:35, while Kim Blake was 2018th in 2:30:18, while at the Knowsley 10K, held near Liverpool, Chris Wylie was 10th in 41:17.

In the most recent parkruns, at Blackpool, Rafael Eaton (U15B) posted 18:33, Simon Reason 19:42, Paul Eaton 21:18, Nicola Unsworth 22:44, Anthony Blight 23:14, Luke Jones (U15B) 23:43, Andrea Smith 24:39, Steve Dunn 24:40, Dawn Maher 24:51, David Twizell 27:06, Rick Pinches 27:47, Simon Scarr 32:28 and Fiona Martin 32:41.  At Lytham Hall, Mark Warner posted a PB 19:04, Gordon Ballantyne 19:16, Paul Sparrow 20:31 and Howard Henshaw 32:36, while at Fleetwood, Peter Singleton also posted a PB 22:30 and Nickola Walker 28:11, and at Nostell, Tom Romney posted 21:39.

18th March 2020

At the England Athletics Under 17/15 Indoor Combined Events Championship, held at the English Institute of Sport (EIS), Leah Howard posted her best ever performance in the Under 17 Indoor Pentathlon scoring 3042 points, an improvement of 579 points on last year’s Championship.

In all elements of the Pentathlon Howard scored close to her best.  In the 60m Hurdles she posted 9.67, while in the High Jump, Howard posted her best ever Jump in Combined action of 1.57m, and in the Shot Putt recorded 9.06m. The Long Jump provided a PB of 4.95m, while in the 800 metres, Howard finished very strongly, overtaking Olivia Fowler of Crewe & Nantwich to record 2:39.24.

Overall Leah Howard finished 17th overall, and 6th of the North of England competitors.

The New Balance English Schools Cross Country Championship was held at Sefton Park, with two BWFAC runners representing Lancashire.  Ben Winnemore finished 189th (16:33) in the Junior Boys race held on a 4.4K course, with the team finishing 9th; while Luke Rawcliffe ran in the Intermediate Boys race, held on a 5.5K course, finished 267th (21:27), with the team finishing 27th.

Whilst there were no BWFAC runners in the Senior Boys team, the best Lancashire result was posted by this team, winning the Best complete team title, and they were awarded the Wigan Trophy.

Several BWFAC Junior runners ran in the local parkruns.  At Blackpool Rafael Eaton (U15B) ran 18:33, and Luke Jones (U15B) posted 23:43, while at Lytham Hall, Gordon Ballantyne ran 19:16.  The next day at the Park View 2K parkrun, Aimee Harling (U11G) was first girl in 8:19, and George Warner (U8) ran 10:14.  Prior to the run George Warner received a certificate, congratulating him on completing 12 Junior parkruns, which equates to a Half Marathon.

14th March 2020

Emily Japp was in brilliant form in the Senior Women’s race over a testing 11.2K at the CAU Inter Counties Championships, held at Prestwold Park, near Loughborough, finishing 12th (45:30) of over 250 of some of the best woman runners in the UK.

In the Junior races, Gracie Scott was 133rd (16:12) in the 3.4K U13G race, while Gordon Ballantyne was 171st (15:16) in the 3.4K U13B race, and Luke Rawcliffe was 111th (16:19) in the 4.4K U15B race.

Two BWFAC Pole Vaulters travelled to South Wales to compete in the Vault Cardiff competition, held at the National Indoor Athletics Centre at the Cardiff University, featuring 113 vaulters on several beds.

George Mackenzie (U15B) posted a significant Milestone, by recording 3.02 metres, a Personal Best by an impressive 21 centimetres, thus moving up to 4th in the Under 15 Boys Pole Vault National rankings. Fiona Hockey was also competing in the Elite competition, vaulting 3.62m.

The latest Lytham Hall parkrun was used as one of the races in the BWFAC Trail Race Championship. Simon Reason was first BWFAC runner with a PB of 18:52, with Mark Warner (19:18), Molly Betmead (19:20 and first Woman), Joshua Mathias-Davey (19:37PB), Steve Dunn (19:41 PB), Nick Hume (20:33), Anthony Blight (22:20, Simon Scarr (22:48), Nicola Unsworth (23:01), Fran Connolly (23:21 PB), Philip Cameron (24:53 PB), Rick Pinches (25:49), Jenny Burtonwood (26:22 PB), Amanda Fuller (27:18), Bob Massey (27:33), Andrew Woodward (29:27), Nickola Walker (29:45), Howard Henshaw (32:45) and Fiona Little (43:06).

BWFAC runners were also involved in parkruns at Nostell near Wakefield, Fleetwood and Blackpool, where Under 15 runner Rafael Eaton posted an impressive PB of 18:20.

The next day four BWFAC runners ran in the undulating Roddlesworth Roller 9K Trail race starting in Abbey Village near Chorley. Fran Connolly was 147th (49:15), with Jenny Burtonwood 241st (57:42) and Bob Massey 256th and first Vet 70 in 59:04. Unfortunately Lisa Lambert had to withdraw after being injured, but thankfully nothing too serious.

The BWFAC athletes of the month for February were named. The Female recipient was Amelia Shearman, who after a year out of Pole Vault competition returned to competition at Vault Manchester and four weeks later won the Scottish U20 Pole Vault with 3.19m, and the Male winner is U15 Boy Charlie Auty, who has has recorded 7.51 (60m) and 24.49 (200m), placing him high in the UK Under 15 Boys rankings.

11th March 2020

Four members of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC were chosen to represent Lancashire at the UK Inter Counties Championships, held at Prestwold Hall, near Loughborough.  Conditions were better than they have been for much season.  It was dry, if somewhat cloudy, and wasn’t as muddy as might have been expected, after all the rain in February.

For the two of youngest members, under 13 runners Gracie Scott and Gordon Ballantyne, it was their first opportunity to represent Lancashire Athletic Association.  For Scott it was still her first year as an U13 for Cross Country, and to be selected in her first year, showed her quality.  Gracie Scott in the second race of the day, ran the 3.4K U13 Girls race, and was 133rd in 16:12, with the Lancashire U13 Girls team finishing 22nd.  Gracie’s comment on the race after the race was that it was “brutal”!

Gordon Ballantyne race was in the seventh race, also over 3.4K, with Ballantyne finishing 171st in 15:16, with the team in 11th place.  The next day Gordon was swimming, competed in a 200 metre back stroke race at Darwen Leisure Centre, which he won in a Regional Qualifying time, and a Lancashire qualifying time for 2021.  His older sister, Hailey also won Gold in the tough Individual 400 metre Medley race.

Luke Rawcliffe ran in the the Under Boys 4.3K race, where he was 111th in 16:19 with the team in 12th place.

In the Senior Women’s race over 11.2K, Emily Japp put in one of her best performances for a couple years, in a major Championship race, finishing 12th in 45:30 and first Lancashire counter.

At the Junior 2K Park View parkrun, Aimee Harling was first Girl in 8:17, while George Warner aged 7, posted a PB 9:44.  At the Blackpool parkrun Under 15 Boy, Rafael Eaton  was second in a PB 18:20, while Luke Jones (U15B) posted 28:07.

7th March 2020

The final Mid Lancs League fixture of the Cross Country season was played out at a sunny Ryelands Park in Lancaster.  The Senior Women’s race was won by Emily Japp in 23:06 on the 6K course.  Together with Karen Dunford (57th 31:07) and Julie Hall (68th 31:58) they formed the A team in 12th position  and maintaining their first division status.  Fran Connolly (73rd 32:11), Laura Lawler (76th 32:40), Jenny Burtonwood (120th 38:21) and Lisa Lambert (121st 38:21), with the B team 26th, while on the same course Joshua Mathias-Davey was 13th (26:46) in the U17 Men’s race.

It has been a disappointing season for the Men’s squad, with the A team relegated to the fourth Division, however there was a strong team for this final fixture finishing 11th, with Luke Minns (4th 33:11), Simon Reason (52nd 39:27), John Wright (59th 39:50), Stephen Dunn (93rd 41:37), Mark Warner (95th 41:39), Nick Hume (135th 43:27), Peter Bradburn (160th 43:30) and Chris Wylie (171st 47:09).  Nick Hume together with Kevin Hesketh of Preston Harriers have finished joint Vet 60 Individual Champions.

Overall it has been enjoyable season for Junior members, who have all competed enthusiastically.  The Under 11 Girls team of Polly Kershaw, Aimee Harling, Kristie Leitch and Jemima Bradburn were 3rd, and finished 2nd in the League, while the U11 Boys team of Billy Kershaw, Ewan Leitch, Robert Hindle-Walker, William Hindle-Walker and George Warner were 10th and finished 7th in the League.  The U13 Girls team of Gracie Scott, Louisa Bradburn, Megan Tipler, Ella-May Leonard and Jess Ramsden were 4th and ended 4th in the League.  The U15 Girls team of Maddison  Betmead, Sophie Livingstone, Olivia Sellars, Betty Kershaw, Grace Blincow and Hailey Ballantyne were 3rd, finishing 4th in the League.  Also running were U13 Boys Gordon Ballantyne and Jack Wilsdon, with Ben Winnemore and Rafael Eaton in the U15 Boys races.

Pole Vaulter, Amelia Shearman has endured a frustrating year because of a back injury, had a successful return to competition at Vault Manchester with 3.11m, and last Saturday won with 3.19m the U20 Women’s Pole Vault at the 4J Studio Scottish Athletics National Indoor Under 13/15/20 Championships, held at Emirates Stadium in Glasgow.

Also at the Emirates Stadium, junior sprinters Nekkisha Wilson (U15G), Grace Oates (U15G) and Millie Turner (U13G) competed in the 60 and 200 metres, with Turner reaching the semi final of the 60m with a PB 8.77.

At the last Power of 5K, Sean Kenny posted 17:50  (19th) and Chris Wylie 19:10 (30th).

Parkrun again proved popular with BWFAC runners, with 26 running at Croxteth, Lytham Hall and Fleetwood, where Simon Reason was first in 19:49 and Bev Wright was first woman in 22:56

4th March 2020

The final fixture of the Mid Lancs Cross Country League was held at Ryelands Park in Lancaster.  Although Storm Jorge was blowing, the wind was not as strong as might have been expected, and there was mostly wall to wall sunshine. After all the rain during February, there was surprisingly little mud.

The first two races were the Under 11 over 2K.  The BWFAC Under 11 Girls team, as they have all season, put in a strong performance, with Polly Kershaw leading the team in 11th place (8:14), with Aimee Harling 13th (8:25), Kristie Leitch 20th (8:36) and Jemima Bradburn 36th (9:13), bringing the team across the line in 3rd place, and were pleased to finish Runners-up in the League.

The Under 11 Boys team of Billy Kershaw (25th 8:10), Ewan Leitch (45th 8:49), Robert Hindle-Walker (49th 9:01), William Hindle-Walker (50th 9:03), and George Warner (72nd 10:41) were 10th, with the team finishing 7th in the League.  Several of the team still have at least a year or two to compete in the Under 11s, and in particular George Warner, who has just turned seven.  This was his Cross Country race, and he will be able to compete a further three years as an Under 11 races.

Gracie Scott was 6th (9:19) in the Under 13 Girls race over 2.4K, with Louisa Bradburn 17th (9:57), Megan Tipler 29th (10:27), Ella-May Leonard 31st (10:36) and Jess Ramsden 32nd (10:49).  The Team finished 4th, and although they had been in first position before the start of this fixture, it turned out to be a false position, as Kendall-Helm and Chorley who prior to this final meeting, had only competed in three fixtures, having had scored strongly in those matches, and in this the final fixture, the teams finished 1st and 2nd, while Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton, who had the same points finished 3rd, all overtaking BWFAC, leaving them in 4th place.  A very disappointing outcome for the team, who had competed with spirit in all six fixtures.  Gracie Scott was disappointed to miss out on a League medal however was please to finish fifth in the U13 Girls rankings.

The Under 13 Boys ran on a two lap 3.4K course, with Gordon Ballantyne in 10th (12:14) and Jack Wilsdon 26th (13:06).  Unfortunately there hasn’t been a full team during the season.

The Under 15 Girls squad have got stronger as the season has progressed, and were in third place before the start of the Ryelands fixture.  On the two lap 3.4K course, Maddison Betmead led the team in 7th (12:45), with Sophie Livingstone 9th (12:54), Olivia Sellers 19th (13:44), Betty Kershaw 26th (14:02), Grace Blincow 27th (14:08), and Hailey Ballantyne in her first Mid Lancs meeting was 39th (15:54).  Although BWFAC finished 3rd, Levens Valley completed their fourth fixture, finishing 2nd, and as in the Under 13 Girls, pushing BWFAC back into fourth place in the League.

The Under 15 Boys race was on a 4K two lap course.  Ben Winnemore, was 6th (14:53) and Rafael Eaton 14th (15:13). Unfortunately the BWFAC team has only been able to field a full team twice, finishing first and second.  However individually Luke Rawcliffe (who wasn’t available for this fixture) has finished first in the Season ending Individual rankings, Ben Winnemore was third and Rafael Eaton fourth.

Away from the Country, Amelia Shearman competed in the Under 20 Pole Vault competition at the 4J Studio Scottish Athletics Indoor National U13/15/20 Championships, held at the Emirates Stadium in Glasgow, winning with 3.19 metres.  All at BWFAC were particularly pleased for Amelia who, was out of Pole Vault action for a year due to a back problem, until Vault Manchester earlier in February.

29th February 2020

The British Indoor Athletic Championships were held at the Emirates Stadium in Glasgow, where BWFAC’s Fiona Hockey was joint 6th (3.70m) in the Women’s Pole Vault, while Katy Wyper posted 7.92 and 25.74 in the heats of the 60 and 200 metres.

The England Age Group U20/17/15 Indoor Athletic Championships were held at EIS in Sheffield.  BWFAC’s George Mackenzie in the U15B Pole Vault, was 4th (2.81m PB), as was Scott Sinclair with 13:45, in the U17M Triple Jump, while Leah Howard competed in the U17W High Jump (17th 1.50m), and posted a PB 9.66 PB in the 60m Hurdles heats.

Seven young BWFAC athletes went to the Sale Open series.  Particularly impressive was Under 15 sprinter Charlie Auty, who posted two PBs of 7.51 and 24.49 in the 60 and 200 metres, placing him high in the National rankings.

At a very heavy and muddy England Cross Country Championships, BWFAC’s Emily Japp had an excellent run, finishing 28th (36:17) on the 8K course, with Molly Betmead 164th (40:58) and Claire Irons 847th (62:33), while in the Men’s race over 12K with over 1700 runners, John Wright was 971st (41:56).  In the U15 races, both over 4K, Luke Rawcliffe was 55th (18:09) in the Boys race, and in the Girls, Maddison Betmead was 125th (22:10), while Gordon Ballantyne was 91st (16:17) in the 3K U13 Boys race.

Bev Wright was 95th & 1st FV55 in 42:02 at the Lostock 6 road race, with Laura Lawler 185th, Simon Scarr 187th (47:09), Rick Pinches 298th (53:04), Derek Crane 351st (55:39), Amanda Fuller 373rd (56:52).  The next day, at the Standish 10K Trail race, Simon Scarr (97th 53:58), Amanda Fuller (176th 63:17), Nickola Walker (222nd 68:43), Malcolm Beech (252nd 74:05), and Fiona Little (210th 1:48:09).

At the Action for Children 5K held at the Palatine Leisure Centre Chris Wylie was 18th (18:44) and Ella-May Leonard 39th (22:34).

At the Stanley Park 10K races last weekend, in the Saturday race, Ethan McEvoy was 30th (44:26), Jeff Wright 231st (62:22) and Andrew Woodward 244th (64:14), while in the Sunday race, Chris Wylie was 13th (41:21), Trevor Uttley 66th (48:09), Andrew Woodward 278th (63:52) and Isabel McNamee 285th (64:12).

Twenty BWFAC runners were involved in parkruns at Blackpool, Lytham Hall, Fleetwood, Millfield, Tawd Valley and at Chester Fran Connolly ran the parkrun in 26:09 as part of her celebrations of her 40th Birthday, with Lisa Lambert (28:35), Bob Massey (29:17), Jenny Burtonwood (29:18) and Cheryl Rickwood (35:29).

The Athletic Track at Stanley Park was recently inspected as part of TrackMark.  The track surface failed to meet the required standard, and the BWFAC Winter Warm-Up, due to take place on March 21st, has been cancelled.  However repairs are due to take place, and should ensure that track meetings from April to the end of year will take place.

26th February 2020

Three BWFAC athletes competed in the English Age Group Under 20/17/15 Indoor Championships held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.  Scott Sinclair had a brilliant January, winning Gold in the Triple Jumps at both the Northern Athletics and Scottish Indoor Championships.  At Sheffield he just missed out on a further Triple Jump medal, finishing 4th with 13.45m.  Likewise George Mackenzie also finished 4th in the Under 15 Boys Pole Vault, however he had the consolation of a PB 2.81 metres.  Leah Howard was 17th (1.50m) in the High Jump, and in the heats of the 60m Hurdles posted a 9.66 PB.

Three BWFAC runners travelled to Wollaton Park, near Nottingham, to compete in the England National Cross Country Championships.  After the exceptionally wet weather, the courses were very muddy and in many places, resembled swamps, with lots of lying water.

In the second race 364 runners ran in the 4K Under 15 Boys race, where Luke Rawcliffe finished well in 55th (18:09), while in the Under 13 Boys race over 3K, Gordon Ballantyne was 91st (16:17).  Representing BWFAC Girls was Maddison Betmead in the Under 15 Girls race over 4K, where she finished 125th (22:10).

Seven BWFAC athletes tested their speed at Sportscity in the Sale Series Open.  Under 15 sprinter Charlie Auty was particularly impressive as he posted PBs of 7.51 and 24.49 in the 60 and 200 metre sprints, placing him high in the National rankings.  Other times were Iona Cossens: 60m 8.69, 200m 29.32; Gabriela Bell: 60m 8.98 (PB), 200m 30.36; Natasha Hart: 60m 9.15, 200m 31.53; Grace Oates: 60m 9.11 PB; Daisy-Mae Keane: 200m 29.48; and Chloe Parsons: 60m 9.37, Shot Putt 7.32m.

Ella-May Leonard (U13G) posted 22:34 (39th) at the Action for Children 5K, held at the Palatine Leisure Centre, while at Park View 2K parkrun, George Warner aged 7, ran 10:27.

BWFAC young athletes went to an Athletic Work Shop at Wigan, run by former Olympic athlete, Jenny Meadows and top coach, Trevor Painter’s, thanks to money raised through Rock FM Cash for Kids.  They worked on Drills, Flexibility and Reactions.  The Boys and Girls had an enjoyable day, and are looking forward to including some of exercises in their training back in Blackpool.

22 February 2020

BWFAC’s Fiona Hockey represented Cardiff Met University in the Pole Vault at the British University & Colleges Sports Indoor athletic Championships, held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.  She was in elite company, with British Record and Olympian, Holly Bradshaw, who won with a BUCS Indoor Record of of 4.65m.  Fiona Hockey finished in 4th with 3.70m.  Also competing at Sheffield was Will Critchley (Liverpool Uni), who recorded 52.63 in the Senior Men’s 400m heats.

Despite Storm Dennis, the Great North West Half Marathon with over 1100 battling gale forced winds along the Promenade.  First BWFAC was Laura Gilderdale in 187th (1:43:48), with Jonathan Sanderson 307th (1:51:33), Lisa Lambert 576th (2:03:04), Robert Green 864th (2:22:56), Debbie Terras 869th (2:23:52) and Jeff Wright 952nd (2:27:50).

At the Lancaster Valentine 10K, Simon Reason posted a PB of 37:47, with Chris Wylie 40th (44:38), Anthony Blight 54th (45:50), Nicola Unsworth 58th (46:02, Ellen Mclachlan 84th (49:43) and Basia Pawelczak 113th (54:22).

Before the worst of Dennis struck, four BWFAC runners took on the challenge of the Pennine Trails, 7mile Dunsop Bridge Trail race.  Amanda Fuller was 111th (1:25:50), with Nickola Walker 136th (1:29:16), Bob Massey 149th (1:32:10) and Fiona Little 190th (2:26:00).

BWFAC young athletes Amara Thorpe, Alfie Hall and Wyatt Holford were chosen to compete for the Lancashire County U15/U13 team in the Sportshall Regional Final, held at Sportscity in Manchester.

Twenty four BWFAC runners ran in the parkruns last Saturday.  One of the most impressive runs was posted by one of the youngest, Gordon Ballantyne (aged 11), who was 4th with a PB 19:12 at Lytham Hall parkrun, while Simon Reason was 7th at Blackpool with 19:49 and Karen Dunford was first woman at Fleetwood Promenade with 24:33.  Ted Romney ran 21:54 in ‘parkrun tourism’ at Humber Bridge.

19 February 2020

BWFAC’s Fiona Hockey representing Cardiff Met University, was in Pole Vault action again at the British University & Colleges Sports Indoor athletic Championships held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.  She was in elite company, with British Record holder and Olympian, Holly Bradshaw winning with a BUCS Indoor Record of 4.65 metres.  Fiona Hockey finished in fourth place with 3.70 metres.  Also competing at Sheffield was Will Critchley (Liverpool Uni), who recorded 52.63 in the Senior Men’s 400 metres heats.

Three members of BWFAC, Amara Thorpe (U15G), Alfie Hall (U13B) and Wyatt Holford (U13B) were part of the Lancashire County Sportshall team competing in the North West Sportshall Final, with teams also from Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to qualify for the Northern Final.  The final was staged at Sportscity, where there was a good atmosphere as the teams cheered on their teammates, while Storm Dennis blew outside.

Full individual results haven’t yet been published.  Alfie Hall scored well in the Speed Bounce scoring 74, while Wyatt Holford scored 54cm in the Vertical Jump.  Both Boys were part of the Obstacle Relay Lancashire team, which finished first.  Amara Thorpe ran the 6 lap race recording 1min 26 secs, the Relay and scored 72 in the Speed Bounce.

Although there were many good performances, none of the Lancashire Under 13 and 15 sides finished in the first place, which would be necessary to move on to the Final.  The Under 11 Girls were first, with the Boys second, however the Under 11 teams do not compete in the overall Final.

On the parkrun run front Gordon Ballantyne aged 11, was 4th across the finish, posting a brilliant PB of 19:12 at Lytham Hall parkrun, while at the Blackpool parkrun George Warner (aged 7) posted 30:23.

15th February 2020

The penultimate Mid Lancs Cross Country League fixture of the season was held at Lawson’s Field, near to the De Vere Hotel.  Luckily the meeting it was before Storm Ciara arrived in force, and conditions were good.

The Senior  Women’s team were led by Emily Japp, completed the 6K course in 22:41, 88 seconds ahead of the rest of the women’s field.  The rest of BWFAC Woman’s team were Laura Lawler (64th 31:00) having run 5.68 miles (36th 53 mins) the previous day for Lancashire Police at Altcar, Liverpool in the Northern Police League, Julie Hall (71st 32:04) and Claire St John (125th 41:46), with the team 13th, while in the U17 Men’s race on the same course Joshua Mathias-Davey was 12th (25:33).

Harry Poole (14th 36:13) led the Men’s team, with George Robinson (62nd 39:58), Michael Brent-Reid (87th 41:40), Nick Hume (133rd 43:50), Mark Warner (135th 43:54), Steve Dunn (142nd 44:11), Paul Sparrow (163rd 43:25), Peter Bradburn (43:25), Chris Wylie (176th 46:36) and Paul Eaton (187th 47:23), finishing 16th team.

In the Junior races, the U11 Girls team of Polly Kershaw, Aimee Harling, Kristie Leitch and Jemima Bradshaw was 3rd, while the Boys team of Otis Leah, Robert Hindle-Walker was 6th.  The U13 Girls team of Gracie Scott, Louisa Bradburn, Megan Tipler, Ella-May Leonard and Jess Ramsden was 2nd, while Alfie Hall and Jack Wilsdon ran in the Boys race.  The U15 Girls team of Maddison Betmead, Sophie Livingstone, Grace Blincow and Betty Kershaw was 3rd, while the U15 Boys team of Luke Rawcliffe, Rafael Eaton, Ben Winnemore and Zachary Terras was first.

BWFAC Athletes of the Month for January are Fiona Hockey, who won the Northern Athletics Women’s Pole Vault Championship and set a new PB 3.81m at Cardiff and Scott Sinclair, who won both the Northern and Scottish U17 Men’s Triple Jump Championships.

At the Muddy Shoes 11 Mile race, run from Caldervale, Anthony Blight was 19th (2:09:06), Nicola Unsworth 20th (2:09:06), Kevin Woods 21st (2:09:53), Fran Connolly 22nd (2:11:28), Lisa Lambert 24th (2:11:54), Jennifer Burtonwood 26th (2:14:26) and Jeff Wright 32nd (2:38:32)

Lancashire AA announced their squad for the Inter Counties Cross Country Championship to be held at Prestwold Hall, near Loughborough on March 7th.  BWFAC members are U13s Gracie Scott and Gordon Ballantyne, with Louisa Bradburn on the reserve list, while U15 Luke Rawcliffe and Senior Women Emily Japp are also part of the squad.

12th February 2020

The main event for BWFAC at the weekend was the penultimate fixture of the Mid Lancs League Cross Country League, which was held at Lawson’s Field, near the De Vere Hotel in Blackpool.  Luckily the meeting was on the Saturday, and conditions were good, avoiding the problems of Storm Ciara.

Before the start of the action the BWFAC Junior Team Manager, Sarah Scott and members of the squad presented some a bouquet of flowers to Dawn Lock, Mid Lancs Cross Country Secretary, recognising and thanking her for her hard work she does in organising the League.

The first events were the Under 11 races, run over 2K.  In the Girls race, BWFAC’s Polly Kershaw ran well in 9th place (8:59), with Aimee Harling 14th (9:21), Kristie Leitch 17th (9:30) and Jemima Bradburn 25th (9:51), bringing the team home in third place, while the Boys team of Otis Leah (10th 8:24), Robert Hindle-Walker (30th 9:22) and Ewan Leitch (38th 9:48), finished in sixth place.

The Under 13 Girls race was run over 2.5K, with first year U13 athlete Gracie Scott, finishing 3rd (10:24), with teammate Louisa Bradburn 7th (12:42), Megan Tipler 17th (11:15), Ella-May Leonard 23rd 11:27 and Jess Ramsden 26th (11:34), bringing the team home in 2nd place.

The U13 Boys and U15 Girls races were run together over a 3K course.  Alfie Hall (30th 13:17) and Jack Wilsdon (34th 13:22) ran in the Boys race, while in the Girls U15 race Maddison Betmead was 7th (12 42), with new recruit Sophie Livingstone running strongly in 8th (12:51), with Grace Blincow 21st (13:35) and Betty Kershaw 23rd (13:39).

The U15 Boys race was run over 4K, with team finishing first, featuring Luke Rawcliffe, who early on contested with school friend, Daniel Valentine (Preston Harriers) and Tobias Swarbrick (Lancaster & Morecambe).  Rawcliffe finished strongly in first place (14:12), with Valentine 2nd (14:24) and Swarbrick 7th (15:15).  Rafael Eaton (5th 15:11) and Ben Winnemore (6th 15:12) battled it out in the final few metres, while Zachary Terras 45th (24:41).

Joshua Mathias-Davey was 12th in the 25:33 in the U17M race run over 6K.

5th February 2020

The annual showcase of Pole Vaulting was held at Sportscity Manchester, with Vault Manchester, on three beds, with three sessions on each throughout last Saturday.  Eight members of BWFAC Pole Vault squad took the opportunity to practice their skill, and whilst there was no Personal Bests, there were several solid and encouraging performances.

Amelia Shearman made her return to Pole Vault competition, after over year out due to back problem, and it proved to be successful as she cleared 3.11m.  Grace Dunn showed good style, finishing first in her session with 2.61m just one centimetre below her best.  Other results by BWFAC vaulters were George Mackenzie with 2.66m, Chloe Parsons 2.26m, Talia Armstead 2.26m and Jasmine Carey 3.36m, whilst in the Senior ranks, Fiona Hockey was 2nd woman with 3.66m and Daniel Stanley cleared 3.61m.

On Sunday four of BWFAC young athletes travelled to the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield to compete in the Northern Athletics Under 13/15 Championships.

Gordon Ballantyne was first to compete in the U13 Boys 800m Final.  In a very competitive race, where less than a second separated the first four runners, Ballantyne was pipped on the line for third place, by Oberon Kearney (2:25.93) of Wirral, with Ballantyne fourth in a PB 2:26.20.

Millie Turner (U13) had an exhausting Championships competing in five races and the Long Jump, all in one day!  She ran a PB 29.71 to finish 2nd, and reached the semi final of the 200m, where she was 4th (31.86).  In the 60m heats Turner was 1st (8.96), whilst in the semi final in a close finish she was 3rd, (8.96) qualifying as one of the fastest not to qualify automatically.  In the final she was 7th in 8.94.

For Emily Ford, who has just entered the U13 category, was in her first Championship.  It proved to be a good learning experience taking it all in her stride.  In the 200m heat Ford was 3rd in a PB 31.45, while in the 60m heats she was 4th (9.46) and in the Long Jump posted 3.46m.

Keira Tomes was competing as a first year U15, and was pleased to post PBs in both the heats of the 200m with 28.92, and 60m, where despite a stumble, posted 8.69 to qualify for the semi-finals.  In the semi final she was 7th (8.70), and  in the Long Jump she jumped 4.31m.

Under 20 runner George Robinson took on the challenge of the Montane Trail Grizedale 13, run on forest trails overlooking Coniston Water and Windermere, finishing in an excellent 13th place in 1:44:18.

On the parkrun front, at Blackpool, Rafael Eaton (U15) was 2nd in 18:35, while Joshua Mathias-Davey (U17) posted a PB 19:50, Grace Blincow (U15) ran 21:42, Luke Jones (U15) posted a 23:37 PB, Ella-May Leonard 23:40 (U13), and George Warner (aged 7) 27:35, and the next day 10:37 at the Park View Junior 2K parkrun.  Naomi Wrigley (U15) also acted as a volunteer as back walker at Blackpool.

1st February 2020

Scott Sinclair claimed a second U17 Triple Jump title, following on from the North of England last month, with the Scottish National U17 title, with a Personal Best of 13:66 metres, which also qualifies him to compete the English Schools Championships in July.

Katy Wyper qualified by winning her heat (7.79) for the Final of the Senior Women’s 60 metres, where she was 5th in 7.77, while Leah Howard was 6th in the U17W High Jump Final with 1.54m, 18th in the Long Jump, and set a PB 9.82 in the 60m Hurdles heats.  Imogen Reader and Ellie Owen competed in the 60 and 200 metre heats.

On the same day, nine other BWFAC young athletes tested their speed over 60 and 200 metres, with several posting PBs in the 60m, including Iona Cossens 8.62, Joanne Upton-Fletcher 8.77, Nekkisha Wilson 8.75 and Daisy-Mae Keane 8.92, Gabriella Bell 60m 9.00.  Other noteworthy times were by Natalia Luczak with 8.66, Charlie Auty (U15B) 7.57, Millie Turner (U13G) 8.95 and by Emily Ford in her first year as an U13 and in her first indoor meeting, with 9.25.

At the beginning of January Fiona Hockey won Gold with 3.70m at the North of England Indoor Championships and recently posted a new PB of 3.81m in winning the BMC Cardiff Open Pole Vault.

There was a cold southeasterly wind for the runners to battle in the St Annes 10 Mile race on the Promenade between St Annes and Lytham.  Four BWFAC runners took on the challenge, with Nicola Unsworth 134th and third FV50 (1:22:03), with Gina Whiteley 164th (1:25:43), Julie Sinclair 253rd (1:36:12) and Bill Smith 318th (1:45:33).

The Northern Athletics Cross Country Championship were held at the Camp Hill Estate in Bedale, North Yorkshire.  In the Under 15 Boys race over 4.4K, Luke Rawcliffe was 13th (14:06) and Ben Winnemore 63rd (14:59).

The final fixture of the Lancashire Sportshall League was held recently, with Rafael Eaton winning the Under 15 Athlete of the Match, as well as of the Season.  The following BWFAC athletes have been selected for the Lancashire Team at the Regional Athletics Finals: Alfie Hall, Wyatt Halford, Rafael Eaton, Jefferson Kong, Amara Thorpe and Millie Turner.   The finals will take place at Sportscity in Manchester on Sunday, February 16th.

Highlight of the local parkruns was a double Personal Best by the Eaton family at the Blackpool parkrun, with son Rafael, first across the Finish in 18:21, and father Paul posted 21:13.

29th January 2020

Five Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes travelled north to the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, to compete in the Scottish National Under 17 / Senior Indoor Championships.

Scott Sinclair continued his fantastic early season form, having won the North of England title last month, by adding the Under 17 Men’s Triple Jump title, with a superb jump of 13.66 metres, which will qualify him for the English Schools Championships in July.

Leah Howard was 6th (1.54m) in the U17W High Jump Final, while in the Long Jump she was 18th (4.29m), and posted a PB of 9.82 in the 60m Hurdles heats.  Imogen Reader posted 8.75 and 28.21 in the 60 and 200 metres, while Ellie Owen recorded 8.72 and 28.74.

Meanwhile nine BWFAC athletes tested out their speed at the Sale Harriers Open, held at Sportscity.  The following times were recorded: Nekkisha Wilson (U17W) 60m 8.75 PB, 200m 29.28; Joanne Upton-Fletcher (U17W) 60m 8.71 PB, 200m 29.28; Gabriella Bell (U17W) 60m 9.00 PB, 200m 30.43; Daisy-Mae Keane (U17W) 60m 8.92 PB, 200m 29.92; Iona Cossens (U15G) 8.62 PB, 200m 29.43; Millie Turner (U13G) 60m 8.95, 200m 31.03; Charlie Auty (U15B) 60m 7.57 and in her first indoor meeting, the youngest member, Emily Ford (U13G) posted 60m 9.25, 200m 32.38.

Natalia Luczak (U17W) was 3rd (4.47m) in the Long Jump and posted 8.66 in the 60m.

The Northern Athletics Cross Country Championships were held at the Camp Hill Estate in Bedale, North Yorkshire.   Luke Rawcliffe (13th 14:06) and Ben Winnemore (63rd 14:59) competed in the Under 15 Boys race over a muddy 4.4K course.

The final fixture of the Lancashire Sportshall League saw several BWFAC athletes shine.  Rafael Eaton (U15B) won the Under 15 Athlete of the Match (and Season) for his performances, with a Lancashire season best of 7.16m in the Triple Jump, winning the two and four lap races, and winning the Speed Bounce.

Alfie Hall (U13B) again produced strong performances with two third place finishes in the six and two lap races, a personal best of 1.86m in the Standing Long Jump and 45cm in the Standing Vertical Jump.

Wyatt Halford made his Sportshall debut and produced excellent performances in the six lap (5th) and two lap (4th), finishing third in the Vertical Jump with 54cm and 2nd place in the Long Jump with an incredible 2.14m!

Billy Cook again produced strong performances in the Obstacle race, Target Throw, Long Jump and finishing 6th in the Balance Test.  Jasper Hall performed very well, achieving Personal Bests in the Long Jump (1.36m) and Target Throw.

Amara Thorpe (U15G) continued with her consistently good performances, finishing 4th in the 4 lap race, finishing a close 2nd in the Triple Jump with 5.56m and a PB in the Shot Putt with 5.86m.

Congratulations to the following BWFAC athletes for their selection for the Lancashire Team at the Regional Athletics Finals at Sportscity in February: Alfie Hall, Wyatt Halford, Rafael Eaton, Jefferson Kong, Amara Thorpe and Millie Turner.

25th January 2020

One week after winning Senior Pole Vault Gold at the North of England Sen/U20/U17 Indoor Championship with 3.70m, Fiona Hockey posted a PB of 3.81m to win the Pole Vault at the BMC Cardiff Open.

It was misty cold weather for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runners at the first race of the Club’s 2020 Road Championship, the Inskip Half Marathon.  Paul Sparrow was first BWFAC runner in 71st (1:33:00), with super vet, Bev Wright 72nd, 5th woman and first female Vet 55 (1:33:29).  Jonathan Sanderson was 98th (1:38:56), Simon Scarr 157th (1:53:35) and Lisa Lambert was very pleased to post her first sub two hour Half Marathon with 1:57:03 in 175th, while Amanda Fuller was 199th (2:06:16) and Bill Smith 219th (2:19:21).  At the Friday evening Power of Lancaster 5K, Greg Seddon tested his speed, posting 18:40 in 15th place.

Junior members of BWFAC swopped the club vest for their School District vests to compete in the Lancashire Schools Cross Country Championship, held at Blackburn’s Witton Park.  There were four age categories, Senior, Intermediate, Junior and Year 7, with the first few in each category, apart from Year 7, having the opportunity to represent Lancashire Schools at the English Schools Cross Country Championship at Liverpool Sefton Park in March.

Gracie Scott representing Wyre Schools won the Year 7 Girls race in 9:14 on the 2K course, and together with Jessica Ramsden (35th 10:41) were part of the second placed Wyre team.  In the Boys race, Gordon Ballantyne (Fylde Schools) was 5th 8:25, Wyatt Holford (Wyre Schools) 28th (9:13), Alfie Hall (Fylde Schools) 35th (9:13) and Maximus Nelson (Wyre  Schools) 51st (9:34).

In the Junior Girls race over 3.2K, Maddy Betmead (Wyre Schools) was 10th (14:58), Olivia Sellars (Wyre Schools) 16th (15:33), Louisa Bradburn (Wyre Schools) 24th (15:51), Betty Kershaw (Blackpool Schools) 28th (15:33) and Megan Tipler (Wyre Schools) 38th (16:52); while in the Boys race over 3.9K, Ben Winnemore (Fylde Schools) was 8th (15:16) and Rafael Eaton (Wyre Schools) was 18th 15:50).

Luke Rawcliffe (Fylde Schools) was 4th (20:01) in the Intermediate Boys race over 5.5K.

Parkrun was popular last weekend with 25 BWFAC runners at Blackpool, Lytham Hall, Fleetwood Promenade and Lancaster, with Joshua Mathias-Davey posting 19:38, Paul Eaton 21:18 and Luke Jones 24:16, while at Lancaster Steve Dunn posted 21:13 at Lancaster, all PBs.  At the Park  View Junior 2K parkrun Aimee Harling was 3rd and first Girl in 8:39.

22nd January 2020

The Lancashire Schools Cross Country Championship was held at Witton Park, Blackburn on a balmy, sunny day last Saturday.  For Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runners it was a chance to represent their School Districts, which meant Wyre, Fylde or Blackpool District.  There were four age categories, Senior, Intermediate, Junior and Year 7.  Apart from the Year 7 competitors, the leading members of each race of each race will have an opportunity to represent Lancashire at the English Schools Cross Country Championship, which are being held at Sefton Park in Liverpool.

The outstanding performance for a BWFAC member was by Gracie Scott, representing Wyre Schools, winning the 2K Year 7 race in 9:14.  Together with Jessica Ramsden (35th 10:41), they were part of the Wyre Schools team, which finished second.

In the Boys Year 7 race, Gordon Ballantyne (Fylde Schools) was 5th (8:25), Wyatt Holford (Wyre Schools) 28th (9:13), Alfie Hall (Fylde Schools) 35th (9:21) and Maximus Nelson (Wyre Schools)  51st (9:34).  Ballantyne and Hall helped Fylde Schools claim second team place.  

Maddy Betmead (Wyre Schools) was 10th (14:58) in the Junior Girls race over 3.2K, with Olivia Sellars (Wyre Schools) 16th (15:33), Louisa Bradburn (Wyre Schools) 24th (15:51), Betty Kershaw (Blackpool Schools) 28th (15:33) and Megan Tipler (Wyre Schools) 38th (16:52); while in the Boys race over 3.9K, Ben Winnemore (Fylde Schools) was 8th (15:16),  and Rafael Eaton (Wyre Schools) was 18th (15:50).

Luke Rawcliffe (Fylde Schools) missed the Lancashire AA Championship at the beginning of January due to illness, and in the Junior Boys race, his first race back, was 4th (20:01), behind schoolfriend Dan Valentine (Fylde Schools) of Preston Harriers, who was 3rd (19:38).

On the parkrun front Joshua Mathias-Davey (U17) posted 19:53, and Luke Jones (U15) 24:16 at Blackpool, while Aimee Harling (U11) was third and first Girl in 8:39 at the Junior 2K Park View parkrun.

18th January 2020

It was a busy weekend for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC on track, country and road.

The North of England Indoor Senior/U20/U17 Indoor Championship was held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.  Katy Wyper won her third consecutive 60 metre Championship with 7.72, just ahead of Nicola Caygill of Jarrow & Hebburn, who posted the same time of 7.72.  Afterwards in an interview, Katy said that this win was her favourite victory, because it was the closest.

Scott Sinclair started training for the Triple Jump in 2019, and his dedication paid off with his first major Championship win in the U17 Men’s Triple Jump, with a PB of 13.17 metres.

In the Pole Vault, Fiona Hockey won the Senior Women’s on countback with 3.70m, while Jasmine Carey won the Under 20 Women’s, despite illness and a knee injury, which had her restricted training.

Also competing in the sprints heats (60m and 200m) were Ellie Owen, Gabriela Bell, Daisy-May Keane, with Imogen Reader qualifying for the Semi-finals of the 200m, as did Bradley Parsons in the 60 metres.  Rachel Bashforth was 8th (10.07m) in the Shot Putt and Chloè Parsons was 7th (2.40m) in the U17W Pole Vault.  Leah Howard was 9th (1.50m) in the High Jump and 20th (4.65m) in the Long Jump, as well as posting a PB 28.09 in the 200m heat.

The fourth Mid Lancs Cross Country League fixture of the season was held Burnley’s Towneley Park.  Emily Japp was in supreme form, winning by over a minute in 19:55 on the two lap 5.8K course.  The rest of the Women’s squad were Julie Hall (83rd 27:30), Fran Connolly (88th 27:50), Cheryl Rickwood (130th 30:41), Lisa Lambert (147th 27:50), Jenny Burtonwood (148th 32:12).  The A and B teams were 15th and 37th, while the F35 team was 16th.  In the 9.8K Men’s race, John Wright (77th 40:02), Simon Reason (108th 41:04), Nick Hume (153 43:18 & 1st V60) and Paul Eaton (200th 46:08).

There was a strong Junior presence, with the U11 Girls team 3rd, U11 Boys 4th, U13 Girls Girls 3rd and U15 Girls 4th.

After competing at Burnley, Simon Reason went to Rivington to compete in the Petzl Night Runner 10K.  Complete with a head torch he was 77th (64:12), while Basia Pawelczak and Anthony Blight were 174th and 175th in 74:44.

The next day at the Garstang 10K, Anthony Blight was 120th (46:41), with Gina Whiteley (168th 49:52), Derek Crane (243rd 53:54), Nickola Walker (345th 60:26), Elaine Hudson (427th 73:12) and Fiona Little (436th 1:28:29).

BWFAC Athletes of the Month for December are Emily Japp and Simon Reason, while the Volunteer of the Quarter was jointly awarded to Sarah Scott and Kevin Davies.

15th January 2020

It was a golden weekend for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s track and field cadre at the North of England Indoor Championships, held at the English Institute of Sport indoor athletic track, in Sheffield.

After dedicated training during 2019 for the Triple Jump, the hard work paid off as Scott Sinclair won Gold with a PB jump of 13.17 metres in the Under 17M Triple Jump.

In the Senior Women’s Pole Vault, Fiona Hockey, after a close contest won Gold with 3.70 metres on countback, while in the Under 20 Women’s competition, despite missing a several weeks of training due to illness, and a recent knee injury, also won Gold.

Katy Wyper won her third straight North of England Indoor Senior Women’s 60 metres title with 7.72.

In other 60 metres competitions, in the Under 17 category heats, Imogen Reader posted 8.74, Ellie Owen 8.75 and Gabrielle Bell 9.19, while in the U20M category Bradley Parsons qualified (7.34) for the Semi-Finals, where he finished 6th with 7.39.  In the 200m heats, Owen posted 28.65, Bell 30.84 and Reader who qualified for the Semi-finals (28.00), where in an unfavorably lane one, was 6th (29.41).

Leah Howard, preparing for the Northern Indoor Combined Events Championship in March, posted 10.13 in the 60m Hurdles and 28.09 (PB) in the 200m heats, while in the finals of the High Jump she was 9th (1.50m) and 20th (4.65m) in the Long Jump.  Chloe Parsons was 7th with 2.40 metres in the U17W Pole Vault.

BWFAC fielded several Junior Teams at the fourth fixture of the Mid Lancs Cross Country League was held at Towneley Park, Burnley.

The Under 11 races were over run over a 2K course where the Girls team of Polly Kershaw (7th 7:43), Aimee Harling (9th 7:50), Kristie Leitch (22nd 8:16) and Jemima Bradburn (49th 9:13) finishing third, while the Boys team of Otis Leah (14th 7:29), Billy Kershaw (34th 7:59), Ewan Leitch (54th 8:32), Robert Hindle-Walker (60th 8:42 and William Walker-Hindle (70th 9:02) was eighth.

On the Under 13 Girls course of 2.7K, the team of Gracie Scott (2nd 10:04), Louisa Bradburn (10th 10:53), Ella-May Leonard (29th 11:41) and Jess Ramsden (36th 12:27), were second and with two fixtures left, the team is top of the League.

The U13 Boys race was over 3.2K, with Alfie Hall (21st 11:46) and Jack Wilsden (32nd 12:12).  On the same course, the Under 15 Girls  team of Grace Blincow (12th 12:23), Olivia Sellars (13th 12:23), Betty Kershaw (22nd 12:31) and Naomi Wrigley (38th 15:22) were fourth, while in the U15 Boys race over 4.0K, Ben Winnemore was 4th (13:58) and Rafael Eaton was 9th (14:23) ran

11th January 2020

Over 30 Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runners ran at the New Year’s Day Blackpool parkrun, with 20 already having run earlier in the Lytham Hall parkrun.  Overall both parkruns recorded massive record numbers running with Lytham Hall posting 548 and Blackpool 695.  The best BWFAC double run was posted by Simon Reason, who ran PBs of 19:00 at Lytham Hall and 18:58 at Blackpool.

The 2020 County Cross Country Championships of 2020 were last weekend, with the Lancashire Championship held at an overcast Witton Park in Blackburn, where BWFAC was well represented in the Junior and Women’s races.

In the Under 11 races over 1.8K, the Boys team of Otis Leah (15th 6:54), Billy Kershaw (21st 7:08), Ewan Leitch (35th 8:05) and William Walker-Hindle (44th 8:28), was fourth, while the Girls team of Polly Kershaw (7th 7:19), Aimee Harling (10th 7:25), Kristie Leitch (21st 8:01) and Jemima Bradburn (28th 8:10) was also fourth.

The Under 13 races were 3.2K, which included an ascent of the famous Saucer.  The Girls team was led by Gracie Scott (who won 2019 U11 Girls race), was 2nd – Silver (12:00), with Louisa Bradburn (11th 13:01), Ella-May Leonard (26th 13:58) and Megan Tipler (27th 14:06), bringing the team home in Bronze Team Medal position.  The Boys team of Gordon Ballantyne (7th 10:52), Alfie Hall (25th 11:55), Jack Wilsdon (27th 12:03) and Wyatt Holford (42nd 13:18) was sixth.

In the Under 15 races over 3.8K, the Girls team of Maddison Betmead (12th 15:23), Olivia Sellars (26th 16:15), Betty Kershaw (27th 16:19), Hailey Ballantyne (52nd 20:21) and Naomi Wrigley (53rd 20:58) was sixth, while in the Boys race  Rafael Eaton (16th 13:57) and Zachary Terras (46th 24:04) ran.

The Women’s race was over 6.7K with three ascents of the Saucer.  Emily Japp won Bronze (24:23), with Molly Betmead (14th 28:17), Basia Pawelczak (51st 33:39), Laura Lawler (54th 34:39), Fran Connolly (57th 35:07), Julie Hall (60th 35:25), Cheryl Rickwood (78th 40:30), Lisa Lambert (82nd 40:30) and Jenny Burtonwood (85th 42:25) making up the team, which was sixth, with the Vet team seventh.

Simon Reason (71st 40:39), John Wright (80th 41:29), Nick Hume (108th 44:27) and Peter Bradburn (126th 47:36) ran in the Men’s race over 9.8K.

Claire Irons competed in the Cheshireì Championships, held at Knights Grange, near Winsford, finishing 84th (52:23) on the 8K course.

At the Sale Harriers Open, held at Sportscity, eleven BWFAC, with several preparing for the Northern Indoor Senior/U20/U17 and U15/U13 Championships in the next few weeks.  In 60 metres, PBs were posted by James Nicholas (7.46), Nekkisha Wilson (8.81), Natalia Luczak (8.79) and Keira Tomes (8.88), while other times were Katy Wyper (7.85), George Fox (8.15) and Imogen Reader (8.79).  200m times were Wilson (29.09), Tomes (30.04), Millie Turner (31.09) and Leah Howard (31.52), who also recorded 10.21 in the 60m Hurdles.

In the Field events, George Mackenzie recorded 1.55m in the High Jump, 2.75m in the Pole Vault and 4.72m in the Long Jump, while Chloe Parsons posted 2.15m in the Pole Vault.  Tomes and Turner also recorded 4.03m and 3.29m in the Long Jump.

4th January 2020

On Boxing Day several BWFAC runners took the opportunity to run off the excesses of Christmas Day by running in the traditional Leyland Boxing Day 10K.  Simon Reason had obviously gone easy on the Christmas Pud, as he ran a Personal Best 38:52 in 19th place, while Jonathan Sanderson was 72nd in 45:38, Nicola Unsworth 106th (48:02), Basia Pawelczak 140th (50:24), Malcolm Beech 257th (56:32), Amanda Fuller 258th (56:53), Nickola  Walker 360th (62:42) and Fiona Little 447th (91:00).

The Lancaster & Morecambe AC Festival 4K attracted a large field of 345.  BWFAC’s Emily Japp and training partner Gracie Scott, aged 12 collected prizes, with Japp 5th and first woman in 13:17, while Scott was 29th in 15:55 and first Junior. Also running were Andrew Simm who was 26th in 15:25, while Jack Wilsdon aged 12, was 32nd in 16:04.

Two days later, both Japp and Scott were in action again, with Emily Japp competing in the prestigious Ribble Valley 10K, which was the Northern 10K Championship and Gracie Scott running at the Park View Junior 2K parkrun.  Japp was 133rd and 11th woman in 35:11, with John Wright 223rd in 38:00 and Bob Massey 1230th in 68:12.

Also running was Phil Leybourne of Salford Harriers and second claim with BWFAC, who was 101st and first Vet 50 in 34:10.  Scott was first overall at the Park View Junior 2K parkrun with a PB 7:45.  The quality at the front end was very high with the first 12 men, led by Marc Scott (28:32), posted sub 30 minute times, with first woman, International athlete, Jess Judd of Blackburn in 32:17.

Today the Lancashire Cross Country Championships are taking place at Witton Park in Blackburn.  Last Monday many of the Junior BWFAC runners, led by Coaches Stan Taylor and Sarah Scott, prepared by reconnoitring the expected course, followed a meal to enable team members to socialise.

Nearly 20 BWFAC runners ran in the local parkruns, with the fastest runs at Blackpool by Rafael Eaton with 18:53, Simon Reason 19:46 and Paul Eaton with a PB 21:23.

28th December 2019

The Rudolf Red Nose 5 Mile race organised by Dave Waywell and Kath Hoyer of Wesham RR, is now an established Christmas tradition.  A five mile race held mainly on the paths and fields at the back of Blackpool Zoo, which gives an opportunity to run in Christmas themed fancy dress.

Nearly 230 Santas, Elves and Snowmen started the race, with Vet 60 Paul Muller (Northern Masters) and Rob Danson (Wesham RR) leading the way in 31 minutes.  First Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde runner was Chris Wylie in 9th (33:03), with Peter Singleton 33rd (38:02), Bev Wright 42nd (39:36), Ellen McLachlan 62nd (42:00), Amanda Fuller 116th (47:44), Nickola Walker 123rd (48:14), Clare Clarke 129th (48:54), Jeff Wilson 130th (48:55), Bernard Singleton 140th (49:38), Malcolm Beech 141th (49:38), Alan Smart 142nd (49:39), Bob Massey 171st (53:23), Jeffrey Wright 172nd (53:30), Isabel McNamee 184th (55:36), Kim Blake 185th (55:37), Julie Sinclair 190th (56:03), Cheryl Rickwood 191st (56:07), Lisa Lambert 192nd (56:11), Elaine Hudson 193rd (56:17), Fran Connolly 194th (56:17), Jennifer Burtonwood 195th (56:18) and John Winters aged 84, 207th (58:22).

Meanwhile at the Lancaster Christmas Cracker 10K BWFAC’s Stephen Dunn was 8th and 1st Vet 40 (42:03), with Anthony Blight 12th (45:51), Nicola Unsworth 13th & 2nd female (46:00), and Basia Pawelczak 28th (53:04), while in the Northern Police Cross Country League, Laura Lawler ran 61:23 on a 10K course at Darley Park in Derbyshire.

Despite it being just four days before Christmas Day, Track & Field was still on the agenda, with the Manchester Christmas Field Open, held at Sportscity.  Scott Sinclair (U17M), was in sparkling form, winning both the Long Jump with 5.79m and Triple Jump with 12.70m, while Leah Howard (U17W) was pleased with 4.80m.  In the Pole Vault, Chloè  Parsons (U17W) cleared a PB 2.45m and Grace Dunn (U15G) jumped 2.35m.  George Mackenzie was was in good form posting 1.55m in the High Jump, 2.55m in the Pole Vault and a PB of 5.19m in the Long Jump.

It was a calm, mostly dry day at the local parkruns, where over 20 BWFAC runners took to the pathways at 9 am on Saturday.  Fastest runs  were posted by Harry Poole with a PB 16:56, with Ethan McEvoy posting 19:43, Rafael Eaton 19:53 and Joshua Mathias-Davey 20:17 at Blackpool, while at Lytham Hall, Tom Romney posted 20:11.  The Terras family ran at the tough Lancaster parkrun, with Tony posting 21:18 and Debbie 34:00.  The next day at the Park View Junior 2K parkrun Aimee Harling was first girl in 8:18.

21st December 2019

On the run up to Christmas, athletic and running was not top of the agenda for many, however some at Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC took a break from shopping and preparing for the Big Day.

Thirty five Santas and Elves turned out for the annual BWFAC Christmas Predictor race, held at Stanley Park involving a circuit of the park, and finishing with a lap of the track.  The main object was to predict the time to run the course.  First across the line was Rafael Eaton in 19:49, having predicted 19:40, however in the Predictor challenge it was Chris  Wylie who ran 21:03, having predicted 21:00 who won.  Joint 2nd were Dave Waywell and Howard Henshaw who both  walked the route in 38:50, having predicted 38:58, while the first lady was Elaine Hudson who ran 26:55, having predicted 27:08.  Both Wylie and Hudson received Christmas Hampers donated by BWFAC President, Howard Henshaw.

The very wet and muddy Hurst Green Turkey Trot was possibly even more testing than in previous years, with even waist deep water to be negotiated at one place.  Three BWFAC runners took on the challenge, with Simon Scarr 201st in 64:15, Amanda Fuller 203rd in 64:18 and Fiona Little 294th in 92:40.  Paul Plummer ran the Stockport 10 Mile race, finishing in 166th in 71:49.

Early in January the 2020 Senior/U20/U17 Northern T&F Indoor Championships are being held in Sheffield, and several BWFAC athletes, took the opportunity to practice their technique at the Sale Harriers Open meeting.  In the 60 metres Katy Wyper posted 7.76, Bradley Parsons 7.37 (PB), James Nicholas 7.49 (PB) and T37 athlete George Fox 8.12.  Chloè Parsons sprinted 9.03 in the 60m and 7.29m in the Shot Putt, while Millie Turner (U13) posted 8.83 in the 60m and 3.67m in the Long Jump, with Natalia Luczak jumping 4.69m.

Over 20 BWFAC runners ran in the local parkruns, with the highlights being U13 Boy Gordon Ballantyne’s 19:46 at Lytham Hall, while at Blackpool Rafael Eaton (U15) posted 18:43, John Wright 19:07, Ethan McEvoy 19:24 and Simon Reason 19:41.

18th December 2019

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC junior athletes were active on two fronts, as well as of course, at parkrun.

Thirty five Santas and Elves turned out for the annual BWFAC Predictor race, which involved a circuit of Stanley Park,  finishing with a lap of the athletic track.  The main object was not to necessarily be the fastest, but to predict the time it would take.  Thankfully after all the recent stormy weather, the runners were treated to bright sunshine for the run.

First home was Rafael Eaton (U15B) in 15:49, having predicted 15:49.  (However he wasn’t the most accurate prediction, with this honour going to senior runner Chris Wylie, who ran 21:03, having predicted 21:00).

Josh Mathias-Davey ran (U17) 16:34, with the twins (aged 9), Billy Kershaw in 18:21 and Polly Kershaw in 18:46, while Alfie Hall ran 18:49.  Gracie Scott, still not fully recovered from a heavy cold, ran 20:40, with Lily Eaton finishing in 23:52, Alex Fuller ran 31:43, and Zachary Terras 31:47, all somewhat outside on their predictions.

Afterwards there was a Jacob’s Join, a quiz provided by Senior BWFAC Field Official, Margaret Crompton, and the Prize giving.

Several BWFAC athletes took the opportunity to compete in the second fixture of the Sale Harriers Open Series, held on the Indoor track at the Manchester Regional Arena.  For some it was a chance to practice in the different environment of indoors, in preparation for the Northern Indoor Championships, early next year.

In the 60 metres Under 20 athletes James Nicholas and Bradley Parsons, both posted PBs of 7.49 and 7.30 respectively, whilst Under 13 sprinter Millie Turner in her first 60 metres posted an excellent 8.83, as well as jumping 3.67m in the Long Jump.  Other performances were Natalia Luczak (U17) with 4.69m in the Long Jump, whilst Chloè Parsons posted (U17) 9.03 in the 60m and 7.29m in the Shot Putt.

On the local parkruns front, at Blackpool Rafael Eaton (U15) was 2nd in 18:43, with Ethan McEvoy (U20) posting 19:28, Joshua Mathias-Davey (U) 20:33, Luke Jones 26:00 (U15) and Naomi Wrigley (U15) 29:05, while at Lytham Hall, Gordon Ballantyne (U13) was 2nd in a PB 19:46.

14th December 2019

As Christmas approaches, the season’s themed races have started.  The 36th Longridge 7 Mile Christmas Pudding Run, was on the roads over Longridge fell.  Five Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runners were part of the 416 runners who finished the this tough race, with Ethan McEvoy 22nd in 48:33, Chris Wylie 31st (50:00), Anthony Blight 94th (56:36), Nicola Unsworth 99th (56:49) and Nickola Walker 346th (76:48).  The spirit of Christmas was alive and well amongst the participants, as at one point, as Nicola Unsworth took the hand another runner who was faltering on the climb up Longridge Fell.

The Morecambe and Lancaster Power of 5K is a regular race on the Salt Ayre Cycle Track, and because there are no sharp corners or traffic to negotiate, it is a prime race for posting Personal Bests.  Both Luke Rawcliffe (U17M) and Chris Wylie took on the challenge, with both posting PBs of 16:15 and 18:47 respectively.

At the last two Northern Police Cross Country League matches, Laura Lawler has competed on a 5.2 mile course at Doncaster, with several steep climbs, was 5th in51:11, while at Doncaster on a 5.6 mile wet and slippery course, she was 10th in 61:23.

At the BWFAC 3.72 mile Club December Handicap, Nick Hume posted 27:09, Graham Davies 30:02, Gina Whiteley 30:33, Peter Gibson 33:07, Amanda Fuller 34:06, Tony Airnes 34:09, Debbie Terras 38:18, Tony Croft 38:19 and Tony Terras 38:19.

The female BWFAC Athletes of the Month for November was Under 11 Girl Polly Kershaw, primarily for her impressive cross country performances, while the male award went jointly to Gordon Ballantyne, who during November  won the Under 12 Boys British Modern Biathlon Championship and Chris Wylie for his support of the BWFAC team  particularly in Cross Country.

In the local parkruns, at Blackpool, Rafael Eaton ran 19:03, Tony Terras 19:48 (PB), Chris Wylie 19:38, Joshua Mathias-Davey 20:49, Paul Eaton 21:28 (PB), Anthony Blight 23:25, Simon Scarr 24:57, Basia Pawelczak 25:18, George Warner aged 6 with a 26:02 (PB) with dad Mark, Peter Gibson 26:46, Malcolm Beech 27:04, Nickola Walker 29:04, Debbie Terras 31:32, Isabel McNamee 35:37, while at Fleetwood Steve Dunn posted 20:03, with Bev Wright 21:16 and Peter Singleton ran 23:02 at Lytham Hall.

11th December 2019

The Morecambe and Lancaster Power of 5K is a race on the Salt Ayre Cycle track, and because there are no sharp corners or traffic to negotiate, it is a prime race for posting Personal Bests.  Having just moved into the Under 17 age category, Luke Rawcliffe took on the challenge last Friday evening, posting an amazing 16:15 over the 5K course, finishing 8th and first Junior.

At the Blackpool parkrun, Rafael Eaton (U15) posted 19:38 and Joshua Mathias-Davey (U17) 20:49.

7th December 2019

Six Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runners travelled to Lanzarote for the Lanzarote International Running Challenge, involving four races over four days, a 10K road race, 13K ridge run around a local volcano, a 5K beach run and concluding with a 21K on dirt and asphalt.  Simon Reason was overall 25th in a total time 3:20:37 and was also first in the 18 to 24 age category, while Paul Sparrow was 70th (3:44:45), John Reason 151st (4:42:41), Derek Crane 153rd (4:47:54), Bob Massey 163rd (5:06:30) and Bernard Singleton 170th (5:33:45).

The 34th Wesham 10K attracted eight BWFAC runners.  Chris Wylie was 43rd in 39:43, with Steve Dunn 80th (42:02), Anthony Blight 159th (46:17), Basia Pawelczak 235th (51:18), David Twizell 309th (55:18), Kirsty Holland 395th (60:06), Elaine Hudson 436th (65:53), and John Winters 437th (66:27) as well as first Vet 80.

The first Sale Harriers Open of the Indoor season was held at Sportscity in Manchester.  In the 60 metres sprints James Nicholas (U17) posted a PB 7.57, while Leah Howard (U17) recorded 8.84, Chloè Parsons 9.03 (U17) and Charmaine Melson 10.57.  Howard also posted 1.45m in the High Jump and 4.45 in the Long Jump, with Scott Sinclair (U17) was 2nd in the Long Jump with 5.80m.  Chloè Parsons also recorded 7.05m in the Shot Putt.

Amongst the best runs by BWFAC runners at the local parkruns, were Maddison Betmead (U15) who was first female in a PB 20:27, while at Blackpool, Rafael Eaton was first across the line in 18:48, with Joshua Mathias-Davey (21:18), Paul Sparrow (21:26), Paul Eaton (21:49) and Grace Blincow (22:10).  At Fleetwood Promenade parkrun, Bev Wright was first woman in 21:24.

4th December 2019

In the second Lancashire Sportshall League competition of the season, held at the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre, UCLAN, in Preston, the Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes competed well again.

The exceptional performances included Rafael Eaton, finishing second overall in the under-15s, following second places in each of the 2 laps, 4 laps and Triple jump (6.98m), before winning the speed bounce with an incredible 85 in 30 seconds.  Will Waters produced an incredible Throw of 12.83 metres, to win by 5 metres in the Under 15 Boys Shot Putt.

In the Under 15 Girls, Mimi Carter performed strongly, with good results in the 2 laps and Long Jump, before coming second in the Shot Putt (7.40m).

Millie Turner was one point shy of winning Athlete of the Match for the under 13 girls, after winning the triple jump (6.18m), 2nd place in the 2 laps and 3rd places in both the vertical jump and 6 laps.  Amara Thorpe also produced excellent performances, finishing 3rd in the vertical jump and triple jump.

Millie Haden-Brown produced good results in the obstacle race, speed bounce and vertical jump.  Polly Kershaw also produced strong performances in the under 11 competition, particularly in the 1 lap, Chest Push and Speed Bounce.

In the Under 11 Boys category, Billy Cook performed well in the obstacle race and speed bounce.  Billy Kershaw also competed strongly in the under 11 boys in the obstacle race, chest push and triple jump, before finishing in an amazing 3rd position in the speed bounce, scoring 50 in just 20 seconds!

The first of the Sale Harriers Open Indoor meetings were held at Sportscity, Manchester.  Five BWFAC athletes took the opportunity to test their form.  In the 60 metres James Nicholas posted a PB 7.57, Leah  Howard 8.84, Chlòe Parsons 9.03 and Charmaine Melson 10.57.  Howard also posted 1.45m in the High Jump and 4.45m in the Long Jump, while Scott Sinclair recorded 5.80m in the Long Jump.  Chlòe Parsons also posted 7.05m in the Shot Putt.

On the parkrun front, at Lytham Hall, Maddison Betmead (U15) was first female in a PB 20:20, while at Blackpool Rafael Eaton (U15) was first across the line in 18:48, with Joshua Mathias-Davey (U17) posting 21:18.  The next day at the Park View 2K Junior parkrun, George Warner aged six, posted a PB 9:46.

30th November 2019

The third fixture of Mid Lancs Cross Country League was held at Sefton Park in Liverpool, as part of the Liverpool Cross Challenge, which also included the Trials for the Great Britain team to go to the European Championships in Lisbon, Portugal next month.

The Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde Senior AC’s Women’s squad was led by Emily Japp (3rd 30:43) and 37th overall race on the 8.1K course, with Bev Wright (47th 39:52), Laura Lawler (69th 42:03), Karen Dunford (78th 42:27), Dawn Maher (83rd 43:01), Julie Hall (89th 43:24), Basia Pawelczak (97th 43:24), Fran Connolly (128th 47:04), Claire Irons (134th 48:12), Jenny Burtonwood (159th 51:07), Lisa Lambert (160th 51:07) and Cheryl Rickwood (161st 51:20).  The ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams were 13th and 24th, while the V35 team was 9th and the V45 team 2nd.  Chris Wylie was the lone Senior Man for the BWFAC, finishing 204th in 47:34 on the 9.8K course.

There were some good performances from the Junior BWFAC runners.  The best team result was posted by the Under 11 Girls, Polly Kershaw (5th), Aimee Harling (12th), Kristie Leitch (17th) and Jemima Bradburn (32nd), with the team finishing first, while the U11 Boys Billy Kershaw (33rd), Robert Walker-Hindle (46th) and William Walker-Hindle (55th) were 8th team.  The U13 Girls team of Gracie Scott (11th), Louisa Bradburn (25th), Megan Tipler (39th) and Jess Ramsden (53rd) were sixth.  Also running in the U13 Boys race were Wyatt Holford (66th) and Alfie Hall (123rd), while in the U15 Girls race Maddison Betmead (19th) and Olivia Sellars (34th), and Luke Rawcliffe (17th) and Ben Winnemore (21st).

Gordon Ballantyne competed in the British Modern Biathlon Championships held at the Harvey Hadden Sports Centre in Nottingham.  In the Under 12 Boys Biathlon he posted 31.94 in the 50 swim and 2:30.25 in the 800m run, to finish first and win Gold.  Kirsty Holland competed in the Senior Women’s category, recording 4:00.33 in the 200m swim and 8:00.30 in the 1600m run to win Silver.

At the Best 5K held in Preston, Stephen Minto was 45th 24:40.

There were 14 BWFAC runners at the local parkruns, with sub 20 minute runs posted by Ethan McEvoy (19:35) and Rafael Eaton (19:51) at Blackpool.

27th November 2019

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Gordon Ballantyne travelled down to the Harvey Hadden Sports Centre, in Nottingham to compete in the Under 12 Boys section of the British Modern Championships Biathon (800m run and 50m swim).  He took victory ahead of 46 boys competing, by recording 31.94 for the swim and 2:30.25 in the run, to win with a total of 2618 points.

The third Mid Lancs Cross Country fixture of the season was held as part of the Liverpool Cross Challenge, which also included the Trials for the British Team at the European Championship to be held in Lisbon, Portugal next month.  Inevitably with Christmas and winter illnesses, one or two the Junior Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runners were missing, however there were still a strong enthusiastic group of young runners.

The first races were the Under 11, over a 2K course.  In the Girls race, Polly Kershaw was 5th with 8:09 in the Mid Lancs section, with Aimee Harling (12th 8:39), Kristie Leitch (17th 8:54) and Jemima Bradburn (32nd 9:44).  These performances were particularly impressive, as all the girls have at least a further year in the U11 age category, after this season, and yet still brought the team home in first place.  In the Boys race the team was eighth with Billy Kershaw (33rd 8:34), with Robert Hindle Walker (46th 9:15) and William Hindle Walker (55th 10:06).

The Under 13 Girls race was on the 3K course, with the BWFAC Team were led by Gracie Scott in 11th (13:12), together with Louisa Bradburn (25th 13:49), Megan Tipler (39th 14:15) and Jess Ramsden (53rd 14:48), brought team home in sixth place, while in the Boys race Wyatt Holford was 32nd (12:34), with Alfie Hall 67th (15:28).

The Under 15 races were also over 3K, and in the Boys race, Luke Rawcliffe was 2nd (10:29), with Ben Winnemore 21st (11:23), while in the Girls race Maddison Betmead was 19th (12:47) and Olivia Sellars 34th (13:42).

On the parkrun front at the Blackpool parkrun at Ethan McEvoy recorded 19:35, Rafael Eaton 19:51 and Luke Jones (U15B) 25:41.
23rd November 2019

Preston Harriers Athletics Club hosted the 38th Preston 10 Mile race, incorporating the North of England and Lancashire 10 Mile Championships, with nearly 400 running in the lanes around Hutton, near Preston.

Emily Japp produced an excellent run, finishing 25th in 56:45, and 2nd woman, behind two times Welsh Commonwealth Games runner, Elinor Kirk (55:51) of Swansea Harriers.  Japp was also North of England and Lancashire womens Champion, while Bev Wright was 121st in 69:73, and won the Lancashire Lady Vet 55 Championship.  Together with Nicola Unsworth (196th 76:29), the three BWFAC women won the first North of England and Lancashire Ladies Team Championship medals.

Other BWFAC runners were Anthony Blight (170th 74:09), Ellen McLachlan (255th 83:17), Lisa Lambert (328th 92:21), Cheryl Rickwood (336th 93:38) and Julie Sinclair (349th 95:35).

Nickola Walker ran the inaugural Blackburn 10K, which started and finishing at the home of Blackburn Rovers, Ewood Park, after a circuit of the town centre, and was 1028th in 61:07.

Five BWFAC runners took to the hills last weekend for the Arnside Knott fell race (6 miles/1093 feet), with Mark Warner 50th (49:03), Fran Connolly 132nd (64:38), Jennifer Burtonwood 146th (69:02), Amanda Fuller 149th (69:25) and Bob Massey 155th (72:22).

BWFAC Athletes of the Month for October were Gina Whiteley and Mark Warner for their running performances, while Luke Rawcliffe was also nominated.

The results of BWFAC November Club Handicap,  on the 3.72 mile course, were: Nick Hume 25:31, Nicola Walker 33:42, Gina Whitley 30:12, Karen Dunford 28:48, Graham Davies 28:46, Peter Gibson 31:49, Mark Warner 24:17, Paul Beech 25:34, Amanda Fuller 33:03, Malcolm Beech 33:25 and Martin Bates 32:22.

There were sixteen BWFAC runners at the local parkruns.  Christopher Wylie was 3rd in 19:29 at Blackpool, with Laura Gillhespy (22:32), Ella-May Leonard (23:09), and Luke Jones (25:19) all posted PBs, while at Fleetwood Promenade parkrun, Trevor Uttley (22:35) and Peter Singleton (22:46) also posted PBs.

The next day at Park View Junior 2K parkrun, the first three Girls were BWFAC runners, Megan Tipler with a PB 8:24, Aimee Harling 8:30 and Ella-May Leonard 8:43.

20th November 2019

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC held their Annual Presentation Awards at the Grand Hotel. For the young athletes the Awards were split into three main sections, Track and Field, Cross Country and Meritorious Awards.

Track & Field awarded were based on Scoring Tables.  They were awarded as follows:
BOYS: U11 1st Otis Leah, 2nd Tom Harper; U13 1st Connor Norman, 2nd Oliver Nunn; U15 Rafael Eaton, 2nd Henry Manson; U17 1st James Nicholas, 2nd Scott Sinclair; U20 1st Andrew Woodhouse, 2nd Bradley Parsons.
GIRLS: U11 1st Emily Ford, 2nd Abbie Ely; U13 1st Kiera Tomes, 2nd Marcia Rutter; U15 Gracie Rutter, 2nd Iona Cossens; U17 1st Mary-Jayne Broomhead and Imogen Reader, 2nd Leah Howard; U20 1st Danielle Whipp, 2nd Olivia Hanby.

Cross Country BOYS: U11 1st Alfie Hall, 2nd Billy Kershaw; U13 1st Rafael Eaton; U15 Max Swarbrick, 2nd Luke Rawcliffe; U17 Jack Tickle, 2nd James Smith.
GIRLS: U11 1st Gracie Scott, 2nd Jess Ramsden, 3rd Ella-May Leonard; U13 1st Betty Kershaw, 2nd Louisa Bradburn, 3rd Holly Tickle; U15 Lucy Tickle, 2nd Bethany Whipp; U17 1st Danielle Whipp; U20 Jess Rogers.

Jasmine Carey, who has enjoyed impressive success during 2019, including representing England at Junior level in the Pole Vault, was awarded the Small Langen Hesson Trophy for most outstanding female athlete, and Centenary Trophy for Best Jumps by a male or female.

There were six trophies awarded for most improvement over three age categories: Age 15 to 17 Nekkisha Wilson (Langen Hesson Plaque), James Nicholas (Chairman Trophy); age 13 to 15 Talia Ball (Southern Trophy), who also won the Sandra Helmn Trophy for best female throws 13 to 15; James Nicholas (Chairman Trophy); age 13 to 15 Luke Rawcliffe (Roland Jones Trophy), 11 to 13 Kiera Tomes (Kennel Trophy), Gordon Ballantyne (Ryan Trophy).

Millie Turner and Alfie Hall jointly won the Under 13 encouragement award, the Brooks Barrel.

Alex Slater was awarded the BAe Trophy for best throws performance by an Under 17 male.  Mary-Jayne Broomhead won the Bernard Berry Memorial Award for best female Under 17 track performance, while Angelo Vinci won the male equivalent, the Jack Pritchard Trophy.  Leah Howard won the Presidents Trophy, awarded for best multi-events by a male or female, while Rafael Eaton won the Ron Helmn Trophy, awarded for the best 800m performance by a girl or boy, aged 14.

The best team award, named after Alf Tysoe, who won two Gold Medals at the 1900 Paris Olympic Games, was awarded to the Under 13/15 squad who won promotion to the first Division of the Youth Development League.  All members also received a spike shoe bag marked ‘YDL League Champions 2019’.

The final award was the O’Hara Family Commitment Trophy, awarded to the Howard family, Paula, Tim, Leah and Keiran.

16th November 2019

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC held their Annual Presentation of Awards for excellence in athletics and running at the Grand Hotel.  The special guest was former International athlete, Jenny Meadows, who had a glittering athletic career, winning Olympic, World Championship, European and Commonwealth medals.  Jenny gave an inspirational talk, directed mainly at the Junior members, concentrating on her early athletic career, with its successes, setbacks, and culminating in her winning a 400 metres Relay Gold Medal at the 2000 World Junior Championships held in Santiago in Chile.

Before the Awards there was the Big Reveal of the money raised as part of the Rock FM Cash For Kids.  The total, including money from Rock FM, was £4554.32.  Many thanks to the coaches, parents and young athletes, led by Sarah Venn, who have worked hard money raising over the last few months.  This money will used for coaching courses, equipment, etc for the Club’s Junior Athletes.

The main three Awards for athletes who have achieved International honours during the previous year, were the Quayle Trophy awarded to Scottish International sprinter, Katy Wyper; the runner-up male and female Trophies, were the Large Langen Hesson Trophy awarded to England Para sprinter, George Fox and the Small Langen Hesson Trophy went to England Junior International Pole Vaulter, Jasmine Carey.

Among the many other important awards, the Peter Smith and the Tony Croft Meritorious Awards, both for Outstanding Service to the Club were awarded to Paula Howard and Derek Newton respectively, while Bev Wright was awarded the Cartmell Dragon Trophy for most outstanding Veteran (male or female).

Prior to the evening’s festivities BWFAC competed in the second Mid Lancs of the season held at Wilson’s Playing Fields in Clayton-le-Moors.  The Junior teams impressed, with the Under 11 Girls team first, U11 Boys 6th, U13 Girls 2nd, U15 Girls 6th and Luke Rawcliffe was first in the U15 Boys race, with the team 2nd.

It was a weakened Senior squad.  In the Women’s race over 6K, the BWFAC teams of Bev Wright (40th), Karen Dunford (65th), Julie Hall (97th), Fran Connolly (109th), Jenny Burtonwood (137th) and Lisa Lambert (138th), were 21st and 33rd, while the men’s squad of Nick Hume (136th), Mark Warner (160th), Peter Bradburn (208th), Chris Wylie (217th) and Paul Eaton (238th) ran on the 10K course, but unfortunately did not finish a full team.

Claire Irons was 274th in the Woman’s race in the Manchester Area Cross Country League.

At the Windmill Remembrance 10K, Ethan McEvoy was 48th (39:55), Nicola Unsworth 263rd (46:32) and Dawn Maher 349th (48:16).

13th November 2019

The second Mid Lancs League fixture took place at a very muddy Wilson Playing Fields in Clayton-le-Moors.  Although wet underfoot, there was no rain, but it was very cold.  Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde fielded a strong group of young runners to contest the testing course.

First up was the Under 11 Girls race on a tough 2K course.  The young team led by Polly Kershaw (4th 9:24), with Aimee Harling (9th 9:49) and Kristie Leitch put in a tremendous team performance to finish first team.  This was made all the more impressive, as all three girls still have two more years in the Under 11 age category, and were competing against some girls that could be upto two years older.  Aimee loves running and twenty one hours later, she was on the start line again, this time for the 2K Park View parkrun in Lytham, where she finished first girl in in 8:31.

Next up was the Under 11 Boys race on the same course, where Otis Leah was 6th (8:55), Robert Walker-Hindle 29th (10:18), Billy Kershaw 32nd (10:24) and Ewan Leitch 48th (11:24), bought the team home in 4th place.

The Under 13 Girls race was over a 2.5K course.  In her first year as an U13, Gracie Scott ran a gutsy race to finish an excellent 5th (11:03), with Louisa Bradburn 12th (12:27), Jess Ramsden 21st (12:54), Megan Tipler 22nd (13:03) and Ella-May Leonard 28th (13:28).  The Team were second.

There were good runs by Gordon Ballantyne who was 6th (11:47) and Alfie Hall 20th (12:59) on the U13 Boys course over 3K.

The Under 15 Girls race was on the same course as the Under 13 Boys.  Maddison Betmead ran a superb race to finish 3rd (12:24), with Olivia Sellars 18th (13:36) and Naomi Wrigley 31st (17:02), bringing the team home in sixth place.

It’s a common term used this football season, in respect to Liverpool, that the team has forgotten how to loose.  This term could also be applied to Luke Rawcliffe, who since August has finished first in all his races on the track, road, cross country, (both Mid Lancs and Schools), as well as finishing first at a recent Lytham Hall parkrun.  It was therefore no surprise that Rawcliffe strided again to first place (13:01) at Wilson Playing Fields in the U15 Boys race over 3.6K.  He was ably supported by Ben Wintermore in 4th (13:39), Rafael Eaton 10th (14:05) and Luke James 40th (17:41).  The team, after a close contest with Blackburn, finished second.

In the U17 Men’s race over 6K, Max Swarbrick was 14th (25:04) and Joshua Mathias-Davey 27th (29:07).

9th November 2019

The main focus again for the local athletic and running clubs this week, was on the Road and Trail.

Four members of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC travelled to the Lakes, braving the heavy rain in the tough Derwentwater 10 Mile race, which involved a circuit of the lake in the scenic Borrowdale Valley.  Simon Reason was 42nd in 67:33, with Anthony Blight 168th (80:48), Nicola Unsworth 183rd (82:48) and Kevin Woods 263rd (89:09).
Laura Lawler enjoyed her run in Lancaster Half Marathon raced mainly on path and cycleways, before a tough climb to finish in Lancaster Castle.  Lawler was 99th (1:47:02) and had the bonus of winning the Lady’s Vet 50 Prize.

Seven BWFAC runners took on the challenge of the Gisburn 10K Forest Trail race, held in the beautiful north east corner of Lancashire.  Jennifer Burtonwood was 116th in 64:59, with Amanda Fuller 123rd (66:00), Lisa Lambert 133rd (67:14), Cheryl Rickwood 142nd (67:51), Nicole Walker 143rd (68:12), Bob Massey 164th (71:21) and Fran Connolly 167th (71:31).

In other parkrun performances, at Blackpool, Ethan McEvoy posted 19:23, Mark Warner 19:57, Andrew Simm 20:30, Joshua Mathias-Davey 20:45, Ella-May Leonard 23:36 (U13G), Anthony Blight 24:14, Basia Pawelczak 24:20, Peter Gibson 26:21 and Les Endean 36:07, while at Lytham Hall parkrun, Peter Singleton ran 22:56 and at the Preston parkrun Isaac Ormerod (U13B) ran 25:44.

6th November 2019

A relatively quiet week for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes, with no local track and field, or cross country action, however several Junior runners were active on the parkrun front.  The most eye catching performance was from Under 15 runner, Rafael Eaton, who had a spectacular run at Fleetwood Promenade parkrun, smashing his personal best by over half a minute, to finish in a fantastic 18:10 on the 5K out and back course that overlooks Morecambe Bay.  He was also first across the line and set a new Course Record for his age category.

At Blackpool parkrun Ethan McEvoy recorded 19:23 and Joshua Mathias-Davey 20:45, while Under 13 girl Ella-May Leonard posted 23:36.  The next day, at a misty Park View 2K Junior parkrun in Lytham, Under 11, Aimee Harling posted 8:43, and was first girl across the line.

This quiet period looks like ending for runners of BWFAC, as there are two cross country Mid Lancs meetings during November with the second one on the 23rd, also including the prestigious British Cross Challenge at Liverpool, attracting the cream of National runners for the European Cross Country Trials.  Also this month BWFAC are holding the Club Club Championship Awards, and always a glittering affair, with this year being be no exception.

2nd November 2019

Road running was the main focus for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC, with Emily Japp competing in the Jail Break 10K, a mainly flat course, but with a sting in the tail of a climb upto to finish at the former prison of Lancaster Castle.  Japp was 3rd overall and first woman in 36:38, over 3 minutes ahead of the next lady.

Also in Lancaster, Christopher Wylie ran in his 4th Power of 5K, posting his 3rd consecutive 5K PB of 19:01 on the fast oval course.

Simon Reason and Basia Pawelczak competed in the most recent Petzl Night race 10K in the Delamere Forest.  Despite going wrong at 8K, Reason got back on course to finish 30th in 46:17, with Pawelczak 100th in 55:35.

The Fairclough 5 Mile took place on a sunny dry day, following the heavy rain of the previous two days.  However one section of the route was flooded, although this presented little problem, apart from wet feet, with Rob Danson of Wesham RR first in 26:35.  BWFAC’s John Wright was 5th and 1st Vet 50 (30:20), with Christopher Wylie 10th (32:42) and Nick Hume 15th and 1st Vet 60 (33:42).  Other BWFAC runners were Derek Crane (48th 41:19), Gina Whiteley (49th 41:26), Malcolm Beech (71st 45:22), Nickola Walker (86th 48:44) and Elaine Hudson (96th 52:12).  Prior to to the main race, Gracie Scott was 2nd (6:09) and Megan Tipler 4th (6:58) in the one mile Fun Run.

On the previous day Elaine Hudson was 242nd in the Helvellyn 10K Trail race.

Luke Rawcliffe continued his winning form by running as a guest in the 4.1Km Under 15 race in the Red Rose Cross Country League race as a guest, and finishing first in 15:22.

Despite the heavy rain and the Semi-final of the Rugby World Cup, 14 BWFAC runners ran on Saturday morning local parkruns, with Ethan McEvoy first in 9:47 at Blackpool, Anthony Blight (22:37), Laura Gillhespy (23:47), Peter Gibson (26:02), Luke Jones (26:27), Cheryl Rickwood (28:21), Les Endean (31:08), Isabel Mcnamee (31:18) and Linda Marsden (40:37); while at Lytham Hall, Tony Terras was 3rd in 19:36, with Alfie Hall posting a PB 22:19, Peter Singleton (23:22), Julie Hall (25:11) and Debbie Terras (31:24).

30th October 2019

Luke Rawcliffe is currently in excellent running form, and although the Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC is not a member of the Red Rose Cross Country League, Luke was keen to run in Saturday’s fixture, as several of his triathlon friends from Chorley Triathlon Club were running on Saturday.  Along with his friendly rival, Dan Valentine of Preston Harriers, they both entered as guests in the Under 15 Boys race on the 4.1 kilometre muddy course at Leverhulme Park in Bolton.  They battled through the mud, with Rawcliffe finishing first in 15:22 and Valentine second in 15:42.

Earlier on Saturday at the local parkruns, Ethan McEvoy, aged 17, battled the rain to finish first at Blackpool parkrun in 19:47, while at the Lytham Hall parkrun, Under 13 Boy, Alfie Hall ran a PB of 22:19.

On Sunday Gracie Scott and Megan Tipler ran in the mile Fairclough Fun Run, with Gracie finishing second (6:09) behind Sophie Bohannon of Lytham St Annes RR, with Megan 4th overall and 3rd girl (6:58).

26th October 2019

There was a good turnout of 24 Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runners for the 20th running of the Green Drive 5 Mile.  As well as being it being the Lancashire Five Mile Championship race, it was also the final race of the BWFAC Road Championship.  First BWFAC runner was Luke Minns in 6th (27:00), followed by Emily Japp in 15th and 2nd Woman in 28:31, behind Laura Hesketh of Clayton-le-Moors (28:15), however Japp’s Lady’s Course Record of 27:47 set last year, still remains unbeaten.  Michael Brent-Reid was 29th (30:36), with Greg Seddon 32nd and 2nd Vet 55 (30:40), Mark Warner 40th (31:38), and Christopher Wylie 43rd (31:38 PB).  Bev Wright was 54th (33:36) and collected the Lancashire Vet 55 Medal and Race prize for 1st Vet 55 Woman.

Jonathan Sanderson was 74th (33:32), with Anthony Blight 75th (36:14 PB), Dawn Maher (93rd & 2nd FV35 37:53 PB), Basia Pawelczak (116th 39:05), and Gina Whitley was 130th & 3rd FV50 40:03), after warming up the previous day at the Warrington 5 Mile Trail race with 86th in 44:48.

The other BWFAC runners were Derek Crane (155th 14:02), Alan Wilkinson (172nd 43:09), Malcolm Beech (175th 43:13), Bob Massey (208th 44:50), Julie Sinclair (210th 44:55), Rick Pinches (211th 44:58), Cheryl Rickwood (212th 45:01), Nickola Walker (225th 45:50), Lisa Lambert (239th 46:59), Karen Trent (244th 47:39th), Beverley Gigli (264th 49:51) and John Winters who at nearly 85 was 300th in 53:53.

In the Junior One Mile race, prior to the Green Drive 5, Luke Rawcliffe set a new Boy’s Course Record of 4:59 in winning the race, with Gracie Scott first Girl in 5:49, while together with Betty Kershaw (11th 6:10) and Polly Kershaw (22nd 6:49), they were first Girls Team.  Megan Tipler (25th 6:59) and Billy Kershaw (32nd 7:12) also ran.

There were 18 BWFAC runners at the local parkruns, with the best performance by Christopher Wylie with a PB 19:26, with Simon Reason posting 19:27 at the Blackpool parkrun.

23rd October 2019

The popular Green Drive 5 and Junior One Mile for young runners aged 4 to 15, hosted by Lytham St Annes RRC, were held on Sunday.
Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Luke Rawcliffe won the Junior Mile in 4:59, breaking the Boys Course record of 5:12, set by Michael Hayes of Lytham St Annes RRC back in 2015, by 13 seconds.  This follows on from his first place in the Wyre & Fylde Schools Cross Country Championship Year 11 Boys race, held at Rossall School.

First girl was Gracie Scott aged just 12, who was 5th overall and won the Girls race with a brilliant 5:49.  Together with Betty Kershaw second girl (6:10) and Polly Kershaw, aged 9, sixth girl (6:49) they formed the First Girls team.  Other BWFAC runners where, Megan Tipler 25th and 7th girl (6:59), while Billy Kershaw was 32nd (7:12).

The first of three fixtures in the Lancashire Sportshall League was held at the UCLan Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre in Preston.   A squad of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC Under 11, 13 and 15 athletes competed and delivered some excellent performances.

In the Under 15 Boys category, Rafael Eaton won the Athlete of the Tournament, following victory in the 4 lap race, Speed Bounce, 2nd place in the Standing Triple Jump with a Personal  Best of 7.08 metres.  Jefferson Kong also produced some excellent performances in the 4 laps (2nd place), Shot Putt and Triple Jump, while Gracjan Wojcik made  his debut for BWFAC, winning the 2 lap race and Long Jump.  The U15B team won the Two lap Relay.

Alfie Hall produced a set of strong performances in both the running and field events for the Under 13 Boys.  Amara Thorpe also made debut for BWFAC in the Under 13 Girls squad, performed very well, notably winning the six lap race and was third place in the Vertical Jump, while Millie Turner produced good performances in both the two lap race and Vertical Jump, before the Girls combined, to finish 3rd in the U15G two lap Relay.

There were very good from the Under 11 sections, with Verity Beaumont-Cooke, Ashlyn Skeet, Oscar Wallace, Evie Thelwall and Abigail Cameron, in their first competition for the Club.

19th October 2019

Fifteen of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runners went International by competing in the Zafira Palma Half Marathon and 10K, held in baking heat on the island of Majorca.

In the Half Marathon, Stephen Dunn led the way for BWFAC in 544th (1:48:36), while Simon Scarr with 1992nd (2:10:20), posted an amazing performance after just recovering  from a multiple break to his shoulder during a fell race in August.  Amanda Fuller was 2550th (2:20:43), Bob Massey 2552nd (2:20:46), Nickola Walker 2950th (2:31:35), Elaine Hudson 3399th (2:55:14), Laura Rayner 3490th (3:13:46) and Fiona Little 3504th (3:15:54).

While in the 10K, Bev Wright was 104th in an amazing time of 44:13, considering the extreme heat, was 12th woman and first FV55, with Paul Beech 111th (44:24), Ian Dawson 123rd (44:48), Nicola Unsworth 250th (49:32), Derek Crane 506th (55:10) and Jeff Wilson 538th (55:46), Malcolm Beech 937th (57:53).

Nearer to home, Mark Warner posted 1:29:14 (537th) at the Manchester Half Marathon, with Claire Irons posting 2:20:10, while at the Blackpool Autumn Breaker 10K, held in Stanley Park, Ethan Mcevoy was 8th (40:34) and Christopher Wylie 11th (41:34).

On the Cross Country front, BWFAC Club Secretary Nick Hume ran in the National Civil Service Cross Country Championship, held at Parliament Fields in London.  He was 22nd, 1st Vet 60 in 46:05, and was a member of DWP Team which finished first, while in the first fixture of the Northern Police League held at Bodenwyddan Castle in North Wales, Laura Lawler was 11th (37:01) woman.

Several of the Juniors members competed in an extra cross country as guests in the Red Rose League at Leigh Sports Village.  Gracie Scott was 2nd in the U13 Girls race with Megan Tipler 30th and Jessica Ramsden 33rd, while Polly Kershaw was 8th and Aimee Harling 13th in the U11 Girls race, with Billy Kershaw 31st in U11 Boys race, and in the U15 Girls race, Olivia Sellars was 26th, with Naomi Wrigley 50th.

16th October 2019

Part of  Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Cross Country squad took the opportunity for some further cross country action by competing as guests in the Red Rose Cross Country League, on another gloriously warm sunny day at Leigh Sports Village near Wigan.

It was dry and sunny, although after the recent heavy rain, underfoot it was very muddy.  Gracie Scott loved these tough conditions, and ran with spirit on the 3K course, to finished in the same time of 10:15 as Charlotte Wilkinson of Horwich RMI Harriers who took first place, with Scott second.  Megan Tipler was 30th (12:11) and Jessica Ramsden 33rd (12:12).

In the earlier Under 11 races over 2K, Billy Kershaw was 31st (9:15) in the Boys race, while in the girl’s race, Polly Kershaw  was an excellent 8th (9:03), with Aimee Harling 13th (9:11).  In the U15 Girl’s race held over 4K, Olivia  Sellars was 26th (15:15), with Naomi Wrigley 50th (18:55).

Local Junior parkrun was severely curtailed as the Queen Elizabeth II Park View Playing Fields were flooded, and the Park View Junior parkrun was forced to cancel.  However  Mark Warner’s young son George ran his 20th parkrun (29:06) at Blackpool, while Rafael Eaton posted 19:51.

12th October 2019

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Bev Wright was 5th woman and first FV55 in 42:53 at the Rochdale 10K, while at the West Coast Half Marathon, run from Preston to Lytham, Simon Reason was in excellent form with 7th in a PB 87:41, with Basia Pawelczak was 81st (1:57:41) and Lisa Lambert 142nd (2:11:30).

On the parkrun front, at Blackpool, Rafael Eaton was 5th in a PB 18:35, with Ethan Mcevoy posting 19:03, Paul Sparrow 20:54, Paul Eaton 21:54, Anthony Blight 22:37, Les Endean 26:21, Peter Gibson 26:39 and Isabel Mcnamee 31:36, while at Lytham Peter Singleton posted 23:04 and Howard Henshaw 32:23.  At the Park View 2K Junior parkrun Isla Macpherson posted a PB of 10:30.

The Volunteer of the Quarter was awarded to Sharon Holt for her leadership as Team Manager of Youth Development League team, who achieved promotion to Division One of the YDL.

Members of BWFAC, led by Coach Sarah Venn, have taken on the Rock FM Cash for Kids Challenge, with several money raising efforts, including sponsorships and a very successful Auction, achieved the target of £2000, which will be matched by Rock FM.  This money will be ring-fenced for various projects to help the BWFAC Juniors achieve their athletic ambitions.

9th October 2019

Two personal bests on the parkrun front, with Rafael Eaton (U15 Boy) posting 18:35 at the Blackpool parkrun and Isla Macpherson (U11 Girl) with 10:30 at the 2K Park View Junior parkrun.

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC Athletes of the Month for September were two of the youngest members.  Under 11 Girl Emily Ford won it for her sprinting and Long Jump successes during the BWFAC Open Medal meeting, posting PBs of 12.3 in the 80 metres and 3.75m in the Long Jump.  Under 13 Boy Jack Richardson won for his sprinting ability, winning both the Under 13 Boys 100 and 200 metres at the BWFAC Open.

The Volunteer of the Quarter was Sharon Holt, who managed the Youth Development League team promotion to Division One, the second promotion in two years.

2nd October 2019

A new Cross Country season started relatively early on the last Saturday of September, with the first of six fixtures in the Mid Lancs League at Ulverston.  Although it has been a wet period of weather over the last couple of weeks, this first series of races was played out in dry warm sunshine, and the young runners from Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC were well represented in all age categories.

The first action was the Under 11 Girls race over 2.2K.  Polly Kershaw and Kristie Leitch both finished in 9:19 (10th & 11th) together with Aimee Harling (13th 9:27) and Jemima Bradshaw (25th 10:05) they formed the team, which finished second.  The Boys squad of Otis Leah (14th 8:32), Ewan Leitch (41st 9:47) and Billy Kershaw (49th 10:24) were ninth Under 11 Boys team.

The Under 13 Girls squad were led by Gracie Scott, who has this season has moved up from the U11 age category, finished in an excellent 6th (10:11), over the 2.6K course, with Louisa Bradburn (18th 11:03), Ella-May Leonard (34th 11:41), Jess Ramsden (43rd 22:16) and Megan Tipler (55th 14:22), the team were sixth.  The Under 13 Boys race was over 2.8K, and Gordon Ballantyne was 9th in 10:27, with Alfie Hall also running.

In the Under 15 Girls race, also over 2.8K, the squad of Maddison Betmead (9th 11:07), Olivia Sellars (16th 11:38), Betty Kershaw (20th 12:05) and Naomi Wrigley (35th 14:19) were 4th team.

Among the many good performances posted by BWFAC athletes, probably the most outstanding was by Luke Rawcliffe, who ran an excellent well measured race, to win the Under 15 Boys race over 4.4K by 13 seconds in 15:09, with Rafael Eaton 6th in 16:05.

In the Under 17 Men’s race over 6.4K, Max Swarbrick was 10th (25:33) and Joshua Mathias-Davey was 17th (28:10).

As part of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s fundraising for the Rock FM Cash for Kids Lancashire Sports Challenge, several sprinters, Chloè Parsons, Erika Reid, Millie Harden-Brown, Braydon Marsh, Gilbert Gibson and Maximus Nelson ran a Sponsored Relay around the Comedy Carpet in front of the Tower.

(Alfie Hall was running, but results used were provisional and he was missing)

28th September 2019

BWFAC’s Simon Reason finished 3rd in 1:33:05 at the RAFBF Spaeaday trail Half Marathon, with John Reason 200th (2:21:01) and Bob Massey 208th (2:22:01).

Fourteen Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runners and friends ran at the September 3.72 mile Club Handicap, with Simon Reason having the fastest run in a PB 22:11, and Paul Plummer in a PB 24:58, while other times were, Graham Davies 28:39, Tony Airnes 30:33, Nick Hume 25:53, Nicola Unsworth 27:23, Anthony Blight 26:55, Karen Dunford 28:56, Martin Bates 28:56, Phil Lakeland 32:35, Tony Croft 35:09, Gina Whitley 29:56, Peter Gibson 30:42, Reg Smallbone 32:39, Nickola Walker 35:07 and Steve Dunn 29:47.

There were 24 BWFAC runners at the local parkruns.  For Club Chairman Bob Massey, it was a special day as he celebrated a significant Milestone at Blackpool, by running his 100th parkrun, as well as volunteering (49:19).  Running sub 20 minute were Rafael Eaton (19:33), Steve Dunn (19:44 PB), Christopher Wylie (19:59) and Joshua Mathias-Davey (20:00 PB), while Luke Minns (16:34) and Michael Brent-Reid (18:09) ran their first Fleetwood Promenade parkruns in 1st and 2nd places.

Derek Crane was 431st in 52:09, a season’s best, at the Southport Seaside 10K.  In the final North West Biathle (run/swim/run) of the season Tony Terras won Gold in the A Masters, Debbie Terras – Bronze in the B Masters, Nicola Unsworth – Gold in the A Masters, with Hannah Parkinson – Silver and Kirsty Holland – Bronze in the Senior Ladies categories, while Zachary won Silver in the Under 15 Boys category.

At the Yarrow River Splash 10K, Bob Massey was 127th (1:10:37), with Julie Sinclair and Cheryl Rickwood 178th/179th (1:17:32), while Nickola Walker was 187th (1:20:12), Lisa Lambert and Fran Connolly 223rd/224th both in 1:29:53 and Fiona Little 224th (1:45:40).

Members of BWFAC took the opportunity to raise money to be used for courses and training equipment for Junior athletes of the Club as part of the Rock FM Cash for Kids Sports Challenge, which will match some of the fundraising.

25th September 2019

The final outdoor track & field meeting was held last week and now the young athletes are looking to start winter training, possibly interrupted by some Indoor meetings, whilst some middle distance runners are preparing for the Cross Country season, which starts at the end of this month.

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC Coach Sarah Venn and several of the Junior athletes are in the process of raising extra funds to enable the Club’s young athletes achieve qualifications in officiating positions and procure extra athletic equipment, as part of the Rock FM Cash for Kids Lancashire Sports Challenge who will match some of the Fund raising.

As part of the fund raising they have packed bags at Booths Supermarket in Poulton, will running a Sponsored Relay at the Comedy Carpet on the Promenade, this evening at 7pm and having an Auction at Marton Institute.

In the final North West Biathle (run/swim/run) series fixture, Zachary Terras won Silver in the Under 15 Boys category,  while at the Blackpool parkrun, Rafael Eaton posted 19:33.

21st September 2019

The final Open track & field Medal meeting of the season was hosted by Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC at the Stanley Park Athletic Arena.  Upwards of 260 Athletes from across the North West competed, with a fifth from BWFAC.

Susan Ball was pleased with a PB of 29.32m (3rd) in the Hammer Throw, and Golds in both the Discus (23.67) and Shot  Putt (7.98m).  George Robinson made his first appearance on the track this season, winning Gold and posting a PB of 2:03.7 in the Men’s 800m, while Will Critchley also won Gold (53.6) in the 400m.  There were many excellent Junior performances, with double Golds by both Emily Ford (U11G) in the 80m (12.3 PB) and Long Jump (3.74m PB), and Jack Richardson (U13B) in the 100 and 200 metres, standing out.

Laura Lawler took on the challenge of the Worcester City Half Marathon, finishing 327th in 1:49:52, despite an ankle injury, while in the Lancaster Castle 10K, Bev Wright was 12th and 2nd Woman (first FV55) in 43:03.  At the Fairhaven Flyer 10K, Stephen Dunn was 12th (40:56), Christopher Wylie 20th (41:35) and Nicola Unsworth 55th and 4th Woman (first FY45).  Christopher Wylie also posted PB of 19:03 (13th) at the latest Lancaster Power of 5K fixture.

At the Yarrow River Splash, Bob Massey was 127th (1:10:37), with Julie Sinclair (178th 1:17:32), Cheryl Rickwood (179th 1:17:33), Nickola Walker 187th (1:20:12, Lisa Lambert 223rd (1:29:53), Fran Connolly (224th 1:29:53) and Fiona Little (244th 1:45:40)

Several BWFAC runners took on the challenge of the September Pennine Trail series of races, each of about three miles and held in the early evening.  The first race was the Gorple Rocks on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border, where Simon Reason was 14th (40:13), Amanda Fuller 103rd (61:15), Bob Massey 110th 65:41, Nickola Walker 120th (68:19) and Fiona Little 131st 1:22:15.  In the Switchback Valley race held along the Pennine Bridleway, partly alongside the Hurstwood Reservoir,  Simon Reason was 12th (37:12), John Reason 73rd (52:04), Ellen McLachlan 75th (52:12), Amanda Fuller 102nd (56:30) and Bob Massey 104th (57:27 and Fiona Little 128th 1:25:15, while in final race, the Hurstwood Hill Trail, Simon Reason was 12th (21:06), John Reason 83rd (29:56), Amanda Fuller 105th (32:22), Nickola Walker 117th (33:06 and Bob Massey 123rd (35:09).

Overall Simon Reason was seventh man overall and Bob Massey was first Vet 70, while Amanda Fuller was 21st woman.

Seventeen BWFAC ran at the Blackpool and Fleetwood Promenade parkruns.  First in his first ever parkrun at Blackpool was Michael Brent-Reid in 18:03, with Ethan Mcevoy (18:32), Christopher Wylie (19:59) and Joshua Mathias-Davey (19:56) posting sub 20 minute times.

17th September 2019

Outdoor track and field is a summer sport and as autumn takes hold, the final meetings are being held.  Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC held its final Open Medal meeting at a warm and sunny Stanley Park Athletic Arena, attracting athletes, aged 7 to nearly 60, from across the North West of England.  By far the largest contingent, with 55, was from the home club, BWFAC and here are some of the best performances.

One of the youngest was a smiling Esmè Rutter, aged 7, who despite having some problems hitting the take off board, still posted a fantastic 2.91 metres to win the Under 9 Girls Long Jump.  Among the other excellent performances by some of the youngest members of BWFAC was a double Gold by Emily Ford in the U11 Girls 80m (12.3) sprint and Long Jump with 3.74m, improving markedly from the BWFAC Open held in March.

In the U9 Girls 600m Polly Kershaw won Silver (2:15.4), behind Marnie Nelson of Pendle AC, while her twin brother Billy was 4th (2:11.4) in the equivalent boys race.  Annabella Kay was 3rd (2:04.0) in the U11 Girl race, with Aimee Harling 5th (2:07.1).

Jack Richardson posted a double Gold in the U13 Boys 100m (13.8) and 200m (29.0), while Millie Turner (U13G) was 4th (14.5) in the 100m and won Bronze (3.94m) in the Long Jump.  Also in the U13 category Harriet Medd won Bronze in both the Shot and U15G Javelin, while winning Gold with a PB of 20.59m in the Discus.  U13 Boy Phelix Kowalski was 2nd in the U15B competition using 500gm Javelin with a PB 27.67m.

Gracie Scott is an accomplished Triathlete and Cross Country runner, however although she had never run an official track race, took on the challenge of the U13 Girls 1500m.  The race soon developed into a contest with Saffron Meade (5:34.1) of Stockport, with Scott finishing 2nd in 5:36.6 – a good debut.  Gordon Ballantyne was 3rd (5:12.0) in the Boys 1500m.

The sprint U15 Boys squad have been exceptional all season, and this continued in this final meeting with William Riley winning the U15 Boys 80m Hurdles (12.4) and winning Silver (12.2) in the 100m.  Matthew Poole was 3rd (12.5) in the 100m, 2nd (25.2) in the 200m, with Henry Manson 3rd (25.3), while Elliot Serella won Bronze with 41.1 in the 300m and was 5th in the 200m with 26.4, both PBs and Thomas Fairhurst was 6th (26.7 PB) in the 200m and 4th (41.5) in the 300m.  In the U15 Boys 800m Luke Rawcliffe was 2nd (2:10.4), ahead of Rafael Eaton (2:19.4), who also posted a PB 40.9 in 2nd in the 300m.

In the U15 Girls Joanne Upton-Fletcher won Silver (45.9) in the 300m and was 4th (28.5) in the 200m, while Betty Kershaw posted a PB 5:25.5 (3rd) in the U15 Girls 1500m.  In the U17W 100m, Mary-Jayne Broomhead won (13.3) Bronze and James Nicholas won (23.7) Silver in the U17M 200m.  Leah Howard (U17W) won (13.3) a closely fought 80m Hurdles, and was 2nd in both the Shot Putt (8.73m) and Javelin (27.12), just behind Kacie Calvert with 28.23m.

One of the best improvements was posted by George Mackenzie (U15B) in the Pole Vault, posting a 15 cm PB of 2.80m, while Jefferson Kong was 2nd (2.20m).  Grace Dunn was first (2.20m) and Talia Armstead 2nd (2.00m) in the U15 Girls, while Chloe Parsons won Gold (2.30m) in the U17W Pole Vault, as well as Silver in the Shot Putt.

14th September 2019

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC were well represented in the North West Road Relays held at Edge Hill University, near Ormskirk.  On a 5K course, the Women’s teams finished as follows in the Lancashire section: ‘A’ 9th in 1:14:29 (Laura Lawler 24:29, Fran Connolly 25:06, Gina Whiteley 24:54); ‘B’ 11th in 1:21:15 (Kirsty Holland 26:07, Amanda Fuller 26:49, Julie Sinclair 28:19); ‘C’ 13th 1:29:13 (Deborah Terras 30:12, Jennifer Burtonwood 27:40, Nickola Walker 31:12) and an incomplete D team of Cheryl Pollitt 27:28 and Dianne Denney 30:13.  The Men’s team of Gregg Seddon (19:34), Steve Dunn (19:59), Chris Wylie (20:01) and Mark Warner (19:38) was 11th (1:19:12) Lancashire, while Nick Hume (21:45) and Bob Massey (27:53) were an incomplete team.

Earlier in the Junior races the U11, U13 and U15 Girls teams all won Lancashire Silver Medals, U11 Boys team was 4th and the B U13 Girls was 5th.

The final Inter Club of the season was hosted at Wordon Park in Leyland, on a two lap 4.2Km course.  The BWFAC Open and Vet teams were both sixth, with the Vet 50s 3rd, all led by John Wright (22nd 24:17), while the Vet 60s led by Nick Hume (28:14) was second.  Bev Wright (89th 28:03) led the Ladies team to fifth and the F40 team to third, while Ethan Mcevoy, aged 17 (32nd 24:55), was the first Junior Male.

At the Derwentwater Lakeland Trail Runs, Anthony Blight was 99th (1:29:21), Nicola Unsworth 132nd (1:36:27) and Basia Pawelczak 137th (1:37:07) in the 15K race, Kevin Woods (171st 1:43:07), while in the 10K race, Dawn Maher was 152nd (1:03:56).

The Lytham Hall parkrun was chosen as the 14th fixture of the BWFAC Trail Championship.  First BWFAC in 5th, was Steve Dunn (19:37 PB), followed by Paul Sparrow (19:56), Joshua Mathias-Davey (20:36), Peter Singleton (22:49), Fran Connolly (25:11 PB), Mark Warner (26:04) running with George 6 year old son, Jennifer Burtonwood (26:34), Amanda Fuller (26:30 PB), Bob Massey (27:09 PB), Julie Sinclair (27:29 PB), Rick Pinches (28:28), Cheryl Rickwood (28:36), Nickola Walker (29:10 PB), Lisa Lambert (29:30), Howard Henshaw (31:49), Fiona Little (49:07) and Simon Scarr (49:07).

The major National race was the Simplyhealth Great North Run, where BWFAC’s Chris Lloyd ran 93:26 (1266th), David Twizell 2:07:20 (15896th) and Claire Irons 2:12:18 (18051st).

Laura Lawler in the Police 10 Mile race held in Lynham, Wiltshire, finished 188th (4th FV50) in 1:19:05, while Derek Crane ran the City of Salford 10K in 52:42 (667th).

At the Trafford Grand Prix Will Critchley posted 2:04.18 in the 800m, while in the 1500m, Emily Japp recorded 4:45.20 and Andrew Simm 5:09.72.

BWFAC August Athletes of the Month are Leah Howard and Ethan Mcevoy, with Luke Minns also nominated

11th September 2019

The North West Road Relays were held in the extensive grounds of a mostly sunny Edge Hill University, near Ormskirk.  Included in the overall North West competition, were the individual Country Championships of Lancashire, Cumbria, Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC had teams entered in both the Junior and Senior races.  The first fixtures were the Under both 11 races run over a 1.5Km run.

The Under 11 Girls team of Aimee Harling (8:18), Kirsty Leitch (8:47) and Polly Kershaw (8:32) was 11th overall and 2nd in Lancashire with 25:37.  They were just 7 seconds behind the Gold winning team from Trawden AC and one second ahead of the Bronze team from Lancaster & Morecambe.   Aimee Harling ran the 2nd fastest Lancashire leg time of 8:18.

The Under 11 Boys team of Otis Leah (8:06), Ewan Leitch (8:52) and Billy Kershaw (8:35) was 18th overall and 4th Lancashire team in 25:33.

The Under 13 and 15 Girls races were run over 2.8Km.  In the Under 13 Girls race the A team of Ella-May Leonard (12:55), Jessica Ramsden (12:27) and Gracie Scott (11:41) was 21st overall and 2nd Lancashire team in 37:03, while the B team of Megan Tipler (12:56), Eve Hannaway (12:40) and Katy Nicholson (13:08) was 32nd overall and 5th Lancashire team.  Gracie Scott was also joint fastest Lancashire runner.

The Under 15 Girls team of of Maddison Betmead (10:56), Olivia Sellars (11:22) and Betty Kershaw (11:30) was 13th overall and 2nd Lancashire in 33:48.

Joshua Mathias-Davey also ran the first leg of the Under 17 Men’s race, posting 20:15.

For the Junior teams it was an overall success, with three of the girls teams winning Silver Medals, and all BWFAC runners performing well.  More importantly all the young runners enjoyed the occasion, with the youngest members cheering on their older teammates.

7th September 2019

BWFAC’s Jasmine Carey travelled to Bedford to compete in the U17W Pole Vault at the England Athletics U15/U17 Championships.  Both Carey and Sophie Ashurst of Sale Harriers both reached 3.71 metres, with Carey just missing out on Gold, which went to Ashurst, because of countback.

At the Southport Waterloo Open Medal Meeting, BWFAC U11 Girl athletes Abbie Ely posted 12.3 in the 75m, was 6th (3.12m), in the Long Jump and won Bronze in in the Vortex with 19.62m, while Tillie Calvert posted 13.2 (PB) in the 75m and 2.69m (PB) in the Long Jump.  Kacie Calvert (U17W) continued her good form in the Javelin with Silver (26.58m).

The Golden Ball 10 Mile race was one of BWFAC Road Championship races.  Simon Reason was 5th (63:28), with Ian Dawson 7th (64:01), Anthony Blight 31st (75:41), Nicola Unsworth 36th (77:30), Basia Pawelczak 49th (1:21:19), Fran Connolly 50th (1:21:48), Jennifer Burtonwood 75th (1:35:39) and Cheryl Rockwood 76th (1:36:04).

At the Harrock Hill race (5.2 miles/902 feet) Stephen Dunn was 43rd (41:35), Amanda Fuller 180th (62:49) and Nicola Walker 192nd (67:08).

The Terras family competed in the latest GB Biathle fixture in York, with Tony winning Gold in his Vet category, Deborah Silver in her Vet category, and Zachary was 4th in the U15 Boys category.  Tony also competed in the Race the Train 10K Quarry race, finishing 44th and first Vet 45in 51:25 held at Tywyn in Mid Wales.

Seventeen BWFAC runners ran in the local parkruns, and at Blackpool, Mark Warner posting 19:57, Rafael Eaton 20:17, Paul Eaton 22:36, Basia Pawelczak 23:35, Emily Balshaw 26:10, David Twizell 26:23, Nickola Walker 28:40, Wayne Norris 29:12, Les Endene 29:58 and Linda Marsden 32:56, while at Lytham Hall, Steve Dunn 20:04, Caroline Betmead 21:16, Paul Sparrow 21:59, Peter Singleton 23:06 and Howard Henshaw 32:24.  At the Park View Junior 2K parkrun Otis Leah was 2nd in 8:05, while Aimee Harling was first girl in 8:36.

31st August 2019

The Mid Lancs League Medal Meeting was held at the Stanley Park Track, attracting 50 Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes.  One of the most exciting races of the meeting was the U15 Boys 1500m, which turned into a duel between Luke Rawcliffe and Preston’s Dan Valentine, who set the early pace, until Rawcliffe took the lead in the final lap to win in a PB 4:25.7, with Valentine 2nd in a PB 4:27.9.

Other eye catching performances were by Scott Sinclair with double Gold in both the Triple Jump (13.09) and Long Jump (5.95m), while James Nicholas was also victorious in both the 100m (11.8) and 200m (23.6 PB).  Golds were also won by Olivia Hanby (SW Triple Jump 9.17m), Mary-Jayne Broomhead (U17W 100m 13.1), Natalia Luczak (U17W Long Jump 4.79m), Leah Howard (U17W Javelin 29.08m PB), Max Swarbrick (U17M 1500m 4:51.1), Kieran Howard (U15B Javelin 23.06m) and Marcia Rutter (U13G 70m Hurdles 12.8).

Katy Wyper competed in the British Championships held in Birmingham.  In the 100m heats she qualified for the Semi-finals, where she was 6th (12.9) and in the 200m heats she was 5th (25.20).

The final local outdoor track & field season is the Blackpool Open Medal Meeting at Stanley Park on Saturday September 14th, entries via the Sportsoft Website.

At the Riversway Half Marathon, Paul Sparrow was 45th (1:30:10), Basia Pawelczak 191st (1:48:53), Brandon Willoughby 194th (1:48:59) and Laura Lawler 264th & 2nd female Vet 50 (1:56:18).

Ian Dawson led the way for BWFAC at the Pilling 10K in 5th (38:33), followed by Simon Reason (7th 39:18), Natasha Armstead (42nd 48:01), Laura Lawler (50th 52:20), Basia Pawelczak (51st 52:24) and Dawn Maher (53rd 53:40).

In memory of PC Andrew Harper (PC7605), who was recently killed on duty, BWFAC runners joined other runners to run 7.605 Km at Stanley Park and raise money for COPS, the charity for families of police officers, who have died on duty.

There was sad news for BWFAC with the recent death of longterm member Peter Knott, who joined Blackpool &Fylde AC in 1965 from Portsmouth.  He was particularly good at Steeplechase, winning the Lancashire title several times during the 1960s and 70s.  In one of his final competitive races in 2005 he won the British Masters Vet 65 2000m Steeplechase.

24th August 2019

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC sprinter, Katy Wyper was again in International action for Scotland at the Manchester International, held at Sportscity.  In the 100 metres she was 3rd in 11.88, just behind Rebecca Jeggo (11.87), representing BAL/UKWL and Kimberly Baptiste who was 1st in 11.61 (representing England).  Next stop was Grangemouth in central Scotland, to defend the Scottish 100 metre title, which Wyper has won the previous two years. After qualifying from the heats, she won Gold in a season’s best 11.85, and her father Robert Wyper also received a Medal as Coach.

T37 athlete George Fox was invited to compete in the T35-38 100 metres at the Diamond League meeting held at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.  He finished sixth in 12.60, and enjoyed mixing with some of the World’s top athletes, such as Yohan Blake and Katarina Johnson-Thompson.

Fifteen BWFAC athletes competed in the Northern Under 13/15/17 Championship, held at the Wavertree Athletic Stadium in Liverpool.  Scott Sinclair (U17M) has made phenomenal progress in his first season competing in the Decathlon, crowning it with Silver (13.10m) at Liverpool, and in the Long Jump he was 9th in 5.67m.

Although warm and sunny, there was a gusty wind, which was particularly strong on the back straight, where Pole Vault was positioned.  Despite this difficulty, the BWFAC Vaulters performed well, with Jasmine Carey winning Silver (3.70m) in the U17W competition, with Chloè Parsons 4th (2.30m).  In the U15 Girls competition Talia Armstead was 6th (2.20m).

Kacie Calvert for the second year running won Bronze in the U17W Javelin with a PB 31.55m, and was 8th (20.80m) in the Discus Throw.

Leah Howard was pleased to post a PB 1.60m in the U17W High Jump, with 5th, while in the Long Jump she was 14th (4.68m), and posted 13.81 and 13.51 in the heats of the 100m and 80m Hurdles respectively.  Her younger brother Kieran Howard was 8th with a PB 25.16m in the U15 Boy’s Discus, 9th in the Javelin (21.97m) and 12th (8.08m) in the Shot Putt.

Sebby Holt was 5th (1.55m) in the U15 Boys High Jump, while George Mackenzie was 8th (1.45m), and in the Pole Vault he was 4th with a PB 2.65m.

Daisie-May Keane was 13th (3.68m) in the U15 Girls Long Jump and posted 15.02 and 31.11 in the 100m and 200m heats, while Iona Cossens posted 14.25 and 29.68.  In the U17W sprint heats Mary-Jayne Broomhead posted 13.17 in the 100m and 27.60 in the 200m, while Imogen Reader posted 13.55 and 29.36.  In the U17M sprint heats James Nicholas posted 12.14 and 24.24 in the 100m and 200m, while in the 400m heats, Riley Nagle ran 56.11.

The penultimate Inter Club of the season was held at Astley Park, near Chorley on a hilly 4.5 mile course.  A weakened Open team, led by Luke Minns (3rd 26:26) finished sixth, while the Lady’s and F40 Women’s teams were fifth and fourth respectively, with the Vets team 6th, the Vet 50s 7th and Vet 60s 4th.

The Run The Lights 10K was held along the illuminated lit Promenade.  BWFAC Simon Reason was 7th (39:03), Ethan Mcevoy 10th (39:24), Basia Pawelczak 116th (48:21) and John Reason 205th (53:06), while in the 5K, Joshua Davey was 5th (21:47).

Seventeen BWFAC runners ran in the local parkruns, with the star performance by Luke Rawcliffe, who was first, posting a PB of 18:12 at Lytham Hall parkrun, while at the 2K Park View 2K Junior parkrun, Aimee Harling was first girl and also posted a PB of 8:13.

17th August 2019

The final fixture of the 2019 Northern League Championship was held at a very windy and showery Stanley Park Athletic Arena.  It was a strong team of 30 Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes that finished in first place, scoring 429 points, ahead of Preston (385 pts), although in the final Division 2 West rankings, BWFAC finished 2nd to Preston.

Nia Rutter was in amazing form, winning the 100 Hurdles (15.6), 400 Hurdles (67.9 PB), Triple Jump (10.96m), B Long Jump (5.04m) and 2nd in the Shot Putt (11.33m).  Others who took on multiple events were Jon Rutter, who competed in the B 110m Hurdles (1st 23.09), Triple Jump B Long Jump (3rd 5.03m), as well as High Jump and Javelin, with Claire Irons who picked up valuable points in the B 400m, 800m, 1500m and 3000m races.

In the Throws Rachel Bashforth competed in the B Shot Putt (1st 9.94m), B Discus Throw (2nd 24.51m), while Susan Ball was 2nd (25.91m) in the Discus, 2nd in the B Hammer and 1st (21.12m) in the B Javelin.  In the Mens Throws, Jamie Thomson and Andy Bragg secured valuable points.

Emily Japp warmed-up earlier in the week with a season’s best 9:51.01 at Stretford, impressively won both the 3000m (10:13.7) and 1500m (5:01.0). Among the other wins were Katy Wyper (200m, 24.9), Leah Howard (High Jump, 1:53m), Natalia Luczak (Long Jump 5.06m), Olivia Hanby (B Triple Jump 9.23m), Fiona Hockey (Pole Vault 3.50m), with Chloè Parsons (B Pole Vault, 2.10m), whilst in the Men’s, Michael Brent-Reid won both the B 400m (56.6) and B 800m (2:13.7), with Will Critchley (800m  2:06.5), Scott Sinclair (Triple Jump, 12.64m) and Louis Walker (Javelin, 47.56m).  Second places of note were by Natasha Webster (Javelin, 29.91), Danielle Whipp (800m, 2:31.1) and Daniel Stanley (Pole Vault, 3.70m).

In the Relays, Hanby, MJ Broomhead, Rutter and Wyper won the Women’s 4x100m (51.7), with the Men 4th (48.5), while in the 4x400m, the Women were 4th (4:57.2) and the Men, 2nd (3:48.3).

At the Warrington Medal meeting, Emily Ford (U11G) won Silver (11.9) in the 75m and 6th overall (2:09.8) in the 600m, while Layla Wholey won Bronze in both the 200m (31.2) and Shot Putt (6.31m) and was 4th (14.3) in the 70m Hurdles.  George Mackenzie and Sebby Holt were 2nd and 3rd in the High Jump, while in the Long Jump they were 2nd (4.70m) and 7th (4.49m) respectively.

At the regular Catforth Canter 5K, BWFAC’s Simon Reason was 13th (18:14), Nicola Unsworth 41st (22:20, Peter Singleton 47th (23:12), Derek Crane 60th (26:10) and Bernard Singleton 62nd (28:42).

The Terras family competed in GB Series Biathle in Weymouth, with Debbie female 2nd Masters, Tony 3rd male Masters and Zachary 8th Under 15.

As part of the BWFAC Trail Championship, Hyndburn parkrun was chosen as the 12th fixture.  Joshua Mathias-Davey was first BWFAC in 12th with 23:34, followed by Fran Connolly (25:41), Bob Massey (30:23), Jennifer Burtonwood (30:49), Nickola Walker (32:23) and Cheryl Hopkins (33:52).

There were 11 BWFAC runners at the Blackpool and Lytham Hall parkruns, with Ethan Mcevoy fastest in 18:24.

BWFAC Athletes of the Month for July are jointly Joanne Upton-Fletcher and Claire Irons, with the male recipient, Matthew Poole.  Also nominated were Chloe Parsons, George Mackenzie and Luke Minns.

10th August 2019

Two Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes achieved International Honours last week. At the Belfast International, held in the Mary Peters  Stadium, Katy Wyper was part of the Scotland 4x100m Relay team, that broke the 1986 Scottish Relay Record with 45.30.  Wyper also finished 2nd (11.97) in the B 100 metres.

Jasmine Carey represented England at the Youth Nations Cup held in Dublin in the Pole Vault winning with 3.75m, just 6cm below her best, and 30cm ahead of the other competitors.

Leah Howard competed in the England Under 15/17 Combined Championships held at Sportscity.  Howard performed well in all seven disciplines of the Heptathlon, with a PB 1.56m in the High Jump the highlight, finishing 20th with an overall PB of 3776 points.

Bad weather at the Lee Mills Fell Race (10.7K climb, 332 metres) near Rossendale, caused treacherous underfoot condition.  BWFAC’s Mark Warner finished 41st (63:26), however Simon Scarr was not so lucky, suffering a nasty fall, breaking shoulder bones.  BWFAC thank Wesham RRC, Lytham St Annes RRC and other clubs who help him off the fell.

At the Badger 10K Trail race in Cuerden Country Park, Simon Reason was 5th (39:57), with Nicola Unsworth 23rd and 3rd woman (47:12), Basia Pawelczak 40th (50:17) and Elaine Hudson 93rd (70:21), whilst at the Power 5K in Lancashire,  Andrew Simm was 45th (19:27), Christopher Wylie 56th (20:08) and Brandon Willoughby 79th & 2nd M60 (21:56 PB).

The final regular Mid Lancs League meeting of the season was held Litherland Sports Park last Saturday, (the Mid Lancs Medal meeting is on August 24th at Blackpool).  Although numbers  were less than in the previous meetings, there were still 32 BWFAC athletes competing.  Best results were posted by Joel Elphick (U15B), won both the Long Jump (5.28m) and High Jump (1.70m PB), Scott Sinclair (U17M) was 1st (13.13m) in the Triple Jump and 2nd (5.84m) in the Long Jump, Georgia Norman (U17W) 1st (9.56m) in the Triple Jump, Max Swarbrick 1st in U17M 1500m, while Charlie Auty was 1st (12.6) in the U15B 100m and 2nd (25.6) in the 200m.  There were good 2nd places for Keira Tomes (Long Jump – 4.07m), Betty Kershaw (1500m – 5:25.5), Charlotte Jones (Hammer – 34.00m), Katie Calvert (Javelin – 25.87m), Natalia Luczak (Long Jump – 4.81m), Mary-Jayne Broomhead (100m – 12.8), Susan Ball (Shot – 7.63m).

Kirsty Holland in her first Biathle (1500m run, 200m swim, 1500m run) at Salford Quays finished 4th in 21:24.

Competing for Wigan in the UK Women’s League, Katy Wyper was 4th (12.19) in the 100m, while Fiona Hockey was 1st (3.60m) in the Pole Vault.

Whilst on holiday in Australia, Rafael Eaton ran the Airlie Beach parkrun finishing 1st in 19:48, while dad Paul posted 22:34, and later Rafael won 50 dollars and skydive, by finishing first in the Great Barrier Reef Festival Magic Mile; while near to home in the North East at the Herrington Country parkrun, Debbie Terras ran 30:11.

Twelve BWFAC runners competed in the local parkruns, with Steve Dunn fastest Fleetwood Promenade with 20:31 and Aimee Harling was first girl in 8:35 at the 2K Junior Park View parkrun.

3rd August 2019

The England Athletics UK CAU & AAA’s Championships including Disability Championships was held at a very wet Sportscity in Manchester last weekend, and three Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes competed.  In the heats, Katy Wyper qualified for the final of the 100 metres in 1st place (12.16) and was 2nd (24:66) the 200m heat.  In the Finals, Wyper was 6th (12.25) in the 100m and 5th (24.66) in the 200m, while Nia Rutter was pleased to have qualified for the Championships in the 100m Hurdles.  Unfortunately Rutter had been confined to bed with a bout of tonsillitis for the previous couple of days, however was still determined to compete despite being below par, and recorded 15.66 in the heats.  T37 athlete George Fox competed in the Ambulant 100m, recording 12.73 and 12.72.

On the road at the Pilling 10K, BWFAC’s Nicola Unsworth (31st 46:27), Basia Pawelczak (37th 48:55) and Dawn Maher (39th 49:40) won the first Woman’s Team Prize; while at the Caldervale Summer 10 Mile, Ian Dawson was 16th (65:27), with Elaine Hudson 151st (1:59:02).

The Village of Beetham near Milnthorpe held their annual Sports Day, and last weekend it celebrated its 100th birthday.  One of the races is the Beetham Fell Race over 9.3K, with a climb of 283 metres, and this was used as part BWFAC Trail Championship.  Steve Dunn was 23rd (48:41), followed by Fran Connolly 52nd (55:58), Bob Massey 73rd (65:48) and Jenn Burtonwood 79th (76:14).

Several BWFAC tested out their middle distance form on a warm evening at Stretford.  In a Gold Standard 800m race Luke Minns posted a season’s best 3:53.2, whilst in the Grand Prix races Will Critchley posted 2:00.90 and Michael Brent-Reid a 2:03.57 PB in the 800m races.  Andrew Simm ran 5:09.24 in the 1500m, and Emily Japp 10:12.73 in the 3000m.

At the local parkruns, Ethan Mcevoy was again first in 18:13, at Blackpool, with Paul Sparrow recording 20:22, David Twizell 24:47 PB, Linda Marsden 32:41, while at Fleetwood Promenade parkrun Peter Gibson ran 25:24, Mark Warner with his son George 29:10 and Nickola Walker 31:59.  Peter Bradburn ran 21:14 at the Lytham Hall parkrun, who welcomed the deputy Mayor and Mayoress of the Fylde, Richard and Sheila Redcliffe as guests.

27th July 2019

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Jasmine Carey, aged 16, represented England in the Women’s Pole Vault at the SIAB (Schools International Athletic Board) Home International held in difficult windy conditions in Swansea.  It was a tough competition with only 30cm separating the top five vaulters.  Carey won Bronze with a jump of 3.56m, the same as the Irish athlete, Orla Coffey, who claimed Silver on countback, while England’s other athlete, Sophie Ashurst (Sale Harriers) won Gold with 3.76m.  Carey has also been selected to represent England at the Under 18 Youth Nations Cup in Dublin early next month.

The Youth Development League team of U13 and U15 BWFAC athletes secured the Division 2 West League title and promotion to Division One, at the final fixture at Macclesfield, by finishing first in the 8 club League, having already won the first three meetings, making a clean sweep of victories.

James Nicholas tested out his speed at Trafford AC Grand Prix, in the 100 and 200 metres posting PBs of 11.81 and 23.79, whilst T37 athlete George Fox posted 12.76 in the 100m at the Grand Prix and 25.67 in the 200m at the Welsh Senior Championship.

The fifth Inter Club race was hosted by Wesham RRC on a 4.5 mile course in the country lanes around the Salwick on a pleasant warm evening.  The BWFAC’s Open Team of John Wright (20th), Ethan Mcevoy (22nd and first Junior), Ian Dawson (31st), Greg Seddon (39th), Mark Warner (46th), Simon Reason (47th), Paul Sparrow (62nd), Paul Beech (63rd), Steve Dunn (75th) and Paul Plummer (87th) was fifth; while in the Women’s squad of Bev Wright (98th), Nicola Unsworth (142nd), Laura Lawler (152nd), Basia Pawelczak (159th), Fran Connolly (165th), Andrea Smith (174th) and Gina Whitley (199th) brought Ladies team home in third and the F40 team in second.  The Vets, Vet 50s and Vet 60s all finished third.

At the Scorton Supper 4.75 mile Run Simon Reason was 6th (29:16), Mark Warner 17th (31:18), Nicola Unsworth 142nd 38th (35:06), Anthony Blight 41st (35:18), Basia Pawelczak 45th (35:47), Fran Connolly 55th (36:40), Kevin Woods 65th (37:58), Bob Massey 106th (42:17), Amanda Fuller 118th (43:32), Julie Sinclair 138th (45:55) and Elaine Hudson 141st (46:15).

Lytham Hall parkrun was cancelled, so Blackpool parkrun attracted 324 runners, where thirty BWFAC members took on the volunteer roles, while 14 ran, with Ethan Mcevoy leading the way in 18:19 and Simon Reason posting a PB of 19:02.  Simon Scarr did a bit of parkrun tourism at Durham running 26:26, as did Tony and Liz Airnes who ran at Morecambe Promenade posting 25:37 and 33:00, while Aimee Harling was first Girl in 8:22 in the Junior 2K Park View parkrun.

24th July 2019

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Under 15 and Under 13 teams have been in supreme form in this season’s Youth Development League Division Two West, winning the first three fixtures held, first at home in Stanley Park, Bury and Ashton-under-Lyne, and on Saturday the final fixture was held at Macclesfield.  BWFAC were five League points ahead of the second team Macclesfield, and bar some unprecedented disaster, had secured promotion to Division One and the League Title.  Inevitably with the start of the holiday season and other end of term activities, some personal were unavailable.  However it was still a very strong squad, except perhaps for the Boys Under 13s, where circumstances resulted in just three boys, able to compete, Connor Norman, Oliver Nunn and Phelix Kowalski, all competing well, winning many points in the Sprints, Javelin, Long and High Jumps .

Last year the 2018 team won promotion from Division Three, winning the first three fixtures and were 2nd in the final  fixture.  This time, despite a slightly weakened squad, and being at the home of the second placed club, Macclesfield, who needed a good performance to assure promotion, BWFAC still finished first team and therefore completed a clean sweep of victories, finishing 74.5 match points ahead of Macclesfield on the day, and with a total of 1975 match points were over 400 ahead of the rest of the League over the whole of the season.

Although there are strengths in various disciplines throughout the squad; sprinting is a particularly strength in all gender and age categories, with the performance of the Under 15 Boys outstanding.  At the penultimate fixture at Ashton-under-Lyne they set new BWFAC Club 4x100m and 4x300m Relay Records, while at the Macclesfield the U15 Boys team of Matthew Poole, Rhys Sandoval-Roberts, Henry Manson and Will Riley again improved Club 4x100m Relay Record to 49.00, equalling the 1984 Blackpool & Fylde AC Record.  In the other relays, BWFAC won both the U15 Girls and U13 Girls 4x100m.

Will Riley recently reached the Final of of the 80m Inter Boys Hurdles of the English Schools Championships in Birmingham, while at Macclesfield he inevitably won the U15B 80m Hurdles in 12.0 as he has done throughout the season.

Among the special performances on Saturday, was one by a new recruit, Will Waters, who won the Under 15 Boys Shot  Putt with a massive PB and Grade One of 13.24m, 1.76m better than the other club throws on the day, as well as 2nd in the Discus with a PB 33.72m.  What was gratifying was a comment afterwards by one of the Officials in the Shot, who complimented Will on his good sportsmanship in helping other participants with their technique.  Teammate Kieran Howard also posted a PB of 8.39m winning the B Shot competition.

George Mackenzie and Joel Elphick both jumped PBs of 1.60m in the U15B High Jump, winning both the A and B competitions, while Mackenzie also won the the Pole Vault with a PB 2.55m and Elphick won the B 80m Hurdles with a PB 12.5.  Also in the Pole Vault, Grace Dunn won the U15 Girls Pole Vault with a PB 2.62m.

This has an outstanding season by an exceptional group of young athletes, who did themselves proud in every meeting sometimes filling in, in unfamiliar disciplines, as well as supporting and encouraging their teammates.  Not forgetting their coaches, who often came to support and give advice, as well as the Team Managers, Sharon Holt and Nicola Tomes, who did a splendid job of organising the teams.

20th July 2019

BWFAC’s Chris Rawcliffe took on the ultimate challenge of the Bolton Ironman, completing the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and full marathon in 14:09:01 (707th).  Afterwards Chris said it was an amazing experience, with great support.

The third fixture of the North of England Division 2W was held at Leigh Sports Village.  There were many impressive performances both in quality and hard graft.  In the sprints Katy Wyper was 1st (24.6) in the 200m, with Nia Rutter 1st in both the B 200m (26.6) and 100m Hurdles (15.5) and Mary-Jayne Broomhead was 2nd (12.9) in the B 100m.  Together with Olivia Hanby, the four won the 4×100 Relay by over a second with 49.9, just two tenths outside the BWFAC Club Record – particularly impressive as they’d never practised the relay together before.  

Luke Minns won the 800m (3:54.3), while Emily Japp won the 3000m (10:06.3) and 2nd (4:47.9).

In the Hammer, Discus and Shot, Rachel Bashforth and Susan Ball, while Jamie Thomson and Andy Bragg in the Men’s throws, had worked hard, always finishing in the top three in both the A & B competitions and picking up many valuable points.

Notable were Leah Howard and Natalia Luczak who with 4.83m and 4.69m won both the A and B Long Jump competitions, whilst Scott Sinclair, despite having not long recovered from a bout of illness, won the Triple Jump (12.77m) and was 3rd (5.57m) in the Long Jump.

At the English Schools Championships in Birmingham Jasmine Carey won Silver (3.40m) in the Inter Pole Vault, while Will Riley qualified for the Final of the Junior 80m Hurdles with a PB 11.73.

As part of the BWFAC Trail Championship, the Haig Woodland parkrun was chosen as one of the events.  Paul Sparrow was 7th in 19:37, with Steve Dunn (15th 20:28), Fran Connolly (55th 24:36), Simon Scarr (77th 25:51), Bob Massey (122nd 28:28) and Jennifer Burtonwood (177th 31:13).

In other parkruns, Fiona Little, on a business trip to New York, took time out to run in the Delaware & Rarotan parkrun in New Jersey, recording 40:37.  At the three local parkruns 15 BWFAC ran, with the most impressive performance by Ethan Mcevoy, who was first across the line in a PB 17:43, while Paul Eaton with 21:59 and Julie Sinclair with 27:40, both  posted PBs.

One of the most enjoyable social runs of the of the season, is the evening 4 mile Super Run in the pretty mill village of Caldervale.  Ten BWFAC had a lovely run, with Simon Reason 4th (24:50), Nicola Unsworth 35th (29:32), Anthony Blight 37th (29:44), Basia Pawelczak 38th (29:57), Fran Connolly 52nd (31:06), Kevin Woods 62nd (31:46), Ellen Mclachlan 65th (31:53), Simon Scarr 73rd (33:18), Bob Massey 99th (36:49) and Elaine Hudson 132nd (40:41).

17th July 2019

A team from Lancashire competed in the Under 17/15 Northern Inter Counties Championship held in Middlesbrough and the team finished 2nd to the Yorkshire team. Eight Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC members were part of the team.

Jefferson Kong was first in the Junior Boys 100m with 11.67, while teammates James Nicholas and Riley Nagle ran in the Inter 400m finishing 8th (53.31) and 11th (54.38).

In the U17 Men’s age category Scott Sinclair was 5th with 5.75m in the Long Jump, while Alex Slater, despite a wrist injury finished 6th with 11.12m in the Shot Putt.

In the U17 Women’s Pole Vault, Chloe Parsons was 6th (2.30m), with Ellise Balshaw 7th (2.00m). Also in U17 Women’s, Leah Howard was 5th with 1.55m in the High Jump, and because the girl chosen for Long Jump was unable to compete, Howard also took this on, jumping 4.85m for 5th place.

Two BWFAC athletes qualified for the pinnacle of Junior Athletics, by representing Lancashire Schools at the English Schools Championships, which was held at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Jasmine Carey won joint Silver Medal in the Inter Girls Pole Vault with 3.40m. Will Riley, in his first English Schools Championships, performed very well, by qualifying for the final of the Junior Boys 80m Hurdles with a PB 11.73. In the Final the next day, Riley was 8th (12.07).

Keira Tomes competed for Kirkham Grammar School at English Schools Cup Final held at Chelmsford, where she was 9th in a PB 14.2 in the 100m and was 21st (1.26m) in the High Jump.

Eight Junior BWFAC athletes helped the Senior squad to third place in the most recent North of England Division 2C fixture at the Leigh Sports Village stadium. Bravest of all was Scott Sinclair (U17M), who suffered a bout of sickness a couple days previous. Despite not being at his strongest, he was able to win the Triple Jump with 12.77m, come 3rd (5.57m) in the Long Jump, as well as finish 5th (12.6) in the B 100m.

In her first Senior meeting, Mary-Jayne Broomhead (U17W) had an excellent debut, finishing a close 2nd (12.9) in the B 100m, as well as helping the 4x100m Women’s team to an excellent victory, whilst Angelo Vinci U17M ran 12.0 for 5th place in the A 100m and Chloe Norman was 3rd (65.7) in the 400m.

In the jumps Leah Howard was 1st (4.83m) in the Long Jump, as was Natalia Luczak (U17W) in the B competition with 4.69m, while Howard also was 2nd in the High Jump with 1.54m. Chloè Parsons (U17W) was 1st in the Pole Vault with 2.20m and Olivia Hanby (U20W) was 5th with 8.94m in the Triple Jump as well running in both the 4x100m and 4x400m Relays.

At last Wednesday’s Race for Life along Blackpool Promenade, Rafael Eaton was first back across the line and Aimee Harling was first Girl in a PB 8.21 at the Lytham Park View Junior parkrun.

13th July 2019

After a break of one year, the St Annes Carnival 5K made a successful return to the schedule. The race was won by Wesham’s Rob Danson (15:33), with Luke Minns 2nd (16:03) leading the BWFAC contingent of Paul Beech 18th (20:02), Brendon Willoughby 34th (22:30), Gina Whiteley 52nd (24:41), Alan Wilkinson 61st (26:16), Malcolm Beech 63rd (26:53), Rick Pinches 68th (27:10) and Howard Henshaw 85th (31:34).

Meanwhile at the Blackpool Summer 10K, Mark Warner was 10th (40:53), with Nicola Unsworth 56th and 3rd woman in 47:22 and Rab Green 265th (68:36), whilst at the Lostock Hall Carnival 5K Simon Reason was 13th in 18:50, with Basia Pawelczak 69th in 23:23.

At the 14K Ultra Lakeland Trail, starting and finishing in Ambleside, Ellen McLachlan was 102nd in 1:55:27.

Simon Scarr was 97th (55:08), Bob Massey 144th (61:50) and Fiona Little 242nd (91:58) at the Northwich 10K Trail race whilst at the fun 5K (ish) Lytham Beer Run, BWFAC’s Amanda Fuller, Fiona Little, Gina Whitley and Nickola Walker were part of the nearly 300 runners who ran/jogged between 5 pubs in Lytham drinking one third of a pint at each.

Twenty runners ran the 3.72 mile Club June Handicap. In their debut handicaps, Fran Connolly posted 32:23, Julie Sinclair 34:06 and Cheryl Rickwood 36:53, while PBs were posted by Basia Pawelczak with 27:03, Kate Lakeland 27:36, Dawn Maher 27:47 and Tracey Sharrock 34:32, with Anthony Blight running the fastest overall time of 26:31.

The 4th Mid Lancs League meeting of the season was held at the Salt Ayre stadium, near Lancaster, with nearly 50 BWFAC competing. Amongst the many good performances were, Nia Rutter’s double win and PBs in the Senior 100 (13.1) and 200 metres sprints and Natasha Webster won the the Senior Javelin with 32.07 metres. In the Junior ranks Matthew Poole’s comprehensive victories in the 100m (11.9 PB) and 400m (58.3), Mary-Jayne Broomhead 2nd (12.6) in the 100m and 1st (26.4) in the 200m and Luke Rawcliffe stylish win in the U15B 1500m (4:35.4) stood out.

At the last fixture UK Women’s League BWFAC’s Katy Wyper (competing for Wigan) was 2nd in both the 100m (12.10) and 200m (24.76), while at the Trafford AC Grand Prix Will Critchley posted a PB 2:00.75.

The BWFAC male June Athlete of the Month was awarded to Will Riley, with the female award going jointly to Nia Rutter and Basia Pawelczak. Also nominated were Dawn Maher, Gracie Rutter and Millie Turner. The Volunteer of the Quarter was awarded jointly to Sharon Holt, Nicola Tomes and Sarah Parsons, who have done excellent and sometimes difficult job of managing the Youth Development teams to success this season.

10th July 2019

Nearly 50 Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes competed at the Mid Lancs League fixture held at the Salt Ayre track near Lancaster on a sunny warm breezy day. Following are the pick of many good and encouraging performances.

One of the best races of the day was the U15 Boys 1500 metres. BWFAC Luke Rawcliffe led from the start, closely followed by his great rival, Lancaster & Morecambe’s Tobias Swarbrick, who in the last lap took the lead. However Rawcliffe still had something in reserve and powered passed Swarbrick in the final straight. to win by a second in 4:35.4. It was also a good race for Rafael Eaton, who despite a gusty wind posted a big PB of 4:36.3 in 3rd place. There was also a good race in the U13 Boys 800m, where Gordon Ballantyne was 2nd with 2:30.0.

In the U15 sprints, Matthew Poole was in storming form, winning with a PB of 11.9 in the 100m and he also made his debut in the 400m which he won by nearly 3 seconds. Will Riley also posted 11.9 in 2nd place in the 100m, whilst in the U17W 100m Mary-Jayne Broomhead was 2nd (12.6) and 1st (26.4) in the 200m. Imogen Reader was 2nd (27.0) in the 200m and 5th overall (13.1) in the 100m, with Megan Lewis in 3rd (27.7) in the 200m.

In the Throws events, a new member William Waters was in good form, winning the U15B Shot Putt with 12.14 and in the Discus was 2nd with 31.92m, whilst Harriet Medd in the U13 Girls Discus was 1st (19.17) and 3rd in both the Shot (6.40m) and Javelin (19.82m). Kacie Calvert won the U17W Javelin with 26.17m and Charlotte Jones won the U17W Hammer Throw with 34.42m.

In the U15 Boys High Jump Joel Elphick and Rafael Eaton both cleared 1.50m, finishing 3rd and 5th respectively, whilst in the U15 Girls Long Jump, Gracie Rutter was 3rd (4.16m) and Iona Cossens was 4th (4.13m). Natalia Luczak was 2nd in the U17W Long Jump with 4.85m.

At the Park View 2K Junior parkrun four BWFAC runners all posted PBs with Betty Kershaw first in 7:47, her younger brother Billy posting 8:15, his twin sister Polly 8:22 and Aimee Harling ran 8:28.

6th July 2019

Endurance was the name of the game for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC members. Mark Warner took on the challenge of the Lakeland 55K, starting and finishing in Ambleside. Over 500 started and Warner was pleased to finish 67th in 8:37:27.

Laura Lawler and Kirsty Holland competed as team ‘Thelma and Louise’ in the Endure 24 Relay held at Bramham Park in Leeds. They finished 5th of 11 teams, each running 10 five mile laps in 23:43:06, making a total of 100 miles, a real effort of endurance, and they lived to tell the tale, unlike their non de plumes!

The Preesall Fire 10K was run along an out and back course, along the pretty coastal path, starting on the Knott End slipway, with the turn-around at Preesall. BWFAC Super vet Bev Wright was in good form, as she completed the course in a speedy 43:27, despite strong winds on the return leg, finishing 9th and first woman.

At the Darren Jones Clougha Pike (7.9K/400m) Stephen Dunn was 96th (58:15), Mark Warner 97th (58:17), Amanda Fuller 156th (86:29) and George James 157th (89:27).

The final fixture of the season for the Youth Development League for Under 17/20 was held at the Stanley Park Athletic Arena. The team were 4th and in the League final position are fifth in the eight Club League.

Several members of the Pole Vault group were able to get some valuable competive experience at the Manchester Pole Vault Open at Sportscity. It was a good useful day for all, particularly Grace Dunn (U15G), who cleared a PB 2.61m, while Senior athlete Daniel Stanley posted 3.81m, George Mackenzie (U15B) 2.41m, Keira Tomes (U13G) 2:01m and Ellise Balshaw (U15G) 1.91m.

At the same venue two BWFAC juniors competed in their first Combined Events competition, the Stockport Young Athlete Quadrathlon, featuring electronic timing. In the U15 Girls competition Iona Cossens posted 13.81 in the 100m, PBs of 4.34m in the Long Jump and 7.42m in the Shot Putt, while in the final race, the 800m, 2:49.89, and finished 16th of 34, with 228 points. In the U13 Girls competition, Layla Wholey posted 15.00 in the 100m, 3.58m in the Long Jump, 5.42m in the Shot Putt and 2:53.79 in the 800m, finishing with 160 points in 21st out of 36.

Also at Sportscity, in a special 200 metre race, Katy Wyper renewed competition with Danielle McGifford of Wigan & District, (Wyper at the Northern Championship’s, at the beginning of June, was beaten by McGifford in the 100m, but then Wyper beat McGifford in the 200m). The race couldn’t have any closer, with both recorded the same time of 24.75. McGifford was judged first and two talented junior athletes Abigail Pawlett (Stockport) and Julia Winderadzka (Bolton) were 3rd and 4th.

Eleven BWFAC runners ran in the local parkruns, with the highlights, Ethan Mcevoy 2nd in 18:06 and Simon Reason posting a PB of 19:40 at Blackpool, while Ella-May Leonard was first girl in 8:48 at the 2K Park View parkrun.

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1st July 2019

The final fixture of the Youth Development League for Under 17/20 athletes was held at the Stanley Park athletic track. Unlike the YDL Under 13/15 team, who look certain to win their League and achieve promotion to the Division One, this team, although performing well individually, does not have the depth of squad to challenge for the top of the League, and in this final fixture finished fourth of eight teams. The final League position was fifth, but more importantly, has provided a good level competition for these Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC individual young athletes.

In the U20W sprints, Kirsty Rushton posted double first in the 100m (11.7) and 200m (28.0), with U17W athlete Nekkisha Wilson running as an U20W in the B races, with 1st (13.8) in the 100m and 2nd (28.4) in the 200m. In the U17W sprints Mary-Jayne Broomhead was 3rd (13.0) in the 100m and 2nd (26.8) in the 200m, with Imogen Reader 4th (14.0) in the B 100m and 2nd (28.9) in the B 200m, whilst in the 300m Ellie Owen was 2nd (46.3), with Megan Lewis 1st (47.5) in the B 300m.

In the Male Sprints, Bradley Parsons was 4th (11.7) in the U20M 100m and 6th (24.4) in the 200m, with Charles Utomi 5th (12.6) in the B 100m, whilst in the U17M Angelo Vinci was 5th (12.1) in the 100m and 6th (24.6) in 200m, with Joseph Smalley 2nd (12.5) in the B 100m and Riley Nagle was 2nd (25.0) in the B 200m. Ruben Shaw was also 5th (55.0) in the U20M 400m.

Danielle Whipp continued her good form by winning (2:20.4) the U20W 800m and 400m (63.4), as well as 4th (1.40m) in the High Jump, with Chloe Norman was 1st (65.4) in the B 400m, while Max Swarbrick ran the U17M 1500m was 2nd (4:41.0) as well as 2nd (6.79m).

Scott Sinclair, after 2nd (5.72m) in the U17M Long Jump, again demonstrated his class in the Triple Jump by winning with a brilliant 13.07m, whilst Georgia Norman was 2nd (9.45m) in the U17W Triple Jump. Natalia Luczak was also in good form in the U17W Long Jump, winning with a PB 5.07m, with Leah Howard 1st (4.63m) in the B competition, while Megan Lewis competing as an U20W was 4th (4.21m) in the Long Jump. In the vertical jumps, Chloè Parsons took full points in the U17W Pole Vault with 2.30m and Leah Howard was 2nd (1.50m) in the U17W High Jump, and also was 2nd (13.3) in the 80m Hurdles.

In the Throws Alex Slater (U17M) was 1st (11.77m), 2nd (37.55m) in the Discus and 3rd (24.33m) in the Hammer, whilst Charlotte Jones was 2nd (35.03m) in the U17W Hammer and 1st (13.96m) in the B Javelin.

In the Relays Broomhead, Lewis, Reader and Owen were 1st (52.2) in the U17W 4x100m Relay, while in the other Relays U20W 4×100 was 4th (54.5), U17M 4x100m was 4th (50.3) and U20M 4x400m was 2nd (4:02.0).

Also competing were Beth Vaziri, Jack Raddon and Harry Snelson.

Four of the BWFAC Pole Vault squad travelled to the Manchester Pole Vault Open, held at Sportscity. The biggest success was posted by U15 Girl Grace Dunn who posted an 11 centimetre PV of 2.61m, sending her to the top of the North West rankings. Teammates George Mackenzie (U15B) jumped 2.41m, with Keira Tomes (U13G) jumping 2.01m and Ellise Balshaw 1.91m.
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26th June 2019

The fourth Inter Club race of the season was hosted by Thornton Cleveleys Running Club on the Cleveleys cliffs and Promenade on a still cloudy evening. Rob Danson of Wesham was first of 329 at the five mile race in 25:09, with Luke Minns 2nd in 26:27, leading the BWFAC Open Team to third place, with Phil Leybourne (14th), Emily Japp (15th), John Wright (23rd), Ethan Mcevoy (27th), Simon Reason (47th), Paul Sparrow (49th), Mark Warner (55th), Andrew Simm (60th) and Liam Brown (63rd). The Women’s Team was second with Emily Japp (who finished 2nd (28:54) behind Liz Abbott (28:35) of LSARRC), Bev Wright, Nicola Unsworth, Basia Pawelczak and Laura Lawler, while F40 Women’s team were 4th, the Open Vets team 4th, the Vet 50s 2nd and the Vet 60s 3rd.

In the Sabden Trail hilly 6 mile race, which is part of the BWFAC Trail Championships Steve Dunn was 72nd (47:57), Amanda Fuller 218th (69:12) and Tracey Sharrock 234th (74:30), while at the hilly Hawkshead 10K Phil Leybourne was 8th & 1st Vet 50 (37:02) and female Vet 50 (43:45).

At the Crazy Cow 10K held in Avenham, Preston, Anthony Blight was 50th (47:43), with Basia Pawelczak 54th (47:47), Nicola Unsworth 68th (49:49) and Elaine Hudson 283rd (70:39).

At the June Club 3.72 mile Handicap Anthony Blight was fastest with 26:31, while the following recorded PBs: Basia Pawelczak 27:03, Kate Lakeland 27:36, Dawn Maher 27:47 and Tracey Sharrock 34:32.

With just one fixture left, BWFAC secured a third successive victory in the Youth Development League (Division 2 West for U13/U15 athletes and with a lead of 5 points and just one further fixture, it looks likely the team will confirm the title next time. Among the many excellent performances were the U15 Boys victories in the 4x100m Relay of 49.2 by Matthew Poole, Jefferson Kong, Henry Manson and Will Riley and the 4x300m of 2:56.0 by Thomas Fairhurst, Elliott Serella, Rafael Eaton setting new Club Records.

Leah Howard was 9th with PB 3787 points and part of the Lancashire Heptathlon team, which finished 3rd at the North West Regional Combined Events Championship, whilst at England Under 20/23 Championships Fiona Hockey was ninth in the U23 Pole Vault.

There were 12 BWFAC runners at the local parkruns, with Ian Dawson the fastest with 18:53 in 2nd place at Fleetwood Promenade. Also at Fleetwood were long term members Tony and Liz Airnes in their first ever parkrun with 25:35 and 34:09.
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24th June 2019

Leah Howard was part of the Lancashire Inter Girls Heptathlon team at the North West Regional Combined Events Championship. She was 9th overall and 2nd counter for the Lancashire team, which finished third, posting three PBs in the Shot Putt (9.30m), 200m (28.2) and 800m (2:38.2), as well as overall in the full Heptathlon with 3787 points. The Lancashire team overall in all the various competitions finished first.

The third fixture of the Youth Development League for U13 and U15 athletes Division 2 West was held in Ashton-under-Lyne. Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC had won the first two fixtures and victory at this penultimate match, would all but confirm the League Title and promotion to Division One. The 39 strong team of young athletes did not disappoint as they won by over 120 match points with 669, and in the eight club League, are 5 league points ahead of the next club.

It was warm, mostly sunny day, perfect conditions for good performances, and the BWFAC Relay squads did not disappoint. The U13 Girls team of Rubie Linley, Millie Turner, Marcia Rutter and Keira Tomes ran an immaculate 4x100m relay to finish 1st in 58.0, while in the U13 Boys relay, despite it not being the full regular team, Oliver Nunn, Connor Norman, Braydon Marsh and Jack Richardson finished 4th (58.0). The U15 Girls team of Iona Cossens, Jasmine Loveridge, Kitty Mason and Holly Brooke were 4th (57.1), while the star performance was by the U15 Boys team of Matthew Poole, Jefferson Kong, Harry Manson and Will Riley who won with 49.2, over 10 seconds ahead of the next team. It also broke the long standing Club U15 Boys 4×100 Relay course record and was just a fifth of a second outside the 1984 Blackpool & Fylde AC record.

In the 4x300m Relays the U15 Girls team of Jasmine Loveridge, Gracie Rutter, Erica Reid and Joanne Upton-Fletcher were 2nd (3:08.3), while the U15 Boys team of Thmas Fairhurst, Elliot Serela, Rafael Eaton and Henry Manson was first with 2:49.2, which also broke the U15 Boys 4x300m Relay 2012 Club record (2:56.0).

BWFAC has a strong squad of sprinters, especially in in the U15 Boys category, with Will Riley winning the A100m (12.2) and Matthew Poole the B100m (12.6). Poole was 2nd (25.7) in the A200m, while Henry Manson was 1st (25.9) in the B100. Thomas Fairhurst (41.3) and Elliot Serela (42.3) were both 2nd in the A and B 300m races. Riley also won the 80m Hurdles in a grade 1 time of 11.9. The U15 Girls sprint team performed well with Holly Brooke 3rd (13.9) and Iona Cossens 1st (13.8) in the A and B 100m, while Joanne Upton-Fletcher 3rd in the 200m (28.6), with Iona Cossens 1st (28.5) in the B race. Upton-Fletcher was again 3rd (45.2) in 300m, with Jasmine Loveridge 1st (45.9) in the B race.

There is also a strong group of sprinters in the U13 Girls, where Millie Turner was 2nd (11.1) in the A75m, with Rubie Linley 1st (11.1) in the B race. Linley was also 1st (21.9), in the B150m, with Keira Tomes 3rd (22.1) in the A race. Tomes also won (1.35m) the High Jump, and posted a grade one time of 11.9 in winning the 70m Hurdles, with Marcia Rutter 1st (12.9) in the B race. Jack Richardson (A100m 3rd 13.9 and A200m 1st 28.2) and Connor Norman (B100m 2nd 14.5 and B100m 4th 29.7) shared the sprint duties for the U13 Boys

The warm conditions weren’t totally welcomed by the middle distance runners. Gordon Ballantyne battled it out with Leon Wilson of Lancaster in the U13 Boys 1500m, finishing 2nd (5:04.7), while in the 800m races Braydon Marsh (2:59.2) and Alfie Hall (2:45.7) ran. In the U13 Girls 1200m Jessica Ramsden was 5th (4:45.4), while in the 800m races Lisa Perry was 5th (2:44:4) in the A race and Layla Wholey 1st (2:44.3) jn the B race. Betty Kershaw was 6th (5:28.8) in the 1500m, with Erika Reid and Kitty Mason running in the 800m races, whilst in the U15 Boys 800m, Rafael Eaton posted a PB 2:14.2 in 2nd in the A race, with Zac Matadigo 5th (2:51.3).

Pole Vault is a strong event for BWFAC, with Jefferson Kong 2nd on countback with 2.50m, with Seb Holt 1st (2.20m) the B competition, whilst Talia Armstead (2.20m) and Ellise Balshaw (2.10m) won the A and B U15 Girls Pole Vault. Armstead was 3rd (1.38m) in the U15 Girls High Jump, with Kitty Mason 1st (1.25m) in the B, competition, whilst in the U15 Boys High Jump Holt was 2nd (1.55m), with Kong 1st (1.30m) in the B competition.

Henry Manson (5.08) and Jefferson Kong (4.95m) were first in the U15 Boys A and B Long Jump’s, whilst Gracie Rutter was 2nd (4.50m) in the A U15 Girls Long Jump, with Alicia Threlfall 1st (4.41m) in the High Jump. Millie Turner (4.12m) and Marcia Rutter (3.76m) won full points in the U13 Girls Long Jump, with Oliver Nunn jumping 3.63m in the U13 Boys competition.

Talia Ball again was the mainstay in the throws with 3rd (7.73m) in the Shot, with Kitty Mason also 3rd (7.11) in the B competition, whilst in the Hammer, Ball was 4th (18.31) and 5th in the B Discus (13.15m), with Upton-Fletcher 7th (13.39) in the A competition. In the U15 Boys Throws, Thomas Fairhurst was 3rd (7.73m) in the Shot, with Matthew Poole 4th (5.84m) in the B Shot, whilst in the Discus Will Riley was 2nd (21.56), with Seb Holt 2nd (17.70m) in the B Discus, and in the Javelin Zac Matadigo was 5th (16.12m), with Rafael Eaton 2nd (14.11m) in the B Javelin. Braydon Marsh (7th 4.80m) and Oliver Nunn (8th 3.90m) shared the duties in the U13 Boys A an B Shot, with Connor Norman 6th (21.69m) in the Javelin.
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19th June 2019

The third Inter Club race of the season was hosted by Preston Harriers on an overcast and showery evening, on a two lap course over 4 miles by the River Ribble. For the first lap BWFAC’s Luke Minns ran along with Wesham’s Rob Danson, until the second lap when Danson moved ahead to finish 1st in 19:27 of 340, with Minns 2nd in 20:03. Early on Liz Abbott of Lytham St Annes RRC led the Women’s race with Emily Japp tracking her, but with 500 metres to go Japp took took the lead to finish first woman in 21:25.

Overall the BWFAC team of Minns (2nd), Japp (10th), John Wright (18th), Ethan Mcevoy (22nd), Ian Dawson (37th), Paul Sparrow (49th), Mark Warner (56th), Steve Dunn (59th), Andrew Simm (61st) and Chris Wylie (81st), finished sixth, while the Women’s team of Japp, Bev Wright, Natasha Armstead, Basia Pawelczak and Nicola Unsworth were second, with the F40 team of Wright, Armstead, Unsworth, Andrea Smith and Laura Lawler, first. The Vets team was fifth, the Vet 50s third and the Vet 60s fourth.

The Freckleton Half Marathon is the oldest in the UK and four BWFAC runners took on the challenge, with Paul Sparrow completing the course through the Fylde countryside in 45th (1:30:10), with Basia Pawelczak 191st (1:48:53), Brandon Willoughby 194th (1:48:58) and Laura Lawler 261st (1:56:18), while the previous day at the Pilling 10K, Anthony Blight was 22nd (45:39), with Basia Pawelczak 3rd woman in 24th (46:23) and Dawn Maher 1st Vet 35 in 30th (48:48).

Derek Crane took on the tough Tour of Tameside, four races in four days, recording the following times: X Trail 10K – 57:18, Hell on The Fell 6 mile – 67:03, Hero Half Marathon Trail – 2:11:10 and the Dr Ron Hyde 7 mile road run – 65:47, making a total time of 5:21:36 and an overall position of 296th out of 413 finishers.

The 2nd Senior North of England T&F League meeting was held at the Litherland Sports Park, with the team finishing a fine 2nd to Preston, with many excellent individual performances. Amongst outstanding results there were several double victories by Katy Wyper in the 100 (12.1) and 200 (24.6) metres, and also anchoring Olivia Hanby, Nia Rutter and Natalia Luczak to victory in the 4x100m Relay; Nia Rutter in the 100m Hurdles (15.0) and B 200m; Emily Japp in the 3000m (10:01.0) and 1500m (4:50.8); and Scott Sinclair in the Long Jump (6.24m) and Triple Jump (13.11m).

Ethan Mcevoy, having finished first at the Blackpool parkrun the previous week, was also first at the Lytham Hall parkrun with a PB of 17:46. There were also PBs by Joshua Mathias-Davey of 21:27 at Blackpool and Gina Whitley of 24:24 at Fleetwood Promenade
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12 June 2019

The main athletic fixture featuring Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes last week, was the Lancashire Schools AA Championship held at Stanley Park, where they represented their individual School Districts. Wind and rain dominated the day, making life difficult for all, especially in the Pole Vault and High Jump competitions. An important element of the competition is to achieve a high level of performance. The National Standard and the Entry Standard which qualifies the athlete for the supreme Schools competition, the English Schools Championships and the lower level County Standard. The most impressive BWFAC performance was by William Riley who achieved Entry Standard with a PB of 11.8 in winning the Junior 80m Hurdles; while County Standards were achieved by Mary-Jayne Broomhead, Bradley Parsons, Andrew Woodhouse and Angelo Vinci in the 100m sprints; James Nicholas in the 400m; Leah Howard in the High Jump; Scott Sinclair in the Long Jump; and by both George Mackenzie and Jefferson Kong in the Pole Vault.

BWFAC’s top lady sprinter Katy Wyper competed for her second claim club, Wigan & District Harriers in the Division One fixture of the UK Women’s League, finishing 3rd with 12.08 in the 100 metres A race and 5th (25:25) in the A 200 metre race.

The Civil Service National 10K Championship Race was held at the Olympic Park in London, where BWFAC Club Secretary Nick Hume finished 59th in 43:56 and was first Vet 60.

Four BWFAC competed in the Leo Pollard Memorial Fell Race, also part of the Inter Club Fell Championship, battling heavy rain, hail and mud. Steve Dunn was 47th (1:03:36), with Mark Warner 72nd (1:08:39), Simon Scarr 129th (1:25:20) and Amanda Fuller 148th (1:38:32).

At the local parkruns Ethan Mcevoy was 1st in 18:17 at Blackpool, with Joshua Mathias-Davey recording 22:19, Basia Pawelczak 22:36, Paul Eaton 22:43 and Linda Marsden 31:52, while at Lytham Hall, Paul Sparrow posted 20:10, Peter Singleton 23:09 and Howard Henshaw 32:53, and at Fleetwood, Steve Dunn ran 21:25, with Aimee Harling posting 8:46 at the 2K junior Park View parkrun in Lytham.

BWFAC Athletes of the Month for May are Talia Armstead for her progress in both the High Jump and Pole Vault, where she recently posted a PB of 2.50m, while Harry Snelson showed exemplary sportsmanship in stopping to help an injured competitor during a track race. Also nominated where Grace Oates, Phelix Kowalski and Scott Sinclair.
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4th June 2019

Track & Field dominated the action last week for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC.

The Northern Athletics Under 20 & Senior Championships were held the Sportcity Athletic Track in Manchester. Katy Wyper was 2nd to Wigan’s Danielle McGifford in the heats of the Senior Women’s 100 metres and in the final again was 2nd in 11.96, with McGifford first in 11.78. The next day the roles were reversed, with Wyper winning Gold in the 200 metres (24.36), and with McGifford 2nd in a PB 24.50.

Nia Rutter’s recent tough regime of training paid-off, as she won Bronze in the Senior Women’s Shot Putt with a PB of 12.03 metres and was 4th in the 100m Hurdles, again with a PB of 14.89.

Daniel Stanley won Silver in the Senior Men’s Pole Vault with a PB 3.90 metres, while George Fox (T37) was 4th with 12.71 in the Ambulent 100 metres.

Under 17 athlete Scott Sinclair was 6th with 6.11m in the U20 Men’s Long Jump, while Bradley Parsons posted 11.42 in the U20M 100m heats, with U17s James Nicholas and Riley Nagle posting 52.55 and 54.36 in the U20M 400 metre heats.

There was also a Mid Lancs League meeting at the UCLan track in Preston, where over 40 BWFAC athletes competed, with in the Senior ranks, Danielle Whipp 2nd (2:26.3) in the 800m, Chloe Norman 2nd (65.6) in the 400m and Susan Ball 2nd (7.65m) in the Shot Putt and 3rd (25.77m) in the Discus. The stand out results in the junior categories were Alex Slater’s double victories in the Shot Putt (11.32m) and Discus (35.60 PB), Rafael Eaton triple PBs in the 1500m of 4:50.7 (2nd), the 400m of 59.3 (3rd) and 200m of 26.6 (4th); while in the U17 Men and U15 Boys 800 metre races, there were big PBs by Max Swarbrick of 2:10.6 (3rd) and Luke Rawcliffe of 2:14.9 (1st) respectively.

David Twizell took on the challenge of the Bloodwise Blenheim Palace Sprint Triathlon, involving 750m swim, 19.8K bike and 5.4K run in the grounds of Blenheim Palace, and finishing 2312th of 4082 in 1:46:25.

The Penyghent Fell Race over 10.5K with a total climb of 564 metres was the challenge for Peter Singleton, which he completed in 1:15:29 (154th), while Kirsty Holland ran the 17K Grasmere Gallop in 2:13:36 (198th) and at the mid-week Levens 10K held near Kendal, Phil Leybourne (2nd claim) was 6th and first Vet in 36:39.

There were 16 BWFAC runners led by Simon Reason (18:14) in 3rd at the Fleetwood Promenade parkrun, while at the Blackpool parkrun there were four BWFAC runners.
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28 May 2019

Katy Wyper was again chosen to represent Scotland at the Loughborough International, where in the 100 metres she was 6th (12.05) and was part of the Scottish 4x100m Relay team, which were 4th in 46.64.

The BWFAC Under 20s and 17 team finished fourth at the 2nd fixture of the Upper Youth Development held at a windy Ellesmere Port.  There were several very good performances, including in particular victories by Danielle Whipp (U20W) in a testing double of 400m (62.5) and 800m (2:29.1), Ellie Owen’s win (45.5) in the U17W 300m and Alex Slater 11.55m PB win in the U17M Shot Putt.

Six U15 and U13 BWFAC athletes competed at Trafford Medal meeting, where George Mackenzie and Seb Holt were 2nd and 3rd in the High Jump, while U13G Millie Turner was 2nd (10.97) overall in 75 metres and 3rd of 29 with 3.87m in the Long Jump.

Ian Dawson was 6th (18:03) in the Catforth 5K with Paul Beech 13th (19:34), Basia Pawelczak 25th (21:39), Dawn Maher 38th (23:09 PB) and Kirsty Holland 53rd (26:53).  Not satisfied with just one race, Holland later then took on the challenge of the Hutton Roof Fell Race (7miles/1302 feet) where she was 172nd in 2:08:48.  Peter Singleton was 94th (1:15:29) and Ian Close 148th (1:29:22), while at the Blackpool Promenade 10 Miler, Ethan McEvoy was 4th with 61:16.

At the popular Wesham 10K, Mark Warner was first BWFAC runner in 66th (41:36) with Christopher Wylie (69th 41:48 PB), Stephen Dunn (76th 42:09), Anthony Blight (106th 44:05 PB), Basia Pawelczak (144th 45:52 PB), Andrea Smith (163rd (47:04), Dawn Maher (177th 48:06), Simon Scarr (193rd 49:18), Rick Pinches (274th 53:83), Kirsty Holland (296th 55:14) and Tracey Sharrock (361st 63:24), while at the Blackpool Promenade 10 Miler, Ethan Mcevoy was 4th in 61:17.

In other road races, Gina Whitley was 69th (52:41) at the Pilling 10K, while at the Worden Park 10K, Fran Connolly was 169th (58:08) and Lisa Lambert 200th (58:58).

At the local parkruns, at Blackpool Rafael Eaton posted a 18:57 PB, Paul Sparrow 19:34, Anthony Blight 21:35, Paul Eaton 22:35, Danielle Baines 24:46, Lisa Lambert 28:07 and Cheryl Rickwood 32:29, while at Fleetwood Ellen McLachlan recorded 24:07 and Kate Chandler 29:41.  At Lytham Hall Anne Bradshaw posted 21:15 in her first ever parkrun, with Howard Henshaw 31:56, while at Park View 2K junior parkrun Aimee Harling ran 8:48.

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27th May 2019

The second fixture of the of the Youth Development League NW 2 for U17s and U20s was held at Ellesmere Port. After some early light rain it was mainly dry, although there was a very gusty wind.

It was a good test for the Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC sprinters, who recorded the following results in the U20 age category races: Bradley Parsons A100m 5th (12.1), B200m 1st (24.9); Andrew Woodhouse B100m 2nd (12.2), A200m 4th (24.7); running as an U20 Nekkisha Wilson A100m 4th 13.8 and A200m 3rd (29.0 PB). In the Under 17 category: James Nicholas 100m 5th (12.2), 200m 4th (23.9); Joseph Smalley B100m 2nd (12.5), B200m 2nd (25.4); Mary-Jayne Broomhead A100m 3rd 13.2, A200m 2nd (27.1 PB) and Natalia Luczak in the A300m was 2nd 48.5, while Ellie Owen in the B race was 1st (45.5). Leah Howard was also 3rd (13.4) in the 80m Hurdles.

Danielle Whipp after finishing first (62.5) in the U20W 400m, convincingly won (2:29.1) the 800m; while in the U17M 800m, James Smith was 2nd (2:12.0), and in the 1500m Max Swarbrick was 3rd in a PB 4:36.9.

Scott Sinclair continued his good form in the linear Jumps, with 2nd (5.66m) in the Long Jump and 1st (12.40m) in the Triple Jump, while Andrew Woodhouse was 4th (5.25m) in the U20M Long Jump. In the U17W Long Jump, Leah Howard was 2nd (4.81m), while in the B competition, Natalia Luczak was 1st (4.80m).

The strong gusty wind made life tough for the vertical jumpers, especially in the Pole Vault, with Chloe Parsons (1st) and Sam Howarth (4th) jumping the minimum heights for the points, while Jasmine Carey, who has important competitions soon, decided not to risk injury. In the High Jumps, Danielle Whipp 4th (1.35m) in the U20W and Leah Howard was 3rd (1.45m) in the U17W competition, while Sam Howarth was 4th (1.55m) in the U17M.

In the U17W Throws, Charlotte Jones was 4th (29.72m) in the Hammer, while Kacie Calvert was 4th (22.35m PB) in the Discus and 2nd (27.51m) in the Javelin. In the U20W Javelin Natasha Webster was 2nd (31.55m). Alex Slater was first in the U17M Shot Putt with a PB 11.55m, 3rd (29.68m) in the Discus and 4th (23.74m) in the Javelin, while Beth Vaziri was 6th (7.52m) in the U17W Shot Putt.

In the 4×100 Relays the U20 Women’s team was 4th (55.3) and the U17M team was 2nd (51.3), while the full team as a whole, despite many gaps in personal, finished an encouraging fourth.

On Bank Holiday Monday there was a chance for the Under 13s and 15s to compete at the Trafford Medals meeting, where there was the added benefit of electronic timing. Under 15 boy team mates George Mackenzie and Seb Holt both jumped 1.55m winning Silver and Bronze respectively, with Holt also winning Bronze in the Discus with 15.82m.

In the Under 13 Girls category, Millie Turner enjoyed a good day winning her heat (joint 2nd overall) of the 75m with 10.97, was 3rd of 29 (3.87m) and 6th in the Shot Putt with a PB 4.75m; while Marcia Rutter posted 13.55 in the 70m Hurdles, 23.17 in the 150m and was 16th in the Long Jump with 3.62m.

In the Under 15 Girls, Gracie Rutter posted 13.42 in the 75m Hurdles and 14.35 in the 100m, while Alicia Threlfall posted 13.80 in the 100m Hurdles and 15.02 in the 100m.

Away the Track at the parkruns, Rafael Eaton was 4th with a PB 18.57 at Stanley Park and at the Park View junior 2K parkrun, Aimee Harling was first girl in 8.48.

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21st May 2019

Last weekend was a busy on both the Track and Road for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC.

Liam Craine in his first race of the year, ran the tough Windermere Marathon, involving a complete circuit of the lake, with many testing climbs, finishing 42nd in 3:21:14.

At the Simplyhealth Great Manchester Run Half Marathon, Paul Plummer was 204th in 1:33:06, with Basia Pawelczak recording 1:51:19, Ellen McLachlan 1:52:44, Beverley Gigli 2:21:58 and Sarah Gigli 2:24:35, while at the Essar Cheshire Half Marathon, Chris Lloyd was 274th, with Amanda Fuller recording 2:00:12, Nickola Walker 2:19:01 and Fiona Little 3:03:26. Laura Lawler was 284th in 2:03:25 at Worcester Half Marathon.

Nearer to home Caroline Betmead was 3rd lady (30th overall) in 1:06:51 at St Annes Triathlon, with David Twizell 166th in 1:23:15.

As part the BWFAC Road Championship, the Fleetwood Promenade parkrun is was chosen as the sixth fixture. There was great turnout by club members, who also celebrated with Simon Scarr and Rick Pinches as they both reached 50 parkruns.

John Wright was 2nd overall and 1st BWFAC in 18:21, with George Robinson in 19:55, Steve Dunn 19:57, Paul Beech 20:01, Joshua Mathias-Davey 20:12, Bev Wright 20:13, Peter Bradburn 20:41, Brandon Willoughby 21:48, Basia Pawelczak 22:01, Paul Eaton 22:43, Peter Singleton 22:55, Fran Connolly 23:21, Simon Scarr 23:30, Ellen Mclachlan 24:08, David Twizell 25:37, Amanda Fuller 25:39, Rick Pinches 25:44, Bob Massey 26:32, Julie Sinclair 26:49, Mark Warner (who ran son George) 27:18, Jennifer Burtonwood 27:24, Nickola Walker 27:28, Isabel Mcnamee 28:15, Lisa Lambert 28:16, Cheryl Rickwood 29:32, Howard Henshaw 30:28, Rafael Eaton 31:15, Clare Clarke 35:28, Fiona Little 37:48 and Andy Hume 42:27.

The BWFAC Under 13 and 15 track & field squad competed at the second fixture of the held in Bury Youth Development League Division 2 West and secured a second victory.

The next day the Senior team competed in the first fixture of the North of England League Division 2 West with the team finishing third of six, unfortunately due to lack of officials, points were deducted and the team was relegated to fifth place.

However there were still many good performances, with these particularly standing out: Nia Rutter victory in the 100m Hurdles, also her amazing PB of 26.9 PB win in the B 200m; Emily Japp 3000m win (10:19.3) also her 2nd (4:54.1) in the 1500m; Rachael Bashforth Discus win (28.20) and Louis Walker win with 49.80m PB in the Javelin. The final race was the Men’s 4x400m Relay and there was quiet confidence of a good result, even against the might of Preston and Bolton. Luke Minns led off and was just behind Bolton at the changeover to U17 James Nicholas, who passed to Riley Nagle (U17) then level with Bolton. Nagle took lead and then Michael Brent-Reid anchored the team to victory in 3:35.5.

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19 March 2019

At the Fleetwood Rotary Daffodil 10K, Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Ian Dawson was second in 37:10 behind Paul Muller of Northern Vets, with BWFAC’s Malcolm Beech 24th in a PB 54:18 and Jeff Wright 33rd in a 60:33.

Paul Sparrow took on the challenge of the Trimpell 20 (mile) finishing 71st in 2:27:43. Paul used the 20 mile run, an out and back course along the River Lune, as preparation for his run at the London Marathon in April. At the Bath Half Marathon Amanda Fuller recorded 2:04:31, Nickola Walker 2:23:18 and Fiona Little 3:03:03.

First across the line at the 3.72 mile March Handicap was Malcolm Beech in a PB 31:32. Other handicappers were Paul Beech in 31:33, Tony Croft 34:18, Amanda Fuller 31:53, Graham Davies 32:47, Martin Bates 32:48, Tony Aires 32:48, Nicola Unsworth 27:02, Peter Gibson 29:33 and Ian Dawson 23:00.

There were tough conditions with wind and rain at last Saturday’s parkruns. Running at Blackpool parkrun was Mark Warner (20:04), Peter Bradburn (21:38), Paul Eaton (23:31), Simon Scarr (24:41 PB), Peter Gibson (24:55) and Malcolm Beech (26:53).

At the Lytham Hall parkrun, the BWFAC runners were, Paul Sparrow (20:17), Caroline Betmead (20:25), Peter Singleton (23:27) and Debbie Terras (31:55), while Michelle Tickle (23:12) and Simon Tickle (23:17) did some parkrun tourism at Long Eaton in Derbyshire.

Athletes of the Month for February are Jasmine Carey, who was Silver Medallist in the Pole Vault at the National U17W Age Group Championships and Malcolm Beech who has achieved a number of PBs in parkruns and at the Stanley Park 10Km.

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18 March 2019

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Luke Rawcliffe was part of the Lancashire squad at the New Balance English Schools Cross Country Championships, held at Temple Newsam Park, near Leeds. Luke ran in the Junior Boys race and was 62nd (14:40) out of 343 runners and the first counter back for the Lancashire team, which finished 27th overall on a tough muddy course.

It was very wet and blustery day for the Saturday parkruns. At the Blackpool parkrun Ethan McEvoy aged 16, finished first in 18:48 and Rafael Eaton aged 13 was 5th in 20:44.

At the Sunday Park View 2Km junior parkrun, the run started in bright sunshine, however half way round, a heavy hailstorm started, which proved to be very uncomfortable for the young runners. BWFAC’s Lucy Tickle was 2nd and first girl in 7:39, with Holly Tickle 2nd girl in 9:10, and Aimee Harling 3rd girl in 9:22.

On Saturday, BWFAC are hosting their early season Winter Warm-up meeting at Stanley Park. Blackpool young members will be able to test how well their winter training has progressed whilst competing against other athletes from across the country. Last year took place when the ‘Beast from the East’ had deposited snow across the country. Although there wasn’t any lying snow in Blackpool, a few flurries did sweep across the track and it was very cold – not track & field weather at all! Everyone at BWFAC are keeping their fingers crossed that this year, the weather on Saturday will be much more spring-like. Opportunities are available for anyone interested in helping experienced officials at this UKA licenced meeting. For more information please contact Charles Garrett by email at charlesgarrett079@gmail.com

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13 March 2019

Despite the stormy weather last weekend, Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runners were involved in races across the country.

One of the biggest races was the Vitality Big Half held in London, won by Sir Mo Farah, with Charlotte Purdue first Woman. After missing out on competing in the Malta Half Marathon, which was cancelled due to the horrific weather, Nicola Unsworth finished the Big Half in an excellent 1:41:35 (2697th), despite 40mph winds!

One of the major local races was the Trafford 10K, where Luke Minns was 47th in a PB 32:24, with Harry Poole 91st in 33:53 (PB). At the Dentdale 14, held in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, Ian Dawson was 21st in 1:37:53.

The first race of the Club’s 2019 Trail Championship was the 9Km Roddlesworth Roller, held in Abbey Village near Chorley. First BWFAC runner home was Simon Reason in 38th (40:59), with Simon Scarr 113th (48:52), Fran Connolly 163rd (53:25), Amanda Fuller 177th (54:54), Bob Massey 207th (58:06), Beverley Gigli 214th (59:39), Julie Sinclair 223rd (63:15), Isabel Mcnamee 225th (63:17), Nicola Walker 229th (63:47), Jennifer Burtonwood 241st (65:43), Kim Blake 250th (69:01) and Fiona Little 253rd (68:16).

On the Track & Field front, Leah Howard was 37th with 2463 points in the Pentathlon at the England Combined Events Championships held in Sheffield, while at Vault Cardiff, Fiona Hockey recorded 3.53m in the Pole Vault and six young athletes competed at the final Sale Indoor Winter Series.

The Blackpool Winter Warm-up track & field meeting will take place at the Stanley Park Arena next Saturday, March 23rd. Opportunities are available for anyone interested in helping experienced officials at this UKA licenced meeting. For more information contact Charles Garrett by email on charlesgarrett079@gmail.com

At the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships, held in Loughborough, Danielle Whipp was 165th (23:25) on the 5Km Under 17 Women’s race.

On the fells, Peter Singleton ran the 16.7Km Stan Bradshaw Pendle Round, with a total climb of 590 metres, completing the route in 1:35:54 (146th).

Steve Dunn was 2nd in 21:16 at Fleetwood Promenade parkrun, while at Lytham Hall parkrun, Peter Singleton posted 23:06 and Howard Henshaw 32:01.

At Blackpool parkrun, Rafael Eaton ran 20:42, Peter Bradburn 21:35, Paul Eaton 22:43, Peter Gibson 24:40, Basia Pawelczak 25:30, Simon Scarr 25:35, Alison Titterington 27:16, David Twizell 27:26, while Mark Warner ran with his young son George in 29:12, with Wayne Norris posting 29:27 and Fiona Little 41:19.

At the Fell Foot parkrun in Newby Bridge Amanda Fuller posted a PB 28:49 and Nickola Walker 31:53.

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12 March 2019

IMPORTANT INFO – PLEASE READ BELOW

• The Senior Women’s team still require two runners for the 6 Stage Northern Road Relays on Sunday 24 March. Choice of two distances either 4.9 miles or 2.8 miles. Please contact Laura Lawler for more information. Closing date for entries Friday 15 March.
• A Mid Lancs Track & Field Co-ordinator is required URGENTLY. If anyone is interested in discussing this post further please contact Nick Hume.
• If anyone is able to help out at the forthcoming BWFAC Winter Warm Up on Saturday 23 March, please contact Charlie Garrett
• To view the list of runners already registered for this year’s Inter Club Series please click here.  Blackpool Inter Club takes place on Wednesday 3 April, please contact Nick Hume or Bob Massey if you are able to volunteer/marshal from 6.30 pm. Race starts at 7.00 pm.
• An email has been sent to all members regarding membership renewal and the forthcoming AGM. Proposals have to be submitted to the committee at least one week before the AGM which takes place on Wednesday 24 April 2019. Please click here to view the AGM Agenda. If you haven’t received an email, you can download the relevant forms/letter below or contact Nick Hume:
• Letter to Members 2019
• AGM Agenda 2019
• BWFAC Renewal Application Form 2019 – 2020

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12 March 2019

Junior News

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes were competing in the Indoor Athletic meetings in Sheffield and Manchester and also the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships in Loughborough.

The England Athletics U15 and U17 Combined Events Championships were held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. In her first season as an Under 17, Leah Howard took on the challenge of the Indoor Pentathlon, with five events being completed in one day. Leah posted 10.20 in the 60m Hurdles, jumped 1.47m in the High Jump, recorded 7.49m in the Shot Jump, jumped 4.46m in the Long Jump and in the final event, the 800m, ran 2:54.73. Howard was pleased with a total of 2463 points placing her 37th overall.

Meanwhile at Prestwold Hall near Loughborough, Danielle Whipp was part of the Lancashire Under 17 Women’s team. The previous Saturday, Danielle had suffered a heavy fall at the final Mid Lancs League meeting of the season. However Whipp had recovered enough to compete on Saturday and finished 165th in 23:25 on the 5Km course, with the Lancashire team finishing 19th overall.

With the outdoor track & field season imminent, six BWFAC young athletes took the opportunity to compete in the sixth and final fixture of the 2018/19 Sale Harriers Winter Series. In the 60 metre sprints, Matthew Poole equalled his PB with 7.83, Joanne Upton-Fletcher posted 8.99, Iona Cossens recorded 8.77 in the 60m and 47.92 in the 300m, while Katie Welles ran 2:01.54 in the 600m. Alex Slater recorded 1.55m in the High Jump and 10.15m in the Shot Putt.

At the local parkruns, Under 13 runner, Rafael Eaton, was 10th in 20:42 at Blackpool and in heavy driving rain at the Park View junior parkrun, Aimee Harling was first girl in 9:34.

Senior News

7 March 2019

Lancashire Fell Championships

The Lancashire Fellrunning Championships for both Juniors and Seniors will once again be held in conjunction with the Pendle fell race at Barley Village on Saturday 6 April 2019.
Many thanks to Mark Nutter and Alan Dorrington and Clayton le Moors Harriers for once again agreeing to incorporate the Lancashire Championships into the Pendle races.

It’s important that your members understand the Lancashire qualification criteria and tick the Lancashire box on the entry form if eligible. Several people were unsure about this last year.

Lancashire eligibility:
1. By birth ( ie born in Lancashire)
2. By residence ( ie 9 months continuous residence in the County of Lancashire on the date of the race, 6th of April )

(For Juniors please be aware that the Under 23s and Under 19s run with the main Pendle fell race at 2.00 pm)

Details of the Pendle fell races can be found via the link below:

http://www.claytonlemoors.org.uk/races/pendle-fell-races/

Full details of the Lancashire Fell Championships can be found on the Lancashire Athletic Association website on the link below. This includes Lancashire eligibility qualification, Intercounties team selection criteria and links to the Intercounties website and both the Senior (and Under 23s) and Junior (Under 17s and Under 19s) Inter Counties races.

http://www.lancsaa.co.uk/fell.html

If there are any questions or queries please contact Graham Wright on the email address below.

Best Wishes
Graham Wright
Lancashire Athletic Association fell Secretary.
Email: rossendaleharriers@sky.com

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6 March 2019

Crazy Cow 10K and Fun Run

Entries are now open for the Crazy Cow 10k and Crazy Calf Fun Run in Preston taking place on Sunday 23 June with a cowbell medal for all finishers.

Details and entry at https://racebest.com/races/2xgy3

Hambleton 5K

Family fun day incorporating a 5K run around the village of Hambleton on Sunday 26 May starting at 10.50 am

Details can be found here.

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4 March 2019

Senior News

The final Mid Lancs Cross Country League fixture of the season was held at Cuerden Valley Country Park.

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Jess Rogers had an excellent run, finishing 2nd (22:17) on the 5.5Km hilly course, three seconds behind Clare McKeown of Border Harriers. Rogers was also first Under 20 Junior woman, securing the Under 20 Women’s Championship. Together with Bev Wright (25th 26:21) and Basia Pawelczak (33rd 27:15) they were the 4th Women’s team. Laura Lawler (55th 28:29), Dawn Maher (75th 30:11), Fran Connolly (77th 30:15), Amanda Fuller (100th 32:40), Debbie Terras (118th 37:45), Julie Sinclair (125th 38:51) and Jenny Burtonwood (127th 39:35) formed the rest of the ladies squad.

On the same course in the Vet 70 race, Bob Massey was 7th (34:46) and John Winters was 10th (46:46) with the team finishing 3rd.

Finishing 21st in the Men’s race over 10Km, the BWFAC team were Mark Warner (103rd 44:17), Paul Sparrow (108th 44:40), Nick Hume (146th 47:23), Peter Bradburn (157th 48:43), Paul Eaton (207th 55:24), Simon Scarr (211th 57:02) and Alan Wilkinson (225th 67:56), with the Vet 40 team 13th and Vet 50s 9th.

Despite the monsoon conditions at the elite Podium 5Km A Race in Barrowford, Luke Minns posted a PB 15:40 to finish in 25th place.

Peter Singleton was 70th (37:01) in the Kendal Winter League Sedbergh School Fell Race over 6.4Km with a 145 metre climb.

Caroline Betmead was first woman at the Lytham Hall parkrun in 20:12, while at the Fleetwood Promenade parkrun, Peter Gibson posted 23:45 and Ellen McLachlan 24:56.

At the Blackpool parkrun, Steve Dunn posted 19:55, Nicola Unsworth 22:17 (PB), Rick Pinches 24:32, David Twizell 25:02, Malcolm Beech 26:06 (PB), David Heaton 33:36 and Fiona Little 38:44. Also running were Amanda Fuller 26:21, Mark Warner 29:59 and Bob Massey 38:48, who also later ran in the Mid Lancs Cross Country fixture at Cuerden Valley.

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2 March 2019

Junior News

The final Mid Lancs Cross Country meeting of the season was held at Cuerden Valley Country Park. Although blustery, apart from one short shower of rain, the weather conditions were on the whole, relatively kind. The park is hilly providing a good test of cross country ability and for the young runners, it was a tough test.

The Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC Under 11 Girls team team have enjoyed an excellent season, led by Gracie Scott, who was 4th (6:16) on the 1.8Km course. Ella-May Leonard was 22nd (7:08), with Polly Kershaw 30th (7.18), Jemima Bradburn 39th (7:26) and Aimee Harling 43rd (7:33). The team finished sixth overall and fifth in the final league standings. This is an excellent result as the majority of the girls in the team are only 8 years of age and competing against girls that are in some cases more than two years older. Gracie Scott will pick up the individual Under 11 Girls Bronze Medal at the Mid Lancs Awards Presentation next month.

In the U11 Boys race, the team of Alfie Hall 35th (6:33), Jack Balshaw 36th (6:34) and Billy Kershaw 68th (7:17), finished 10th overall and 9th in the final league standings.

The Under U13 Girls race was over 2.7Km, with Betty Kershaw 13th (11:25), Louisa Bradburn 31st (12:10), Olivia Sellers 38th (12:30), Holly Tickle 46th (13:24) and Naomi Wrigley 52nd (14:28). The team finished seventh overall and sixth in the league standings.

In the U13 Boys race over 3.6Km, Rafael Eaton was 4th (13:11), while in the U15 Boys race over 3.7Km, Max Swarbrick was 12th (13:22) and Luke Rawcliffe 20th (13:57), after sprinting in against Sé Loughlin of Liverpool Pembroke Sefton who finished 21st. Lucy Tickle started in the U15 Girls race, as did Danielle Whipp in the U17 Women’s race, however both girls had nasty falls and were unable finish. Latest news is that both girls are recovering well.

Under 11 Girl, Ella-May Leonard ran the next morning in the Park View 2Km junior parkrun, and still full of energy, posted 8:48, just a few seconds outside of her best, finishing first girl.

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1 March 2019

NORTH EAST COUNTIES TO HOST NA 10,000m CHAMPIONSHIPS

As you may have seen on our website we have announced that Northern Athletics are collaborating with the North East Counties to stage the Northern 10K track championship within the North East Counties event on the 24th April.

After its absence in 2018 and a few years of looking for a suitable home we hope that this collaboration will be a long term arrangement for the fixture. Over the last few years the provision of quality 10,000m races has seen a massive decline and although NA has tried to ensure that a Championship event has always been available it hasn’t always been possible.

The invitation from NECAA to host the event is the perfect fit. The race has already proved popular with the North East distance athletes and the introduction of an NA Championship will hopefully widen the appeal even further.

Since launching our NA affiliation scheme (now supported by 190 clubs) NA are keen to introduce new ideas and re-launch some events which have had to be shelved in the past. This is the ideal opportunity to host what should be a good quality 10K track race and we hope that athletes from throughout the North will take advantage of the opportunity and the welcome that is always to be found in the North East. Thanks to Keith Willshire and the NECAA for organising and hosting the race.

The event is scheduled for Wednesday 24th April at Monkton Stadium, Jarrow starting at 18.00.

An entry form can be downloaded here or online entry is available at http://www.race-results.co.uk

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1 March 2019

Jasmine Carey’s early season Pole Vault success continued, as she added to her Northern Indoor Gold by winning a Silver Medal in the U17W Vault with a PB 3.65 metres at the England U15, U17 and U20 Indoor Championships, held in Sheffield.

At the English National Cross Country Championships held at Harewood Park near Leeds, Jess Rogers was 63rd (24:24) in the 6Km Junior Womens race, while Claire Irons was 968th (53:25) in the 8Km Senior Women’s race.

The main event for the BWFAC road runners was the Lostock 6 Mile race, which was the third designated fixture of the Club Road Championship. Bev Wright was 56th (41:06), 3rd female and collected the FV55 prize. The other BWFAC runners were Chris Rawcliffe (115th 44:27), Laura Lawler (120th 44:50), Brandon Willoughby (142nd 46:00), Andrea Smith (143rd 46:05), Simon Scarr (170th 47:30), Fran Connolly (207th 49:43), David Twizell (219th 50:12), Amanda Fuller (269th 53:05), Bob Massey 325th 56:07), Bethany Corry (342nd 57:10), Isabel McNamee (369th 59:15), Cheryl Rockwood (373rd 59:30), Julie Sinclair (385th 60:44), Jennifer Burtonwood (386th 60:51) and Fiona Little (428th 77:47).

Last weekend saw the Stanley Park 10k take place on Saturday and Sunday. At the Saturday event, 16 year old Ethan McEvoy produced an impressive 10km debut finishing 4th in 37:24. He improved this on the Sunday finishing the same course in 36:57 and 6th place. Also running on the Saturday was Malcolm Beech aged 68 who achieved a PB 54:58. On Sunday, Ian Dawson finished 40th in 43:45, with Beverley Gigli 259th in 60:08.

Nicola Unsworth travelled to Malta to compete in the GIG Malta Half Marathon, however whilst Blackpool was bathed in Maltese weather, Malta suffered storm force winds and driving rain resulting in the race being cancelled. However, with all entrants received their finishing medal and event t-shirt, BWFAC’s Nicola Unsworth decided she could only earn the right to wear these by running the 13.1 miles the following day.

At Lytham Hall parkrun, Luke Rawcliffe was 5th in a PB of 19:03 while Lucy Tickle posted 22:33, Michelle Tickle 23.09, Amanda Fuller 27:13, Simon Scarr 27:14 and Howard Henshaw 33:22. At the Blackpool parkrun, Peter Bradburn posted 21:18, Anthony Blight 22:37, Louisa Bradburn 23:37 (PB), Peter Gibson 24:34, Rick Pinches 25:12, Basia Pawelczak 25:25 (PB), Ellen McLachlan 26:26 and Wayne Norris 29:06, while at Fleetwood Promenade parkrun Ella-May Leonard aged 8 ran a 23:00 PB. Mark Warner did a little parkrun tourism at Ormskirk with his son George recording 30:05.

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22 February 2019

The nomination criteria for Athlete of the Month has been updated and can be viewed on the ‘Recognition’ section of the website here.

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22 February 2019

At the British Universities & Colleges Indoor Championships held in Sheffield, disability T37 athlete George Fox was 5th overall with a PB 7.96 in a mixed ability 60 metre para final, and based on a points system for the level of ability, George won the silver medal. In the women’s Pole Vault, Fiona Hockey was 10th with 3.60m.

The main local road race was the Great North West Half marathon held along Blackpool Promenade. Natasha Armstead, who has been training with BWFAC, was 182nd in 1:43:12, while Laura Lawler was 234th and 4th FV50 in 1:44:58, with Gina Whiteley 470th in 1:58:23 and Rick Pinches, who used it as part of his training for the London Marathon, was pleased with 2:01:03 (533th).

At the Blackpool parkrun, former BWFAC athlete Tom Cunningham, back on a visit, was first in 17:01. The times of the BWFAC runners were as follows: Steve Dunn 20:03, Peter Bradburn 21:09, Nicola Unsworth 21:56, Anthony Blight 22:39, Amanda Fuller 25:44 (PB), Derek Crane 25:44, Julie Sinclair 28:02 (PB), Mark Warner, who ran with his son George, 32:13, and Rick Pinches completed the course as the tail-walker.

After the cancellation of Lytham Hall and Fleetwood Promenade parkruns because of the previous week’s stormy weather, they were both back on. At Lytham, BWFAC parkrunners were Seniors Caroline Betmead 20:57, Michelle Tickle 22:27 and Simon Scarr 24:27; while at Fleetwood parkrun, Ian Dawson was 3rd in 18:41, with Peter Gibson posting 23:48, David Twizell 25:13 and Malcolm Beech 26:55.

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19 February 2019

Dates for your diary…

Bury AC 10K Track Race for Seniors and U20s only on Wednesday 15 May 2019 at 7pm. Please click on the link below for more details…

Bury AC 10K Track Race – Entry Form

Lancaster & Morecambe AC Open Meeting

The second annual Lancaster & Morecambe AC Open Meeting is being held on Monday 6 May 2019 and entries are now open for athletes to sign up.

Athletes can sign up by going to:
https://sites.google.com/site/lmacopenmedalmeeting/home/enter-here

If you have any queries please contact the Meeting Manager, Conor Bennett, at conor.athletics@gmail.com

6 & 7 April 2019 – Lancs AA Combined Events Championships at Hyndburn

6 April 2019 – Lancashire Fell Championships, Pendle

1 March 2019 – Entries open for Lancashire Track & Field Championships taking place Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 May 2019.

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18 February 2019

The fifth Sale Harriers Winter Indoor Track & Field series meeting was held at Manchester Regional Centre on the SportCity complex. Competition was quieter than at the previous four meetings, possibly due to the major Indoor Athletic Championships having now been completed.

Just five Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC junior athletes competed. Alex Slater (U17) again had a good meeting, despite both his events taking place at the same time. In the Shot Putt, Alex probably had his longest throw in the warm-up, however he produced a 2cm PB on his last throw of 11.18m. Slater went straight to the High Jump, already at 1.60m, which he cleared and was then successful at 1.65m. Unfortunately he was unsuccessful at 1.73m, which would have been a new PB.

Having not had the facilities to practise his long jump over the winter months and having grown significantly since last season, Scott Sinclair (U17) struggled with his run-up and was left disappointed with 5.38 metres.

In the 60 metre sprints, Bradley Parsons (U20) posted 7.58, Daisie-Mae Keane (U15) 8.99 and Chloe Parsons (U17) 9.03. Gabriella Bell (U15) posted PBs of 9.16 and 30.94 in both the 60 and 200 metres.

BWFAC Athletes of the Month for January are Imogen Reader for her impressive progress in sprinting having reached the semi-finals of the 60 and 200 metres at the Scottish Indoor Championships, and Seb Holt for his progress particularly in the Pole Vault, posting at PB of 2.11 metres at January’s Vault Manchester.

At the Park View junior parkrun, Ella-May Leonard and Aimee Harling were first and second girls in 8:42 and 9:05 respectively, with Maximus Nelson posting 8:46.

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15 February 2019

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC currently requires new coaches and volunteers to continue the development and growth of Junior athletes. Anyone who is interested in completing a coaching course with BWFAC, should get contact the Club via its website http://www.bwfac.co.uk All that is required is that you can dedicate a minimum of two hours per week and the club’s coaches will mentor you through your England Athletics Level One course and assist with Course Fees depending upon your commitment to BWFAC over a period of time.

The penultimate Mid Lancs Cross Country League was held in the fields around Leigh Sports Village. The BWFAC Women’s team on the 6Km course were led to 10th place overall by Jess Rogers, who finished 6th and 2nd Under 20 (21:02), with Michelle Tickle 42nd (24:09), Laura Lawler 53rd (24:49) and Andrea Smith 66th (25:29).

Luke Minns battled it out with Wesham’s Rob Danson during the first half of the 10K Men’s race. Danson won in 32:02, with Minns 2nd in 32:23. Together with John Wright 56th (38:01), Nick Hume 151st (43:44), Paul Plummer 176th (45:12), Paul Eaton 200th (47:22), Simon Scarr 232nd (51:13), Rick Pinches 243rd (54:38) and Alan Wilkinson 248th (57:44).

Having won medals in the Northern and Scottish Championships during the previous two weekends, Katy Wyper travelled to Birmingham for the British Championships reaching the semi-final of the 60 metres, where she finished 5th in 7:55 and only just missing out on the final.

The Muddy Shoes 11 Mile held in the fields around Caldervale, saw Ian Dawson complete the route in 8th (1:35:44), with Anthony Blight 20th (1:57:19) and Kevin Woods 22nd (1:57:54). Peter Singleton was 87th in 32:39 at the Barbondale Fell Race (part of the Kendal Winter League) over 2 miles and 1175 feet.

Ellen McLachlan was 104th in 50:13 at the Lancaster Valentine 10K. While at the Action For Children 5Km evening race held on the Palatine Leisure Centre one kilometre cycle track, Rick Pinches ran 24:54.

At the BWFAC February Monthly Handicap, Nick Hume posted 26:05, Graham Davies 32:24, Malcolm Beech 32:24, Gina Whiteley 29:26, Tony Airnes 32:29, Peter Gibson 29:45 and Tony Croft 37:52.

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12 February 2019

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC junior members competed at the penultimate fixture of the Mid Lancs Cross Country League was held in the fields around Leigh Sports Village. Storm Eric was still blowing and before running some of the Junior runners helped (with difficulty) successfully to put up the BWFAC tent before the competition began.

On the 2.3Km course, the Under 11 Girls team lead by Gracie Scott, who battled it out at the front of 78 girls, finishing 3rd in 8:13, with Jess Ramsden (22nd 9:17), together the youngest members, aged just 8, Aimee Harling (33rd 9:32), Polly Kershaw (34th 9:33) and Jemima Bradburn (56th 10:17), finished seventh. In the Boys race, over the same course, Otis Leah was 35th (8:52) and Billy Kershaw 47th (9:03). Also over 2.3Km, in the U13 Girls race, Betty Kershaw was 14th (8:17), with Louisa Bradburn 25th (8:39) and Naomi Wrigley 48th (10:55), with the team finishing fifth.

In the other Junior races Rafael Eaton was 3rd (9:28) in the U13 Boys race, Lucy Tickle 19th (11:08) in the U15 Girls race, both over 3Km, with Danielle Whipp 8th (14:15) in the 4Km U17 Women’s race and Jack Tickle 13th (19:44) in the 6Km U17 Men’s race.

The next day, the Park View 2Km junior parkrun celebrated its second Birthday, where Aimee Harling was again running and for the second week running was first Girl and set a further PB of 8:52. First overall was BWFAC’s Forest Leah in 7:48.

At the latest Sale Harriers Open Indoor meeting, held at Sportcity in Manchester, 10 T&F BWFAC young athletes tested out how their training was progressing.

Alex Slater (U17), was pleased with good solid performances in the High Jump, where he was pleased with 1.60m and was 2nd in the Shot Jump with 10.10m. Also in the High Jump, Leah Howard (U17) was 3rd with 1.50m, while Chloe Norman posted 1.35m.

In the Long Jump Natalia Luczak cleared 4.70m, Leah Howard 4.42m and Chloe Norman 4.11m. Howard also posted 10.14 in the 60m Hurdles.

In the sprints the following times were set: George Fox (U23) 60m 7.97 PB; Chloe Norman (U20) 200m 30.14; Georgia Norman (U17) 60m 8.86 PB, 200m 29.49; Natalia Luczak (U17) 200m 29.49; Matthew Poole (U15) 60m 7.83; Iona Cossens (U15) 8.76, 200m 29.82; Holly Brooke (U15) 60m 9.00, 200m 31.24; Joanne Upton Fletcher (U15) 200m 29.48.

The previous Wednesday Jessica Ramsden was 32nd in 22:12 and teammate Ella-May Leonard was 34th in 22:52 At the the Action for Children 5Km evening race held on the Palatine Leisure Centre one kilometre cycle track.

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10 February 2019

The inter club fell race on 6 June 2019 Henderson End FR (BM) has been
renamed. Organised by Lostock AC it is now on the FRA website as Leo
Pollard Memorial Race. Hope that avoids any confusion.

It is also worth reminding everyone, especially those not
used to fell races, that you should see the FRA website for complete
information about race rules and kit requirements. Some info below!

FRA Requirements for Runners 2019

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10 February 2019

North West Regional Council update and elections

Dear All,
The structure, rules and articles governing Regional Councils remain
unchanged after the recent EA EGM, with a large part of the credit due
to clubs, counties and individuals in this region standing up and
playing their part. Thank you all, it is much appreciated. I also think
it is a positive trend within the sport that more and more people
involved in the grassroots, from all parts of this diverse sport, are
wanting to play a more active role in helping it survive and thrive
into the future. I’ll do all I can to encourage that.
The most immediate consequence is that the normal round of elections
will now take place for people to get involved with our council.
Initial details are contained in this broadcast;

https://www.englandathletics.org/about-us/news/regional-council-elections-2019/

More detail about what it entails, how it works and what you can do are
here;
https://www.englandathletics.org/about-us/board-and-national-council/regional-councils/

And I’ve copied below a response I made to someone asking specifically
about the meetings we hold which contains some more information about
those;
“Our meetings in the North West occur 5 times a year (2 months or more
between them). They are held in the evening on a Wednesday and formally
start at 7pm in order to give as many people as possible the chance to
get there from work. I put on a warming meal of hot-pot, curry or stew
from 6:30pm so people are fed properly. Tea and coffee are always
available throughout the meetings. Since I became chair I’ve made it my
policy to rotate the venue among all possible Counties in the region
and normally though not always our meetings are held at clubs. It did
not used to be like that but it gets people to visit places they might
not normally get to and makes our council visible to a wider section of
the sport. That’s important to me. We’ve visited clubs in Warrington,
Trafford, Blackpool, Ormskirk, Wigan and Bury in the last few years and
will continue to do so.”
If you would like to host a Regional Council meeting please get in
touch with me.
The North West Regional Council has 3 posts filled leaving 3 to be
filled at this election. Thankfully one of those three vacancies, Mike
Dooling, a valuable volunteer on this council for the last 4 years,
wants to stand again for the last 4 year term allowed by the rules and
I heartily support this decision as he brings such a wealth of
experience, knowledge of the Merseyside County scene and the English
Schools Association setup that I hope you all vote for him to return.
After the election results there will be a small number of non-voting
co-opted posts filled to complement the areas of expertise which exist
at that point on the council. My intention is that at the end of this
short process every possible County, every branch of our sport (Road
running, T&F, XC etc) and every volunteer role we have (officials,
coaches etc) will be represented. I’ll report back at the end with our
success in achieving this aim.
If you wish to be elected you need to submit the form in the link
below;
https://d192th1lqal2xm.cloudfront.net/2019/01/ea-regional-council-nomination-form-2019.pdf

complete with support from 3 affiliated clubs. Anyone can stand for
election to your Regional Council, we have no barriers to entry on
gender, racial, religious or sexuality grounds, and I’d particularly
urge athletes, coaches, supporters of Road Running, members involved
with Disability Athletics and members involved with the social
deprivation and mental health aspects of the benefits our sport can
deliver to consider standing as we want to make sure those voices are
heard loud and clear on our council over the next few years.
Please include a brief statement of your objectives and skills because
this will be circulated and form the basis for people in the region to
make up their minds who to vote for. Include a picture if possible.
This form must be received by the end of February 2019. Votes will be
collected during March and the result announced by the end of that
month. Good luck to us all as we build a council strong enough to face
the challenges of the next few years.
I’ll be in touch again throughout this exciting process but if you have
any problem with the form, want to chat about whether to stand for
election or any further questions, suggestions or observations please
use the contact details below at any time to have a chat.
Regards
Allan Wort
North West Regional Council chair
Mobile; +44 (0) 7884 188008
Email; ajw01@cyteenfoundation.com
Skype; allan.wort

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10 February 2019

One of the toughest local road races is the Blackburn Winter Warmer 10Km, starting on the Witton Park track and early on, included a stiff climb up Buncer Lane. BWFAC’s Peter Bradburn was 105th (44:58), with Nicola Unsworth 169th (48:13).

The Southport Mad Dog 10Km has become a very popular race, with over 3000 finishing. The BWFAC runners were Simon Scarr (589th 49:57), Amanda Fuller (734th 53:18), Clare Clarke (967th 53:52), Nickola Walker (2226th 67:43), Laura Raynor (2280th 66:00) and Fiona Little (2857th 81:48).

Last weekend’s icy weather put paid to the Lytham Hall and Preston’s parkruns, however Blackpool parkrun’s 2nd Birthday was able to go ahead after icy patches were cleared. BWFAC’s runners ‘enjoying the party’ were Mark Warner 19:32 PB, Steve Dunn 20:12, Paul Eaton 22:18, Michelle Tickle 22:46, Anthony Blight 23:28, Malcolm Beech 26:46, Bethany Corry 29:01, Bob Massey 29:10, Isabella McNamee 30:30 and George James 31:45.

At the Fleetwood Promenade parkrun, Simon Scarr ran 23:14, Peter Gibson 24:14 and Ellen McLachlan 27:40.

At the Inter Varsity meeting held at Lee Valley, Fiona Hockey was 1st with 3.40m in the Pole Vault.

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10 February 2019

There was action on the Track, Country and Road for junior athletes and runners of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC last weekend.

Three BWFAC junior athletes competed in the North of England Under 15 & 13 Indoor Championships held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, with all events taking place over just one day.

Connor Norman (U13B) enjoyed a successful Championships, competing in the 60 metres heats and recording 8.92 to qualify for the Final, where he finished seventh (9.06). In the 200 metres heats he qualified with an electronic PB of 28.90 for the semi-finals, finishing third with 29.24 and qualifying for the Final. In the Final, which was his 5th race of the day he was sixth in 30.26.

Keira Tomes (U13G) was entered in three competitions, recording 9.39 in the 60 metre heats. In the High Jump she reached 1.30m, just 3cm below her PB. Frustratingly, Keira had to leave the competition, whilst in fifth place, to compete in the 200 metre heats, where she qualified for the semi-finals with a PB 31.41. Afterwards Keira discovered that the High Jump Bronze was won with 1.35m, which she would have had a good chance of clearing, but of course we will never know!

Gabriella Bell (U15G) recorded 9.42 and 32.00 in the 60 and 200 metre heats respectively.

The Lancashire Schools Cross Country Championships were held at Witton Park in Blackburn. It was glorious sunny day and underfoot the ground was firm, with a little patchy snow, which made for excellent conditions for running. Six BWFAC runners represented their individual school districts competed.

There were many high class races, however the most exciting contest took place in the Junior Boys Race, which closed the meeting. BWFAC’s Luke Rawcliffe representing Fylde Schools went head to head with Tobias Swarbrick representing Lancaster Schools. Over most of the 3.9Km course, there was never more than a metre between both boys, as they ran shoulder to shoulder, ahead of pack. They were still locked together as they entered the finishing straight, with no quarter being given. At the line, Luke Rawcliffe just edged it from Tobias Swarbrick by inches, with both recording 14:20 and finishing first and second. Fylde Schools also won the Team event and both boys qualified to represent Lancashire in the English Schools Cross Country Championships.

Also in the race was Rafael Eaton representing Wyre Schools, who was 15th in 15:29.

In the younger age category races, Holly Tickle was 21st (10:05) in the Year 7 race over 2Km, with Betty Kershaw 18th (14:59) in the Junior Girls race over 3.2Km. While in the Intermediate races, Max Swarbrick in the Boys race over 5.5Km was 31st (21:45) and Lucy Tickle, who has just returned to running after a foot injury, was 33rd (18:27) in the Girls race over 3.9Km.

The next day also at Witton Park the Winter Warmer 10Km and Junior 2Km races were held. In the 2Km race, four BWFAC Girls competed. Gracie Scott was 12th overall, 3rd girl & 2nd in the 11 to 13 girls category (8:20), with Louisa Bradburn 18th, 5th girl & 4th 11 to 13 girl (8:46), Jessica Ramsden 28th, 8th girl & 5th 11 to 13 girl (9:10) and Jemima Bradburn 41st, 18th girl & 10th 8 to 10 girls category (9:49).

At the 3-1-5 Lancaster 5Km race Naomi Wrigley aged 13 was 43rd in 31:41. Aimee Harling aged 9 posted a PB of 9:03 and was first Girl in the 2Km Park View junior parkrun.

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3rd February 2019

For details of our forthcoming BWFAC Winter Warm-Up please click on the following link…https://bwfac.co.uk/bwfacwinterwarmup2019/

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3rd February 2019

It was a busy two days last weekend for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes and runners, with action across Britain.

The North of England Cross Country Championship was held on Pontefract Race Course in Yorkshire. Three BWFAC runners ran in the Women’s race over 8.05Km, with Michelle Tickle 201st (38:29), Laura Lawler 243rd (40:12) and Basia Pawelczak 254th (40:52). Also at Pontefract was senior coach of BWFAC, Stan Taylor in his capacity as President of Northern Athletics.

There were two local road races. There were 50mph cold northerly winds to battle on the Promenade between St Anne’s and Lytham for 335 runners in the St Anne’s 10 Miler. The BWFAC Women’s team of Nicola Unsworth (89th 1:22:01), Gina Whiteley (123rd 1:27:16) and Ellen McLachlan (169th 1:29:08) were second. Also running was Rick Pinches (169th 1:32:38).

At the Hunter 10Km, Fran Connolly was 236th (54:35), with Julie Sinclair (317th 61:16), Isabel McNamee (344th 63:08) and Jennifer Burtonwood (373rd 67:08).

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2nd February 2019

Junior News

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC juniors were involved in track & field action in both Glasgow and Manchester, whilst outdoors, BWFAC were represented in cross country in Pontefract and at parkrun on the Fylde.

Five BWFAC first year Under 17 Women made the journey to compete in the Scottish Senior and Under 17 Indoor Championships held at the magnificent Emirates Arena.  They no doubt took inspiration from Senior BWFAC athlete, Katy Wyper, who was also competing and won Silver and Bronze Medals in the 200 and 60 metres Championship races.

Imogen Reader qualified from the 60 metre heats with a 8.44 PB for the semi-finals, where she recorded 8.52.  In the 200m (27.54) Reader again qualified for the semi-finals where she was 5th (27.61).  Mary-Jayne Broomhead qualified from the 60 metres heats (8.33) for the semi-finals, where she was 6th (8.28) and in the 200m heats, Broomhead recorded 27.80 in her heat.  Ellie Owens recorded recorded 8.44 in the 60m heats and 28.12 in the 200m heats, while Nekkisha Wilson posted 29.83 in the 200m heats.

Leah Howard was pleased to post a PB of 9.98 in the heats of the 60m Hurdles.  In the High Jump Howard was 15th with 1.48m and Long Jump 21st with 4.39m.

Nine of the BWFAC Pole Vaulting squad were part of the 112 keen vaulters of all ages, from Under 11 to Vets that gathered to compete at Sportcity Indoor Athletic Arena in the annual Vault Manchester competition, less than 100 metres from the Etihad Stadium, where Manchester City were playing Burnley in the FA Cup.

In the morning session Chloe Parsons posted 2.31m and Grace Dunn was just 4cm short of her best with 2.11m.

There were five competing in the lunchtime session, all of whom posted PBs.  George Mackenzie’s (U15) improvement was impressive as posted a 20cm improvement to 2.31m, with teammate Seb Holt (U15) improving from 2.00m to 2.11m.

Talia Armstead (U15) had been playing Hockey in the morning at Wakefield and it looked as though she wouldn’t make the start of the session, however despite the heavy traffic, her mother got her there just in time to compete and Talia had a successful competition posting a 9cm improvement to her best with 2.11m.  For Ellise Balshaw (U15) it was her first Pole Vault competition and she posted an excellent 1.91m.  The youngest member of the squad, Isabella Chamley (U13), who had only celebrated her 11th birthday recently, improved her best from 1.80m to 1.91m.

The two most experienced members of the BWFAC squad, Amelia Shearman and Jasmine Carey competed in the afternoon session.  Amelia, since posting 3.50m at the  English Schools, last July hasn’t been able to compete in the Pole Vault competitions due to injury.  In this first competition back, she posted 3.01m and this run-out will prove valuable as she strives to return to her best.  Jasmine Carey, fresh from winning Gold at the North of England Championship two weeks ago, posted 3.51m.

Betty Kershaw competed at the North of England Cross Country Championships, held at Pontefract, in the Under 13 race over the 3.05 Km course, finishing an excellent 76th out of 202.

Meanwhile back at the Blackpool parkrun Rafael Eaton was the first 11 to 14 junior in 20:28 and at Lytham Hall, Luke Rawcliffe was first junior in 19:09.  The next day at the Park View 2Km junior parkrun, Louisa Bradburn was first girl in 8:40, with Aimee Harling second girl in 9:36.

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1st February 2019

The third Mid Lancs League CPR, Defibrillator and Heart Start training
session is scheduled for February.

The session will familiarize candidates with the MLL’s defibrillator
and with CPR, as well as taking a wider approach of what to do in
different emergency situations as well as heart attacks.

The session will take place in the suite at the back of St. Saviour’s
Church, Church Road, Bamber Bridge PR5 6EP on Tuesday 26th February
starting at 7:30pm and last for about two and a half hours. There
is no charge for the course. There is ample parking in Church Road
which is a wide cul-de-sac.

If any club members would like to attend, please email your name and contact details to dawnlock@tiscali.co.uk or telephone 01253 721514. Please click on the document below for more details.

Mid Lancs League CPR, Defibrillator and Heart Start Training

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27th January 2019

The Club Shop is now open to order your kit for the Track & Field Season.

Open from 21/01/2019 until 08/02/2019, delivery 29/03/2019.

https://bwfac.co.uk/club-kit/

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26th January 2019

The Inskip Half Marathon provided a good test for local athletes on the relatively flat lanes of the Fylde. Although a bit chilly, conditions were good for running, with little wind and virtually no rain, which helped David Rigby of Salford Harriers to win in 1:12:08. As it was nominated as the second race of the Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC Road Championship, ten members ran. First BWFAC runner was Mark Warner (59th 1:32:58), followed by Paul Sparrow (61st 1:33:09), Bev Wright (79th 1:37:20), Nicola Unsworth (87th 1:39:48), Laura Lawler (105th 1:44:43), Simon Scarr (132nd 1:52:36), Ellen McLachlan (135th 1:53:16), David Twizell (150th 1:55:48), Amanda Fuller (168th 2:00:18) and Debra Rodgers (205th 2:16:15).

Fiona Hockey is currently at Cardiff Metropolitan University and there was opportunity for some early season action in the Pole Vault at the Cardiff Mets Grand Prix. Fiona was in good form as she finished second with 3.71 metres, just 9cm below her best. This weekend along with other members of the of BWFAC Pole Vaulting squad, Fiona Hockey is due to compete at the Vault Manchester competition.

At the Blackpool parkrun Steve Dunn posted 20:29, Paul Eaton 22:39, Basia Pawelczak 23:35, Trevor Uttley 28:14, David Twizell 28:44, Malcolm Beech 29:01, Bethany Corry 29:20, Wayne Norris 29:26, Nickola Walker 29:33, George James 33:41, Mark Warner 36:06; while at Lytham Hall parkrun, Tony Terras, after an early morning training swim, posted 19:31. Meanwhile at Fleetwood Promenade parkrun Paul Sparrow ran 20:55 and Peter Simpson 23:51. Meanwhile Simon Scarr ran 26:23 at the Preston parkrun.

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25th January 2019

The Lancashire Sportshall Competition saw the Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s athletes perform strongly once again. Rafael Eaton (U13 Boys) won the Standing Triple Jump by 74cm, with a personal best of 6.76m. Millie Turner (U11 Girls) also won the Standing Triple Jump, recording 5.84m for her second victory of the season. Turner also finished third overall in the the 1 Lap Sprint. Rafael Eaton also won the 4 Lap and 6 Lap endurance runs, and finished second in the Speed Bounce.

Other personal bests were achieved by Alfie Hall in the One Lap and Javelin; Billy Cook in the One Lap and Balance Test; Leon Cole in the Target Throw and Long Jump; James Blake in the 4 Laps and 6 Laps; Grace Oates in the 4 Laps; Ashleigh Bradshaw in the 4 Laps and Long Jump; Lohan Sparrow in the 4 Laps and Long Jump; Jacob Stock in the Long Jump and Francesca Lane in the Long Jump.

There were also strong performances by Thomas Oates in the High Stepper, Hope Fletcher in the One Lap, Oliver Nunn in the Vertical Jump and Two Laps, Jack Bale has in the Javelin and One Lap and Harrison Booth-Isherwood in the Long and Vertical Jumps.

The Under 13 Boys won the overall age category for the season, the first time BWFAC for many years.

Rafael Eaton was the most successful athlete across all the age ranges in the Lancashire competition this season with the best times for 4 Laps, 6 Laps, Triple Jump and Speed Bounce, and will be leading the Lancashire Team at the Intercity Games at Sportcity in March. Rafael was also the Male BWFAC Athlete of the Month for December for his success in Sportshall and cross country.

After several weeks of no running due to a foot injury, Lucy Tickle decided to test it out at the the weekly 2Km Park View Junior parkrun. Although supposed to be a relatively gently run-out, it was still fast enough to finish first girl (8:23) and thankfully with no pain. Also running was Aimee Harling (9:16), who was second girl, closely followed by Holly Tickle (9:30), who was third girl. The previous day, at the Blackpool parkrun, Rafael Eaton posted 23:17.

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22nd January 2019

Race for Life are inviting everyone to join this year’s events (including men!) and currently have 30% off the entry fee until the end of January! Anyone who would be free to volunteer at either event please contact Nick Hume.

2019 Race for Life January Sale – Toolkit

Blackpool Race for Life – Launch Release 2019

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19th January 2019

During December Michelle ran two 10K races and won her age category in the Boxing Day 10K at Leyland.   She also ensured BWFAC had a ladies team leading the three ladies at the Mid Lancs Cross Country League December fixture at Hyndburn.  Michelle reached a significant total of 198 parkruns in December,  which was turned into 200 on New Year’s Day, which shows a dedication to running which deserves recognition.

Rafael Eaton at the beginning of December helped BWFAC to win she U13 Boys section of the Lancashire Sportshall League meeting, by winning all 4 individual events and was part of the winning relay team.  In the Speed Bounce he recorded 91 in 30 seconds, breaking the Lancashire Record and was only 2 short of the British Record and 5 short of the World Record.  He also was Athlete of the tournament.  Rafael regularly represents BWFAC on the track and at cross country.

Volunteer of the Quarter is Andrea Smith for all her hard work over many years keeping the finances of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC in good order as Treasurer.

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15th January 2019

Below is the ‘New Members Membership Form’ for anyone wishing to join BWFAC from now on.

Existing Members will be sent a Renewal Form in due course (late Feb/early March).

BWFAC New Members Application Form – January 2019 – March 2020 (PDF)

BWFAC New Members Application Form – January 2019 – March 2020 (Word Doc)

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14 January 2019

The North of England Indoor T&F Senior, U20 & U17 Championships were held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield and twelve Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes competed.

Katy Wyper competed in the Senior Women’s 60m, where she was defending Champion; along with two of her training partners, Sophie Riley of Wigan & District Harriers, who has only recently returned to competition after a break of four years, and Ash Colvin of Liverpool Harriers, both former members of BWFAC. All three are coached by Donald Moss of Wigan and also Bob Wyper at Blackpool. Wyper, Riley and Colvin were in the same heat and all qualified for the final, where Katy Wyper won Gold in 7.58, Sophie Riley Silver (7.71) and Ash Colvin was 7th (7.94). Both Riley and Colvin ran the next day in the 200m, where Sophie Riley won Bronze (25.36).

The fourth fixture of the Mid Lancs League was held at a muddy and windy Towneley Park in Blackburn. On the 5.8K course, the Women’s Open team of Bev Wright (20th 22:34), Laura Gilderdale (32nd 23:30), Michelle Tickle (48th 24:16), Laura Lawler (60th 25:07) and Debra Rogers (153rd 30:44) were 9th, with Vet 35 team 8th.

Over a 9.8K course Luke Minns (6th 31:12), John Wright (73rd 36:24), Paul Sparrow (158th 39:48), Peter Bradburn (217th 42:22), Nick Hume (220th 42:24) and Paul Eaton (240th 44:13) were 22nd team the 16th Vet 40 team and 6th Vet 50s.

The main local road race was the Garstang 10K won by Matthew Lalor of Ribble Valley 10K. First BWFAC runner was Ian Dawson (24th 39:52), with Nicola Unsworth (78th 44:55), Gina Whiteley (165th 50:25 PB), Amanda Fuller (268th 55:33 PB), Malcolm Beech (283rd 57:08), Bob Massey (321st 58:54), Nickola (387th 64:08), Laura Raynor (442nd 68:39) and Fiona Little (478th 77:43).

Junior News

Last week was the first Cross Country Championship of 2019, with the Lancashire’s, and this weekend, Track and Field took to the stage with the North of England Indoor Track & Field Senior, U20 & U17 Championships, held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. Seven Under 17 and two Under 20 Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes took on the challenge.

Jasmine Carey returned as defending Champion in the Under 17 Women’s Pole Vault competition. Also competing was teammate Chloe Parsons in her first visit to these Championships, and first competition as an Under 17. Chloe had an excellent debut, clearing up to 2.40m, just 2cm below her PB and she had three good attempts at 2.50m to finish in fourth place.

Jasmine started her Championship at 3.30m and cleared 3.50m to win the 2019 Under 17 Pole Vault North of England Championship. Interestingly her clearance of 3.50m bettered the winning marks in the Senior and U20 Women’s Championships.

In the track events, five first year Under 17 runners competed. Mary-Jayne Broomhead qualified for the semi-finals of the 60m competition with 8.37 and in the semi-final was 7th with 8.36. In the 200m heats, Broomhead posted 27.73. Megan Lewis recorded 8.70 in the 60m and 28.78 in 200m heats, while Ellie Owen posted 8.86 in the 60m. Leah Howard recorded 29.18 in the 200m and 10.23 in the 60m Hurdles heats, while Imogen Reader posted 27.99 in the 200m heats.

Leah Howard was 5th (1.50m) in the ‘B’ Final of the High Jump and also 5th (4.69m) in the ‘B’ Long Jump competition, while Megan Lewis was 14th (3.76m).

In the Under 20 competitions, Bradley Parsons just missed out qualifying for the semi-finals of the 60m heats with 7.49, while Will Critchley posted 53.26 in the 400m heats.

Meanwhile at a muddy and windy Towneley Park in Burnley, 18 junior BWFAC runners ran at the fourth fixture of the Mid Lancs Cross Country League meeting.

The Bronze Medal Under 11 Girls winning team from last week’s Lancashire Cross Country Championships, were in action again, with Gracie Scott in third (7:10) leading the team on the two lap 2Km course to third place. The other members of the team were Jess Ramsden (16th 7:47), Ella-May Leonard (23rd 7:59), Polly Kershaw (26th 7.59), Aimee Harling (38th 8.20) and Jemima Bradshaw (58th 8:43). In the Under 11 Boy’s race Billy Kershaw was 92nd (8:40).

The Under 13 Girls team of Betty Kershaw (14th 9:58), Louisa Bradburn (34th 10:46) and Naomi Wrigley (56th 13:04) were 7th on the 2.7Km course.

In the other age categories, Rafael Eaton (5th 10:19) and Alex Maud (36th 11:36) ran in the U13 Boys race over the 3.2Km course, whilst on the same course Bethany Whipp was 31st (12:22) in the Under 15 Girls race. Max Swarbrick was 7th (13:16) and Luke Rawcliffe 30th (15:11), while Danielle Whipp was 8th (15:46) in the Under 17 Women’s race on the 4Km course. In the Under 17 Men’s race over 5.8Km, Jack Tickle was 7th (19:36) and James Smith 15th (20:09).

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7 January 2019

Senior News

The Lancashire Cross Country Championships were held at an overcast Witton Park in Blackburn.

Jess Rogers was 17th (26:50) and won the Junior Women’s Bronze Medal and Laura Lawler was 45th (32:08) in the Senior Women’s race over 6.7Km, while in the Men’s race over 9.8Km, Luke Minns was 16th (32:28), Harry Poole 47th (34:31), Paul Sparrow 122nd (41:11) and Nick Hume 162nd (45:11).

At the Cheshire Cross Country Championships, Claire Irons was 88th in the Senior Women’s race.

Katy Wyper, practicing her sprinting technique for the Northern Indoor Championships, were among seventeen BWFAC athletes at the Sale Open meeting.

At the January Club Handicap (3.23 miles), Gina Whiteley was first home in a PB 29:57, with Ian Dawson runningŕ 22:21, Peter Gibson 29:47, Nick Hume 27:27 and Jeff Wright 34:00.

At the Blackpool parkrun, BWFAC members ran as follows, Nicola Unsworth 22:08, Paul Eaton 22:34, David Twizell 25:07, Malcolm Beech 28:15, Amanda Fuller 28:34, Nickola Walker 29:45, Wayne Norris 30:52 and Paul Sparrow 53:48, while at the Fleetwood Promenade, Bev Wright ran 20:11, Peter Gibson 23:55 and Bob Massey 28:03.

Meanwhile at Lytham Hall parkrun, Michelle Tickle ran 21:46, Caroline Betmead 22:32, Peter Singleton 22:35, Simon Tickle 23:06, and Howard Henshaw 31:11, while at Preston, Simon Scarr ran 26:23. The next day Ella-May Leonard was 1st girl in 9:05 at the Park View junior 2Km parkrun.

Junior News

It was a busy weekend for the junior athletes of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC in both the Lancashire Cross Country Championships, held at Witton Park and Track & Field meeting at Sportcity.

The star team for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC at the Cross Country was the Under 11 Girls team, who ranged in age from 8 to 11, showing a maturity and talent far beyond their tender years to win medals. Gracie Scott (pictured below top right) took an early decisive lead in the race on the 1.8Km course, which she held to the line, winning in 6:58 to claim the individual gold medal. Together with Jessica Ramsden (18th 7:35), Ella-May Leonard (22nd 7:43), Polly Kershaw (33rd 8:02) and Aimee Harling (36th 8:05), the team won the bronze team medals (pictured below). The next morning Ella-May Leonard was running again at the Park View junior 2Km parkrun, finishing first girl in 9:05. In the equivalent boy’s race, 8 year old Billy Kershaw was 49th in 7:53.

In the Under 13 Boy’s race over 3.2Km, Rafael Eaton was 16th (12:24), with Trayden Jarrett (28th 13:06) and Alex Maud (40th 14:07), while in the girls race, Betty Kershaw was 11th (13:08) and Jessica Glover was 42nd (15:12). Deetray Jarrett was 20th (14:04) in the Under 15 Boy’s race over the 3.8Km course.

In the Under 17 races over 5.5Km, James Smith was 17th (19:53) in the mens race and Danielle Whipp (pictured left) was pleased with her run, where with a a strong finish, she was 5th in 22:36 and qualified to represent Lancashire in the Inter Counties Championships in March.

Seventeen BWFAC members travelled to Sportcity Indoor Athletic Centre to test their winter training and, for some, to prepare for the Northern Indoor Championships in Sheffield this coming weekend.

In the 60 metre heats the times were as follows: Bradley Parsons (U20) 7.52, Andrew Woodhouse (U20) 7.64 PB, Mary-Jayne Broomhead (U17) 8.29, Imogen Reader (U17) 8.65, Megan Lewis (U17) 8.68 PB, Ellie Owen (U17) 8.74, Daisie-Mae Keane (U15) 9.03, Emily Rigby (U15) 9.06, Nekkisha Wilson (U17) 9:07, Erica Reid (U15) 9:19 and Gabriella Bell (U15) 9.23. While in the 200m heats the times were: Mary-Jayne Broomhead 27.92, Imogen Reader 28.26, Megan Lewis 28.53, Leah Howard (U17) 29.41, Nekkisha Wilson 29.52, Natalia Luczak (U17) 29.91 and Gabriella Bell 31.94. In the 60m Hurdles Leah Howard set a new PB of 10.22 in the 60m Hurdles.

Alex Slater was in good form in the field events, with a PB of 1.70m in the High Jump and 11.16m in the Shot Putt, whilst Scott Sinclair also posted a PB of 5.89m in the Long Jump and cleared 1.60m in the High Jump. Other Long Jump performances were: Leah Howard 4.46m, Natalia Luczak 4.43m, Mary-Jayne Broomhead 3.98m and Megan Lewis 3.53m.

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6 January 2019

The main local road race to conclude 2018 was the Ribble Valley 10K, starting and finishing in Clitheroe. It also included the North of England 10k Championships, which attracted a glittering elite entry among the 1306 runners. Conditions were good for fast times and the spectators weren’t disappointed, with the first nine across the line breaking 30 minutes. Internationals Marc Scott of Richmond & Zetland (28:58) who won for the third consecutive year, and First Lady Beth Potter of Shaftesbury Barnett (32:07), both received an extra £200 for breaking the course records.

First Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runner was Super Vet, Bev Wright (322nd 41:28), who won the prize for first Female Vet 55. Other BWFAC runners were Michelle Tickle (486th 45:35), Andrea Smith (561st 47:20), David Twizell (690th 50:21), Simon Scarr (758th 51:14), Rick Pinches (848th 54:00) and Bob Massey (1139th 62:21).

At the Boxing Day 10K run in Leyland, Stephen Dunn (43rd 42:23) was first BWFAC runner, with Michelle Tickle (76th 45:22) winning first FV40 prize, Nicola Unsworth (88th 46:08), Gina Whiteley (162nd 50:36) and Bob Massey (287th 57:50).

Although there were no Track & Field competitions, training did not stop, even on Christmas Day, as Derek Newton ran session outside Blackpool Sports Centre.

Running off the excesses of Christmas, parkruns proved a popular option, with BWFAC runners. John Wright was 2nd (18:27) at the Blackpool parkrun, with Steve Dunn (20:00), Paul Sparrow (20:44), Amanda Fuller (27:41), Rick Pinches (27:42), Malcolm Beech (28:23), David Twizell (29:00), Nickola Walker (29:30) and Wayne Norris (29:56), while at Lytham Hall, Club President Howard Henshaw ran 31:25. At the Fleetwood Promenade, Liam Craine ran 21:13, with Rafael Eaton (21:48), Paul Eaton (23:47), Peterson Gibson (24:32), Gina Whiteley (26:53) and Simon Scarr (27:08).

Further afield at a muddy Abingdon parkrun, four members of the Tickle Family ran, with Jack posting 19:01, Michelle 24:08, Simon 24:08 and Holly 27:56.

At the Park View junior 2K parkrun, Ella-May Leonard (8:55) and Aimee Harling (9:29) were 1st and 2nd girls.

New Year’s Day gave the opportunity to run two extra parkruns in one day with Blackpool parkrun starting at 8:30 and Lytham Hall at 10:00. For Michelle Tickle it was of particular significance, as Blackpool (22:48) was her 199th parkrun, Lytham (22:30) her 200th and also her ninth competitive run over the Christmas and New Year period.

Others running both parkruns were Rafael Eaton (20:44/24:28), Simon Reason (21:37/22:23), Paul Sparrow (22:02/20:28) who also ran in between the parkruns, Les Endean (20:44/24:01), Simon Tickle (24:20/24:38), Peter Gibson (24:37/25:24), Fran Connolly (27:05/27:37), David Twizell (27:39/27:18), Simon Scarr (28:34/26:29), Amanda Fuller (29:39/27:57), Bethany Corry (30:54/30:40), Debbie Terras (31:00/29:36), Nickola Walker (31:41/31:59), Bob Massey (33:23/28:50), Callum Cruickshank (33:44/32:28) and Fiona Little (39:23/39:52).

Running just one parkrun on New Years Day at Blackpool, Jack Tickle was 2nd in a PB of 18:11, with Emily Balshaw (22:41), Nicola Unsworth (24:20), Holly Tickle (25:18), Basia Pawelczak (25:29) and Tracey Sharrock (33:32), while at Lytham Hall, Julie Sinclair ran 28:16, Aimee Harling (aged 8) 31:49 and Naomi Wrigley 32:30.

Meanwhile at the Fleetwood Promenade parkrun, Liam Craine ran 20:14, the Kershaw young runners, Betty 22:01, Billy 26:49 and Polly 26:51, with 28:30 for Malcolm Beech.

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6 January 2019

The Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC women were in seasonal mood as Mother Christmas, Laura Lawler and her seven Red Nose Reindeers, Debbie Terras (179th), Kirsty Holland (180th), Dawn Maher (181st), Claire Clark (182nd), Michelle Tickle (183rd), Basia Pawelczak (184th) and Debra Rodgers (185th) completed the five mile road trail Rudolph Red Nose race in 56:15.

However first BWFAC runner was Simon Reason in 10th (36:08), with Peter Singleton 24th (37:46) and Bev Wright was 34th and 1st FV55 in 38:25. Also running was Ellen McLachlan (65th 41:40), John Reason (73rd 43:04), Rick Pinches (86th 45:50), Alan Smart (119th 47:40), Jeff Wright (143rd 50:20), Bernard Singleton (156th 51:18) and Isabel McNamee (196th)

With the Vault Manchester and Northern Athletics Indoor Championships next month the BWFAC Vault group took the final opportunity of 2018 to practise their vaulting technique at the Manchester Christmas Pole Vault Open which was held at the Indoor Track at Sportcity in Manchester. The most experienced member Jasmine Carey (U17W) cleared 3.52 metres, while Chloe Parsons (U17W) with 2.42m and George Mackenzie (U15B) with 2.12m both posted PBs. In their first Pole Vault competitions, Jefferson Kong (U15G) with 2.12m and Talia Armstead (U15G) with 2.02, both had encouraging starts.

As the runners of BWFAC prepared for the Christmas holidays, they took time out to run the local parkruns. At the Blackpool parkruns Steve Dunn ran 20:09, Rafael Eaton 20:27, Paul Sparrow 20:32, Paul Bradburn 21:11, Trevor Uttley 23:28, Peter Gibson 24:32, Malcolm Beech 28:28 and Simon Scarr 29:59. Meanwhile at Lytham Hall parkrun Jack Tickle set a new PB of 18:46, with Peter Singleton running 22:32, Michelle Tickle 22:41, Simon Tickle 23:38 and Howard Henshaw 34:22; while at the Fleetwood Promenade parkrun Laura Lawler ran 23:32 and David Twizell 25:14.

The next day at the Park View 2Km junior parkrun, Gracie Scott was 1st in 7:54, with Otis Leah 2nd in 8:04 and Ella-May Leonard 9th in 9:17. Jack Tickle (20:01), Ted Romney (22:19), Michelle Tickle (23:53) and Holly Tickle (26:00) made room for Christmas Pud by running the Preston Christmas Day parkrun.

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6 January 2019

BWFAC Membership Fees Update

The Committee has agreed that Membership Fees for 2019 – 20 will remain at the same levels as the last few years.

For new Members who join the club during January – March they will receive 15/14/13 months for the price of 12.

The Membership Fee includes the England Athletics individual registration fee (£15.00) and the affiliation fee to Northern Athletics (£2.00).

Current members will be sent a reminder about renewing in late February/early March.

Vacancy for Treasurer

After 8 years Andrea Smith will be stepping down as Treasurer at the AGM and the club requires someone to volunteer to take on this vital role within the club. If anyone is interested please contact Nick Hume.

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17 December 2018

Still looking for the perfect christmas gift?

I have BWFAC Competiton Vests, Training T-Shirts & Hoodies in stock.
I will be in the clubhouse Monday 17th – Thursday 20th December from 6pm – 7pm. Merry Christmas!

Tracy Smith

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17 December 2018

The postal and online entries for the Lancashire Cross Country Championships has been extended to 24 December and you can enter here. You may still enter on the day.

The current list of entries can be viewed here.

If any BWFAC members would be willing to assist in the marshalling of the Lancashire Cross Country Championships on Saturday 5th January at Witton Park Blackburn it would be appreciated. Blackburn Harriers play host to the Championships every year but would be grateful for any offers of assistance next month.
Please contact George Davies: georgedavies48@sky.com

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17 December 2018

The main action for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s on Sunday, was at Sportcity in Manchester and also at Stanley Park in Blackpool. Twenty BWFAC athletes ranging from Seniors down to Under 13, competed in the final Sale Open meeting held at the indoor track at Sportcity.

Katy Wyper and Nia Rutter competed in their first indoor competition of the winter season. Katy Wyper showed consistency by recording the same time of 7.61 in both heats of the 60 metres she ran. Nia Rutter ran 9.50 in the 60m Hurdles. Other 60m times were: Bradley Parsons (U20) 7.47, Charles Utomi (U17) 8.02, Mary-Jayne Broomhead (U17) 8.24 (PB), Imogen Reader (U17) 8.49 (PB), Leah Howard (U17) 8.64 (PB), Ellie Owen (U17) 8.67 (PB), Nekkisha Wilson (U17) 8.88 (PB), Daisie-Mae Keane (U15) 8.93 (PB) and Keira Tomes (U13) 9.13 (PB); while in the 60m Hurdles, Gracie Rutter posted 11.04. In the 300m sprint on the 200m banked track, Reader also posted 44.45, Wilson 51.18 and Natalia Luczak (U17) 48.23. And in the 600m, Danielle Whipp (U20) was in sparkling form, posting a big PB of 1:40.92, with Seb Holt (U15) posting 1:49.76.

In the field events, Scott Sinclair (U17) cleared 5.35m, Natalia Luczak 4.58m, Mary-Jayne Broomhead 4.48m, Leah Howard 4.28m and Keira Tomes (U13) a 3.82m PB in the Long Jump, while in the High Jump, Alex Slater (U17) jumped 1.60m, while Sinclair cleared 1.60m, Leah Howard equalled her PB with 1.55m and Seb Holt jumped 1.50m.

In the Shot Putt in the U15 Boys Kieran Howard posted a PB 8.02m, and Alex Slater also posted an outstanding PB of 10.96m in the U17Ms.

The Pole Vault was a feature of this meeting and Jasmine Carey (U17) cleared 3.50m, while Chloe Parsons (U17) posted a new PB of 2.40m while Fiona Hockey competed at the Cardiff Met Christmas Classic Grand Prix clearing 3.50m.

The action was somewhat more relaxed at the Christmas Predictor race, a run around Stanley Park and finishing with a circuit of the athletic track. The runners had to forecast their time, with the male and female nearest to the predicted times winning the main prizes. First across the line was Rafael Eaton in 16:44, with Betty Kershaw first female in 18:12. Both also won the prizes for being the Under 15s nearest their predicted times, with Betty only 12 seconds shy of her predicted time. Overall, the nearest to her forecast time was Nicola Eaton, whose forecast time was only 6 second out from her finishing time of 27:40, with Simon Scarr winning the male senior prize. Betty’s eight year old brother, Billy Kershaw had a fantastic run with 19:11, while Alfie Hall posted 20:18, Polly Kershaw 20:22, Jasper Hall 23:10 and Zac Terras, still recuperating from a nasty athletic injury, was restricted to walking the course in 37:05.

Defying the cold windy conditions at the Blackpool parkrun, the BWFAC runners were: Peter Bradburn (20:46), Paul Beech (21:33), Rafael Eaton (22:09), Nicola Unsworth (22:48), Michelle Tickle (23:04), Paul Eaton (23:15), Simon Tickle (23:38), Peter Gibson (25:12), Amanda Fuller (27:34), Malcolm Beech (28:31), David Twizell (28:49), Nickola Walker (29:08), Bob Massey (29:16), Bethany Corry (29:34), Wayne Norris (29:35) and Jemima Bradburn (29:56). Despite very cold conditions on the Saturday, Aimee Harling had an enjoyable run of 30:44 with her mother at the Lytham Hall parkrun over 5K. Also running at Lytham were Peter Singleton (22:43) and Simon Scarr (25:34).

The next day Aimee was 2nd girl with 9:20, behind teammate Holly Tickle (9:04) at the Park View 2Km parkrun in Lytham.

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10 December 2018

The third Mid Lancs Cross Country League meeting was held at a very muddy and showery Wilson Playing Fields in Clayton-le-Moors after being postponed in mid-November. However, there were problems with the course management and marshalling, which meant delays in some of the races, and in part led to some runners taking the wrong course.

Because of the change of date and other arrangements, many of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Senior Women were not available and together with injuries, the team was down to the bear minimum of three. However, Michelle Tickle (55th 29:29), Basia Pawelczak (61st 30:08) and Dawn Maher (108th 35:49) ran with purpose and battled the conditions, bringing the team home in 18th place.

The Men’s team were led by John Wright (61st 42:23), with Stephen Dunn (98th 45:06) in his first cross country in 30 years. The rest of the team were Peter Bradburn (155th 49:20), Chris Rawcliffe (175th 51:11), Paul Plummer (219th 58:34), Paul Eaton (219th 58:34), Simon Scarr (225th 59:48) and Alan Wilkinson (237th 69:33) with the Open Team finishing 22nd, and both the Vet 40 & 50 teams were tenth.

Six young BWFAC girls braved the the thick mud in the Under 11 race over 2Km with smiles on there faces. Gracie Scott battled with Kate Holling of Kendal for first place, finally finishing 2nd, just 4 seconds behind in 8:28 on the two lap course. The rest of the team were Jess Ramsden (19th 9:29), Ella-Mae Leonard (24th 9:40), Polly Kershaw (40th 10:12), Jemima Bradburn (41st 10:14) and Aimee Harling (50th 10:41). The team finished fifth.

The U11 Boys team, with Alfie Hall (26th 8:35), Jack Balshaw (26th 8:35) and Billy Kershaw (61st 9:55), was nineth. The U13 Girls team of Betty Kershaw (9th 11:31), Louisa Bradburn (30th 12:34), Jess Glover (34th 12:40) and Holly Tickle (36th 12:48) was sixth on the 2.5Km course. In the U17 Men’s race over 6Km Jack Tickle was 9th (22:58), with James Smith 12th (23:34) despite running extra distance due to problems in the marshalling, and Bruno Eaves 31st (30:26). The team was sixth. There were not full teams for BWFAC in the other age categories. In the U13 Boys race over 3Km, Rafael Eaton was 7th (10:51) and Forest Leah, who has recently returned to action after a broken wrist was 28th (11:48); while in the U15 Girls race over 3Km, Lucy Tickle was 15th (12:35) and Bethany Whipp 25th (12:35), with in the the U15 Boys Max Swarbrick 8th (9:41) and Luke Rawcliffe 11th (10:16) and in the U17 Women race Danielle Whipp was 4th (10:57), both over 4Km.

The traditional Longridge 7 Mile Christmas Pudding run was held on a bright yet cold day over Longridge Fell near Preston. Ethan McEvoy was 18th and first Junior runner in 46:48, with Nicola Unsworth 70th (53:26) and first FV45. Also running was Michelle Tickle in 99th (56:25) and Nickola Walker in 355th (1:16:51).

BWFAC runners at the Blackpool parkrun were, Paul Sparrow who was 2nd in 20:37 and Nicola Unsworth was 2nd woman in 22:27. Other BWFAC runners were Peter Gibson (24:49), David Twizell (25:59), Naomi Wrigley (28:25), Fran Connolly (28:32), Wayne Norris (29:45), Simon Scarr (30:18), Nickola Walker (31:05) and Fiona Little (39:47). There was no Lytham Hall parkrun due to the windy conditions.

BWFAC Athlete of the Month for November is Gracie Scott for her performance at the Liverpool Cross Challenge.

There was excellent success for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC at the 2nd fixture of the Lancashire Sportshall League, held at the Blackpool Sports Centre at Stanley Park.

BWFAC had a number of outstanding performances in the tournament. Rafael Eaton won the Athlete of the Tournament, with an unprecedented five victories in five events. Rafael was part of the under 13 team in the Relay, won the 6 lap running race by 12 seconds, the 4 lap running race by 1.5 seconds and smashed his personal best in the triple jump, winning with 6.58m. He then smashed the Lancashire record in the Speed Bounce, with 91 in 30 seconds, 2 off the British record and 5 off the world record!

The under 13 boys completed the day by winning their age section, pushing Preston Harriers into second place. Jefferson Kong had a successful day, finishing second in the 4 laps, vertical jump and 1 lap sprint, before winning the long jump with 2.10m. Calvin Tijan Sohna made his debut for BWFAC, with an all-round excellent performance- finishing 3rd in the 4 lap race, 4th in the 2 lap sprint and 3rd in the speed bounce.

Jefferson, Rafael, Calvin and Alfie Hall were also victorious in the Obstacle Relay.

In the under 11s, there were good performances from Ella-May Leonard, George Oates, Oliver Nunn, Thomas Oates, Jacob Stock and Jack Balshaw in both track and field events. Dominic Birch produced excellent performances in the 1 lap and triple jump, before winning the speed bounce with an outstanding 56 in 20 seconds. Alfie Hall produced a number of outstanding performances, including an incredible 5.88m to win the triple jump. Millie Turner produced her best performances, finishing fourth in the 2 lap sprint before winning the triple jump, with an amazing 5.98m – winning by 48cm!

Grace Oates continued her improvements with strong performances in the speed bounce, triple jump and 2 lap sprint

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4 December 2018

Eight members of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC went international, competing in the 30th International Running Festival held at Club La Santa in Lanzarote. It was a tough challenge of four races over four days, the Vince Regan Memorial Run (10Km), Ridge Run (13Km), Beach Run (5Km) and La Vuelita de Tinajo (21Km) in hot and sometimes windy conditions. Over the four races in the Men’s race, Steve Simpson was 44th (40:32, 58:25, 23:48, 1:27:33), Simon Reason 113th (49:32, 1:08:57, 23:49, 1:47:32), Derek Crane 13th (51:10, 1:16:25, 26:41, 1:52:04), Bob Massey 163rd (1:03:53, 1:34:05, 31:23, 2:14:34), John Reason 164th (1:12:41, 1:40:02, 28:17, 2:16:59) and Bernard Singleton 165th (1:02:41, 1:40:04, 34:29, 2:17:00). In the Women’s race Amanda Fuller was 90th (1:03:50, 1:33:57, 33:45, 2:14:20), with Fiona Little 111th (1:24:05,1:58:23, 44:48, 2:56:28).

Nearer to home in the Myerscough 10 Mile, Nicola Unsworth won the FV45 prize, finishing 103rd overall (80:09) with David Twizell 155th (1:27:23). Meanwhile Claire Irons ran in the Senior Women’s race over 8.4Km at Woodbank Park in Stockport finishing 272nd in 55:02.

The Indoor Track & Field season started for BWFAC at Sportcity and gave an opportunity for nine young athletes to test themselves mainly in the 60 metres, high and long jumps, as well as the 600m, the 60m Hurdles and Shot Putt. In Blackpool the Under 11s and 13s competed in the Lancashire Sportshall League.

Peter Singleton made his return to running the Lytham Hall parkrun after being trampled by a cow and suffering broken ribs whilst on a training run in the countryside a couple of months ago. He ran the 5Km in 22:29, while Michelle Tickle finished in 22:33. At the Blackpool parkrun Rafael Eaton ran 20:32, Paul Sparrow 20:38, Nicola Unsworth 22:56, Ella-Mae Leonard 24:52, Simon Scarr 25:00, Peter Gibson 25:31, David Twizell 26:44, Malcolm Beech 28:17, Clare Clarke 28:18, Thomas Baron 28:51 and Debra Rodger 29:25. While at the Fleetwood Promenade parkrun Steve Dunn was first home in 20:20.

3 December 2018

On Sunday it was the first of the Sale Harriers Indoor Open meetings, which are held at the Sportcity indoor arena in Manchester. Nine junior Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC members took a break from winter training to compete.

For many it was their first run over the indoor sprint distance of 60 metres, indeed for some their first experience of competing indoors. In the 60 metres Emily Rigby recorded 9.00, Daisie-May Keane 9.08, Erica Reid 9.21 and Freya Hickson 9.77.

Sebby Holt tested himself over the 600 metres distance for the first time and ran well, finishing first in his heat in 1:46.68. He also cleared 1.40m in the High Jump.

Leah Howard started her first competition as an Under 17W by posting a PB of 10.35 in the 60m Hurdles, whilst in the High Jump she cleared 1.50m and 4.53m in the Long Jump. Also competing in the U17W category for the first time was Chloe Parsons who ran the 60m achieving a new PB of 8.92. Scott Sinclair cleared 1.60m in the High Jump and 5.44m in the Long Jump, with Thomas Wilkinson clearing 4.36m in the Long Jump.

Having moved up to the Under 15 age category, Kieran Howard threw a new heavier weight of Shot (4 kilogrammes) and continued his good progress in the event with 7.32m.

Meanwhile back in Blackpool, some of the Under 11 and 13 members competed at second fixture of the Lancashire Sportshall League competition. The young team performed well, but as yet full results are not yet available, so a fuller report next week.

Away from the indoor athletics, Gracie Scott ran as a guest in the Red Rose Cross Country League on a muddy course in Todmorden and against a strong field in the Under 11 Girls race, where she was 5th (7:32), just two seconds off third place. Meanwhile at the Blackpool parkrun Rafael Eaton (U13 Boy) ran 20:32 (3rd) and the next day at the Park View junior parkrun in Lytham, Aimee Harling completed the 2Km in 9:46.

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27 November 2018

The main focus for the Junior athletics last Saturday was the Liverpool Cross Challenge. This is .nationwide competition with cross country meetings in Cardiff, Milton Keynes, Belfast and finishing next March in Loughborough. Liverpool was the third fixture and incorporated the European Cross Country Championship Trials in the Senior races. Consequently the meeting attracted some of the best runners in the country. It also incorporated two local cross country leagues, the Liverpool District League, and Mid Lancs League in which Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s members together with many of the North West athletic clubs were competing. Last year the course was muddy after a wet autumn, however this time the recent weather has been relatively dry and so the underfoot conditons were mostly firm and fast.

The first race was the Under 11 Boys over a one lap 2Km course in Sefton Park. Alfie Hall led the way for BWFAC, finishing 19th in 7:40, with Otis Leah 33rd (8:00), Jack Balshaw 37th (8:06) and 8 year old Billy Kershaw 72nd (8:49). Ten minutes later the Under 11 Girls race started over the same course. Despite having only just recovered from a chest infection, Gracie Scott posted an impressive run to finish 1st (7:47) in the Mid Lancs (and in the overall race was sixth of 152 runners). Jess Ramsden was 24th (8:42), Billy Kershaw’s twin sister Polly was 34th (9:01) and Jemima Bradburn 49th (9:29). Both teams finished in sixth place in the Mid Lancs League competition.

The Under 13 and 15 races were over a large lap of 3Km. In the Under 13 Girls race Betty Kershaw was 18th (12:38), with Louisa Bradburn 32nd (13:30), Olivia Sellers 47th (13:50), Holly Tickle 54th (14:10) and Naomi Wrigley 74th (16:32). The team was sixth. Rafael Eaton was 7th (11:28) in the Under 13 Boys race, with Alex Maud 45th (12:58).

In the Under 15 Girls race Lucy Tickle was 28th (12:42), with Beth Whipp 36th (13:03), and Luke Rawcliffe 16th (10:45) in the Boys race.

Danielle Whipp ran in the Under 17 Women’s race over 4.4Km, finishing 5th in 18:19, whilst in the Under 17 Men’s race over 5.5Km Jake Dudley was 4th (18:19), with James Smith 21st (20:07) and Jack Tickle 25th (20:19) bringing the team home in fourth place.

Away from Cross Country, the first of the indoor track and field meetings at Sportcity takes place next Sunday and BWFAC coach Sarah Venn took some of her training group to the Manchester indoor facility so that they could familiarise themselves with layout and conditions.

Last Saturday was a busy day for members of the local running fraternity, who had to make the choice to run in either the popular Wesham 10Km or the Liverpool Cross Challenge held at Sefton Park in Liverpool. This was a chance to rub shoulders (or in reality – see their backs as they disappeared into the distance!) with the crème of British runners as they strived to achieve qualification for the European Cross Country Champion Championship in Holland next month.

The Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC Women’s team was somewhat weakened due to injury and unavailability, however the rest of the squad ran with spirit and in the Senior Women’s race over 8.1Km, the A team of Jess Rogers (13th 32:21), Bev Wright (28th 34:31) and Michelle Tickle (56th 37:28) were 9th team in the Mid Lancs. The B team of Laura Lawler (69th 38:24), Andrea Smith (85th 39:46) and Claire Irons (148th 47:55) were 29th, with the Vet 35s 7th and the Vet 45s 5th.  Jess Rogers was also first in the Under 20 Mid Lancs competition.

In the Senior Mens race run over 9.8Km, the BWFAC squad were Luke Minns (15th 31:31), Harry Poole (34th 33:16), Paul Sparrow (169th 39:42), Peter Bradburn (225th 42:11), Chris Rawcliffe (226th 42:12), Daniel Smith (275th 45:21), Simon Scarr (303rd 50:04), Alan Wilkinson (318th 54:36) and John Winters (320th 72:00).  The Open team was 23rd, the Vet 40s 17th and the Vet 50s 13th.

At the Wesham 10Km, won by Wesham RRC’s Rob Danson in 32:22, BWFAC’s runners were Stephen Dunn (46th 41:36), Anthony Blight (89th 44:31), Ellen McLachlan  (168th 48:53), Kirsty Holland (300th 56:14), Julie Sinclair (339th 58:22) and Andrew Hume (447th 68:37).

Laura Lawler took on the challenge of the Kendal 10Km Festival Trail Run finishing in 66:37 (87th).  Afterwards she had a photo with international triathlete and Olympic medallist, Jonathan Brownlee.

Whilst visiting his son in Abu Dhabi, Vet 60 runner Peter Gibson ran in the Striders Half Marathon. Although starting early morning, the conditions were tough with temperatures in the mid 30 degrees centigrade, Peter was 374th in 2:26:36.

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25 November 2018

CHRISTMAS PREDICTOR

Christmas predictor race Sunday 16th of December 2019. Registration is from 10 am and the run commences at 11.00 am prompt. Entry is by way of a present to the value of three or four pounds suitable wrapped for Christmas. At registration, you declare your projected finish time, the distance is circa 2.5 miles. After the event, we are going to have a Jacobs join so please bring along some food. simple snack foods are ideal. During the run, no one will be allowed the wear a watch or Garmin or any other timing device other than a calendar. After the run, the results will be produced as quickly as possible. The winner is the runner who got nearest to their predicted time. There are prizes for the fastest male and female supplied by our club president Mr Howard Henshaw, as well as other prizes for junior boy or girl. Everybody who took part is called forward in finishing position and can choose a present from those that were brought to enter. Everyone is a winner at Christmas. Margaret will be providing our usual Christmas quiz to keep us occupied while we await the results. The run is open to all members of the club along with relatives and friends of BWFAC. Please spread the word and let’s have a great pre-Christmas social event. Bob Massey

24 November 2018

The next Club Handicap will take place on Sunday 2 December 2018 at New Lane, Thornton at 10.00 am.

23 November 2018

The main local road race last weekend, was the 37th Preston 10 Mile race, which was also the Lancashire AA 10 Mile Road Championship, starting and finishing, after two 5 mile laps at Hutton Grammar School. The race was won by Tim Raynes of Blackburn Harriers in 52:10, with Weshams Rob Danson 2nd and Lytham St Annes RRC’s Liz Abbott first woman in 59:30.

First Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runner was Steve Simpson, who was 51st (62:28), with Bev Wright 113th (67:58) and 10th woman. Bev was also first female Vet 55 and picked up the Lancashire female Bronze and Vet 55 Gold medals. Other BWFAC runners were Anthony Blight (183rd 73:43), Terry Westhead (200th 75:09), Brandon Willoughby (211th 76:09) and Derek Crane (293rd 83:05).

Phil Leybourne ran as part of the England Vet 50 team at the annual British & Irish Masters Cross Country International, this year held in Swansea. In the bright sunshine of Singleton Park, Phil finished 8th in 28:05 on the 8Km course. The England Vet 50 team won the Team Gold.

At the Northern Police Cross Country League at Wilmslow in Cheshire, Laura Lawler was 4th woman in 43:22.

Paul Plummer ran in the Conwy Half Marathon in North Wales and was pleased with 95:54 (271st).

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC Athletes of the Month for October are Bethany Whipp and Luke Rawcliffe. Bethany performed well at the first Mid Lancs meeting at Ulverston, was 2nd girl in the Green Drive Junior One Mile and 4th in the Year 8/9 of the Fylde & Wyre Schools Cross Country Championship. Luke also performed well at Ulverston, was first at Ulverston, was first at the Green Drive Junior Mile and also won the Year 8/9 Fylde & Wyre Schools Cross Country Championships. Also nominated was Betty Kershaw for her performances in Green Drive Mile (3rd girl) and Lancashire Road Relays.

Winter Training continues at the Indoor athletics track at the Stanley Park Sports Centre and last Thursday Sarah Venn’s training group decided to brighten up the action by wearing onesies or pyjamas for Children in Need. At the the previous Tuesday session they wore odd socks!

Winter Training continues at the Indoor athletics track at the Stanley Park Sports Centre and last Thursday Sarah Venn’s training group decided to brighten up the action by wearing onesies or pyjamas for Children in Need. At the the previous Tuesday session they wore odd socks!

Laura Lawler ran in the Kendal Mountain Festival 10K, finishing 357th in a time of 1:06:37.

There was no Lytham Hall parkrun due to another event at the Hall taking place, however the other parkruns went ahead as usual. At Blackpool, juniors Rafael Eaton ran 20:28 and Lucy Tickle 23:39. Also running were Michelle Tickle (23:39), Nicola Unsworth (24:37), David Twizell (25:02), Rick Pinches (27:04), Bob Massey (28:58) Peter Bradburn (29:21), Thomas Baron (29:23) and Andy Hume (32:38). At Fleetwood Promenade, Gina Whiteley ran 25:15 and at Preston parkrun young Aimee Harling ran 33:48.

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23 November 2018

England Athletics have arranged a workshop to support the club’s event organisers.

This introductory session aims to provide clubs with both inspiration and information around setting up a new event or revitalizing an existing one.

Content of workshop:
* guidance for club focused and/or club – driven events
* providing ideas and inspiration for event organisers
* providing information on getting started, resources and support
* sharing ideas and forming local partnerships

Details:
Venue: University of Chester, Warrington Campus, Crab Lane, Warrington,
WA2 0DB
Date: Wednesday 16th January 2019
Time: 6.30pm – 9.30pm, food and refreshments available from 6.00pm
Cost: FREE to attend
Book: Click Here

If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Many thanks

Nick

Nick Settle – Club Support Manager
Cheshire, Merseyside, Tees Valley, Tyne and Wear, Northumberland &
County Durham
[ea-national.wmf]
Mobile: 07968 498710
Email: nsettle@englandathletics.org
Website: http://www.englandathletics.org

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18 November 2018

Below is a list of those who will receive medals as part of the Lower YDL Team. Also included is a list of members who did not receive trophies/plaques at the recent BWFAC Presentation Night. The presentation of the medals/trophies will take place on Thursday 22 November at 18:30 at Blackpool Sports Centre so some training sessions may be disrupted.

Alf Tysoe Winners:		Presentation Night
Lower YDL team		Uncollected
U15 Male
Max Swarbrick		John Wright
Seb Holt		Luke Rawcliffe
Scott Sinclair		Danny Fletcher
Matthew Poole		Emily Japp
Joel Elphick		Brandon Willoughby
Rhys Sandoval-Roberts		Max Swarbrick
Angelo Vinci		Grace Blincow
Deejay Jarrett		Andrew Simm
Luke Rawcliffe		Lauren Gowland
Alex Slater		Ciaran Medd
Samuel Howarth		Luke Minns
Thomas Fairhurst		Kirsty Rushton
U15 Female		Fiona Hockey
Mary- Jane Broomhead		Matthew Poole
Megan Lewis		Alicia Threllfall
Georgia Norman		Olivia Hanby
Natalia Luczak		Phil Ellershaw
Kacie Calvert		Rachel Bashforth
Lucy Tickle
Leah Howard
Charlotte Jones
Imogen Reader
Chloe Parsons
Daisy-Mae Keane
Bethany Whipp
Talia Armistead
Grace Dunn
Talia Ball
Harriet Snelson
U13 Male
Forest Leah
Thomas Wilkinson
Grace Mackenzie
Kieran Howard
Connor Norman
Phelix Kowalski
Jefferson Kong
Rafeal Eaton
Trayden Jarrett
U13 Female
Kiera Tomes
Jessica Roache
Gracie Rutter
Alicia Threlfall
Elise Balshaw
Harriet Medd
Grace Oates
Naomi Wrigley
Holly Tickle
Kitty Mason

18 November 2018

Club Leadership Programme

Please find below information outlining the England Athletics new Club Leadership
programme, along with the application form.

England Athletics are investing into their club infrastructure through a
number of programmes and services and are delighted to share the Club
Leadership programme.

The programme is designed to help those individuals who are either
currently in a club leadership position or those looking to take up a
position in the coming years to aid them within their role.

They are piloting the programme here within the North West. There are
spaces for 2 individuals from the club on the programme.

If anyone would like to chat further about this opportunity, please get in touch through the contact details below.

Emma Davenport
Club Support Manager (Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Lancashire)
[ea-national.wmf]
Mobile: 07967317341
Email: edavenport@englandathletics.org
Website: www.englandathletics.org

EA Club Support Application

EA Club Leadership Flyer

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12 November 2018

Congratulations to Stan Taylor who has been made President of the North of England Athletics Association for 2018/19 at the AGM on Saturday. Very well deserved!

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12 November 2018

To view the full list of award winners from the 2017/18 Presentation Night please click here.

The Cross Country Championship winners were as follows: U11 Girls; Champion Gracie Scott, 2nd Grace Oates, 3rd Holly Tickle; U11 Boys; Champion Forest Leah; U13 Girls; Champion Bethany Whipp, 2nd Grace Blincow; Under 13 Boys; Champion Luke Rawcliffe, 2nd Rafael Eaton, 3rd Zachary Terras; U15 Girls; Champion Lucy Tickle; U15 Boys; Champion James Smith, 2nd Max Swarbrick; U17 Women; Champion Danielle Whipp; U17 Men; Champion Jake Dudley, 2nd Danny Fletcher, 3rd Jack Tickle.

Date for your diary!

At the Presentation Night on Saturday the Lower YDL Team won the Alf Tysoe Trophy for the Outstanding Team Performance. Nick Hume now has the medals that the club agreed to present to all those who competed for the Lower YDL BWFAC Teams in 2018. The plan is to present them on Thursday 22nd November at 18.30 at the Sports Centre along with any trophies that were not collected on the night.

A list of names will be released in due course!

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8th November 2018

London Marathon 2019 Club Place

Applications for the BWF AC London Marathon Club place need to be with Nick Hume by 30th November and include the following details:

-How the criteria has been met

-Proof of rejection for the 2019 race.

Please click here to view the criteria.

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7th November 2018

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Emily Japp along with 8156 other runners took part in a high quality field at Leeds Abbey Dash, where the first nine across the line recorded under 30 minutes. Unfortunately for Japp, she picked up an injury a couple of weeks before the race, which required intense physiotherapy. Despite not being fully fit, she still finished 293rd and 15th woman in 35:46. Also from BWFAC, Rick Pinches was 4336th in 56:02.

At the Derwentwater 10 Mile, Bev Wright was 73rd and 1st female vet 55 in 1:10:53 and Anthony Blight was 135th in 1:17:53. David Twizell ran in the undulating 8.67 mile Through the Villages race at Wheelton, near Chorley finishing 261st in 1:19:14.

In the final week of the Blackpool Illuminations, 30 members of BWFAC had an enjoyable social run through the lights starting from Red Bank Road, thankfully finishing before the rain started and afterwards enjoyed a fish and chip supper.

At the Blackpool parkrun, Paul Sparrow was 11th in 21:07 and Paul Bradburn 12th in 21:11, with Jeff Wilson (35th 23:17), Ella-May Leonard (60th 24:47), Louisa Bradburn (64th 25:01), Debra Rodgers (109th 28:45), Debbie Terras (117th 28:59), Andy Hume (148th 31:57) and Bob Massey (152nd 35:15), whilst five miles north at the Fleetwood parkrun Rafael Eaton was 13th in 22:15, with Karen Dunford (21st 23:22), Ellen McLachlan (25th 24:35) and David Twizell (30th 25:19).

At the local parkruns, Forest Leah was first at the 2Km Park View junior parkrun in 7:41, whilst Ella-May Leonard ran 24:42 at the Blackpool parkrun, Rafael Eaton was 12th with 22:15 in the Fleetwood parkrun.

Meanwhile at the Lytham Hall parkrun, Nicola Walker was 159th in 30:03 and Howard Henshaw 169th in 30:38. Michelle Tickle (66th 23:14) and daughter Lucy (69th 23:19) ran at Preston parkrun.

The first fixture of the Lancashire Sportshall League was held at the Blackpool Sports Centre. Sportshall is a way of continuing many of the elements of athletic disciplines in the confines of a sport hall, especially for the youngest of athletes.

Most successful of the BWFAC Under 13 boys was Rafael Eaton, who won the 30 second Speed Bounce with an amazing 83 bounces. In the Standing Long Jump he was 2nd with 2.12 metres, as he was in the 2 lap (23.6) and 6 lap (2:01.5) races. In the overall U13 boys individual competition Eaton was just one point behind James Ince of Preston Harriers. James Boak was 3rd in the 4 lap race (55.5) and 4th in the 6 lap (2:10.2). Jefferson Kong won the 4 lap race (52.2) and was 3rd in the Standing Long Jump (2.07m). Kong competed in the Shot Putt for the first time and despite his inexperience posted 6.13m to finish third. Overall the U13 Boys team finished 2nd behind Preston Harriers.

In the Under 11 competition, Alfie Hall, Maximus Nelson, Thomas Oates, Jacob Stock and Jack Balshaw competed in the one and two lap races, the 20 second Speed Bounce, Standing Long Jump, Chest Push and Target Throw. Best results were Alfie Hall, who was 3rd in the 2 lap race (24.8) and 9th in the Chest Push, whilst Maximus Nelson was 10th in the 2 Lap race (25.6) and 7th in the Target Throw.

The Under 11 boys, Jack Balshaw, Alfie Hall, Maximus Nelson and Thomas Oates combined together to win the U11 Relay and then combined, with Jefferson Kong substituting for Thomas Oates, finished second in the Under 13 Boys Relay.

Under 13 girl Grace Oates, who has been out of action for several months due to a leg procedure, made a gentle return to action in the Standing Long Jump, scoring points with 1.53m, Vertical Jump and Shot Putt. Rubie Linley, Hope Fletcher and Lily Ryan formed the Under 11 team, competing in Speed Bounce, Chest Push, Vertical Jump, Target Throw and High Stepper. Linley scored points in both the Chest Push and Target Throw.

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6th November 2018

England Athletics registered athletes can now apply for a guaranteed entry into the 2019 Brighton Marathon. Entry into the Brighton Marathon costs £75 and entries must be applied for through your Club Secretary. If you are interested in entering the Brighton Marathon via the England Athletics Club entry, please speak to your Club Secretary. The organisers can only accept requests to enter from Club Secretaries. England Athletics Club entries are available until 1st March 2019. Race packs will need to be collected by the runner or a friend / member of family from the Brighton Marathon Exhibition held on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th April.

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31st October 2018

Two weeks ago there was the Green Drive 5 race, and like buses, there was another 5 mile race last Sunday, the Fairclough 5, starting and finishing in the Wyre Estuary Country Park.

Having won the Green Drive 5 the previous week, Rob Danson of Wesham RRC added the Fairclough 5 in 26:08. Luke Minns of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC, in his first road run for a couple of years, was 2nd in 26:34, with Steve Simpson (11th 31:15) and Bev Wright was 18th and 3rd woman in 33:48. Other BWFAC runners were Chris Rawcliffe (30th 36:04), Dawn Maher (38th 37:36), Jeff Wilson (41st 38:18), Derek Crane (43rd 38:24), David Twizell (53rd 40:35), Amanda Fuller (81st 46:47), Clare Clarke (82nd 47:07), Julie Sinclair (85th 47:46), Nickola Walker (88th 48:42), Elaine Hudson (89th 48:53), Bob Massey (94th 51:30), Howard Henshaw (97th 52:44) and Andrew Hume (54:25). Former BWFAC athlete Bianca Pedersen was first woman in 31:22.

Just before the Fairclough 5 in the one mile Thornton Fun Run, BWFAC junior runners, Gracie Scott was 6th and 2nd girl in 6:22, with Maximus Nelson 10th (6:39), Jessica Ramsden 18th (7:18) and Naomi Wrigley 21st (7:38). Earlier the same morning at the 2Km Halloween themed Park View parkrun in Lytham, Aimee Harling, dressed in a red devil costume, was first girl in 9.63.

Basia Pawelczak took on the challenge of the Delamere Forest Night Runner 10Km along the muddy and undulating forest trails marked with reflective signs. Basia was 105th in 55:14. Nearer to home at the Jail Break 10Km in Lancaster Ellen McLachlan finished 110th in 53:12.

Laura Lawler ran in the Stroud Half Marathon finishing 579th (1:46:47) out of over 1700 runners.

At the Blackpool parkrun Adam Callow was 8th in 21:24, with Peter Bradburn 12th (21:24), Simon Scarr 40th (24:43), Peter Gibson 41st (24:45), Derek Crane 48th (25:20), David Twizell 69th (26:40), Debra Rodgers 90th (28:09) and Naomi Wrigley 96th (28:35).

At Lytham Hall parkrun, Lucy Tickle was 36th (23:21), with Michelle Tickle 38th (23:25), Simon Tickle 41st (23:33) and Howard Henshaw was 137th in a PB 29:40.

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30th October 2018

The main local road race was the Green Drive Five (mile), starting and finishing on the tree-lined Green Drive in Lytham.

After missing a major part of the 2018 athletic season due to a leg problem, Emily Japp is making up for lost time.   Emily set the Women’s course record of 28:08 back in 2016 and was unable to run 2017’s race due to injury.  However she proved that she has returned to her best by finishing fifth overall, first woman and smashing her own course record by posting 27:47.

The Green Drive 5 was the final race of BWFAC’s Road Race Championship and behind Japp were Paul Sparrow (39th 32:00), Nick Hume (77th 35:01), Chris Rawcliffe (89th 35:28), Michelle Tickle (91st 35:45), Dawn Maher (117th 37:28), Basia Pawelczak (118th 37:30), Simon Scarr (39:02), Peter Gibson (172nd 40:05), David Twizell (190th 41:16), Ellen McLachlan (204th 42:21), Malcolm Beech (231st 44:04), Gary Ford (272nd 45:43), Jeff Wright (283rd 46:26), Bob Massey (296th 47:16), Nickola Walker (304th 47:44), Beverley Gigli (309th 48:06), Fran Connolly (311th 48:08), Julie Sinclair (314th 48:30), Tracey Sharrock (343rd 50:11), Andrew Hume (371st 54:09) and Fiona Little (399th 67:08).

The Junior One Mile race, which started in 2013, for young runners aged 4 to 15 has also become a popular feature. The race is run along the length and back of the tree-lined Green Drive in Lytham, a pedestrian lane of nearly one kilometre.

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC young runners have always had good record in this race, and 2018 was no exception, as Luke Rawcliffe (aged 13) finished first boy in 5:16 and Lucy Tickle (aged 14) was first girl and 3rd overall. Lucy together with Bethany Whipp (4th 5:59) and Betty Kershaw (5th 6:03) won the first girls team prize. Second in 5:27 was George Denye (aged 12) of Preston Harriers. Gracie Scott, who only recently celebrated her 11th birthday, had a scintillating run to finish 11th in 6:14 and Jessica Ramsden was 28th in 6:51. Betty Kershaw’s two young siblings, Billy and Polly (aged 8), both had excellent runs for their age, posting 6:51 (30th) and 7:18 (44th) respectively. Also running well were Naomi Wrigley (51st 7:28) and Aimee Harling (53rd 7:29).

There were thirteen BWFAC members at the Blackpool parkrun with Steve Dunn (10th 19:47), Adam Callow (11th 20:12), Peter Bradburn (17th 21:05), Paul Sparrow (20th 21:19), Peter Gibson (56th 24:14), Jeff Wilson (60th 24:31), Rick Pinches (84th 26:42), David Twizell (86th 26:44), Debra Rodgers (103rd 28:08), Nickola Walker (123rd 29:22), Simon Scarr (175th 34:58), Bob Massey (177th 34:58) and Sarah Peacock (205th 42:41).  At Lytham Hall parkrun, Simon Tickle (32nd 22:58), Michelle Tickle (41st 23:28) and Howard Henshaw (124th 30:42).

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29th October 2018

Please take a look at the documents below regarding the Mid Lancs Association. They are also looking for a new treasurer and a Cross Country assistant.

AGM Notice 2018

AGM Minutes_29_11_17

Lancashire Cross Country Championships

The Lancashire Cross Country Championships will take place at Witton Park on Saturday 5th January 2019. The entry form for the championships can be downloaded here.

There is a slight change to the rules for 2019; Senior Women’s teams
will require four counters as opposed to three in previous years.
This change has been made to reflect the growth in numbers in the women’s
race and to add interest further down the field. This will be reviewed
before next year’s championships. The championships are also the trial races for the Inter Counties Championships at Loughborough in March.
Online entry is also available via www.race-results.co.uk/results/2019/lancsxc19e.php

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20th October 2018

Illumination Run – Wednesday 31st October -Starts 6pm prompt

This year’s Illumination run will take place on Wednesday 31st October. Meeting in Sainsbury’s car park, Bispham for the run to start at 6pm prompt. It will be the usual run out for 25 minutes, turn round and run back. All abilities welcome, then for those who want to, a quick change and across the road to the Middle Chippy for something to eat. I need numbers for the chippy, by 29th October. Please can you let me know if you are eating, either in person or on 07891 068151.  It is limited seating in the chippy, so if more than they can cater for turn up it could be take out!

Thank you
Karen Dunford

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20th October 2018

The first fixture of the Cross Country season for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC was the Mid Lancs League meeting, held at Ulverston on the wet and windy shoreline of Morecambe Bay, as Storm Callum swept across Britain.

On the 6.4Km course there was a strong Women’s squad, with the A team of Emily Japp (2nd 25:13), Jess Rogers (11th 28:36) and Laura Gilderdale (17th 30:28) finishing first, and the B team of Michelle Tickle (45th 33:32), Basia Pawelczak (49th 33:59) and Laura Lawler (56th 34:17) were 14th overall. The other members of the squad were Karen Dunford, Andrea Smith (88th 36:36), Debra Rogers (135th 43:26) and Debbie Terras (136th 43:28). Jess Rogers was also first Under 20 Woman.

The men’s course was 9.1Km and the squad of John Wright (60th 39:45), Paul Sparrow (98th 52:26), Chris Rawcliffe (147th 45:22), Nick Hume (161st 46:03), Peter Bradburn (204th 51:04), Daniel Smith (205th 51:14), Simon Scarr (221st 54:00), Alan Wilkinson (246th 61:48) and Rick Pinches (249th 63:43) were 17th, with the Vet 40 team 11th and Vet 50s 4th.

Six BWFAC tackled the popular Manchester Half Marathon with Amanda Fuller 6395th (PB 2:07:49), Claire Irons 8628th (2:24:35), Tracey Sharrock 8689th (2:25:07), Nickola Walker 9531st (2:38:10) and Fiona Little 10313rd (3:16:36). At Alder Hey Children Hospital 10Km, Derek Crane was 90th out of 629 (48:32).

Meanwhile in Majorca at the Zafiro Palma 10Km, Ian Dawson was 50th (40:49), Bev Wright 112th and 1st female Vet 55 (44:16), Paul Beech 121st (44:56) and Malcolm Beech 920th (70:10). In the Half Marathon, Steve Simpson ran 1:36, Nicola Unsworth 1:45 and Jeff Wilson 2:00.

Back in Blackpool at the Autumn Breaker 10Km, Adam Callow was 23rd (chip time 41:13) and Stephen Dunn 24th (chip time 39:46).

With Lytham Hall parkrun cancelled because of a fallen tree, most BWFAC parkrunners ran at Blackpool, with Adam Callow posting 20:57, Peter Singleton 22:56, Peter Gibson 24:40, Andy Hume 33:03 and Simon Scarr 33:05. David Twizell ran at Footscray Meadows parkrun in Sidcup in London in 25:46.

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15th October 2018

It was a wet and windy start to the Cross Country season on Saturday, as Storm Callum battered Britain and on the coast of Morecambe Bay at Ulverston, it rained through all the races, varying from heavy to torrential. Typically it only stopped as the final race was ending. However, it did not phase the young runners of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC who, on a testing undulating course, ran with purpose.

In the first race, the Under 11 Girls ran on a 2.2Km course, with Gracie Scott finishing third (8:48) and with Ella-May Leonard (12th 9:48), Jess Ramsden (15th 9:58), Polly Kershaw (23rd 10:24) and Jemima Bradshaw (26th 10:24) the team also finished third. The next day Ella-May Leonard still had plenty of energy left to finish 5th and 1st girl in 8:51 at the 2Km Park View junior parkrun.

On the same course the Under 11 Boys team of Alfie Hall (7th 8:44), Otis Leah (14th 9:03) and Billy Kershaw (40th 10:16) were the fifth team.

The Under 13 Girls race was run on a 2.6Km course. The team of Betty Kershaw (9th 10:33), Olivia Sellers (27th 11:35), Louisa Bradburn (29th 11:40), Holly Tickle (34th 12:17) and Naomi Wrigley (38th 13:08) were seventh.

In the Under 13 Boys and Under 15 Girls races both ran on the same course of 2.8Km, with Rafael Eaton 5th (10:42) in his race and Lucy Tickle 6th (11:54) with teammate Bethany Whipp 12th (12:15). The Under 15 Boys and Under 17 Women’s races were run on a 4.4Km course, with Luke Rawcliffe finishing 12th (16:46) in his race and Hollie Winstanley 8th (21:11) in her race.

The Under 17 Men’s team last season won the U17M League team Shield and two of its members, Jake Dudley and Jack Tickle were joined by James Smith for this season’s campaign. On the 6.4Km course Jake Dudley was 3rd (23:33), with Jack Tickle 9th (26:00) and James Smith, despite suffering a stitch, 13th in 26:36.

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13th October 2018

It was a relatively quiet week for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC.

Nicola Unsworth ran in the West Coast Half Marathon and was pleased to finish third woman (33rd) in 1:38:34.  Meanwhile Paul Plummer was also satisfied with a chip time of 3:29:13 (722nd) in the Chester Marathon.

The High Woodland parkrun in Wigan was used as the final fixture for this year’s BWFAC’s Trail Championship.  Peter Singleton was first BWFAC runner in 24th (22:30), with Simon Scarr 41st (24:06), Bob Massey 111th (29:22), Amanda Fuller 118th (29:22), Alan Smart 123rd (29:43), Bernard Singleton 124th (29:43) and Fiona Little 195th (40:18).

The overall winners of the Trail Championship are Stephen Dunn and Michelle Tickle.

After a frustrating time sidelined by injury, Emily Japp demonstrated that she is getting back to full fitness by recording 17:37 (2nd) at the Fleetwood Promenade parkrun and is on target for the highly regarded Leeds Abbey 10Km Dash at the beginning of November.  Howard Henshaw ran his first Fleetwood Promenade parkrun in 32:51 and John Bradley posted a PB 38:00.

At the Blackpool parkrun, Rafael Eaton recorded 21:12 (8th), Peter Gibson 24:03 (37th), Ella-May Leonard 24:42 (45th), Adam Callow 57th (25:55), Gina Whiteley 26:12 (61st), Rick Pinches 26:54 (68th), David Twizell 27:07 (71st), Malcolm Beech 28:07 (85th) and Wayne Norris 29:09 (104th).

Michelle Tickle with 21:51 (16th), Lucy Tickle 23:08 (33rd) and Simon Tickle 23:50 (42nd) ran at the Lytham Hall parkrun.

Fifteen ran in the Club’s October Handicap. First across the line was Anthony Blight in 26:07, with Mark Warner (24:04) and Gina Whiteley (31:03) posting handicap best times and Paul Sparrow ran the fastest time of 23:34 on the 3.72 mile course.

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC Athletes of the Month for September are Jess Rogers for her support of the Club on the Track, in the Inter Club competition and in the Autumn Relays and George Mackenzie who posted PBs in the Hurdles, Long and High Jumps. Volunteer of the Quarter is Justyna Luczak for her excellent organisational skills at this season’s Mid Lancs Track and Field and Youth Development League fixtures.

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12th October 2018

The long awaited cross country season starts next Saturday in Ulverston, by the shore of Morecambe Bay. Last season Ulverston was the final fixture of the Mid Lancs League season and proved to be a popular location with a surprisingly interesting course, with plenty of short, but testing climbs and many twists and turns.

Several of Blackpool, Wyre & AC young runners tested their stamina at the local parkruns, with Rafael Eaton 8th in 21:12 at the Blackpool parkrun and Lucy Tickle 33rd in 23:08 at Lytham Hall parkrun. Two of the younger members of BWFAC ran at the 2Km Park View junior parkrun, with Ella-May Leonard finishing 6th and first girl in 8:43, (after running Blackpool parkrun the previous day in 24:42) and Aimee Harling was 6th in 8:43. At the Avenham Park junior parkrun in Preston, Forest Leah was first in 8:05 and his younger brother Otis was third in 8:21.

The Track & Field season has ended and, with the Indoor season soon starting, the winter strength training has now started, which also included sessions running on the sand dunes. BWFAC young athletes are certainly a dedicated bunch. Chloe Norman, despite it being her 18th Birthday, still did a sand dunes session in the morning before the celebration.

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12th October 2018

Handicap time keepers needed!

John Bradley (Handicap Time Keeper) is moving away from the area on 18th October and Tony Croft is looking for someone to help out with the Monthly Handicap from November. The more people prepared to give up an hour a month to assist, the fewer occasions you will have to do (unless you really wish to)!!

Please contact Nick Hume if you can assist! nick.hume@tiscali.co.uk

Wesham 10K

Less than 100 places left for the Wesham 10K taking place on Saturday 24 November. For more details please go to http://www.wesham10k.co.uk/

Please note this takes place the same day as the next Mid Lancs XC fixture at Liverpool.

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11th October 2018

Volunteer Experience Workshop
We are holding a workshop around volunteering at the Village Hotel,
Bury on the 19th November 2018.
This two hour workshop is completely free of charge for you to attend.
It is designed to help clubs and groups to create greater experience
for volunteers, make it easier for volunteers to carry out their roles,
and easier for people to get involved.

I have attached a poster here which I hope you will share to your club
membership.
Coaching Development Opportunities

LIRF_CIRF workshop
3-hour workshop, for those thinking about moving on to the Coaching in
Running Fitness qualification.  This workshop will look at the areas
that the coaching qualifications will cover, and the pre-learning that
individuals might wish to undertake before embarking on their next
stage in their coaching journey.

I have attached a poster here which I hope you will share to your club
membership

Movement Skills and Physical Preparation
A series of three progressive workshops open to all Leaders and Coaches
that focus on movement patterns that underpin all athletics events.
More information can be found at https://www.englandathletics.org/coaching—central-to-successful-athletics/coach-development/movement-skills-for-running-jumping-and-throwing-workshops

Dates for upcoming North West workshops;
Movement Skills 1 – 17th November
Movement Skills 2 – 26th January
Physical Preparation – 2nd March
Note – although we would recommend attending the workshops in sequence,
however leader and coaches can book on to individual workshops.

Regional Coach & Athlete Technical Workshops.
There are a number of workshops covering speed (sprints and hurdles),
endurance (800-3000m), Jumps (long, triple and high) and Throws
(hammer, shop put). These workshops are aimed at coaches qualified to
Athletics Assistant but also those qualified to Athletic Coach level.
Coaches are encouraged to bring athletes with them. More information
can be found https://www.englandathletics.org/coaching—central-to-successful-athletics/coach-development#Event%20Development%20Activity

Dates for upcoming North workshops;
Leeds, 14th October
Sheffield, 11th November
Edgehill, 3rd March

I have attached a poster here which I hope you will share to your club
membership

If I can be of any help or you wish to discuss any of the above
opportunities, please do get in touch.

Emma Davenport
Club Support Manager (Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Lancashire)
[ea-national.wmf]
Mobile: 07967317341

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7th October 2018

The first Mid Lancs XC fixture of the season takes place at Ulverston next Saturday 13 October 2018. It would be great to have a good turnout from BWFAC! Please click on the links below for travel info/parking and course map info!

Please click here to view a list of BWFAC members registered to date for the forthcoming Mid Lancs XC season. Please contact Nick Hume to register in advance or this can also be done on the day of the first fixture at the Mid Lancs tent.

Mid Lancs Ulverston XC Info

Mid Lancs Ulverston XC Course Maps

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7th October 2018

6th October 2018

BLACKPOOL WYRE & FYLDE AC
ANNUAL PRESENTATION NIGHT
10th NOVEMBER 2018
GRAND HOTEL
FY1 2JQ
(Formerly the HILTON HOTEL)
BLACKPOOL
DOORS OPEN 19.00
BUFFET 19.30
TO BE FOLLOWED BY THE ANNUAL
AWARDS PRESENTATION
THEN
DISCO UNTIL LATE

TICKETS £12.00 PER PERSON (Adult or Child)
(Subsidised by BWF AC)
Please order from Andrea Smith
andrea.sm1th@virginmedia.com

Tickets will only be forwarded upon payment and limited to 150

Dress Code: Smart

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5th October 2018

Start Fitness have invited BWFAC to become part of their UK Athletics and running club loyalty scheme.

For those who are not aware of their history, they are one of the largest fitness retailers in the UK. Their great choice of brands, specialist knowledge, combined with high standards of customer service and great value really sets them apart from their competitors. Founded by runners, and staffed almost entirely by fitness enthusiasts, Start Fitness prides itself on being different from your average sports retailer. Over the course of two decades they’ve worked tirelessly to cultivate valuable relationships with athletic associations up and down the country and take pride in supporting grassroots sports whenever they can.

They would like to offer our club members an exclusive online loyalty discount code that will allow a saving of 10% off the current selling price on all items from their online store. Our exclusive online code for BWFAC club members is BlackpoolWFACSF10 and can be used in the Discount Code box at the checkout.

Please share this information with our BWFAC members!

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5th October 2018

On Saturday Evening at Midnight, myself, Geoff Kenyon and Dave Walton will be cycling from Manchester to Blackpool Tower.

WHY?!

My 5 year old son, as some may know, has a complex heart condition which has required 3 ‘Open Heart’ surgeries to create a hearth which functions effectively. Thankfully these operations have been successful and has enabled him to have a life, some children sadly have not from the same condition.

In support of the organisations (Alder Hey, British Heart Foundation, Little Hearts Matter) which have made this possible, and to show our love and support to Wilfred, the 3 of us will make this journey on Saturday.

We have set an amount of £1000, and currently 50% of the target has been met! AMAZING!!!

If you would like to show your support through the link below then we would be very grateful. Every little helps, as they say….

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/wilfredowarrior?utm_term=Jv2yAVAZB

Thanks in advance, Mick / Geoff / Dave

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3rd October 2018

The road was the main focus for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC this week and the biggest local race, with over 1400 running, was the City of Preston 10Km. Derek Crane represented BWFAC, finishing 321st in 50:52. Nicola Unsworth travelled to Nottingham for the Robin Hood Half Marathon. She finished 569th in a chip time of 1:39:26.

The majority of BWFAC runners chose the Pilling 10Km, which was the penultimate designated race of this year’s club Road Race Championship. There was a good turnout with John Wright first BWFAC in 6th place (36:19), Steve Simpson 9th (37:47), Bev Wright 22nd and 2nd women (41:48), Anthony Blight 29th (44:15), Laura Lawler 49th (47:35), Dawn Maher 54th (47:58), Jeff Wilson 57th (48:20), Simon Scarr 60th (49:02), Basia Pawelczak 61st (49:38), Ellen McLachlan 66th (51:24), Malcolm Beech 80th (56:36), Amanda Fuller 89th (57:58), Nickola Walker 105th (63:40) and Fiona Little 119th (77:42).

Before the start of the race Simon Scarr warmed-up by running the Fleetwood Promenade parkrun along with teammate Bob Massey in a steady 27:59.

In other local parkruns, Under 13 athlete Rafael Eaton was 5th in a PB 19:40, with Paul Sparrow 7th (19:50), Traydon Jarrett (U13) 11th (21:00), Peter Gibson 46th (24:34) and Wayne Norris 105th (29:22). At Lytham Hall parkrun, Michelle Tickle was 26th (21:59) and Howard Henshaw was 157th (30:49).

Further afield at the Frimley Lodge parkrun near Aldershot, David Twizall along with nearly 500 runners, ran the picturesque 5Km route in 25:46 (180th).

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1st October 2018

It was with a heavy heart, that Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC last week said thank you and goodbye to long standing coach, Garry Roylance, who held his last training session. He has been a consistent and popular member of the coaching team at Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC for over eleven years, which included helping several athletes to achieve the pinnacle by competing at the English School’s Athletics Championships. He has also assisted the Club in many other ways, in particular by helping to officiate at many track & field meetings. However a change in work commitments mean that Garry is unable to devote the time required to run coaching sessions several times a week. At the final coaching session Garry’s athletes gave him several gifts and cards thanking him for his long service. His assistant coach, Sarah Venn, who recently received her full Coaching qualification will take over running Roylance’s group.

Lucy Tickle finished 2nd overall and 1st girl in 7:51 at the Park View 2Km junior parkrun and her sister Holly was 8th (9:02). Interestingly it is a year since Lucy celebrating having completed a hundred 5Km parkruns. Currently she has run 119 parkruns and 20 junior 0 and Trayden Jarrett was 11th in 21:00.

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26th September 2018

The Autumn Northern Relays were held at Sportcity in the shadow of the Etihad Stadium. Although this year Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde had no representation in the men’s event, there were two women’s teams. The women’s race was over a 2 lap course of 5400 metres. The ‘A’ team was led out by Emily Japp, who finished third in her leg in 20:46 and was 6th fastest overall; with Bev Wright (24:56), Lauren Gowland (25:06) and Jess Rogers (24:18) anchoring the team across the line to 21st place in 1:35:06. The ‘B’ team was led out by Basia Pawelczak (30:10), with Laura Lawler (28:49), Gina Whiteley (31:49) and Kirsty Holland (32:42) bringing the team home to 88th place in 2:03:15.

Hyndburn parkrun had been designated as the penultimate competition of the BWFAC Trail Race Championship. Steve Dunn was 9th in 21:10, with Paul Sparrow (13th 21:49), Peter Singleton (23rd 24:18), Amanda Fuller (71st 30:25), Bob Massey (75th 31:34), Clare Clarke (81st 32:17), Andy Hume (91st 36:52), Fiona Little (108th 43:33).

Club President Howard Henshaw, on holiday in the Far East, ran in the Taman Sudo Ulu parkrun in Kuala Lumpur. He finished 30th in 29:10. Post run Howard was informed that he had set a Malaysian parkrun age category record for Over 75s.

Paul Plummer celebrated his 200th parkrun at Sale Water Park parkrun in 23:20 (37th).

Other BWFAC runners at the local parkruns were as follows: Blackpool parkrun: Rafael Eaton (10th 20:57), Nicola Unsworth (20th & 1st female 22:23), David Twizell (44th 25:22), Naomi Wrigley (82nd 28:42) and Nickola Walker ((119th 31:44). Lytham Hall parkrun: Lucy Tickle (22nd 21:58), Michelle Tickle (24th 22:07) and Simon Tickle (37th 23:20).

There was good news for the coaching squad as Sarah Venn received her full athletics coaching licence.

A new race, Blackpool Music Run 10K, saw runners entertained by musicians along the Blackpool promenade run route. Among the BWFAC runners enjoying the music were Nicola Unsworth, who was 28th and 3rd woman in 45:30, Ellen McLachlan (67th 50:57), Jeff Wright (291st 63:47), Nickola Walker (326th 65:20) and Fiona Little (108th 82:35).

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23rd September 2018

Please click here to view a list of BWFAC members registered to date for the forthcoming Mid Lancs XC season. Please contact Nick Hume to register in advance or this can also be done on the day of the first fixture at the Mid Lancs tent.

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22nd September 2018

Presentation Night

It is now time to return the Trophies that you were awarded at the 2017
Presentation Night on Saturday 10 November.

Can you please make arrangements to either return them to the Club House
by Thursday 4th October and ensure that they are locked away in the
Store Room or contact Nick Hume (nick.hume@tiscali.co.uk) to discuss an
alternative delivery. Nick lives in Thornton if that helps.

He does not wish to chase you for them given the number involved.

Thank you!

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21st September 2018

Nicola Unsworth was 19th and 3rd woman in 44:40 at the inaugural Fairhaven Flyer, with Laura Lawler 39th and 1st Vet Woman in 48:16 and Gina Whiteley was 112th (54:44).

Michelle and Simon Tickle took on the challenge of the English Half Marathon weekend of events in Warrington with various distance options. Both opted to run the 5Km night race on the Friday night. Michelle was 30th and 2nd lady in 22:17 and Simon 68th in 24:16. On the Sunday, Michelle completed the 10Km race in 45:21 to finish 9th lady.

The latest designated fixture of the club’s Trail Race Championship was Yarrow River Splash 10Km. It involved running along woodland paths and crossing the Yarrow River. Eleven BWFAC runners had great fun on the run, as they tried to pull themselves out of the river. The results were Paul Sparrow (15th 48:36), Simon Scarr (86th 61:19), Clare Clarke (171st 71:46), Bob Massey (175th 72:28), Beverley Gigli (202nd 74:54), Tracey Sharrock (203rd 72:28), Amanda Fuller (222nd 78:58), Nickola Walker (223rd 79:01), Andy Hume (257th 87:27), Laura Raynor (268th 94:21) and Fiona Little (269th 96:01).

At the Arnold Seddon Medals Open, held in Wigan, Natalia Luczak was 2nd with 4.83m, just 1cm shy of equalling her PB and was 3rd (47.0) in the 300m, with Alicia Threfall 3rd (47.0) in the U13G 70m Hurdles and 9th (3.84m) in the Long Jump.

Blackpool and Lytham Hall parkruns were cancelled due to other events taking place. Several BWFAC members ran at the Fleetwood Promenade parkrun as an alternative, with John Wright 3rd in a PB 18:02, Adam Callow 8th (19:32), George Robinson 10th (19:32), Bev Wright 14th and 1st female (20:18 PB), Rafael Eaton 17th (20:56 PB), Nicola Unsworth 39th (22:56), Peter Gibson 45th (23:41), Ella-May Leonard 48th (23:45), Reg Smallbone 55th (24:11), David Twizell 64th (25:05), Fran Connolly 108th (28:52) and Jeff Wright 113th (29:14). At the testing Witton parkrun Steve Dunn was 3rd in 21:11.

At the Park View junior parkrun, Lucy Tickle (7:52) and Ella-May Leonard (8:50) were 1st and 2nd girls.

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16th September 2018

As the outdoor Track & Field season comes to an end, Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC held a successful Open Medal Meeting, which attracted nearly 300 athletes from across the North West of England, including over 80 Blackpool, Wrye & Fylde AC members.

Star performer for BWFAC in the youngest age category, the Under 9s, was Otis Leah, who won all three of his events. Otis posted 13.2 in the 80m, 2:09.4 in the 600m and 3.26m in the Long Jump. Teammate Jacob Stock was 4th in both the 80m (15.6) and 600m (2:43.7) and 2nd in the Long Jump (2.53m). One of the youngest competitors Esmè Rutter, aged 6, was 4th in the Long Jump with 2.61m which is an excellent achievement for an athlete of such tender years. Other BWFAC U9s competing were Cheroken Reigo, Aimee Harling, Tillie Calvert, Poppy Booth-Isherwood and Hamna Ahmed.

In the Under 11 category, Millie Turner was 2nd in the 80m (12.3) and won the Long Jump with 3.56m, Rubie Linley was 4th in the 60m (12.4) and 5th in the 600m (2:13.1), Marcia Rutter was 5th in 80m overall with a PB 12.8 and 4th in the Long Jump (3.42m). Maximus Nelson was 3rd in the 80m (12.4) and 4th in the 600m (2:08.4), whilst Oliver Nunn was 4th in the 80m (12.5). BWFAC’s Ella-May Leonard, Hope Fletcher, Isobel Mellor, Isaac Ormerod, Leon Cole and Jack Ford also competed.

Most impressive in the Under 13 category was Kieran Howard’s performance in the Shot Putt, who in winning with a throw of 9.19m, was only a few centimetres short of a grade one performance. Thomas Wilkinson and Jefferson Kong fought out an excellent race in the 75m Hurdles, both posting the same time of 13.6, with Wilkinson getting the nod for first place and George Mackenzie a close 3rd in 13.7. Wilkinson had an excellent day overall, winning both the Long Jump (4.46m) and High Jump (1.43m). George Mackenzie also competed in the Long Jump jumping 4.46m (finishing 2nd on count back) and was 3rd in the High Jump (1.40m). Kong was 4th in the Long Jump (4.40m) and 2nd in the 200m. Oliver Hoskisson was 2nd in the 100m (12.7 – a 2 second improvement in 6 months) and 5th in the 200m (30.1). Connor Norman was 6th in the 100m (14.2). Rafael Eaton won Bronze in the 200m (29.1) and Gold in the 800m (2:33.2) with James Boak 6th (2:56.7), while Forest Leah won Bronze in the 1500m (5:28.4)

Alicia Threlfall was 2nd in the U13G 70M Hurdles (12.7), with Gracie Rutter 7th (14.2). In the Shot Putt, Kitty Mason won Bronze (6.06m) and Keira Tomes was 5th 5.99m. Mason also won Bronze in the 200m (30.5) and Tomes posted a PB 1.33m, finishing 5th and missing out on third on count back.

The eye catching performance in the Under 15 age category was posted by Scott Sinclair who cleared 1.72m to achieve Grade One performance. Training partners Alex Slater was 2nd (1.65m), Samuel Howarth 3rd (1.55m PB) and Seb Holt 6th (1.45m). Sinclair was 2nd (5.60m) in the Long Jump, whilst Slater was 2nd (10.60m) in the Shot Putt. Howarth was 2nd with a PB 2.60m in the Pole Vault and 5th in the Long Jump (4.85m), whilst Holt was 3rd in the Pole Vault (1.90m) and 6th in the Long Jump (4.48m). Matthew Poole was 3rd in the 300m (42.7), with Thomas Fairhurst 3rd in the 200m (28.0 PB) and Samuel Potts was 4th (29.7).

Mary-Jayne Broomhead won Gold in the Under 15 Girls 100m (13.2) with Megan Lewis claiming Bronze (13.6). There were 11 more BWFAC U15G trying out their 100m sprint speed: Ellie Owen 13.7 PB, Imogen Reader 14.0, Iona Cossens 14.0 PB, Chloe Smith 14.1, Georgia Norman 14.2, Holly Brooke 14.2, Gabriell Bell 14.6, Emily Rigby 14.7, Daisie-Mae Keane 14.8, Hannah Eccles 14.9 PB, Harriet Snelson 15.1, Hollie John 15.2 and Talia Ball 16.8. Broomhead also won Silver in the Long Jump with a PB 4.76m, just 2 cm behind Leah Howard. Howard was also 2nd (1.45m) in the High Jump and set a PB 28.4 in winning her heat of the 200m. Natalia Luczak was 4th (4.68m) in the Long Jump and was 3rd (46.9) in the 300m. Megan Lewis added to her 100m Bronze with Silver in the 200m with a PB 27.6.

Kacie Calvert collected Gold in the U15G Javelin with a PB 28.69m, with Keira Tomes (U13G) winning Bronze. Calvert also won Silver in the Discus (19.51m). Charlotte Jones won Silver in the U15G Hammer (30.03m) and Talia Ball was 5th with a PB 18.53m.

Jasmine Carey was first in the U17W Pole Vault (3.40m) whilst in the U15G competition, Chloe Parsons equalled her PB of 2.30m to win Gold, Grace Dunn Silver with 2.10m and Isabella Chamley (U13G) Bronze with 1.80m.

Ciaran Medd won Golds in both the Shot (9.40m) and Discus (36.24m). In the U17M 100 and 200 metre sprints, Ruben Shaw was the fastest with 11.7 and a PB 23.9. Riley Nagle also won Bronze in both with 11.9 and a PB 24.1, as well as Gold in the 400m. James Nicholas was 5th in the 100m (12.0) and 4th in the 200m (24.4) Other times in the 100m Max Ambery 12.4 and Charles Utomi 12.6.

In the U17W sprints Nekkisha Wilson won Gold in the 200m (29.5) and Bronze in the 100m (14.0). Other U17W 100m times were Amelia Shearman 14.1, Yasmin Goldthorpe 14.4 and Maddison Riley 15.5.

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14th September 2018

Junior & Senior News

Six Junior and Senior BWFAC runners competed at the North West Road Relays, which were held on the trails of the Delamere Forest in Cheshire, where for most of the competition the rain was very heavy. Early on in the Under 11 Girls Relay (3 x 1.2Km), the team of Ella May Leonard, Jessica Ramsden and Gracie Scott won Lancashire Gold (14:49) and the Under 13 Girls Relay (3 x 3.1Km) team Naomi Wrigley, Olivia Sellers and Betty Kershaw, were 4th (42:52).

In the Senior Women’s Relay (3 x 6.2Km) the BWFAC A team of Emily Japp, Lauren Gowland and Jess Rogers were 7th (1:15:29) North West team and won Lancashire Silver. Japp ran the fastest women’s leg of 22:22. The B team of Bev Wright, Basia Pawelczak and Karen Dunford were 5th (1:26:00) and the C team of Andrea Smith, Laura Lawler and Debbie Terras were 10th (1:37:05) Lancashire teams.

In the Men’s Relay (4 x 6.2Km) the team of Andrew Simm, Tony Terras, Steve Simpson and Rick Pinches were 15th (1:49:42) Lancashire team.

The the main National Road race last weekend was the Great North Run, which again was won by Sir Mo Farrah. Four BWFAC runners competed in this celebration of running. David Williamson was 817th (1:33:33), with Chris Lloyd (3009th 1:45:37), Ellen  McLachlan (12083rd 2:07:47), David Twizell (16451st 2:15:34), Claire Irons (21949th 2:24:34) and Andy Hume (38108th 3:00:38) who ran to raise money for Diabetes UK.

Dawn Maher ran the Stratford’s Big 10k finishing 336th in a time of 50:40 while Nickola Walker (10K 258th 1:06:06, HM 445th 2:40:58) and Amanda Fuller (10K 248th 1:05:35, HM 444th 2:40:50) both ran the Auchterarder Double Dare 10K and Half Marathon.

It was tough, windy conditions for the Fleetwood Sprint Triathlon (400m swim, 20K bike and 5K run). BWFAC’s Caroline Betmead was first Vet Woman in 1:16:21.80 (S 7:32, B 45:32, R 23:16) and Michelle Tickle was 2nd vet in 1:17:10.85 (S 8:02, B 45:19, R 23:49). Having both completed all three events in the series (Ribby, St Annes and Fleetwood), Caroline was the ladies series winner and Michelle 1st Lady Vet 40.

Following their performance at the relays the day before, Gracie Scott and Louisa Bradburn competed in the Junior Fleetwood Triathlon, with Gracie, despite falling off her bike, winning and Louisa a close second.

Derek Crane ran his fastest time of the season, 49:11 (452nd) at the Salford 10Km and at the Ribble Way Run Half Marathon, Bob Massey was 90th (2:28:00) and Fiona Little was 118th (3:28:24).

Laura Lawler represented Lancashire Police at the 2018 Police 10 Mile Championship race held in Bangor. Lawler was 31st (81:33), 4th Vet 50 and a member of the 2nd placed Lancashire Ladies team.

Athletes of the Month for August are Kacie Calvert for her recent medal success in the Javelin and George Fox for his three Silver Medals in the sprints at the CPISRA (Cerebral Palsy) World Games. Both were in action at the Medals meeting with Calvert winning Gold with yet another PB of 28.69m in the Javelin and Fox experimented in the Shot and Javelin.

The final Inter Club fixture of the season was hosted by Red Rose Runners in Leyland’s Worden Park on a 4.5 mile course. The Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC Open Team led by Phil Leybourne (8th 25:17) was sixth. The Women’s team led by Jess Rogers (first junior) was second, as was the F40 Woman led by Bev Wright. The overall Vets were 5th, Vet 50s 3rd and Vet 60s 5th. After seven fixtures BWFAC Open squad finished 6th, the Women’s team 2nd, the F40s 1st, the Vets & Vet 60s 5th and the Vet 50s 3rd.

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9th September 2018

Blackpool Open Meeting

Thank you to everyone who helped make today’s event such a huge success and to all the athletes who competed today. We hope you all enjoyed the day!

The final results are now available to view here

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3rd September 2018

Volunteer ‘Ambassadors’ Workshop – Friday 7 September

This brand new training and support programme is for people who
recruit, co-ordinate or manage volunteers with-in a athletics and
running club setting.

Benefits from attending:

* You will get practical ideas and examples to take away to improve
your volunteer experience.
* Quick and easy tips and examples to make your volunteers feel
loved.
* Be able to understand what motivates volunteers at your club.
* Discuss and share ideas with like minded people from the
athletics and running family.

Details:
Date and time: Friday 7th September 10am-4pm
Venue: Holiday Inn Warrington, Woolston Grange Avenue, WA1 4PX. Click
Here
Cost: Free (lunch will be provided)

We have a couple of places left and it would be great to see a
representative from your club.

If you have any further questions or would like to attend, please feel
free to contact me direct.

Many thanks

Nick

Nick Settle – Club Support Manager
Cheshire, Merseyside, Tees Valley, Tyne and Wear, Northumberland &
County Durham
[ea-national.wmf]
Mobile: 07968 498710
Email: nsettle@englandathletics.org
Website: http://www.englandathletics.org

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3rd September 2018

Mid Lancs Cross Country 2018 – 2019

Team Managers and athletes please note the following rule change that was passed at the August Meeting of the Mid Lancs Association:

All runners, including guests, must be registered with their National Association on the day of competition. (There is no 7 day period for athletes to be registered as in previous years.)

Nick Hume will be submitting names to the League for Cross Country very shortly. All those who competed last year should be on the list but anyone who did not and wishes to compete should email Nick at nick.hume@tiscali.co.uk as soon as possible. This will mean that a number will be available at the first XC fixture you attend but please note
that registration is available on the day if you decide to compete at the last minute or have just joined the club.

If anyone wishes to volunteer to team manage a Junior Cross Country Team,
please let Nick know as all help is welcome.

For more information please go to www.midlancs.org.uk

BWFAC Monthly Handicap

BWFAC is seeking volunteers to assist with timekeeping at the Monthly
Handicap held once a month starting and finishing in New Lane Thornton.
April – October generally first Wednesday in the month from 19.00 and
November – March the first Sunday in the month from 10.00. The time
commitment is less than an hour per month. If anyone is interested
please contact Nick Hume at nick.hume@tiscali.co.uk

Cancer Research Pretty Muddy

On September 22nd Pretty Muddy takes place at Lawsons Field Blackpool.
This is organised by Cancer Research and they are seeking volunteers to
assit the competitors enjoy the experince and help them to het muddy!

If you would like to volunteer the time commitment is from 08.30 to
between 12.00 – 13.00 depending upon the numbers taking part. If this
appeals to you and you wish to help a good cause please contact Nick
Hume at nick.hume@tiscali.co.uk

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3rd September 2018

The main focus for members of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC was in the hills and mountains of Wales and the Lakes. Steve Simpson competed in the Mountain v Man event which involves starting at sea level and finishing on top of Snowdon, an arduous route of 22 miles and 5055 feet, which he completed in five hours.

A group of 13 travelled to the Northern Lakes to compete in the Derwentwater Lakeland Trails as part of the Club’s Trail Championship. Ian Dawson was the first BWFAC runner home in the 15Km Challenge finishing in 9th place (1:18:02), with Mark Warner 36th (1:28:01), Jeff Wilson 115th (1:38:49), Beth Correy 319th (2:04:29), Clare Clarke 320th (2:04:29), Bob Massey 321st (2:04:29) and Kirsty Holland 361st (2:12:36). In the 10Km trail race, Michelle Tickle was 37th in 53:28, with Basia Pawelczak 51st (55:00), Ellen McLachlan 142nd (62:55), Tracey Sharrock 74 (problem with chip result), Amanda Fuller 311th (1:24:37), Laura Raynor 353rd (1:39:16) and Fiona Little 355th (1:40:05).

On the Road, Bev Wright was 7th and first Woman at the 315 Golden Ball 10 Mile race in 1:11:51 near Lancaster.

The outdoor track & field season is fast coming to an end, with the final local meeting tomorrow at the Stanley Park Athletic Track. Last week, several BWFAC junior athletes competed at the Southport Waterloo Open Medals meeting. Kieran Howard (U13B) competed in his first ever Hammer Throw competition and won with 19.85m. He also won Gold in the Shot (8.52m) and was 7th in the Javelin. Teammate George Mackenzie (U13B) continued his excellent form with a PB of 13.5 (2nd) in the 75m Hurdles and Gold in the High Jump with 1.48m. Riley Nagle won Silvers in the 100m (11.9), 200m (24.3) and 400m (54.2). At Trafford Jess Rogers posted 4:59.76 in the 1500 metres and at the Burnley Under 11 meeting, Tilly Calvert was fourth in both the Under 9 Girls 50m (9.6) and Long Jump (2.48m) both PBs.

Junior athletes and brothers Deetray (10th 20:22) and Trayden Jarrett (12th 20:56 PB) ran at the Blackpool parkrun, with Andy Hume (143rd 35:19). Meanwhile at the Lytham Hall parkrun, Deborah Terras was 131st (29:57) and Howard Henshaw 157th (31:39). John Wright was 2nd in 18:15, with Rafael Eaton 30th (23:49), Ella May Leonard 47th (24:45) and David Twizell 48th (24:46) at the Fleetwood parkrun.

The next day at the Park View 2Km junior parkrun, Ella May Leonard was 6th and 1st girl in 8:50 and Aimee Harling was 10th and 2nd girl in a PB 9:08. Gracie Scott, aged 10, on a visit to York, was first of 78 boys and girls at the Knavesmire junior parkrun in a time of 7:57.

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28th August 2018

Isaac Towers was part of the British team at the World Para European Championships in Berlin. In the T34 400 metre wheelchair race, Isaac was 4th in 56.32, just missing out on 3rd place by a 100th of a second.

Three BWFAC athletes travelled to Bedford for the England Athletics U17/U15 Championships. Unfortunately Jasmine Carey and Amelia Shearman were defeated by atrocious weather, which caused the cancellation of the U17W Pole Vault competition on safety grounds. However, Natasha Webster was able to compete in the U17W Pole Vault, posting a PB of 37.45 metres in seventh place and rising to 36th in the UK U17W rankings. This was after winning Gold at the Mid Lancs Medal Meeting the previous day at Blackpool.

Over 40 BWFAC athletes competed at the Blackpool Medal Meet. Other good performances in the U17 category were by Danielle Whipp, who won Gold in the 800m, Bradley Parsons Gold in the 100m and Silver in the 200m with a PB 23.6.

In the Senior category, Nia Rutter won Gold in the Shot Putt, Long and Triple Jumps, and Olivia Hanby claimed Silver in the 100 and 200 metres and Triple Jump. Jon Rutter was also 2nd in both the Long and High Jumps and was 3rd in the Triple Jump.

The pick of the performances in the U15 age category were by Mary-Jayne Broomhead, who equalled her PB of 12.7 to win Gold in the 100m and was 2nd in the 200m; Natalia Luczak won Gold with a PB of 4.84m in the Long Jump and Talia Armstead won Bronze with a PB 1.50m in the High Jump.

Also in the U15Gs, Leah Howard was 2nd in both the High Jump (1.50m) and 75m Hurdles and Kacie Calvert won Bronze in the Javelin. Both these girls competed at the Trafford Medal meeting the next day, with Howard again winning Silver in the High Jump (1.50m), as did Calvert with a PB 27.99m in the Javelin.

Angelo Vinci was in top form in the U15B sprints winning both the 100m (11.9) and 200m (24.2), both PBs and Scott Sinclair was 2nd in both the High and Long Jumps.

In the U13Bs, Jefferson Kong ran his first 75m Hurdles race and won the heat (2nd overall) just pipping teammate Thomas Wilkinson and was 3rd in the Long Jump with a PB 4.73m. George Mackenzie was in supreme form winning the High Jump at both Blackpool and Trafford posting PBS of 1.47m and 1.50m and also won the Discus. Wilkinson was 2nd in High Jump with a PB 1.44m. Similarly Kieran Howard was 1st in the Shot, 2nd in the Discus and 3rd in the Javelin at Blackpool and had the same results at Trafford.

At the most recent Club Trail Championship held as part of the Harrock Hill fell race (5.2 miles/902 feet), Stephen Dunn was 42nd (41:27), with Peter Singleton (93rd 46:49), Simon Scarr (136th 53:27), Alan Smart (190th 63:54), Bernard Singleton (191st 63:55) and Andrew Hume (196th 69:14).

Nicola Unsworth was 3rd FV45 (81st) in 45:41 at the Illuminations 10Km, with Basia Pawelczak (126th 48:21), Ellen McLachlan (184th 50:02), Dawn Maher (189th 50:44) and in the 5Km race, Emily Balshaw was 27th in 24:23.

On the parkrun front there were 14 BWFAC members at the local venues, leading the way for BWFAC at Fleetwood was George Robinson (10th 19:15), Paul Sparrow (11th 20:54) at Blackpool and Peter Singleton (29th 22:24) at Lytham. Michelle Tickle (33rd 23:03) and Lucy Tickle (51st 25:23) did some parkrun tourism at Pennington Flash in Greater Manchester. The next day Lucy (8:11) led the way at the Park View 2Km Junior parkrun.

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25th August 2018

Red Rose Interclub – Wednesday 5 September

Looking forward to seeing you all on Wednesday 5th September at Worden
Park. Start time is 7pm and its the same route as last year.
However buffet afterwards is at The Priory Club, Broadfield Walk, Leyland
PR25 1PD. The car park isn’t enormous but there are places to park on the road nearby and only a few minutes from the Worden Park itself.

Lets have a good BWFAC turnout for the last interclub of the season!

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22nd August 2018

A reminder about the The North West Road Relays which take place at Delamere Forest on Saturday 8 September 2018. If any Senior Ladies would like to take part please contact Laura Lawler and Senior Men please contact Michelle Tickle. Juniors are also encouraged to enter if a team can be formed.

For the U11 Age Categories the Minimum Age on the day for the
Lancashire Relays is 8. If an athlete is 11 on 31st August or has their 11th birthday between 31/8/18 and the day of the race they compete in the U13 Races.

Please click here for full details. Closing date for entries is Sunday 2 September. No late entries!

22nd August 2018

Following on from her win in the 100 metres at the Scottish Championships, Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Katy Wyper’s successful season continued at Manchester International, held at the Manchester Regional Arena in the shadow of the Etihad Stadium. The competition involved athletes from England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, GB Juniors, Iceland, Denmark and a combined BAL/UKWL League team. Wyper was competing for Scotland in the 100 metres, where she was 3rd (11.66), behind Kristen Awuah (11.37) representing GB Juniors and Kimberley Baptiste (11.63) representing England, and was 2nd (23.87) behind Baptiste (23.39) in the 200 metres. In the final race of the meeting Katy Wyper represented the BAL/UKWL League, anchoring the team to 3rd place (48.03) in the 4x100m Relay.

Bev Wright ran in the 25th Birchwood 10Km near Warrington, finishing 113th and first FV55 in 42:02, winning the the female age related prize for the highest age related percentage in the race.

Meanwhile at the Fleetwood Half Marathon, there were problems as some runners were mis-directed during the race, causing some to go short or long and as a result the race will only count as an unknown distance in the official records. BWFAC’s Nicola Unsworth was 39th (3rd woman) in 99:25, Ellen McLachlan (149th 1:58:06) and Jeff Wright (315th 2:26:43).

At the Trafford Open Grand Prix Open Jess Rogers posted 5:23.24 in the C mixed 1500 metres, while Luke Minns was 1st (4:01.33) in the A 1500 metres and a few days later at the BMC Grand Prix, also at Stretford, posted 1:55.18 in the 800 metres. And at the Warrington Open Bradley Parsons was 2nd with 11.7 behind a Welsh International, with Scott Sinclair recording 13.1 and Chloe Parsons 14.9.

BWFAC July Athletes of the Month are Laura Lawler for her magnificent completion of the Lakeland 100 Ultra Marathon in 37 hrs 46 min and Riley Nagle for his excellent progress in the 400 metres, recording 53.49 PB at the Northern Inter Counties. Also nominated were Basia Pawelczak and Phil Leybourne.

Fastest of the eighteen who ran in the 3.72 mile August Club Handicap was Ian Dawson in 22:51 and there were four PBs: Paul Sparrow 23:14, Mark Warner 24:36, Basia Pawelczak 27:50 and Natalie Tanner 30:05.

Adam Callow was 4th (19:55) and Deetray Jarrett (aged 13) 6th in a PB 20:14 at the Blackpool parkrun, with Paul Beech (8th 20:51), Trayden Jarrett (13th 21:42), Reg Smallbone (33rd 23:50) Simon Scarr (50th 25:30), Clare Clark (92nd 30:03), Malcolm Beech (93rd 30:03), Nickola Walker (102nd 30:45) and Andy Hume (121st 32:04). At the Fleetwood parkrun Steve Dunn was 3rd (20:17), Karen Dunford 9th & 2nd female (23:12) and Peter Gibson (11th 23:41). And Howard Henshaw was 137th (32:49) at the Lytham Hall parkrun, with Paul Plummer 23rd (23:51) at the Stockport Woodbank parkrun.

In the Junior 2Km parkrun, at Avenham Park Ella May Leonard was 3rd in 9:10 and Aimee Harling was 12th and 2nd girl (9:28) at Park View.

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20th August 2018

Green Drive 5 and Junior Mile event is now open for entries! The 5 mile race is part of our club Road Race Championship and also incorporates the Lancashire 5 mile Championships. Please enter early to avoid disappointment! Link below to enter…

https://bookitzone.com/bob_clough_2/yN2FFX

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13th August 2018

Whilst the European Championships were taking place in Berlin, BWFAC’s T37 athlete George Fox was successfully representing England in the athletics section of the World CPISRA (Cerabral Palsy) World Games in Barcelona. Over three days Fox won three individual Silver medals in the 100m (12.48), 200m (25.23), 400m (63.96) and was part of the England 4x100m team which won Silver with 51.83.

Katy Wyper continued to add to her medal collection at the Scottish Senior/U17 Championships held in Grangemouth, successfully defending the 100 metre title she won last year and winning again (11.88).

The Northern Athletics U17/U15/U13 Championships were held at the Wavertree Sports Centre in Liverpool. There was was much success for BWFAC Junior athletes over the two days. There were Gold medals for Kieran Howard in the U13 Shot Putt with 8.85m and Jasmine Carey in the Pole Vault with, despite the blustery conditions, a PB of 3.61m.

Kacie Calvert in the past has been 4th and missed out on medals, so it was a popular Bronze (PB 27.93m) in the U15G Javelin and in U17M 100m final, Bradley Parsons in a tight finish, Bradley Parsons posted 11.86, the same as the 2nd runner, to win Bronze.

Just missing out on medals were Thomas Wilkinson, who was 4th with a PB 4.61m in the U13B Long Jump and Scott Sinclair 4th (1.65m) in the U15B High Jump and 7th (5.54m) in the Long Jump. In the U15G High Jump, Leah Howard equalled her PB of 1.55m and although this was the 2nd place mark, Leah was judged 6th on countback. Chloe Parsons was 5th in the U15G (2.10m) Pole Vault. In the heats of the Long Jump Howard posted 4.58m and in the 75m Hurdles 13.41.

Also in the U15G Long Jump, Natalia Luczak posted a PB 4.70m, just missing out the final eight and a further 3 jumps. Riley Nagle posted a PB of 53.29 (6th) in the U17M 400m and Natasha Webster was 6th (33.54m) in the U17W Javelin. After missing training because of injury James Nicholas recorded 12.54 and 24.40 in the heats of the 100 and 200 metres.

At the City of Preston two lap 10 Mile race, Ian Dawson was 38th (71:50), with Adam Callow (39th 71:41), Darren Lewin (61st 77:42), Nicola Unsworth (62nd 77:49), Basia Pawelczak (96th 84:11), Ellen McLachlan (112th 87:42), Rich Pinches (146th 96:53) and Malcolm Beech (15th 97:42) and at the associated 5 mile race, Stephen Dunn was 12th in 33:31.

The sixth Inter Club fixture was held at Astley Hall, near Chorley on a 4.7 mile two lap course, one of the toughest in the series with several testing climbs. First was Rob Danson (24:42) of Wesham RRC, with Danny Fletcher (18th 29:20) leading the BWFAC Open team of John Wright (21st 29:23), Ian Dawson (37th 31:10), Steve Simpson (45th 31:35), Jess Rogers (52nd 32:20), Paul Sparrow (58th 32:40), Mark Warner (76th 33:58), Bev Wright (78th 34:03), Nicola Unsworth (113th 36:01) and Brandon Willoughby (119th 36:28) to sixth place.

Better results were achieved by the female section of BWFAC, with Jess Rogers, Bev Wright, Nicola Unsworth, Karen Dunford, Basia Pawelczak, Andrea Smith and Natalie Tanner winning both the Women’s Open and F40 competition. BWFAC were also 5th in the Vets, 3rd in the Vet 50s and 5th in the Vet 60s.

In the higher level UK Women’s League, 2nd Division, competing for Wigan Harriers, Katy Wyper was 2nd in both the 100m and 200m with 11.77 and 23.19 respectively and Fiona Hockey was 2nd (3.60m) in the Pole Vault.

Over 20 BWFAC members competed in the local parkruns. Pick of the runs were at Blackpool where parkrun ‘virgins’ Daniel Kearney (3rd 19:18) and James Unsworth (4th 19:21) participated for the first time and Ella May Leonard (aged 10) ‘collected’ another parkrun by running Fleetwood Promenade (4th F 23:55) and Betty Kershaw was 2nd (7:56) in her first Park View run.

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6th August 2018

It has been a disappointing season for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC in the Northern Athletics League Division 2W, and at the final fixture, were bottom with just 6 League points, just two years after winning the League. However despite several members being unavailable, there was still hope as they were just one point behind the next two clubs.

One of the mainstays of the team is the multi-talented Nia Rutter, who cheered on by her four daughters, pulled out all the stops with, seven events: 400m Hurdles (2nd 73.0), 100m Hurdles (1st 16.5), Shot Putt (1st 10.02) and Jumps, Long (1st 5.18m), High (3rd 1.45m), Triple (1st 11.17m).

Rachel Bashforth in the Hammer was 3rd (32.92m), Discus (3rd 26.23m) and B Shot (1st 10.02m) and Susan Ball, B Hammer (1st 28.72m), Discus (2nd 19.69m) and B Javelin (2nd 20.69m) with Natasha Webster 2nd in the A Javelin (27.69m), secured many valuable points.

A big bonus was the return of Emily Japp to bolster the middle distance after a long term injury. Although nervous in her first track races since injury, she easily won both the 3000m (10.09.1) and 1500m (4:49.2), with Jess Rogers first in the B 1500m (4:55.8) and Emily Balshaw was 2nd in the 800m (2:31.1), with Kirsty Holland 4th in the B race.

Fiona Hockey (3.60m) and Jasmine Carey (3.40m) secured full points in the Pole Vault. Olivia Hanby in the 100m (6th) and 200m (5th), also was 2nd in the B Triple Jump with Faith Hill in the B 100m was 4th, Kirsty Holland 3rd in both the B High Jump (1.25m PB) and B 400 Hurdles and Debbie Terras (4th in the B 3000m).

Prolific in men’s events were Phil Ellershaw in the 200m (5th 24.6), 110m Hurdles (2nd 18.4), 400 B Hurdles (2nd 69.2), High Jump B (3rd 1.50m), B Long Jump (5th 4.49m) and B Discus (3rd 19.06m), with Jon Rutter in the B 110m Hurdles (2nd), B Javelin (4th 24.49m) and Jumps, High (4th 1.55m) Long (5th 5.45m) & Triple (5th 11.38m).

Harry Poole competed in his first Steeple Chase winning in 10:28.4, with Steve Simpson 2nd (11:31.0) in the B race, who also ran in the 5000m (6th 18:52.3). Poole was also 4th (4:17.1) in the 1500m, with Danny Fletcher 2nd (4:29.3) in the B race.

Syd Bashforth was the main competitor in the Throws with in the Hammer (2nd 27.40m), Discus (4th 24.49m), Javelin (4th 24.97m) and B Shot (4th 7.78m), with Andy Bragg in the A Shot (5th 9.08m) and B Hammer (2nd 23.99m).

Other members of the team were Brent Starkie 400m Hurdles (2nd 62.4), Bradley Parsons 100m (4th 11.5), Ruben Shaw 100m (3rd 11.6) and 200m (5th 24.5), Daniel Kearney 400m (5th 54.7) and 800m (4th 2:01.8), Will Critchley B 400m (2nd 52.4), George Robinson B 800m (4th 2:10.6) and Mark Warner B 5000m (6th 20:17.8). And in the relays (4x100m & 4x400m) the women were 3rd in both and the men 4th in both.

At the end of the match, BWFAC finished 2nd team and moved up to fourth in the League, thus performing the ‘Great Escape’ and avoiding relegation.

On the road, Nicola Unsworth was 75th and 5th woman (77:57) at the Lancaster Riverside 10 Mile, with Ian Dawson (19th 41:57) and Mark Warner (41st 46:11) in the Cuerden Valley Badger 10K.

At the inaugural Fleetwood parkrun, John Wright was 1st (18:06) and Bev Wright 1st woman (20:30), with Alison Titterington (25:56), Malcolm Beech (27:44) and Bethany Correy (28:25).

In the 2Km parkruns, Gracie Scott was 2nd (1st girl) in a PB 8:06 at Avenham Park and in Lytham Aimee Harling was 1st girl in 9:22.

In other parkruns at Lytham Hall, Peter Singleton posted 22:05 and at Blackpool, Reg Smallbone 23:47 and Nickola Walker 32:46.

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31st July 2018

Junior News

The heat wave broke with heavy gusty showers of rain at the final Mid Lancs League fixture held at a relatively poorly attended Barrow track. However 20 BWFAC athletes put in some some excellent performances despite the tough conditions.

Riley Nagle (U17M) posted an excellent time of 53.8 (2nd) in the Senior Mens 400m. In the Under 15 Boys events, Angelo Vinci posted an exciting double win in the 100m (12.4) and 200m (26.0), with Matthew Poole 5th in the 100m (12.8) 1st in the 2nd heat by a long way in 27.0 and was 3rd overall. Scott Sinclair was 1st (66.1) his heat of the 400m (2nd overall). He was 1st (5.06m) in the Long Jump and 4th (1.55m) in the High Jump. Seb Holt was 2nd (70.8) and 3rd overall in his heat of the 400m. He was also 3rd (4.01m) in the Long Jump and 6th (1.40m) in the High Jump. In the 4x100m Relay the U15B team of Vinci, Sinclair, Holt and Poole won in 54.6.

Chloe Howard (U20W) was 1st (15.1) in the Senior Women’s 100m and in the U17W, Nekkisha Wilson was 2nd (14.3) in the 100m, with Maddison Riley 3rd (15.1) and Nekkisha was 3rd (31.2) in the 200m. In some of the worst weather, Emily Balshaw ran in a combined SW and U17W 100m, finishing 1st (5:31.7) in the U17W race.

In the Under 15 Girls sprints the times were as follows: Megan Lewis 100m 13.3, 200m 28.4; Imogen Reader 100m 13.5, 200m 28.0; Natalia Luczak 100m 14.2; Kacie Calvert 100m 14.7; Talia Armstead 100m 15.2 and Georgia Norman 200m 39.3. Because of the lack of officials the Triple Jump was cancelled and so several BWFAC girls opted to change to the Long Jump. The results were as follows: Leah Howard 1st (4.69m), Georgia Norman 3rd (4.51m), Natalia Luczak 4th (4.35m), Imogen Reader 6th (4.27m), Talia Armstead 7th (3.91m) and Kacie Calvert 8th (3.46m).

In the U13 Boys, Connor Norman won the 100m in 14.1. Kieran Howard posted a PB of 8.90m (2nd) in the Shot, won the Discus with 21.69m and was 3rd (21.85m) in the Javelin. George Mackenzie was 1st (4.30m) in the Long Jump and in the High Jump and 2nd (20.89m) in the Discus. Kitty Mason posted (U13G) PBs of 14.7 (2nd) in the 100m and 30.8 (1st) in the 200m.

With the wet weather on Sunday, numbers at local junior parkruns were lower than usual, however, after posting 25:25 at the 5Km Blackpool parkrun, Ella May Leonard was 4th and 1st girl at the Park View parkrun.

Senior News

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Laura Lawler was inspired to compete in the Lakeland 100 (miles) after completing the 2016 Lakeland 50 in 250th place. Last year’s Lakeland 100 was very wet and Lawler reached the 12th checkpoint, where she was forced to retire after suffering from trench foot, just 4 checkpoints short of the finish at Coniston. This year conditions were again tough, with nearly half the competitors failing to finish. Lawler started at 6pm on Friday in hot, muggy conditions, which made for hard going up Blacksail Pass and Coniston Old Man. On Saturday afternoon the weather turned cold and wet and Lawler had to speed up to keep warm. She finished 165th (2nd FV50) in a total time of 37hr 46mins.

At the other end of the distance spectrum, Katy Wyper was a double medal winner at the UK CAU & England Athletic Championships held at Manchester Regional Arena, qualifying for the finals of both the 100 and 200 metres, where she finished third in both with wind assisted PBs of 11.47 and 23.39 respectively. T37 athlete George Fox qualified for the seeded finals of the Ambulant 100 and 200 metres, where he posted wind assisted PBs of 12.56 and 25.37 respectively. After the different disability classifications are taken into account, Fox was awarded Bronze in the 200 metres. Wheelchair athlete Isaac Towers competed in the 400 metres and in windy conditions posted 58.36 and after disability classification consideration, was awarded Gold.

At the Lytham Hall parkrun, which also doubled as the BWFAC 10th trail race, Jack Tickle was 4th (18:48), Paul Sparrow 6th (19:18), Steve Dunn 7th (19:40), Michelle Tickle 28th (22:09), Lucy Tickle 37th (22:54), Simon Tickle 51st (24:08), Simon Scarr 65th (24:51), Bob Massey 125th (28:41), Amanda Fuller 129th (28:41) and Andy Hume 177th (34:27).

Ian Dawson was 4th (66:30) and Adam Callow 8th (71:28) at the Caldervale 10 Mile race, while at the Pilling 10Km, Anthony Blight was 30th (48:48 PB), Basia Pawelczak 44th (49:15), Kevin Woods 48th (49:51) and Dawn Maher 51:44. At final race of the 3-1-5 Lancaster 5Km series, Emily Japp was 7th (17:28) and 1st woman, with Andrew Simm 15th (19:26) and Robbie Trecarichi 35th (24:11), while at the Beetham Fell Race (9.3Km/928m) Peter Singleton was 48th and 1st Vet 60 (51:05), Simon Scarr 79th (63:22) and Bob Massey 84th and 1st Vet 70 (69:28).

At Trafford Luke Minns posted 1:55.29 and Jess Rogers 2:22.23 in the 800m and Harry Poole 4:14.66 in the 1500m.

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28th July 2018

Senior News

It was a hot, muggy evening for the fifth fixture of the Inter Club series run over 4.5 miles on the country lanes around Salwick and hosted by Wesham Road Runners Club. First across the line was Wesham’s Rob Danson in 22:52. First for BWFAC was Phil Leybourne (5th 24:57) leading the Open team to to 5th, the Vets to 4th and V50s to 3rd. The Vet 60s were 5th. The Open Ladies team led by Bev Wright, who was 4th female (30:52) were second and she also led the V40 Ladies to first place.

The final fixture of the Youth Development (Lower) League for under 15 and 13s was held at Leverhulme Athletic Track in Bolton. It has has been a very a successful season with the the enthusiastic talented squad of young athletes winning the first three fixtures at Carlisle, Leigh and Blackburn. At Bolton, the BWFAC team was not as strong as in the previous meetings, however they finished second to the main rivals and 2nd team in the league, Bolton United Harriers. However it could not prevent the club winning the third Division North and gaining promotion to the next tier. Apart from this success, the season has been beneficial to their athletic development and has encouraged teamwork.

At the Elswick Express 10 Miler, Adam Callow was 32nd (74:52) and Anthony Blight 38th (77:16). Nicola Unsworth who was 21st (77:31), was awarded the lady vet 45 prize and together with Basia Pawelczak (50th 1:23:27) and Laura Lawler (88th 1:40:29), also won the Ladies team prize. At the North Wales Half Marathon, Paul Plummer was 93rd in 1:56:42.

Laura Lawler was a member of the Lancashire Police Ladies team in the challenging Snowdonia Seven Fell Race over 22 miles and 7 peaks with a total height gain of nearly 8,000 feet. The team, despite the hot conditions, which caused the several teams not to finish, were first Ladies team in 9 hours and 24 minutes. This will be great preparation as Laura embarks this weekend on the Lakeland 100 (mile) ‘Ultra Tour of the Lake District’.

At the evening Scorton Supper 4.75 mile road and trail race Anthony Blight was 17th (36:14), Ella May Leonard (aged 10) 25th (37:45), Kevin Woods 31st (38:34), Malcolm Beech 65th (44:23), Amanda Fuller 67th (45:43) and Nickola Walker 77th (50:09, Tracey Sharrock 85th (52:25) and Fiona Little 94th (60:11).

parkrun news

The Witton parkrun which was used as the 10th fixture of BWFAC’s Trail Championship with Paul Sparrow was 4th (20:52), Stephen Dunn 6th (21:09), Jack Tickle 8th (21:49), Peter Singleton 18th (24:00), Michelle Tickle 19th (24:13), Simon Scarr 32nd (27:30) and Bob Massey 53rd (31:32).

In other parkruns, at Blackpool Ella May Leonard was 43rd & 2nd female (23:56), Peter Gibson 44th (24:04), Reg Smallbone 45th (24:10 and Malcolm Beech 89th (29:00) and at Lytham Hall, Emily Balshaw was 16th & 2nd female (8:46) and Howard Henshaw 148th (32:47). Peter Bradburn was 36th (21:41) and Amanda Fuller 181st (30:32) at the Fell Foot parkrun in the Lake District. At the junior Park View 2Km parkrun Holly Tickle was 3rd (8:21), Ella May Leonard 9th (8:46) and Aimee Harling 13th (9:22).

Junior News

The final fixture of the Youth Development (Lower) League for under 15 and 13s was held at Leverhulme Athletic Track in Bolton. It has been a very successful season with the enthusiastic talented squad of young athletes winning the first three fixtures at Carlisle, Leigh and Blackburn. At Bolton, the BWFAC team was not as strong in the previous meetings, however they finished second to the main rivals and 2nd team in the league, Bolton United Harriers. However it could not prevent the Club winning the third Division North and gaining promotion to the next tier. Apart from this success, the season has has been beneficial to their athletic development and has encourage teamwork.

In the U15 Boys sprints Angelo Vinci was 2nd in both 100m (12.4) and 200m (24.8 PB), while Matthew Poole was 1st (12.8) in the B 100m and was 2nd with a PB 40.6 in the 300m and Thomas Fairclough was 2nd (44.6 PB) in the B 300m. Joel Elphick was was 4th in the B 200m with a PB 27.1 and was 1st (13.5) in the B 80m Hurdles, whilst Scott Sinclair won the A 80m Hurdles in a PB 13.5. Max Swarbrick was 3rd (5:01.4) in the A 800m.

Sinclair was in splendid form particularly in the Long Jump where he won, equalling his PB of 5.63m, more than a metre ahead of the rest of the competitors. Teammate Sam Howarth won the B competition with 4.50m and he went onto win the High Jump with a PB 1.51m, with a Seb Holt clearing the same height and winning the B competition. Having only recently started training in the Pole Vault, Howarth enjoyed his first competition by clearing 2.50m and claiming full points.

The relay squad of Vinci, Sinclair, Elphick, Haworth, Holt and Fairhurst were second in both the 4x100m relay (53.3) and 4x400m (3:02.8).

Megan Lewis was 3rd in the Under 15 Girls 100m with a PB 13.4 and won the 200m in 27.1, while Imogen Reader won both the B 100m (13.6) and B 200m with a PB 27.1 and Georgia Norman posted a PB 13.8 in the non scoring 100m and a PB 6.80m in the Shot Putt. Lucy Tickle was 3rd (48.2) in the A 300m and Natalia Luczak won the B race in 47.9. Lucy Tickle was also 4th (2:35.1) in the 800m.

Leah Howard was 3rd (13.0) in the 75m Hurdles, 2nd (4.57m) in the Long Jump and 1st (1.55m) in the High Jump, with Talia Armstead 1st (14.0) in the B 75m Hurdles and 1st (1.45m) in the B High Jump. Natalia Luczak won (4.44m) the B Long Jump. Grace Dunn cleared 2.00m in the Pole Vault to claim full points. Kacie Calvert was 2nd with a PB 27.71m and was also 4th in both the Shot Putt (6.88m) and Discus (15.20m).

Unfortunately in the 4×100 relay Natalia Luczak fell at the change over, however bravely got up so that the baton was brought home so that 6th position points were scored and then together with Lucy Tickle, Georgia Norman and Leah Howard won the 4x300m Relay in 3:11.5, 25 seconds ahead of the 2nd team.

In the Under 13 Boys category Connor Norman was 4th in both the 100m (14.2) and 200m (29.4) and won the Long Jump (3.98m). Rafael Eaton was 2nd in both the B 100 (14.3) and 800m (2:37.1) and won the B 100m.

George Mackenzie won the A 75m Hurdles with Thomas Wilkinson winning the B race, both in the same time of 14.7. In the High Jump, Wilkinson was 2nd (1.30m) in the A competition and Mackenzie 1st (1.25m) in the B. Wilkinson was 2nd (22.57m) in the Javelin with Kieran Howard 1st in the B competition. Howard was also 1st in the Shot Putt with a PB 8.42m and Mackenzie was 1st (7.76m) in the B.

Wilkinson, Norman, Mackenzie and Eaton combined together to finish 2nd (56.6) in the 4x100m Relay.

In the Under 13 Girls 75m sprint Keira Tomes was 4th (11.7), while in the 150m was 3rd (23.0) and was 2nd (1.25m) in the High Jump. Kitty Mason contested the B sprints finishing 2nd in the 75m with 11.1 and 1st in the 150m, both PBs. Kitty also scored a PB of 5.45 with 2nd in the Shot Putt and Holly Tickle was 2nd in the B with a PB 5.45m. Holly was also 5th (4:43.6) in the 1200m. Ellise Balshaw was a comfortable winner of the 800m in a PB 2:40.5 and 4th (10.46m) in the Javelin. Gracie Rutter won the 70m Hurdles in 14.1 and was 5th (3.48m) in the Long Jump.

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21st July 2018

BWFAC September 2018 Open Meeting

Entries are now being taken for our BWFAC Open Meeting on Sunday 9 September 2018.

Please click here for more information

NO ENTRIES ON THE DAY

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20th July 2018

The address for tomorrow’s Lower YDL Match at Bolton is as follows:

Leverhulme Park, Long Lane, Bolton, BL2 6EB

Good luck to all competing!

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19th July 2018

Five Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC junior members were chosen to represent Lancashire Schools at the English Schools Track & Field Championships held at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Jasmine Carey won Bronze in the Inter Girls Pole Vault with a PB of 3.60m and teammate Amelia Shearman was 7th (3.25m). Ciaran Medd was 12th (37.50m) in the Inter Boys Discus. Bradley Parsons (Inter Boys) and Mary-Jayne Broomhead (Junior Girls) posted 11.52 and 13.10 in the heats of the 100 metres.

Competing in the higher level British Women’s League for Wigan Harriers, Katy Wyper won both the 100m (11.82) and 200m (24.45) and Fiona Hockey won the Pole Vault with 3.60m.

Basia Pawelczak was 135th (1:52:27) in the Windmill Half Marathon and Kirsty Holland was 38th (59:25) at the Pendle Leisure 5 mile Trail Race.

Caldervale is a picture postcard mill village east of Garstang and home of several attractive road races including the 4 mile Supper race. Several young and slightly more mature runners took on the challenge. Forest Leah aged 11 was first across the line for BWFAC in 24th (26:26), with Gracie Scott aged 10, 38th (28:49) and Naomi Wrigley 57th (31:49). Amanda Fuller was 109th (38:34) and Fiona Little 145th (31:49).

BWFAC Athletes of the Month for June are Natalia Luczak (U15G) and Thomas Wilkinson (U13B) for their efforts on the track and Volunteer of the Quarter is Paula Howard for efforts as a field official, having gained her level two qualification.

On the parkrun scene, Bev Wright ran the Northallerton parkrun, was 5th in 21:05 and first female. At Blackpool Adam Callow was 5th in 20:03, Peter Bradshaw 11th (21:32), Paul Sparrow 15th (21:32) and 10 year old Ella May Leonard 42nd and 1st female in 23:54. Peter Gibson 47th (24:14), Rick Pinches 54th (24:55), Malcolm Beech 108th (28:23), Nickola Walker 134th (31:12) and France Connolly 143rd (32:03). Howard Henshaw was 171st (34:19) at Lytham Hall.

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16th July 2018

The North West Road Relays have now been confirmed and will take place at Delamere Forest on Saturday 8 September 2018. If any Senior Ladies would like to take part please contact Laura Lawler and Senior Men please contact Michelle Tickle.
Once the full event details are released we will be looking to pull together some junior teams too! Watch this space!!

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16th July 2018

Junior News

The pinnacle of School Athletics is the English Schools AA Track & Field Championships, which was this year held at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, in baking temperatures.To be chosen to represent your county is a great honour and five Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes were selected to represent Lancashire.

On the Friday, the first day of the Championships, Mary-Jayne Broomhead competed in the heats of the Junior Girls (U15) 100 metres finishing 8th in 13.10 and Bradley Parsons ran in the Inter Boys (U17) 100 metres heats finishing 6th in 11.52.

The next day, Ciaran Medd competed in the Inter Boys Discus final finishing 12th with 37.50 metres.

Jasmine Carey and Amelia Shearman both represented Lancashire last year in the Junior Girls Pole Vault final. This year they were both back again, competing in the Inter Girls competition and both performed well. Amelia recently made good progress, having been stuck on 3.15m, achieved at last year’s English Schools Championships. After improving to 3.30m at a league meeting, Amelia cleared 3.40 metres at the Lancashire Schools Championships. After reaching 3.25m, Shearman came close to clearing the next height of 3.40m. Despite missing out, Amelia finished in joint 7th place.

Jasmine Carey serenely cleared up to 3.50 metres. After a first failure at 3.60 metres Jasmine cleared it at her second attempt to secure the Bronze medal and a new best.

Away from Track and Field, sisters Lucy and Holly Tickle, for the third consecutive year, joined 3000 children for the Ironkids event in Bolton. The event, which took place the day before the main Ironman event, involved the girls running a 1.2km course, with their respective age groups, before receiving the much prized finisher’s medal and            t-shirt.

It was a warm morning for the weekly Park View junior park run. Lucy Tickle was 4th (8:00) and 1st girl, with her younger sister Holly 6th in a 8:13 personal best. Ella May Leonard was 9th in 8:43 (one second outside her best) and Aimee Harling 12th in 9:27. The previous day Ella May Leonard had run in the Blackpool 5Km park run and was first female in 23:54!

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13th July 2018

It was stifling hot conditions for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde who competed on road, trail, fell and track last weekend.

At the Blackpool Summer 10K, Nicola Unsworth was 4th lady and 1st FV45 (26th) in 45:46.
Over 1600 ran in 28C temperatures at the We Love MCR 10K, with BWFAC’s Derek Crane finishing 302nd in 50:37.

At the Northwich Festival of Running 10K Trail Race, Michelle Tickle was 26th (48:13) and picked up a prize after finishing 4th lady and first V40. Other BWFAC runners were Simon Scarr (76th 57:17), Bob Massey (150th 68:33), Amanda Fuller (207th 78:46), Nickola Walker (218th 81:36), Andy Hume (228th 85:24) and Fiona Little (232nd 87:49.

At the Don Ashton Memorial Tockholes Fell Race, part of the Inter Club Fell Race competition, Mark Warner was 74th (51:16), Simon Scarr 109th (59:04) and Alan Wilkinson 126th (63:38).

There were good performances at the Northern Inter Counties from the BWFAC athletes: Mary-Jayne Broomhead, Bradley Parsons, Riley Nagle, Danielle Whipp, Jack Dudley, Emily Balshaw, Leah Howard, Scott Sinclair, Jasmine Carey and Amelia Shearman, who were part of the Lancashire team which finished second behind Yorkshire.

The next day, BWFAC Senior track & field team hosted the 3rd fixture of the Northern League Division 2 West. The season has not gone well and sadly the team did not fare much better finishing fifth. However, there were many good individual performances. Nia Rutter won the 100m Hurdles (16.1), Shot Putt (10.84m) and Triple Jump (10.87m) and her husband Jon collected valuable points in the B 110m High Hurdles (1st 22.8) Shot Putt B 7.19m, B Long Jump (3rd 5.52m), High Jump (4th 1.55m) and B Triple Jump (10.99m). Declan O’Hara won the Pole Vault with 3.80m, while in the Triple he was 3rd (11.34m). Louis Walker was 2nd (43.28) in the Javelin. Brent Starkie won the 400m Hurdles (63.1), Daniel Kearney was 2nd (1:59.4) in the 800m and Olivia Hanby was 1st (9.56m) in the B Triple Jump.

Duncan Shaw, who now lives in Japan but is currently on holiday in England, bolstered the throwing squad finishing 3rd in both the Hammer (43.26m) and Shot (9.50m). Syd Bashforth was 2nd (27.27m) ìn the B Hammer and 4th (25.14m) in the Discus. In the female throws, Rachel Bashforth was 4th (31.27m) in the Hammer, 2nd (25.49m) in the B Discus and 1st in the B Shot. Susan Ball was 3rd (26.31) in the B Hammer, 3rd (26.31m) in the Discus and 2nd in the Javelin. Others returning to action for BWFAC after a break were Faith Hill in the 100m (5th 13.8) and Alex Obiorah in the 100m (4th 11.4) and 200m (5th 23.3).

Steve Simpson took part in the Manchester to Blackpool Cycle ride during the morning and then ran the 3000m Hurdles finishing 4th (12:36.0).

The young athletes had good results with Jess Rogers winning the 800m (2:25.8) and 2nd (65.6) in the B 400m. Three members who competed the previous day at the Inter Counties contributed; Danielle Whipp won the B 800m (2:25.6), Riley Nagle 3rd (54.6) in the B 400m and Emily Balshaw who together with Chloe Norman, Rogers and Whipp won the 4x400m Relay in 4:18.0. Nagle combined with Kearney, Phil Ellershaw and Starkie finished 2nd (3:44.7) in the 4×400m Relay. Others contributing were Chloe Norman, Michelle Tickle, Kirsty Holland, Claire Irons and Mark Warner.

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11th July 2018

Congratulations to Natalia Luczak and Thomas Wilkinson, our ‘Athlete of the Month’ and our ‘Volunteer of the Quarter’, Paula Howard.

Due to a number of BWFAC coaches moving on over the coming months, would any parents be interested in taking their Level 1 Coaching Qualification? Please contact Nick Hume for more information: nick.hume@tiscali.co.uk
Thank you

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10th July 2018

Ten Under 15 and Under 17 Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes were chosen to be part of the Lancashire team at the Northern Inter Counties Championship held at a very hot and sunny track at the Leigh Sports Village complex. Lancashire were competing against teams representing Yorkshire, North East Counties, Cheshire, Humberside, Greater Manchester, Lincolnshire and Cumbria.

In the sprints, Bradley Parsons had an excellent run in the U17M 100 metres finishing 3rd in 11.35. In the Girls U15 100 metres, Mary-Jayne Broomhead was 4th in 12.97 and in the 200m was 5th in 26.39. Broomhead was also part of the 4x100m Relay Lancashire team which finished 4th in 51.77. Riley Nagle posted a 53.49 PB in finishing 3rd in the B 400 metres.

Danielle Whipp gave her all in the U17W 1500 metres, posting a PB of 4:55.68 to finish fourth, however in the U17M 1500m, Jake Dudley, when in 3rd place, was forced to stop at the end of the third lap with cramp, possibly brought on by the hot conditions. It was particularly tough for those contesting the 3000 metres race at probably the hottest part of the day. Emily Balshaw represented Lancashire and finished 5th in the A race with 12:12.65.

Scott Sinclair competed in both the U15 and U17 age categories. In the U17 Boys High Jump, he cleared 1.65m for 5th place and in the U15 Long Jump, Scott was 6th with 5.27m. Leah Howard equalled her best of 1.55m in the U15G High Jump.

Two of BWFAC Pole Vault squad, Jasmine Carey and Amelia Shearman, represented Lancashire, winning both the A and B competitions with 3.50m and 3.30m respectively. Carey also came close to setting a Championship record when she attempted 3.61m.

As a whole the Lancashire team performed well, finishing second with 643 points behind Yorkshire with 695 points.

The next day Danielle Whipp, Emily Balshaw and Riley Nagle competed for the BWFAC in the Northern Track and Field League.

Away from track & field at the Park View junior parkrun Lucy Tickle was 2nd and 1st girl in 7:53 and Holly Tickle was 4th and equalled her PB of 8:17 with Aimee Harling 15th in 9:26.

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8th July 2018

Senior News

The pinnacle of domestic British Athletics, for many senior athletes, is the British Championships (including the European Trials) held at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. For Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Katy Wyper, this was her 6th consecutive visit to the Championships. In the 100 metres, Katy qualified for the semi-final after finishing first in her heat in a time of 11.92. In the semi-final she finished 6th in 11.92, behind Dina Asher-Smith who went on to win in the final in a Championship Best of 10.97. Qualification in the 200 metres was the first two and next two fastest from the three heats. Although 3rd in her heat (24.40), Wyper was not quite fast enough to reach the final, where Scottish teammate Beth Dobbin won in 22.59.

Nearer to home, thirty six BWFAC athletes competed in the fourth fixture of the Mid Lancs League held at Litherland Sports Park. Nia Rutter was first in the Long Jump (4.92m), Triple Jump (10.65m) and Shot Putt (10.41m). Nia’s husband, Jon, was 2nd in both the Long Jump (5.48m) and Triple Jump (11.02m).

Middle Distance runner, Daniel Kearney, competed in a sprint triple finishing second in the 100m (12.5), 200m (24.6) and 400m (52.5). Throw specialist, Susan Ball, finished second in the Hammer (24.93m), Shot Putt (7.98m) and Discus (24.15m).

Amongst the Junior ranks there were several excellent performances, especially in the Under 15 age category. Mary-Jayne Broomhead finished first overall of 35 Under 15 Girls in the 100 metres with 12.8. In the Under 15 Boys, Angelo Vinci also finished first overall in the 100m (12.7) and the same in the 200m (25.5). Leah Howard continued her form in the jumps, winning both the High Jump with a PB 1.55m and the Long Jump (4.71m).

A very under-strength Under 20 & 17 team were 5th in the final Youth Development League match held at Ashton-Under-Lyne.

It was a quiet week in road running for BWFAC, possibly because of the heat. Rick Pinches enjoyed the Trawden 7 Mile Trail race, finishing 28th in 74:26.

There were fourteen BWFAC runners at the Blackpool park run, led by Adam Callow 4th 19:17, Paul Sparrow 5th 19:21 PB, Max Swarbrick (U15B) 6th 19:55 PB and Steve Dunn 7th 19:56. Nicola Unsworth was 25th and 1st female in 22:50 and Under 11, Ella May Leonard was 43rd and 2nd female in 24:06.

At the Lytham Hall parkrun, Emily Balshaw was 19th and 2nd female in 22:05, with Michelle Tickle 24th in 22:41 and Trevor Uttley 4th in 26:28.

Junior News

The heat was on this weekend for the young athletes of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC with Track & Field meetings in Litherland and Ashton-Under-Lyne and junior parkruns in Preston and Lytham.

There were over 30 young athletes went to Litherland for the the fourth Mid Lancs League meeting.

Mary-Jayne Broomhead (U15G) is competing next Saturday for Lancashire in the Inter Counties and so restricted her events to the 100 metres, which she won in a speedy 12.8, despite a headwind and the Long Jump 12th (4.23m). Other U15/U17 female 100m times were: Megan Lewis 13.7, Leah Howard 14.1, Natalia Luczak 14.3, Chloe Parsons 14.7, Maddison Riley 15.6 and Talia Ball 16.5. In the longer sprints Megan Lewis was 2nd (6th overall) in her heat of the 200m with a PB 27.8 and Imogen Reader and Ellie Owen both had a successful initial competitions in the 300 metres finishing 1st (43.8) and 2nd (44.6) respectively.

Bethany Whipp contested 3rd place in the 1500 metres with Maddy Markham of Lytham St Annes RRC, finally winning out with 5:29.9, with Maddy 4th (5:31.0).

Leah Howard has had an impressive month of athletic success during June and crowned it with double victory in the Long Jump (4.71m) and High Jump with a PB 1.55m. Natalia Luczak was 6th in the Long Jump (4.40m) and 8th in the High Jump (1.25m), with Megan Lewis 14th in the Long Jump (4.18m).

In the throws Talia Armstead was 3rd (16.87m) in Discus, with Chloe Parsons 5th (15.0m) and Talia Ball 8th (11.61m). In tough gusty conditions, Kacie Calvert was pleased with 24.48m (3rd) in the Javelin.

Under 13 Girl 100m and 200m sprint times were: Kitty Mason 15.1 & 30.9, Gracie Rutter 15.5 & 33.8, Gracie Oates 16.3 & 33.8 and Keira Tomes 15.5. Ellise Balshaw won her heat of the 800m and was 6th overall in 2:47.3. Harriet Medd won the Discus with 19.48 and was 4th (19.48) in the Shot Putt.

In the U17 Men Riley Nagle won his heat of the 200m in 24.8 and was 4th overall and Ciaran Medd was 2nd in both the Shot Putt (9.47m) and Discus (35.32m).

Angelo Vinci (U15B) was in superb form in the sprints, winning both the 100m (12.7) and 200m (25.5). Scott Sinclair posted 13.3 and Samuel Howarth 13.4. Deetray Jarrett was 8th (2:34.7) in the 800m and posted 34.0 in the 200m. Seb Holt experimented with the 400m finishing 2nd (68.7).

Scott Sinclair won the Long Jump (5.51) with Samuel Howarth 4th (4.85m) and Seb Holt 7th (4.19m). In the High Jump Seb Holt was 3rd with a PB 1.55m, with
Samuel Howarth 4th (1.45m).

In the throws Alex Slater won the Shot Putt (11.04) and was 7th (24.10) in the Discus.

In the Under 13 Boys Rafael Eaton won her heat of the 100m and was 5th overall with 14.4, 4th 29.2 in the 200m and 3rd (3.97m) in the Long Jump. George Mackenzie won the Discus (22.36m), was 2nd (7.63m) in the Shot Putt and 4th (3.96m) in the Long Jump. Thomas Wilkinson posted 15.9 in 100m and 3:19.1 in the 800m and 4th (3.96m) in the Long Jump. Zachariah Matadigo posted 31.0 and 10th (3.34m) in the Long Jump. Trayden Jarrett was 7th (5:39.1) in the 100m and Zach Terras posted 3:48.9 in the 800m and 6th (5.52m) in the Shot Putt.

It was a threadbare squad who competed for BWFAC Youth Development League for Under 20 and 17 at the final fixture in Ashton-Under-Lyne. In the Under 20 age category Olivia Hanby was 2nd (14.0) in the 100m, with Danny Fletcher was 2nd (4:42.4) in the 1500m. Taylor Holland scored full points in the 400m Hurdles (80.1), High Jump (1.40m) and Triple Jump (9.70m).

Under 17 Bradley Parsons was third in the 100m (11.8), 200m (24.7) and Shot Putt (9.08m), with Riley Nagle 4th (55.1) in the 400m. James Smith was second in both the 800m (2:15.2) and High Jump (1.50m). Amelia Shearman won the U17W Pole Vault with 3 metres and was 5th (14.7) in the 100m. Despite the lack of numbers the team finished 5th of 8 teams.

Away from Track & Field at the Avenham Preston junior parkrun Forest Leah was first (7:57), Gracie Scott was 3rd with a PB 8:27 and Otis Leah was 4th with 8:27. At the Park View Lucy Tickle was 2nd (7:39), Holly Tickle was 6th (8:29) and Ella May Leonard was 10th (8:52). The previous day at the 5Km Blackpool parkrun Ella was 2nd female (43rd) in 24:06.

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1st July 2018

A reminder that the club shop is now open until 20th July 2018 for ordering. Please click here for more information.

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30th June 2018

Save the date!

The North West Road Relays which incorporate the
Championships for Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater
Manchester will take place in September. It is hoped these will take place at Delamere Forest on Saturday 8th Sept but this still needs to be confirmed.

The North of England Relays cover the whole of the North and are 6
Stage Men and 4 Stage Women. These will be on 23rd September at Sport
City in Manchester.

29th June 2018

The ever popular Birchwood 10K Road Race from Spectrum Striders takes place this year on Sunday August 19th 2018.

The race always attracts a large number of entries from club runners from all over the North west and further afield, so make sure you don’t miss out on this great summer race, now in its 35th year. The race is fast and fairly flat, using closed roads and pathways and has great PB potential. For the current course, the records are: male 31.27, female 36:52. There’s bling for all finishers; the “Leafy Green for 2018” medal and a quality technical t-shirt. New for 2018! – The 10K Club Colonnade. Clubs can bring their free-standing banner flags and position them beside the final 200m finishing straight, where fellow club members, family and supporters can rally and shout their runners home. Enter online at: https://www.active.com/warrington-cheshire/running/distance-running-races/birchwood-10k-2018
Full race info at: http://www.spectrumstriders.org.uk/our-races/birchwood-10k/race-info

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Last year was the first year of our Ribble Way Run, a trail run along the rural and very beautiful Ribble Way. I know many of you joined us last year and we would love it if you could share our event with your members. All proceeds from the event are donated to charity and remember you could also arrange your own sponsorship to raise money for your own chosen charity. All the details are on our website – http://www.ribblewayrun.com

Come and join us on 9th September 2018, we would love to see you. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Neil Fletcher (Race Director – Preston Guild Rotary Club)

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28th June 2018

Senior News
The Inter Trust Athletic Games held in Guernsey was a high class Track & Field meeting, featuring Scottish Academy and England Under 20 teams, against a combined Guernsey and Jersey team, together with invited high class guest athletes. Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Katy Wyper a posted season’s best 11.74 to win the Women’s 100 metres race ahead of U20 England athletes Cassie-Ann Pemberton (2nd 11.85) and Amy Hunt (3rd 11.92)

Under 15 BWFAC athletes, Leah Howard and Scott Sinclair were part of the Lancashire Schools Junior Pentathlon teams in the North West Combined Events Championships in Stockport, helping both teams to third places. The Lancashire squad as a whole finished first of six county teams.

In the Sabden 6 Mile Trail Race Peter Singleton was 104th (51:12), with Simon Scarr 161st (59:36), Alan Wilkinson 185th & 2nd V65 (63:25) and Andrew Hume 220th (76:32). Kirsty Holland ran in Whinlatter 10Km on the trails in the Whinlatter Forest near Keswick finishing 96th in 67:37. George James tackled the 4.9 mile Clough Pike fell race with a climb of 1312 feet and finished 86th (1:29:06).

The weather forecast for the fourth Inter Club fixture was for stifling heat last Tuesday evening, however a cooling sea breeze on Cleveleys Promenade made for more reasonable running conditions although still warm. BWFAC fielded a stronger team led by Phil Leybourne (4th), with John Wright (11th), Danny Fletcher (20th), Ian Dawson (32nd), Jack Tickle (38th), Paul Sparrow (49th), Paul Beech (50th), Steve Dunn (59th), George Robinson (60th) and Bev Wright (66th). The provisional results indicate they finished 5th, only 2 points off 4th. With several regulars missing from the Ladies squad led by Bev Wright, the Open Ladies team were 4th and the FV40 team were 2nd.

The best results was by the Vet 50s, led by Leybourne who were first and Vet 60s led by Nick Hume, were second. The Vets were third.

Over 20 runners enjoyed the annual BWFAC training run at Garstang, followed by sandwiches and chips at a local pub.

Fourteen BWFAC runners ran at the Blackpool parkrun, with Adam Callow 7th in a PB 19:01, Phil Sutcliffe 8th in 19:06 and Bev Wright 12th in a PB 20:34. Other PBs, were Karen Dunford with 22:44, David Twizell 25:25, Malcolm Beech 26:53 and Bob Massey 26:53. At the Preston parkrun, Michelle Tickle was 118th in 24:57.

Junior News

After nearly three months of Track & Field meetings from the Lancashire AA and Schools Championships through to Mid Lancs League and Youth Development League meetings, there was a week free of events – except for Leah Howard and Scott Sinclair. Back on a showery weekend in April at the Lancashire Combined Events Championships, they both qualified to represent Lancashire at the ESAA North West Schools’ Combined Events Championships at the Woodbank Stadium in Stockport.

Leah Howard had an excellent competition in the Junior Girls Pentathlon, posting a PB of 4.90m in the Long Jump, equalled her best in the High Jump with 1.51m and also performed well in the 75m Hurdles (12.94m), Shot Putt (8.68m) and 800m (2:48.61). Leah finished 9th overall and improved her best in the Pentathlon by a massive 300 points to 2694 points and together with Macy and Eleanor Noblett of Preston Harriers and Ella Hall, the girls led the Lancashire Schools team to third place.

Scott Sinclair was the third counter of the Junior Boys team and together with Jacob Taylor and Harry Burrow, both of Preston Harriers and Jack Newton of Lancaster & Morecambe, finished third. Scott recorded 13.80 in the 80m Hurdles, 7.85m in the Shot Putt, 5.12m in the Long Jump, 1.53m in the High Jump and a PB of 2:45.70 in the 800m, finishing 16th with 1857 points.

Overall, the Lancashire squad, which also included the Junior Girls and Boys competitions, the Inter Girls and Boys and Senior Girls results, finished first, ahead of Cumbria, Cheshire, Shropshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Staffordshire.

It was a beautiful, warm sunny morning for the 70th Park View junior parkrun in Lytham. Three BWFAC girls were in excellent form. Jayden Richardson of Lytham St Anne’s RRC was first over the line with BWFACs Holly Tickle second and first girl in 8:27. Ella May Leonard posted yet another PB of 8:42 on her 26th Park View parkrun. Since her first junior parkrun, Ella has improved her time over the 2Km distance by nearly two minutes. Aimee Harling is even more of a prolific parkrunner, as this was her 55th junior parkrun, having run her first Park View run in February last year and Aimee also posted a PB of 9:15 in 13th place and was third girl. Since she started, Aimee has improved her time by over four minutes!

Meanwhile Gracie Scott, a regular at Park View, ran for the first time at the Avenham junior parkrun in Preston, where she posted 8:27 on the hilly course. She was second overall, first girl and her time was an Age category (JW10) record.

At the Blackpool 5Km parkrun the previous day, Rafael Eaton was 3rd in 22:43.

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19th June 2018

Congratulations to our U15 Girls 4 x 300m relay team who broke a 2 year club record last weekend at the penultimate YDL fixture at Witton Park. Lucy Tickle, Natalia Luczak, Georgia Norman and Leah Howard knocked 4 seconds off the existing record to finish in 3.07.5! Well done, girls!

The U15 Boys 4 x 300m relay team of Angelo Vinci, Sebby Holt, Matthew Poole and Rhys Sandoval-Roberts equalled the existing club record of 2.56.00! Well done, boys!

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18th June 2018

Thornton Interclub – Tuesday 26th June.

The start, finish and buffet locations are exactly the same as in previous
years. The only change is the public toilets on the promenade nearest the
start/ finish are CLOSED due to refurbishment.The nearest public
toilets are 1 mile south of the start on the top promenade at Red Bank
Road.

2018 TCRC Interclub information

Thornton Cleveleys Interclub Race

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17th June 2018

Senior News

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runners tackled the Freckleton Half Marathon, the oldest half in the UK. The race was won by John Mason of Border, with first BWFAC runner Paul Sparrow (31st 88:10). Michelle Tickle, who ran the race to raise money for Rosemere Cancer Foundation, finished 111th with a PB of 1:43:06, with Brandon Willoughby 133rd (1:44:51), Laura Lawler 266th (2:01:41), Bob Massey 303rd (2:10:16) and Clare Clarke 314th (2:10:16).
On a lighter note, BWFAC coach, Sarah Venn, won the Wellie throwing competition and her son Bradley was 2nd in the Egg catching at Freckleton Club Day Sports.

At the Father’s Day 10Km, held in Lancaster, BWFAC’s Bev Wright was 12th and first woman (42:00) and Nicola Unsworth was 28th and 2nd woman (44:55). At the Crazy Cow 10K at Avenham Park in Preston, Nickola Walker was 393rd (393rd), Stephanie Wood 455th (68:35) and Fiona Little 533rd (81:10). Paul Plummer ran in the Marple Carnival 10Km Trail race finishing 5th (47:14).

Derek Crane took on the challenge of the Tour of Tameside which involves four races in four days. Derek’s times in the races were: X-Trail 10K 55:09, Hell on the Fell 63:14, Hero Half Marathon (Trail) 2:05:07 and the Dr Ron Hyde 7 Mile 64.01. Crane’s total time was 5:07:31 and he was 242nd.

The Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC women’s teams had a good evening at the Preston Inter Club, held on a two lap course in Avenham and Miller Parks. The Open Women’s team of Jess Rogers (63rd 27:11), Bev Wright (98th 28:58), Nicola Unsworth (107th 29:12), Laura Lawler (138th 31:05) and Basia Pawelczak (139th 31:16) finished first, as did the F40 team of Wright, Unsworth, Karen Dunford (142nd 31:22) and Natalie Tanner (181st 32:57).

However, for the Open team as a whole it was a disappointing result as the team of Phil Leybourne (5th 22:56), Danny Fletcher (27th 24:56), Paul Sparrow (48th 26:21), Steve Dunn (59th 27:03), Jess Rogers, Paul Beech (68th 27:37), Bev Wright, Nicola Unsworth, Mark Warner (108th 29:30) and Brandon Willoughby (127th 30:22) finished in sixth place. Jess Rogers was first Junior woman and Phil Leybourne was first Vet 50 and together with Sparrow, Wright and Willoughby, they were the third V50 team. The Vets team were 6th and the Vet 60 team 5th.

On the Track & Field front Fiona Hockey was 4th (3.50m) in the Pole Vault at the England Athletics U20/U23. The U13 and U15 BWFAC squad secured a third straight victory in the Youth Development League at Blackburn and look nailed to win the Division 3 North and secure promotion with one fixture remaining.

On the fells, at the Settle Hill race (7 miles/1312 feet), Mark Warner was 112th (1:23:23), Basia Pawelczak 125th (1:28:45), Simon Scarr 137th (1:34:00) and Alan Wilkinson 149th (1:49:25).

There were nine BWFAC runners at the Blackpool parkrun with Peter Bradburn leading the (17th 21:56) and Ella May Leonard aged 10 was 50th (24:44). The next day, Ella was 8th and 1st girl with a PB of 8:48 at the Park View 2Km junior parkrun.

Simon Tickle was the solo BWFAC runner at Lytham Hall parkrun finishing 42nd in 23:54.

Junior News

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC competed in the third fixture of the U13 & U15 Youth Development League held at Witton Park Arena, a superb scenic location. The talented squad of athletes, who support each other and have fun, have had excellent results in the first two fixtures at Carlisle and Leigh Sports Village. These previous results meant the squad travelled to Witton full of confidence and they certainly didn’t disappoint!

BWFAC started strong in the first race of the fixture with Alicia Threlfall winning the U13 Girls A 70m Hurdles (PB 12.3) and Gracie Rutter the B race (13.2). Other hurdles results, which meant the team got off to an excellent start were: U13B 75m A Hurdles Thomas Wilkinson 1st (14.3) and in the B race, Forest Leah was 2nd (16.2); U15 Girls 75m, Leah Howard was 2nd in the A race (12.7) and Georgia Norman 1st in the B race (14.5) and in the U15 Boys 80m race, Joel Elphick was 1st in the A race (13.4) and Scott Sinclair 1st in the B race (13.5).

There were many good and fighting performances. Here are a few of the outstanding ones. The Under 15 Boys sprint squad ensured good points with Matthew Poole 3rd in both the 100m (12.4) and 300m (41.9), Angelo Vinci first in both the 200m (24.8) and B 100m (12.5) and Rhys Sandoval-Roberts first in both the B 200m (26.3) and 300m (42.0). The squad with the addition of Joel Elphick and Seb Holt ensured a clean sweep in the 4x100m and 4x300m Relay team with times of 50.9 and 2:56.0 respectively.

The same was true of the Under 15 Girls sprint squad, with Imogen Reader 2nd in the 100m (13.6) and 3rd in the 200m (27.9), Megan Lewis 1st in the B 100m (13.4) and Georgia Norman 3rd in the B 200m (28.8). Lucy Tickle was 4th in the A 300m (46.9), after winning the 800m with 2:32.0, and Natalia Luczak a comfortable winner of the B 300m (47.0). The five girls with the addition of Kacie Calvert, Leah Howard and Chloe Parsons also ensured full points in the 4x100m and 4x 300m Relays with 54.8 and 3:07.5 respectively.

The Under 13 Boys sprint squad picked up valuable points with Connor Norman 3rd in both the 100m A race (14.0) and 200m A race (29.3) and Jefferson Kong 1st in the B 200m (28.3). Rafael Eaton won the B 100m (14.1) after also winning the 800m in 2:34.6. In the 4x100m Relay with Kieran Howard substituting for Jefferson Kong they finished 2nd (60.9). The Under 13 Girls 4x100m Relay team of Jessica Roach, Alicia Threlfall, Grace Oates and Keira Tomes were 3rd (59.6).

In the Field Events there were several impressive performances. Kacie Calvert posted a 2.74m PB to record 25.79m to win the U15 Girls Javelin, with Lucy Tickle 1st in the B event (16.79m). New recruit Alex Slater started with a superb throw of 11.64m in the Shot Putt, placing 3rd in the North West rankings, and won the High Jump with an excellent 1.63m. In the Under 13 Shot Putt, Kieran Howard won the A event with a PB of 8.40m and teammate George Mackenzie won the B competition with 7.75m as well as winning the U13 Boys Long Jump (4.42m).

Under 13 Boy Thomas Wilkinson had a perfect day. As well as winning the Hurdles, he also won the High Jump (1.38m) and Javelin (25.66m) and teammate Phelix Kowalski collected full B points in the High Jump (1.25m) and Javelin (23.30m). Under 13 Girls won the High Jump (1.25m) and Jessica Roach was 4th in the Long Jump with a PB 3.91m.

Scott Sinclair won the U15 Boys Long Jump (5.48m) and B Shot Putt (8.04m) and Jefferson Kong won the U13 Boys B Long Jump (4.41m). Natalia Luczak was 2nd in the U15 Girls Long Jump with a PB of 4.62m, with Leah Howard collecting full B points with 4.55m.

In the Middle Distance races there were several gritty performances, with Holly Tickle 2nd in the U13 Girls 1200m with a PB of 4:38.7, Grace Oates 2nd (2:56.8) in the U13G 800m, Max Swarbrick 4th (4:51.3) in the U15B 1500m and Luke Rawcliffe 3rd (2:22.7) in the U15 800m.

It was a very successful day for the BWFAC YDL team who finished first with 665 points, more than 200 points ahead of the next club and all but guarantees the Division 3 North Championship.

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13th June 2018

Junior News

The Lancashire Schools Track & Field Championships were held at the Stanley Park Arena. The Junior and Inter Boys and Girls age categories can only enter one event, those in the Senior age category are able to enter two events. It was a busy schedule which started at 8:30 in the morning.

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC members at their home track experienced significant success competing for their individual School Districts.

In the Inter Boys sprints, Parsons won the 100 metres in 11.4, with James Nicholas winning the 400 metres with a PB and Riley Nagle was in 3rd place (53.8). In the Senior Boys 400 metres, Will Critchley won with a PB 51.5. Rhys Sandoval-Roberts in his first year in the Junior Boys ran a PB 41.3 in the 300 metres to finish fourth. Chloe Norman was 3rd (63.9) in the Senior Girls 400 metres and was 2nd (4.34m) in the Long Jump. Her sister Georgia was 3rd (28.4) in the 200 metres. Harriet Snelson posted a PB 15.6 in the Junior Girls 100 metres, as did Maddison Riley in the 200 metres with 29.8.

Jake Dudley has been in good form in the middle distance and won by a long way in the Inter Boys 1500 metres to take the Championship finishing in 4:10.4. However, he was disappointed that he didn’t set the English School’s qualification time of 4:06. Danielle Whipp was 3rd in the Inter Girls 800m with 2:22.9 and Lucy Tickle was 7th (2:29.1). Bethany Whipp set a PB 5:29.9 in the Junior Girls 1500 metres.

Natalia Luczak’s hard work and perseverance in the Long Jump, having had to change her take-off foot due to a problem with her original take-off foot, has paid-off as she won the Junior Girls competition with Imogen Reader 3rd. Scott Sinclair was 2nd in the Boys Long Jump with 5.40 metres.

Leah Howard posted an excellent 1.53m PB to finish 3rd in the Junior Girls High Jump and in the Boys competition, Seb Holt was also 3rd with 1.43m. In the Junior Girls Pole Vault, Chloe Parsons won with a PB 2.30m and training partner Grace Dunn was 2nd also with a PB of 2.15m. Jasmine Carey won (3.50m) the Inter Girls Pole Vault, with Amelia Shearman 2nd with a another PB of 3.40m, her 3rd in two weeks.

In the Junior Girls Hammer, Charlotte Jones was first with 30.38m and Ciaran Medd won the Inter Boys Discus with a PB 40.42m, just below English Schools standard.

At Sunday’s Park View junior parkrun, Lucy Tickle finished second overall and first girl in 7:37, behind Morgan Pritchard (7:28) of LSARRC, with younger sister Holly 4th and 2nd girl in a PB of 8:17. Ella May Leonard was 12th in 9:14.

Senior News

The Northern Athletics U17/U20/Senior Championships were held at Sportscity in Manchester. Four Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes took on the challenge. Katy Wyper focussed on the 100 metres, qualifying through to the final with 11.88. In the final, Katy collected the Gold medal, however, with a strong 3.1 headwind her winning time of 12.01 was slower than she would have liked.

Luke Minns reached the final of the 800 metres with 1:54.11. In the final as he came into final straight, Minns looked strong and was handily placed 2nd, when he was knocked by another athlete, which caused him to stumble and lose momentum, trailing across the line in 7th (1:56.43).

Jess Rogers was 5th (4:53.52) in the U20 Women’s 1500 metres, with T37 athlete George Fox second in both the Parallel 100 (12.69) and 200 metres with a PB 25.62.

Bev Wright was third lady (29th 42:59) and Nicola Unsworth was first Vet 45 (18th 50:04) at the Catforth 10Km. Brandon Willoughby was 68th (50:14) in the Cuerden Valley 10K Trail Race.

BWFAC Athletes of the Month for May are Nicola Unsworth for her performance on the road and Steve Simpson for an excellent run at his first marathon in Edinburgh and also for his successful return, after 20 years, to Track & Field in the 3000m Steeplechase and 5000 metres. Also nominated for their athletic excellence during May were Natalia Luczak, Gracie Rutter and George Mackenzie.

It was a beautiful, sunny morning for Blackpool and Lytham Hall parkruns who were both celebrating the 70th Birthday of the National Health Service. At Stanley Park, Steve Dunn led the way for BWFAC runners in 7th with a PB 19:47, with Michelle Tickle 47th and 2nd female (23:49) and Under 11 girl, Ella May Leonard was 49th and 3rd female (23:51). Other BWFAC runners were Peter Gibson (55th 24:25), Simon Scarr (72nd 25:32), Simon Tickle (75th 25:36), David Twizell (77th 25:43), Wayne Norris (106th 27:26), Bob Massey (112th 27:54), Derek Crane (113th 27:54), Bethany Corry (126th 28:29), Jeff Wright (133rd 28:48) and Andy Hume (190th 33:22). Paul Sparrow was 6th in 19:00 at Lytham Hall. Adam Callow did a spot of parkrun tourism, running at Salisbury parkrun (10th 19:38).

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10th June 2018

Garstang /Scorton Trail Run- Wednesday 20th June

Meet 6.30pm High Street car park, Garstang – 8 miles plus shorter route. Food at Royal Oak Pub afterwards. Small contribution for food. Please let Anthony Blight or Bob Massey know if you can attend. anthony.blight@barclays.com

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10th June 2018

Junior News

The second fixture of the Youth Development League for the Under 17 and 20 athletes was held at a warm but breezy Stanley Park Athletic Track. The Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC team consisted of 20 athletes and although strong in many aspects, it had big weaknesses in the Under 20 age category, especially in the U20 Men, were there was just one athlete. There were 7 other teams, with two of them composite teams made up of several clubs and therefore strength in numbers. This means that BWFAC are unlikely be challenging for league honours, however, the main purpose of the Upper YDL fixtures is to give individual BWFAC athletes extra competitive action.

BWFAC has several classy sprinters. Bradley Parsons won the 100m (11.8) and was 2nd in the 200m (24.4), with Andrew Woodhouse winning both the B 100m (12.2) and 200m (24.9). Although not as big as some of the other throwers, Parsons is quite a talented Shot Putter and he won the B competition with a PB of 9.67m. Woodhouse also picked up extra points by finishing 1st in the B Javelin.

PBs were a rare commodity due to the windy conditions that prevailed at the Stanley Park track, however, improving athlete, James Nicholas defied the conditions to post a 52.3 PB in 2nd place, with Riley Nagle comfortably winning the B race in 55.3.

In the U17W sprints, Kirsty Rushton was 2nd (13.4) in the A 100m, with Amelia Shearman winning the B race (14.1) in good style. Olivia Hanby was 2nd (13.6) in A 100m and 1st (28.8) in the B 200m. Kate Jenkinson was a clear winner (27.5) in the U17W A 200m, while Chloe Norman was 2nd (28.2) in the U20W 200m and 3rd (64.8) in the 400m.

Both Danielle Whipp and Hollie Winstanley contested the U17W 300m, with Danielle 3rd (43.8) in the A race and Hollie 3rd (46.9) in the B, before both running in the 800m, where Whipp ran an excellent race in gusty conditions to win in 2:23.5, and Winstanley finishing 2nd (2:36.0) in the B race. Emily Balshaw was a clear winner by nearly 10 seconds with 5:10.0 in the U17W 1500m.

Jake Dudley continued his impressive early season form, by winning both the U17M 800m (2:03.9) and the U17W 1500m (4:17.7). James Smith also won the B 1500m with 4:44.7 and also collected points in the High Jump (4th 1.40m) and Javelin (3rd 21.45m). Will Critchley won the U20M 800m with 2:04.5.

The gusty wind made life difficult for the 400m Hurdlers and Taylor Holland was pleased to finish 2nd (79.2). Taylor was also 2nd in both the U20W High Jump (1.41m) and Long Jump (4.02m), while in the U17W 80m Hurdles Natasha Webster was 3rd (13.5). In her primary event, Webster won the U17W Javelin with a PB of 35.35m and the Discus with 21.91m.

Danielle Whipp was rusty in her first High Jump competition of the season three weeks previous, however, she was back in the groove at Blackpool, winning the U17W High Jump with 1.47m. Chloe Norman was jumping well in the U20W High Jump before she had to leave to run the 200m and had to be satisfied with 1.30m and 1st place in the B competition.

In the other jumping events, Jasmine Carey won the U17W Pole Vault with 3.40m, but was defeated by the wind in her efforts to post a PB of 3.60m and teammate Amelia Shearman finished 1st (2.90m) in the B Pole Vault. Olivia Hanby was 2nd (10.05m) in the U20W Triple Jump and Caitlin Dickinson 6th (3.81m) in the U17W Long Jump.

Ciaran Medd was second in both the Discus (39.54m PB) and Shot Putt (10.53m).

The final track action of the match were the relays in which the BWFAC teams won the U17W 4x100m (55.1) with Balshaw, Carey, Webster & Shearman; the U17M 4x100m (48.5) Parsons, Woodhouse, Nagle & Dudley and the U17G 4x300m (3:05.6) with Balshaw, Winstanley, Jenkinson & Whipp.

Seven Under 13s and 15s went for some extra athletic action at the Trafford AC Medal open meeting. Kieran Howard (U13B) was in good form achieving golds in the Discus with a PB of 22.61m and Javelin (21.65m). Kieran also collected a silver in the Shot Putt (8.00m). His sister Leah (U15G) won bronze in both Javelin with a PB of 28.84m and High Jump (1.45m).

Natalia Luczak won gold in the (U15G) Long Jump (4.37m) and was 5th (1.20m) in High Jump. Georgia Norman was 4th (4.17m) in the Long Jump and her brother, Connor, was 3rd (3.90m) in the U13B Long Jump.

Gracie Rutter posted a PB of 13.02 in the U13G 70m Hurdles and Kacie Calvert was 5th (22.88m) in the U15G Javelin and 9th (3.45m) in the Long Jump.

Away from the track, BWFAC’s Lucy Tickle led the way at the 2Km Park View Junior parkrun in 7:56, with Maximus Nelson 2nd in 8:15. Holly Tickle was 7th equaling her best with 8:26, Ella May Leonard was 11th in 8:52 and Aimee Harling posted a new best of 9:24 in 15th.

Senior News

The seventh designated event of the Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC Trail Championship was the Cuerden parkrun. First BWFAC runner was Stephen Dunn, 10th (21:06) with Paul Sparrow 11th (21:11), both PBs, Michelle Tickle 28th (24:19), Clare Clarke 30th (30:12), Bob Massey 87th (31:32), Nickola Walker 102nd (34:00) and Andy Hume 108th (35:12).

Ellen McLachlan competed in the tough off road Coniston Half Marathon finishing 134th (2:26:28). At the Morecambe 10Km Bev Wright was 45th, 3rd lady and 1st Vet 55 in 42:50, with Dawn Maher 118th in 50:04, while at the Grasmere Gallop off-road 10Km Kirsty Holland was 141st in 60:14. Fiona Little did some parkrun ‘tourism’ at Congleton with 35:49.

The second fixture of the Northern AA Track & Field League Division 2 West was held at Leigh Sports Village. The season started poorly for BWFAC in Liverpool last month with 5th place and it didn’t improve at Leigh, as further injuries and other factors weakened the team even further and the squad finished sixth.

However there were still many excellent individual performances. One of the most popular was Amelia Shearman in the Pole Vault, where for the first time since last year, she improved her best from 3.15m to 3:20m and then 3.30m to win the competition, with teammate Jasmine Carey first B (3.30m) and Declan O’Hara won (3.50m) the Men’s Pole Vault.

Men’s team captain Brent Starkie has been injured and wasn’t ready to return to his main running events, however he picked up points in the Hammer, Discus, Javelin, Shot, and Triple Jump.

There were several three testing doubles in hot conditions; Harry Poole with 1500m (2nd 4:18.2) and 5000m (4th 16:52.8), Steve Simpson with the A 3000m Steeplechase (2nd 11:32.1) and B 5000m (6th 18:18.5) and Jess Rogers with the 800m (2nd 2:23) and 3000m (4th 11:34.6). A few other noteworthy results were O’Hara’s 2nd (11.75m) in the Triple Jump, Luke Minns in the A 800m (2nd 1:55.9), Jake Dudley in the B 800m (1st 2:00.1), Danielle Whipp in the B 800m (1st 2:28.2) and Rachel Bashforth with second in both the Hammer (34:28) and Discus (25.86m). There was an exciting finish in the 4x400m Women’s Relay with the young BWFAC team (all under 20) of Emily Balshaw, Chloe Norman, Jess Rogers and Danielle Whipp who held off a strong team from Leigh Harriers to win in 4:15.9.

In the higher level UK Women’s League Division 2 two members competed for and helped Wigan Harriers to first place at Bedford. Katy Wyper posted a sprint double victory with 12.07 in the 100m and 24.60 in the 200m. Fiona Hockey won the Pole Vault with 3.60m and competed for first time in the 2000m Steeplechase (6th 9:52.71).

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9th June 2018

Mental health matters! There is an abundance amount of research to say exercise, belonging, friendships and learning new things aids our mental wellbeing. One in four will visit their doctor with mental health symptoms so if you think about who we meet in the club that’s a lot of people.
I am the welfare officer for the club and a mental health nurse. Please do not suffer in silence, I am happy to support and guide, find me at the track, competitions, through this website or Facebook (please be mindful if there are safeguarding issues I will have to break confidence). Below is a link to local support, you will find contacts for various health and social care.

https://www.fyidirectory.co.uk/kb5/blackpool/directory/home.page

Susan Ball (BWFAC Welfare Officer)

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31st May 2018

Final information for the Preston Inter Club race on Wednesday 13 June.
Please note it is from a new venue. The course is the same 2 laps as
last year with the start and finish moved to be closer to the new
venue. If you have any queries please contact Sean Sweeney.
Preston Inter Club Car Park Information 2018

Preston Inter Club Car Park Map 2018

Preston Inter Club Race Map 2018

Preston Inter Club Race Runners Instructions 2018

30th May 2018

Junior News

The third fixture of the Mid Lancs T&F League was held at a mainly warm and sunny Wilson Playing Fields in Clayton le Moors. Although the weather was warm, there was a strong gusty breeze that made competition difficult and PBs a rare commodity.

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC were well represented especially in the younger age categories. The most exciting race was the Under 13 Boys 800 metres first heat. Frankie Ball of LSARRC and Theo Watson of Blackburn led the way down the home straight when BWFAC’s Rafael Eaton powered past the two boys to take a dramatic victory in 2:35.5. James Boak posted 2:51.0 and Zac Terras 3:40.4. Forest Leah was 3rd (5:30.1) in the 1500m. The U13 Boys Long Jump competition this season has been of a high quality with many producing over 4 metre jumps, reaching its peak at the Lancashire Championship. Although the jumping wasn’t quite as long, possibly because of the gusty wind, it was still competitive with James Ince of Preston again winning with 4.55m. BWFAC’s Jefferson Kong was 2nd (4.23m), with George Mackenzie 3rd (4.17m), Phelix Kowalski 6th (3.81), Connor Norman 7th (3.76m) and Forest Leah 10th (3.52m). Kowalski was also 2nd (1.30m) in the High Jump. In the U13 Boys throws, Phelix Kowalski was 2nd in the Javelin with 25.51m, with Thomas Wilkinson 3rd (24.74m) and Keiran Howard 4th (19.30m). Wilkinson was also 3rd (17.05) in the Discus and 6th (6.53m) in the Shot Putt. Howard was 2nd (20.17m) in the Discus and 3rd (8.39m) in the Shot Putt. In the Under 13 Girls category, Jessica Roache and Keira Tomes both had an excellent High Jump competition. Roache improved her PB to 1.20m to finish 9th. Keira Tomes best jump before this competition was 1.01m and she started with 1.05m and kept on clearing heights up to 1.30m, to finish 5th – an amazing improvement of 29cm. Ellise Balshaw was 6th (2:49.0) in the 800m, Naomi Wrigley was 4th (6:31.4) in the 1500m and Grace Oates 10th overall (33.3) in the 200m. Again U15 Boy, Scott Sinclair was in impressive form winning the Long Jump with 5.47m. In the High Jump Scott was 3rd (1.65m) and Sebby Holt 6th (1.45m). Luke Rawcliffe and Max Swarbrick were both 7th (2:27.2) and 8th (2:28.0) respectively in the 800m. In the 100 metres, Angelo Vinci was 6th (12.9), Rhys Sandoval-Roberts 8th overall (13.0) and Thomas Baron 16th overall (13.5). Lucy Tickle was 2nd (5:23.3) in the Under 15 Girls 1500m and Bethany Whipp 5th (5:30.8). The BWFAC sprinters were out in force with Imogen Reader leading the way with 13.5 in 4th overall in the 100m. Other 100m and 200m times were: Natalia Luczak 14.0, Daisie-Mae Keane 14.7 and 29.3, Chloe Parsons 14.9 and Lohan Sparrow 15.5. In the 300m, Megan Lewis was 3rd (45.3), Georgia Norman 4th (48.1), Natalia Luczak 8th overall (48.4) and Mary-Jayne Broomhead 9th overall (48.7). The team of Georgia Norman, Leah Howard, Mary-Jayne Broomhead and Megan Lewis were 2nd (52.8) in the 4x100m Relay. Leah Howard was 2nd (4.55m) in the Long Jump, with Talia Armstead 11th (3.96m) and Kacie Calvert 13th (3.69m). In the High Jump, Howard was 5th (1.50m) and Armstead was 6th (1.45m). Both Megan Lewis and Georgia Norman moved up to the U17W age category to compete in the Triple Jump finishing 1st (9.13m) and 2nd (9.05) respectively. In the throws, Charlotte Jones was 3rd (25.15m) in the Hammer Throw. Leah Howard demonstrated her versatility by finishing 5th (23.19m) in the Javelin with Kacie Calvert 6th (20.43m) and Lucy Tickle 7th (18.23m). Despite the windy conditions, Danielle Whipp was in dominant form in the Under 17 Women’s 1500m winning in 5:13.3, with teammate Emily Balshaw 2nd in 5:24.3. Natasha Webster was 2nd (36.52m) in the Javelin, Maddison Riley 12th overall in the 100m and Bradley Parsons 2nd (9.04m) in the U17M Shot Putt.

Away from track & field at the Park View 2Km junior parkrun, there were PBs for Gracie Scott who was 2nd and 1st girl with 7:52 and Otis Leah who was 3rd in
8:01. Holly Tickle was 6th in 8:34, Ella May Leonard 13th in 8:58 and Aimee Harling was 16th in 9:32. Ella May Leonard had run the previous morning in the 5Km Blackpool parkrun recording 24:49.

Senior News

Blackpool & Fylde runner Steve Simpson ran the Edinburgh Marathon at the weekend. He completed the 26.2 mile course is 3 hours 20 minutes finishing in 645 out of 7667 runners. This was his first attempt at the distance.

Paul Plummer took to the roads of the challenging and hilly, yet picturesque, Buxton Half Marathon, with a total climb of 1580 feet, finishing 97th in 1:50:06.

The Wesham 10Km held in November has always been a popular event. This year a spring mid-week 10Km on the same course was added to the race calendar. On a warm evening, Ben Fish of Blackburn won in 31:23 with Tessa Robinson (37:49) of Salford Harriers, first lady. First BWFAC runner was Stephen Dunn in 54th (42:01) with Nicola Unsworth (79th 44:53), Simon Scarr (117th 51:10), Debbie Terras (165th 57:54), Amanda Fuller (180th 59:40), Nickola Walker (196th 64:22), Kirsty Holland (197th 65:00), Tracey Sharrock (202nd 66:22) and Fiona Little (218th 77:52).

At the Blackpool 10 Miler held on Blackpool North Promenade over the Bank Holiday weekend, Harry Poole was 4th in 60:21, with Nicola Unsworth 38th in 75:38 and 3rd female. Basia Pawelczak was 84th (1:24:30) and Stephen Dunn 124th (1:34:02).

At the first of three Catforth 5Km evening races, taking place over the summer, Ian Dawson was 11th (18:48), with Paul Sparrow 14th (19:09), Paul Beech 15th (18:48), Chris Rawcliffe 29th (22:06), Brandon Willoughby 31st (22:24), Laura Lawler 40th (23:15), Derek Crane 48th (24:41), Simon Scarr 51st (25:13) and Tracey Sharrock 78th (28:23).

The second Inter Club designated Fell Race was the tough Austwick Amble over 8.1 miles with a total climb of 1197 feet. It was a good turnout by BWFAC on a hot Bank Holiday Monday, starting in the pretty Yorkshire village of Austwick, with Peter Singleton 78th (1:09:45), Mark Warner 132nd (1:21:46), Simon Scarr 145th (1:26:40), Alan Wilkinson 159th (1:32:56), Jeff Wright (178th 1:44:28) and Rick Pinches 133rd (1:45:54).

Kirsty Holland was the lone BWFAC runner at the Bowley Hill Trail Race over 5.8 miles, where she finished 61st (1:12:44).

At the Liverpool Rock and Roll Half Marathon, Amanda Fuller 5657th 2:24:34, Nickola Walker was 6639th (2:33:51) and Fiona Little 8560th (3:09:23).

It was a busy weekend on the Track & Field front. The third Mid Lancs fixture of the season was held at the warm, but windy Wilson Playing Fields. Among the many good performances were victories by Danielle Whipp in the U17W 1500m (5:13.3), Daniel Kearney in the Senior Men’s 800m (2:03.6) and Rafael Eaton’s last gasp dramatic win in the U13B 800m (2:35.5). In the field events there was also wins by Megan Lewis in the U17W Triple Jump (9.13m) and Scott Sinclair in the U17M Long Jump (5.47m). The second fixture of Youth Development League for Under 20/17s was held at the Stanley Park Athletic Stadium and the team finished fourth.

At Lytham Hall parkrun, Michelle Tickle was 19th and 3rd female in 22:05 and Howard Henshaw 149th in 30:08.

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30th May 2018

20 Barriers Race – Tuesday 3 July 7pm

£5 entry on the night. Runners must be 16 or over on the day of the race.

For more info please go to… https://20barriersracecarnforth.blogspot.com/

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22nd May 2018

Senior News

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC and Scotland’s Number One 100 metre lady sprinter, Katy Wyper represented Scotland against teams from England, Wales, GB Juniors, Loughborough and BUCS. In the 100 metres Katy finished 6th in 12.05.

From one extreme to another, following his run at the London Marathon last month, Liam Craine ran in the tough Windermere Marathon and was delighted to finish in 7th place in a time of 2:59:01.

At the St Anne’s Triathlon, comprising a 400m swim, 20Km bike and 5km run, Caroline Betmead finished in a total time of 1:09:48 (5th female) and was 1st 40-59 woman. Michelle Tickle was 12th female in 1:14:12. Chris Rawcliffe was 51st man in 1:12:54 and David Twizell was 181st in 1:31:12.

At the Simplehealth Great Manchester Run Half Marathon, Basia Pawelezak was 863rd (1:50:18) and Ellen McLachlan was 965th(1:58:26). At the associated 10km, Claire Irons was 9389th in 65:89. The previous week, Claire won Silver (21.65m) in the Hammer Throw and was 4th in the 3000 (16:08.8) at the Cheshire County Championships.

Club President, Howard Henshaw, ran in the 3-1-5 Lancaster 5km finishing 24th (32:47) and at the Pilling 10km, Ian Dawson was 10th (39:14), Rick Pinches 66th (56:19) and Jeff Wright 84th (63:09).

There were ten BWFAC athletes at the Blackpool parkrun, led by Adam Callow (10th 20:38), Nick Hume (11th 20:43), Paul Sparrow (12th 20:45) and Nicola Unsworth (15th 21:39 and 1st lady).

Kirsty Holland ran at the Anderton Boat Lift 10K in Cheshire, finishing 80th overall in a time of 59:35.

At the Liverpool Rock n Roll Half Marathon, BWFAC runners, Amanda Fuller (5657th) finished in 2:24:34,  Nickola Walker (6639th) 2:33:51 and Fiona Little (8560th) completed the course in 3:09:23.

Junior News

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The first fixture of the Youth Development League was held on one of very few warm sunny spring days last month at Carlisle and Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC had a very successful day. The second fixture took place on Saturday at an equally warm and sunny Leigh Sports Village. The question was: Would the team be as successful? However, there was no need to worry, as a squad of BWFAC talented young athletes stepped up to the plate and increased the total points scored at Carlisle by 91 to 682.

In the Under 13 Boys category there were many good performances. Phelix Kowalski was joint winner in the High Jump with a PB of 1.30, however the most impressive event for him was the Javelin, where after just one training session he threw 22.95m to win the competition, which places him in the top 10 in the North West. Kieran Howard collected full B points with 20.74m. Kieran also won Shot Putt with a PB of 8.22m.

In the sprints, Connor Norman was 2nd (13.7) in the A 100m and 3rd (28.5) in the A 200m. Teammates Rafael Eaton won the B 100m (14.3) with Jefferson Kong first in the B 200m (28.5). Rafael Eaton dominated the 800m (2:30.2), with Forest Leah 2nd (2:34.3) and collecting the full B points. The team of Eaton, Norman, Leah and Kong won an exciting 4x100m Relay.

At the Carlisle YDL meeting, the Under 13 Girls category was the one section which was under strength with only three girls competing. Although still inexperienced, with eight girls it was much stronger. Star performances were by Keira Tomes, who in her first Shot Putt competition won with 6.07m, Alicia Threlfall who was 2nd (12.5) in the 70m Hurdles and Gracie Rutter who hit the take-off board in the Long Jump perfectly and sailed to 4.03m PB, a big improvement of 34cm and secured 3rd place. Teammate Jessica Roach also posted a PB of 3.73m to finish 2nd in the B competition.

In the Sprints, Keira Tomes was 5th (11.7) in the B 75m and 3rd (23.2) in the B 150m, with Jessica Roach 5th (11.8) in the A 75m and 4th (23.1) in the A 150m.

Ellise Balshaw was 2nd in the 800m and Alisha Threlfall was 2nd in the B race. Balshaw was 2nd in the Javelin, with Harriet Medd 2nd in the B competition.

It was warm for the 1200m and Holly Tickle was 3rd (4:40.7) and Grace Oates scored full B points (4:47.1) Tickle was 3rd in the B Shot Putt and Oates 4th (1.20) in the High Jump.

In the 4x100m Relay the team of Tomes, Threlfall, Rutter and Roach were 4th (60.0)

In the Under 15 Sprints, Matthew Poole was 2nd (12.8) in the 100m and 1st (41.7) in the B 300m. Rhys Sandoval-Roberts was 3rd (26.0) and 2nd (42.3) in the 300m. Angelo Vinci was first in both the B100m (12.6) and B200m (25.2). In the 4x100m Relay the three boys together with Joel Elphick as the only team, carried the baton around the track to claim full points (50.4). Poole and Vinci joined with Sebby Holt and Deetray Jarrett to win a hard fought 4x300m Relay against Bolton.

Luke Rawcliffe was 2nd (4:42.7) in the 1500m and Max Swarbrick was 2nd (4:43.4) in the B 1500m.

Scott Sinclair was 1st (1.60m) in the High Jump and 2nd in the Long Jump and 1st in the 80m Hurdles. Sebby Holt collected full points in the Pole Vault and won the B High Jump.

Leah Howard was in splendid form, winning the High Jump in a PB of 1.51m and the Shot Putt (8.71m) and was 2nd in the 75m Hurdles. Talia Amstead won (1.45m) the B High Jump was 2nd in the B 75m Hurdles. Natalia Luczak was 2nd in the Long Jump (4.56m) and won the B 300m (46.6). Megan Lewis won the B Long Jump (4.50m).

Grace Dunn and Chloe Parsons both cleared 2.10m in the Pole Vault with Dunn posting a new PB.

In the throws, Kacie Calvert was 2nd in Javelin (21.11) and Lucy Tickle was 1st in the B Javelin. Talia Ball was 3rd in the Hammer Throw, 6th in the Discus and 2nd in the B Shot.

Lucy Tickle was 2nd (2:29.6) in the 800m and 4th (47.0) in the 300m, with Bethany Whipp 5th (5:24.6) in the 1500m.

In the sprints, Mary-Jayne Broomhead was second in both the 100m (12.9) and 200m (26.9), with Megan Lewis 1st in the B 100m and Georgia Norman 2nd in the B 200m.

The BWFAC Relay teams won both the races, with Norman, Broomhead, Parsons and Lewis in the 4x100m and Tickle, Luczak, Howard and another in the 4x300m.

At the junior 2km Park View Junior parkrun, Emily Balshaw was first in 8:26, Ella May Leonard 8th in 8:58 and Aimee Harling 11th in a PB of 9:26. The previous day, Aimee ran her first Blackpool parkrun (5Km) in 26:08.

At the St Anne’s Triathlon, the Tri Stars 2 category for 11/12 years (200m swim, 6000m bike & 1800 run) saw Gracie Scott finish 1st girl in 28:40 and Forest Leah 1st boy in 27:40. In the Tri Stars 3 category for 13/14 (300m swim, 8000m bike & 2400m run) Luke Rawcliffe was first boy in 32:33, with Maddison Betmead (35:02) and Felicity Barnes (37:47) 1st and 2nd girls.

BWFAC Athletes of the Month for April are Mary-Jayne Broadhead for her sprinting achievements and Scott Sinclair for his efforts in Long and High Jump.

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21st May 2018

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18th May 2018

There were two local open track & field meetings on the May bank holiday which gave BWFAC athletes the opportunity to practise for the Lancashire Championships.

At the Trafford AC Medal Open, Connor Norman competed in the U15B’s 100 metres, finishing 3rd (14.38). In the 200m he was first in 29.74 and 5th in the Long Jump (3.76). Kieran Howard (U13B) was first (7.85m) in the Shot Putt, 2nd (21.63m) in the Javelin and 4th in the 100m in a PB of 16.68. Scott Sinclair was 6th overall in the 100m in a PB of 13.19 and 2nd (5.42m) in the Long Jump. Georgia Norman was 12th (14.53) overall and 14th (14.53) in the Long Jump. Chloe Parsons was 9th (15.38) overall in the 100m and 7th (6.17m) in the Shot Putt. Rhys Sandoval-Roberts was 2nd 42.21 in the 300m.

In the High and Long Jumps Leah Howard was 2nd (1.48m) and 9th (4.51m), Natalia Luczak was 12th (1.25m) and 11th (4.45m and Kacie Calvert was 14th (1.20) and 19th (3.72m). Leah Howard also won (8.43m) the Shot Putt and Kacie Calvert was 8th (22.36m) in the Javelin.

Meanwhile at the Lancaster & Morecambe AC Open Medal Meeting, the Rutter family were collecting medals and PBs. Nia collected Golds in Triple Jump (10.65m), Shot Putt (10.97m) and 100m Hurdles 16.9). Daughter Gracie Rutter, won Golds in both the Long Jump (3.69m PB) and the High Jump (1.15) and Silver (13.7 PB) in the 70m Hurdles. Marcia Rutter (U11G) was 6th overall in the 80m in a PB 12.9 and won Bronze (3.47m) in the Long Jump. Gracie and Marcia’s younger sister, Esme, who at the age of six was two years younger than the other U9Gs Long Jump competitors posted an impressive 2.42m for 5th place.

Riley Nagle won Bronze in the 100m with a PB of 12.2, Silver in the 200m (24.8) and Gold in the in the 400m (55.8)

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15th May 2018

If anybody is free and able to assist with the inputting of the results when BWFAC host the Upper YDL Match on Sunday 27 May please contact us at:

blackpoolwyrefyldeac@gmail.com

Many thanks in advance

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14th May 2018

Junior News

Full results from the Lancashire Track & Field Championships are now available to view below and on Power of 10

Lancashire Track & Field Results – Day 1  – 12.05.18

Lancashire Track & Field Results – Day 2 – 13.05.18

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It was a busy weekend for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC the Lancashire AA Track & Field Championships held at a mainly sunny Witton Park Arena on the outskirts of Blackburn over both days.

It was a close race in the U15 Girls 100 metre final with both Mary-Jayne Broomhead of BWFAC and Halle Ferguson of Trafford AC both recording 12.7. Broomhead got the nod for the Gold medal. Megan Lewis was 7th (13.6). However the next day positions were reversed as Ferguson won the Gold, with Broomhead winning the Silver. Other BWFAC girls in the heats of the 100m and 200m were Imogen Reader (13.7), Chloe Parsons (14.3), Georgia Norman (14.0 & 200m), Kacie Calvert (15.0), Leah Howard (13.7), Ellie Owen (13.8 & 28.3) and Daisie-May Keane (14.6). Kirsty Rushton was 7th 13.3) in the U17W 100m and 4th (26.8) in the 200m. In the U13 Girls 100m heats the following times were recorded Keira Tomes (15.0), Alicia Threlfall (14.7), Jessica Roach (15.0). Lucy Tickle was 5th (45.4) in the 300m Final and posted a PB 2:28.9 in the 800m heats. In the male sprints, Bradley Parsons won the U17M 100m in 11.2 with Riley Nagle 6th (12.0) and was 3rd in the 200m (23.6), behind James Nicholas, who was 2nd (23.6), with Ethan Tibbs of Preston 1st (23.3). James Nicholas was first in the U17M 400m (52.4) with Riley Nagle 3rd (53.7). Rhys Sandival-Roberts was 4th in both the U15 Boys 200m (26.1) and 300m (41.7) with Matthew Poole 5th (42.8). In the 100m heats BWFAC U15M 100m times were Matthew Poole (12.6), Samuel Pott (13.5) and Joel Elphick (13.0). Connor Norman was second in both the U13 Boys 100m (13.5) and 200m (28.2) with Jefferson Kong 3rd (28.3). Both boys also competed in the Long Jump, with Kong winning Silver with 4.59m and 8th (4.04). Also in the Long Jump were George Mackenzie (4th 4.51), Phelix Kowalski (5th 4.34m) and Kieran Howard (13th 3.24m). Leah Howard was 5th (12.5) in the U15G 75m Hurdles, with Talia Amstead posting 14.4 in the heats. Alicia Threlfall was 2nd (14.4 in the U13 Girls 70m Hurdles and Gracie Rutter 7th (13.6). Thomas Wilkinson was 4th in both the U13 Boys 75m Hurdles (14.9) and High Jump (1.40m). There were several impressive BWFAC middle distance performances at the Championships. Jake Dudley won the U17M 1500m (4:09.9) with James Smith 9th (4:34.8). James Smith was also 9th in the 800m with a PB 2:09.3. In the U17 Women’s 1500m Danielle Whipp won her first Lancashire AA Gold medal in 5:01.0, with teammate Emily Balshaw 3rd (5:05.2). Whipp was also 3rd in the 800m (2:18.5). Balshaw also won Gold in the U17M 3000m )11:32.4. Scott Sinclair won the U15 Boys High Jump with a PB 1.70m and looked as though his jump of 5.63m in the Long Jump would be good enough also to win gold was bettered by Taylor Jacob of Preston with 5.75m. Sebby Holt was 4th in the High Long Jump. In the Girls U15 Long Jump, Mary-Jayne Broomhead was 4th (4.73m), Megan Lewis 7th (4.54m), Imogen Reader 8th (4.47m), Natalia Luczak 9th (4.45m), Talia Armstead 17th 4.06m and Kacie Calvert 18th (3.78m). The following distances were recorded by BWFAC Under 13 Girls in the Long Jump, Keira Tomes and Jessica Roach both 3.63m and Gracie Rutter 3.62m. Gracie was also 7th in the High Jump with 1.20m. Ciaran Medd won both the Under 17 Men’s Shot Putt (10.23m) and the Discus (34.30m), while in the Under 13 Boys Kieran Howard won the Javelin (24.28) and was 2nd in both the Shot (8.10m) and the Discus (19.94m). Charlotte Jones was 3rd (32.05m) in the U15 Girls Hammer, Leah Howard 5th (8.20m) in the Shot Putt and Kacie Calvert 5th (21.12m).

Away from Track & Field it was a one two finish, as well as new PBs, at a very sunny and warm Park View Junior parkrun for BWFAC athletes Maximus Nelson (8:18) and Holly Tickle (8:26)! Ella Leonard finished 8th in a new PB of 8:51 and Aimee Harling finished 14th in 9:45.

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10th May 2018

Senior News

For Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC the last week has been busy both on the road, track and fell.

The second Inter Club race of the series was a 5 mile race along the St Anne’s Promenade, around Fairhaven Lake and back on a somewhat overcast evening. The BWFAC Open team of Liam Caine (4th), Danny Fletcher (17th), Jack Tickle (25th), Ian Dawson (29th), Steve Simpson (30th), Jim Unsworth (55th), Joe Gigli (56th), Daniel Kearney (61st), Jess Rogers (64th) and Adam Callow 66th finished in fifth place. The Ladies team of Jess Rogers (3rd F & 1st Jun F), Bev Wright (12th F), Nicola Unsworth (12th F), Michelle Tickle (17th F) and Laura Lawler (24th F) was third. The FV40 Women’s team, who with Karen Dunford instead of Jess Rogers finished first. The Vets team were sixth, the Vet 50s fourth and the Vet 60s fifth.

It was a somewhat disappointing start to the Northern Track & Field League season at the first fixture at Liverpool, with the team finishing fifth of six teams. Unfortunately there were to many gaps in personnel. However there were some excellent individual performances. Katy Wyper scored a brilliant double first in the 100m (12.0) and 200m (24.7). Nia Rutter did even better with triple victories in the 100m Hurdles (17.1), Shot Putt (11.49m) and Triple Jump (10.53m). Jasmine Carey posted a PB 3.50m in the Pole Vault which took her up to joint fourth in three U17W rankings and Declan O’Hara was 2nd (3.80m) in Men’s Pole Vault. Luke Minns was 2nd (1:57.59) in the 800m and 3rd (52.61) in the 400m. In his first senior competition U17 Jake Dudley impressed, winning the B 800m with 1:58.79 and 2nd (52.82) in the B 400m. Steve Simpson hasn’t run a Steeple Chase for over twenty years since he was a junior athlete, however he ran well to finish 2nd (11:56:12) in the 3000m Steeplechase and was 6th (18:15:18) in the 5000m.

In the blistering heat at the British University & Colleges Outdoor Championships held in Bedford, both Fiona Hockey of BWFAC/Cardiff Met Uni and Tilley Hooper of Sutton & District/Loughborough Students contested the Gold Medal in the Pole Vault. Both equalled their PB of 3.80m but failed at 3.90m. Hockey missed out on the Gold on count back and as well as winning the Silver was invited to compete at the Loughborough International at the end of May.

Three BWFAC runners took to the hills on a mid week evening at the Mearley Clough Fell Race (3.5 miles/1247 feet) on Pendle Hill starting and finishing at Worston. The top of Pendle Hill was swathed in low cloud, but otherwise conditions were good. Peter Singleton led the way in 103rd (45:11), with Simon Scarr (190th 53:56) and Laura Marie Lawler (192nd 55:36).

The next day Lawler competed as part of the Lancashire team in the Police Fell Running Championships in the Goyt Valley 10 Mile race in the Peak District. She completed the course in 1 hr 48 mins and was 6th lady, 3rd vet and was part of the team who won the Ladies Team Prize.

BWFAC’s Nicola Unsworth was third lady (31st) at the Sheriff 10Km in 45:41, behind Paul Beech who was was 16th (43:02), with Basic Pawelczak 6th (52:03, Dawn Maher 72nd (53:13), Malcolm Beech 13th (61::00), Bob Massey 17th (63:33), Jeff Wright 141st (68:16, Nikola Walker 103rd (69:56) and Fiona Little 103rd (81:16).

Fiona Little ran the Barcelona Cursa Bombers 10Km in aid of the city’s firefighters. Along with 11430 other runners Fiona ran the course in 1:21:23.

At the local parkruns, there were 11 BWFAC runners at the Blackpool parkrun, with Adam Callow (5th 19:29) leading the way closely followed by Paul Sparrow in a PB 19:33, with Under 11 Ella May Leonard finishing 3rd female in a PB 23:32 and David Twizell also posting a PB of 25:32. At the Lytham Hall parkrun Emily Balshaw was also 3rd female in 23:32 and at a tough and hilly parkrun Michelle Tickle was 2nd female in a PB of 23:37 and daughter Holly 30th in 27:34.

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8th May 2018

Junior News

The first fixture of the Youth Development League for the Under 20/17s was held at Market Street track in Bury. There were eight teams competing including Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC. However, most teams did not have the resources to field full squads to be able to contest all the events. This was due to several reasons including the forthcoming exam season. Despite this fifteen BWFAC young athletes got some useful competitive action. BWFAC finished 5th, with unsurprisingly, a composite team of four clubs, the M60 Nomads easily finishing first.

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One of the most impressive performances was posted by Jake Dudley (U17) who contested the combined 3000m Under 17/20 race. Brandon Quinton of Bury AC took a significant early lead, however, Dudley gradually pulled Quinton back, tucking in behind for a few laps, before taking the lead with 300m to go to win in 9:12.4. After a rest, later in the afternoon Dudley won the U17M 800 metres in 2:06.5, with James Smith, 3rd and 1st B runner in 2:15.4. Along with James Nicholas, James Smith and Riley Nagle, Jake Dudley was part of the 4x400m Relay team which won in 3:48.3.

In the U20M’s 800m, Will Critchley also recorded 2:06.5 (2nd), finishing fast and just missing out on first place.

In the sprints, Alexander Hughes (U20) posted PBs of 11.6 (5th) in the 100m and 23.3 (3rd) in the 200m. In the Under 17 sprints, Noah Egan was 6th (12.3) and Andrew Woodhouse was 1st in the B race with a PB of 12.0 and 3rd (24.9) in the A 200m. Joe Ashton was 4th (27.4) in the B 200m. James Nicholas won the 400m in 54.9 and Riley Nagle won the B 400m in 56.4. Riley Nagle, Joe Ashton, Andrew Woodhouse and Noah Egan won the 4x100m Relay in 49.1.

In the Under 17 Long Jump, Andrew Woodhouse was 3rd (5.35m) and Noah Egan was 2nd (5.18m) in the B competition.

Ciaran Medd was first in the Discus with a PB of 39.40m and was 2nd (10.15m) in the Shot Putt. Joe Ashton was 3rd (5.11m) in the Shot Putt B competition.

Jasmine Carey was first in the U17W Pole Vault with 3.40m and Amelia Shearman cleared 3.00m to collect full B points.

Kirsty Rushton was 2nd (13.4) in the U17W 100m and first (27.6) in the 200m, with Amelia Shearman 2nd (13.8) in the B 100m. Emily Balshaw was third in both the 300m (48.6) and 800m (2:33.8). All four girls combined together to finish 3rd (57.0) in the 4x100m Relay.

Natasha Webster was first in both the Javelin with a PB of 35.20m and the Discus (23.28m).

In the U20W category, Chloe Norman was 3rd (29.4) in the 200m and 4th (66.6) in the 400m.

The following Saturday several Under 17s and Under 20s competed for the Senior squad. Jake Dudley ran in the B 800m winning in an impressive PB of 1:58.79 and was 2nd in the B 400m in 52.82. Jasmine Carey posted a PB of 3.50m in the Pole Vault. Kirsty Rushton was 2nd (13.5) in the B 100m and 3rd (27.1) in the B 200m. Bradley Parsons ran a speedy 11.69 (4th) in the B 100m. Olivia Hanby was first in the B Triple Jump with 9.44m. Danielle Whipp was 4th in a PB of 2:19.9 in the 800m and 5th in the B High Jump. Chloe Norman was 4th (64.0) in the 400m, 5th (4.21m) in the Long Jump and 5th (1.40m) in the High Jump.

Away from the track, BWFAC were active in the last two Park View junior 2Km parkruns Forest Leah was first in a PB 7:22, with Lucy Tickle (2nd 7:44), Holly Tickle (8th 8:31), Lohan Tickle (10th 8:50), Ella May Leonard (11th 8:58 PB) and Aimee Harling (18th 9:40). Last Sunday Lucy Tickle was first in 7:34, with Holly Tickle (6th 8:30), Lohan Sparrow (7th 8:42 PB) and Aimee Harling (15th 9:35 PB).

With the football season over, Holly Tickle, who plays for Blackburn Rovers u12 Girls, went to Witton parkrun in Blackburn who were holding a special Blackburn Rovers themed week to celebrate their promotion back to the Championship. The runners were encouraged to wear blue and white as they tackled the 5k route, known as ‘The Beast’ for its particularly challenging course! This did not faze 11 year old Holly who finished 35th in a time of 27:34.

And finally Gracie Scott age 10 won the Bank Holiday 1 mile Fun Run at Avenham Park.

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6th May 2018

Northern Track & Field 2018 Championships

Please find below a letter, a flyer and the prospectus for the 2018
Northern T&F Championships.

This is an individual entry event so all athletes need to be registered with England Athletics. No entry standards are necessary, it is open to all.

We would encourage BWFAC athletes to take part whether you
are experienced or relatively new to athletics, we are sure that you will all
enjoy the experience.

Northern T & F Championships Flyer

2018 Northern T & F Championships_Entry Prospectus

2018 Parallel Success Prospectus

Northern T & F Championships

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4th May 2018

For details of the forthcoming Manchester Mile on Wednesday 20th June please click the link below…

https://manchesterharriers.co.uk/the-manchester-mile/

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3rd May 2018

Senior News

It was a quieter week on the road for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runners following the busy London weekend, however there were still several races.

Paul Plummer was pleased with his run in the Chester Half Marathon, finishing 252nd in 1:31:05. At the Wray Scarecrow 10Km, Paul Sparrow was 8th in 41:43.

The inaugural Brun Valley Trail 10Km, an undulating and multi terrain course, had been designated as the 5th event in the BWFAC Trail Race Championship. Michelle Tickle finished 38th in 47:55, Simon Scarr was 73rd (53:42) and Andy Hume was 262nd (74:37).

Immediately after the Brun Valley 10k, Michelle headed over to Lytham’s Green Drive and ran 7 miles in aid of Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and Ronald MacDonald House. The event, organised by Neil Tate of Lytham Road Runners as part of the #jacobsjoin fundraising appeal, saw runners from the local running clubs come together to run mile laps of the Green Drive Mile circuit. Other BWFAC runners taking part in the event were Nicola Unsworth, Rick Pinches and Malcolm Beech.

At the Loughborough Students BUCS Trials & Open meeting, Katy Wyper was 3rd in the 100m with 11.95 and 2nd in the 200m with 24.85, excellent times this early in the season. George Fox (CP athlete) was pleased with 12.70 in the 100m and a PB 24.85 in the 200m, which placed him second in the UK T37 rankings.

There were 15 BWFAC runners at the Blackpool parkrun led by Adam Callow (10th 19:13) and three at the Lytham Hall parkrun, with Steve Dunn 9th in a PB 19:54.

Junior News

The second Mid Lancs T&F fixture of the season was held at the UCLAN track in Preston. It proved to be a popular venue with 52 Blackpool Wyre & Fylde AC young members competing.

Nearly 30 of them practised their sprint speed in the 100, 200 and 300 metres. The outstanding performance, in the far from perfect cool conditions, was by Mary-Jayne Broomhead in the Under 15 Girls races, finishing first overall in both the 100m with 13.1 and 200m with a PB 27.0. Kate Jenkinson (U17W) also had a great run posting a PB of 27.1 in the 200m.

Other female times were: U17 Caitlin Dickinson 100m 15.3; Nekkisha Wilson 100m 14.4, 200m 30.4; Yasmin Goldthorpe 100m 14.7; U15G Megan Lewis 100 13.8; Ellie Owen 100m 14.0, 200m 28.8; Imogen Reader 100m 14.1, 200m 28.8; Georgia Norman 200m 29.5; Natalia Luczak 100m 14.5; Chloe Smith 100m 14.8; Kacie Calvert 100m 16.1; Daisie Mae Keane 100m 14.9, 300m 50.0; Lohan Sparrow 300m 51.0; U13 Keira Tomes 100m 15.2, 200m 32.5; Jessica Roach 100m 15.2, 200m 32.5.

In the male sprints, James Nicholas (U17M) was third in both the 100m (12.1) and posted a PB of 23.3 in the 200m. There was a good debut by Angelo Vinci (U15B) in the sprints with 12.9 (5th overall) in the 100m and 26.2 (3rd) in the 200m.

Other male times were: U17 – Max Ambery 100m 12.7; U15 -Matthew Poole 100m 13.1; Joel Elphick 100m 13.8; Thomas Baron 100m 15.7; Samuel Potts 200m 29.5; U13 – Zachariah Matadigo 100m 15.0; Thomas Wilkinson 15.3; Connor Norman 100m 14.4, 200m 29.4; Zach Terras 100m 19.3.

In the Middle Distance, Lucy Tickle (U15G) ran a 1500m for the first time for two seasons finishing 3rd (5:16.4) and Emily Balshaw was also 3rd in the U17W 1500m (5:23.5). In the 2nd heat of the U13 Girls 800m, Ellise Balshaw led from the start and established a significant lead which she held to finish in 2:45.1, improving her time by 5 seconds, which she had set the previous week in Carlisle. Making her debut for BWFAC in the second heat of the U15 girl’s 800m, Ashleigh Bradshaw recorded 2:51:10.

In the U15 80m Hurdles, Scott Sinclair was 3rd (14.0), Joel Elphick 7th (16.3) and Sebby Holt 8th (17.8). In the U13 Girls 70m Hurdles, Gracie Rutter was 6th (13.9) and Leah Howard was 5th in the 75m Hurdles.

Rafael Eaton was 4th (2:37.7) in the U13B’s 800m, with Forest Leah 6th (2:39.9), James Boak 11th (2:49.8). In the U13B 1500m, Trayden Jarrett was 10th (5:37.7) and his brother, Deetray, was 12th in the U15B 1500m (5:12.3). Jack Tickle was 3rd posted a PB 10:14.5 in the longest race, the 3000m of the meeting.

Scott Sinclair was again in good form winning the U15B Long Jump with 5.41m and finished 2nd in the High Jump with a PB of 1.65m. Team-mate Sebby Holt also posted a PB of 1.50m in the High Jump and was 11th in the Long Jump (3.91m). Both boys ran in the 80m Hurdles with Scott 3rd and Sebby 8th overall.

In the Under 13 Boys Long Jump, Jefferson Kong was 2nd with a PB of 4.50m, Connor Norman 4th (4.16m PB), George Mackenzie 5th (4.10m PB), Phelix Kowalski 6th (4.05m PB) and Harrison Booth-Isherwood 9th (3.28). Kowalski finished 2nd in the High Jump (1.25m), behind Thomas Wilkinson (1.30m).

In the female jumps, Leah Howard was 3rd (1.45m) in the U15 High Jump, with Natalia Luczak 8th (1.25m) and in the Long Jump Howard cleared 4.14m and Luczak 4.49m. In the Under 13 Long Jump, Jessica Roach cleared 3.61m, Gracie Rutter 3.48, Ellise Balshaw 3.32m and Keira Tomes 3.30m.

Ciaran Medd (U17M) was first in the Discus (35.59m) and took full points in the Shot Putt (10.14m). In the U13 Boys throws, Kieran Howard was 1st (20.82) in the Discus, 2nd (8.03m) in the Shot and 3rd in the Javelin (23.21m), with George Mackenzie 2nd (20.29m) in the Discus and 3rd (7.72m) in the Shot. Ciaran”s young sister Harriet Medd (U13G), was 2nd (17.37) in the Discus and 4th in the Shot Putt.

A team of BWFAC U17/20 athletes competed in the first fixture of the Youth Development (Upper) League. There were several impressive individual performances, but at the time of writing the results have not been published – report next week.

There were six young runners at the Park View junior 2Km parkrun with Forest Leah leading the way in first place with a PB of 7.22.

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25th April 2018

The main running focus for the country was the London Marathon while temperatures hit a record for the race, five Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC members took on the challenge. Despite the warm conditions, all finished, although probably not in the times they had envisaged earlier in the year. David Williamson led the way in 3:14:13, with Liam Caine just behind in 3:16:19. Kirsty Holland ran the 26.2 miles to raise money for ‘Sense’, a charity set up to help disabled people with complex communication needs, and finished in 5:07:28. Hannah Parkinson was just behind in 5:09:13. David Randall ran with his wife Sharon, a member of Thornton Cleveleys Running Club and both completed the course with broad smiles on their faces in 7:14:49.

Conditions were more conducive to distance running in Blackpool with damp and cool conditions. BWFAC coach Adam Callow finished 94th in an impressive 3:31:18 in the Blackpool ‘Festival of Running’ Marathon.

In the associated Half Marathon, Basia Pawelczak was 222nd in a PB of 1:45:54 and Ellen McLachlan was 312th in 1:52:00. The previous day at the 10K Steven Dunn was 33rd in 43:29 and Ben Constable was 201st in 55:26.

The Bolton 10K has traditionally been run on London Marathon day for many years. Bev Wright was 41st, 5th lady and 1st FV55 finishing in 43:56.

It was a splendid start to the Youth Development League for the Under 15/13 athletes of BWFAC at the refurbished Sheepmount track (following the damage the track surface in the 2015 floods). The team of 27 athletes performance was magnificent, as all contributed significantly as the team finished first of seven Clubs with 591 points, more than 100 points ahead of the 2nd team, Bolton Harriers. Amongst the many excellent results were, the double sprint victory by Mary-Jayne Broomhead and the triple victories by Scott Sinclair in the 80m Hurdles, Long Jump and High Jump stand out. The team aspect of the team was particularly shown with the classy victories by the Under 15 Girls in both the 4x100m and 4x300m relays.

There were 12 BWFAC members at the Blackpool parkrun led by Peter Bradburn (14th 21:16) and Adam Callow (29th 22:36) and three members at Lytham Hall parkrun led by Peter Singleton (15th 21:30).

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24th April 2018

Following the floods in December 2015 which resulted in Sheepmount Athletic Track being destroyed, Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC returned there last weekend for the first time in several years. When the team arrived, the track was bathed in warm sunshine and conditions were good for athletics on the brand new track surface. It was the first of four fixtures for the Youth Development U13/U15 Division 3 League against teams from Bolton, Chorley, Oldham & Royton, Horwich, Hyndburn and the home team, Border Harriers.

Despite the the long journey, it was a magnificent performance by the 27 young BWFAC athletes, who finished with 592 points, over 100 points ahead of the second placed team, Bolton Harriers.

There was a strong cadre of Under 15 girls. Mary-Jayne Broomhead was particularly impressive in the sprints, winning both the 100m (12.8) and 200m (27.1) both PBs. Sprint partner Megan Lewis won both the B sprints with 14.0 and 29.1. Natalia Luczak posted a PB of 47.5 winning the B 300m and won the Long Jump with 4.40m. Leah Howard was 2cm behind with 4.38m and collected full B points; and was 2nd (12.9) in both 75m Hurdles and High Jump (1.45m). Georgia Norman won the B 75m Hurdles (14.4). Lucy Tickle was very pleased to post three PBs with 2nd places in the 800m (2:32.2), 300m (47.3) and B Javelin (19.23m). Kacie Calvert was 2nd in the A Javelin with a PB of 23.05m. In the throws, Charlotte Jones won both the Hammer with 32.06m and Shot Putt (6.70m) and was 3rd in the Discus (13.12m). Teammate Talia Ball was 2nd in both the B Hammer (17.73m) and B Discus (11.65) and 3rd in the B Shot (4.85m). In the Pole Vault, training partners Chloe Parsons (2.10m) and Grace Dunn (1.80m) collected maximum points in the A and B competitions. Norman, Broomhead, Lewis and Luczak won the 4x100m Relay in 53.6 and Tickle, Norman, Luczak and Howard won the 4x300m in 3:34.5.

In the Under 15 Boys, Scott Sinclair continued his supreme early season form winning all three of his events: 80m Hurdles (14.3), Long Jump (5.13m) and High Jump with a PB 1.64m. Sebby Holt also claimed full B points with PBs in the 80m Hurdles (16.4) and High Jump (1.49m). In his first Pole Vault Sebby also collected full points with 2 metres. The Under 15 Boys Sprint duties were spread between three Boys. Mathew Poole was 1st in both the 100m (12.8) and 2nd (43.8) in the 300m. Rhys Sandoval-Roberts was 1st in both the B 100m (13.1) and 200m (27.5). Luke Rawcliffe showed his versatility with 1st in the B 200m (28.5), 3rd in the 1500m (4:52.1) and 1st in the B Long Jump (3.91m). Deetray was 4th in both the 1500m (4:52.1) and Shot Putt (3.65m). Poole, Rawcliffe, Sinclair and Sandoval-Roberts secured full points in the 4x100m Relay and in the 4x300m Relay were a close 2nd to Bolton Harriers.

In the Under 13 Boys Jefferson Kong was in excellent PB form, winning the Long Jump by 29cm with 4.31m in the Long Jump and a speedy 28.7 to take 2nd place in the 200m. He also collected full B points in the 800m (3:00.3). Traydon Jarrett showed great middle distance improvement with a gritty run in the 1500m to take 2nd (5:22.1) and also picked up valuable points in the B 100m (5th 16.5) and B 200m (3rd 33.1). Rafael Eaton collected full B points in the 1500m (5:43.6) and was 2nd in the 100m with a PB 14.1. Forest Leah ran a well controlled 800m to win in 2:40.1 and collected good points in the B 100m with a PB of 15.3. Thomas Wilkinson was another BWFAC athlete showing versatility winning both with PBs; the 75m Hurdles in a 14.1 and High Jump in 1.38m. Thomas also claimed full B points in the Javelin (19.16m). Kieran Howard won both the Shot Putt (7.94m PB) and Javelin (21.48m). George McKenzie collected full B points in the Long Jump (3.94m), High Jump (1.20m) and Shot Putt (7.19m). Jarrett, Eaton, Wilkinson and Leah were 2nd in the 4x100m Relay in 59.4.

The Under 13 Girls was the one category where BWFAC was severely under strength with just three athletes, however they performed exceptionally and hopefully at the next fixture they will have more teammates. Keira Tomes and Jessica Roach both ran in the A and B 75m both recording 11.4 in 3rd and 2nd places respectively. Jessica took the A spot, with Keira in the B race and both were 4th with 22.5 and 23.7 respectively. In the Long Jump, Keira finished 3rd (3.63m) and Jessica was 1st (3.56m) in the B competition. Ellise Balshaw was 2nd in the 800m with a PB 2:50.7.

Of course none of this success would have been possible without the parents and club officials support. Worthy of special mention are Margaret Crompton, Stan Taylor, Charlie Garrett, David Wood, Justyna Luczak, Paula Howard, Julie Sinclair and Sarah Venn.

Finally, at the Park View Junior park run in Lytham, BWFAC’s Emily Balshaw was first overall in a PB of 7:32, with Bethany Whipp 5th (2nd Girl) in a PB of 8:01 and Aimee Harling (Under 9)13th and 3rd Girl in 9:42.

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22nd April 2018

Below is a link to a list of BWFAC members that Nick Hume has affiliated to England Athletics as of now. Could anyone who believes that they have renewed but are not on the list please contact Nick Hume (apart from U11s who are not affiliated).
BWFAC EA Affiliated Athletes as at 21.04.18

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17th April 2018

Senior News

The Ribby Hall Triathlon involved a 400 metre swim, a 10.2 mile bike ride and 5Km run in the countryside between Ribby Hall and Lytham. Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Caroline Betmead was 31st and 1st Vet Lady in a total time of 1:01:28 and teammate Michelle Tickle was 50th in 1:04:22 and 3rd Vet Lady. David Twizell was 167th in 1:18:08.

At the Three Bridges 10Km in Lancaster, BWFAC’s Steven Simpson was 15th (39:13) with Ian Dawson 16th (40:44), Paul Beech 23rd (42:00), Karen Dunford 109th (48:37) and Malcolm Beech 243rd (58:21).

Derek Crane ran with nearly 4000 runners in a wet and windy Great Ireland Run over 10Km held in Phoenix Park in Dublin finishing 1582nd in 53:02.

At the challenging Curleys 5Km Horwich Trail race the BWFAC squad were led by Stephen Dunn in 15th (21:41), with Andrew Simm 26th (22:47), Peter Singleton 37th (24:08), Michelle Tickle 51st (25:07), Simon Scarr 74th (27:37), Alan Wilkinson 90th (29:43), Beverley Gigli 105th (32:25), Andy Hume 107th (33:24), Alan Smart 108th (33:29), Bernard Singleton 109th (33:30) and Amanda Fuller 114th (34:16).

The BWFAC April Club Handicap was the 400th running of this institution, which started on January 1st 1985 and has been staged on the same 3.72 mile course every month since. This month’s handicappers were: Nick Hume 24:50, Nicola Unsworth 24:53, Chris Rawcliffe 25:27, Clare Clarke 33:24, Malcolm Beech 33:27, Peter Gibson 28:23, Bob Massey 35:03, Anthony Blight 28:05, Rick Wallace 22:06, Karen Dunford 28:20, Tony Airnes 33:34, Ian Dawson 22:35, Andrea Smith 28:52, Reg Smallbone 28:56, Tony Croft 37:02 and Martin Bates 29:39.

Bev Wright led 14 BWFAC runners with a PB of 20:33 (11th) and was also first female at the Blackpool parkrun. Nick Hume recorded 20:33 (12th) and Nicola Unsworth posted a PB of 20:46 (14th) and was 3rd female. At Lytham Hall parkrun Peter Singleton was 19th (21:37). Michelle Tickle visited her home parkrun in Preston, a leg loosener for her Triathlon the following day, finishing in 24:35 (110th).

Junior News

The Lancashire County Combined Events Championships (inc Hyndburn AC Open) was held at Wilson’s Playing Field Athletic track in Clayton-le-Moors last weekend. Although there was not as many competing from Blackpool Wyre & Fylde AC as in previous years, seven athletes competed over the two days.

The first day of competition was dry and there was some warm sunshine. Scott Sinclair and Sebby Holt competed in the Junior Boys Pentathlon. Scott had an excellent competition posting PBs in the first four disciplines: 80m Hurdles 14.3, Shot Putt 8.65m, Long Jump 5.54m and High Jump 1.62m. Before the final event Scott was in second place overall with 1832 points, however despite feeling shattered after giving his all in the High Jump, he managed to drag himself round the two laps of the track to finish the 800m and final event in 2:53.6. Although this had pushed him down to 5th place, Scott finished third in the Lancashire AA and Schools Competition and was delighted to achieve the four PBs.

Sebby Holt was also pleased with PBs in the Long Jump (4.02m) and High Jump (1.47m) and finished 8th overall and 4th in the Lancashire competitions. Both boys will be selected as part of the Lancashire Schools team at the North West Counties competition later this year.

Thomas Wilkinson also posted good performances in the Under 13 Pentathlon with a 14.8 PB in the 75m Hurdles, 6.79 Shot Putt, 4.15m Long Jump and 1.35m High Jump. Although the 800m is not Thomas’ strongest event, he still finished second overall with 1228 points.

Kieran Howard was fifth in the Year 7 & 8 Boys Quadrathlon, with his best individual event first place in the Long Jump with a PB of 3.57m.

The second day of the competition started fine and sunny, however it deteriorated and there were several heavy showers, which delayed the Junior Girls Pentathlon High Jump for several minutes. Leah Howard was competing in this competition and had an excellent competition scoring well in all five disciplines, with a PB of 9m in the Shot Putt and first place in the High Jump (1.44m). Leah finished the competition second overall and first in the Lancashire Schools Competition and will now be selected for the Lancashire team.

Will Holmes competed in the toughest event, the Senior Boys Decathlon, held over the two days days. He started well with a PB of 12.1 in the 100m, scoring his best total of points. He finished on Sunday afternoon with the final event, the 1500m, and finished the weekend with an overall total of 2260 points and will now be selected to represent Lancashire.

In her first Combined Events competition, Keira Tomes had a fantastic start. She finished first in the first three events: 75 metres (11.4), Vortex (22.36m) and Standing Long Jump (1.93m). Although the final event, the 600m, was Keira’s least favourite, she ran with determination to post 2:14.5, which was good enough to maintain her lead and win the Gold medal.

Several Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes took advantage of the electronic timing at the Wigan Harriers Spring Open. Riley Nagle posted a PB of 54.94 to win the 400m. Riley recorded 12.22 in the 100m and 24.74 in the 200m. Bradley Parsons who prefers the shorter sprint distances, tested himself over 400m and recorded a PB of 57.79.

The BWFAC Pole Vault squad tested their early season outdoor form at Wigan. Under 17 Women Jasmine Carey won with 3.30m and Amelia Shearman was 3rd (3.00m). Under 15 Girls Chloe Parsons and Grace Dunn who were competing in their first outdoor competition both jumped 1.85m.

At the Park View 2K parkrun Maximus Nelson was 5th with 8:26 and Aimee Harling 16th in 9:41.

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12th April 2018

BWFAC Athletes of the Month for March are Lucy Tickle for her hard work on the track and cross country which culminated in being selected for the Lancashire team at the English Schools XC Championship and Paul Sparrow for his cross country form.

The Volunteers of the Quarter are Michelle Tickle for her recent revamp of the club website and Danny Smith for his work as an official.

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12th April 2018

It been a busy time for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC members, hosting the first Inter Club meeting at Stanley Park, Track & Field action in the first Mid Lancs meeting at Witton Park, action on the Road and even on the fells.

It was a wet overcast start for the 4 mile, 2 lap race, with 402 runners from BWFAC, Preston, Wesham, Lytham, Red Rose, Chorley and Thornton, starting inside the Stanley Park main gates.

It was the best turnout for several years with 57 runners representing Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC and up against strong Preston and Wesham teams, who finished 1st and 2nd Open teams, The BWFAC team, led by Liam Craine (8th 22:03) and Phil Leybourne (9th 22:41) and first Vet 50, finished third.

In the ladies race, Jess Rogers was 2nd female and first Junior Lady (60th 24:59), and along with Nicola Unsworth (108th 27:04), Liz Lake (120th 27:29), Michelle Tickle (123rd 27:34) and Bev Wright (128th 27:40) led BWFAC Women’s team to first place ahead of Wesham. Unsworth, Tickle, Wright along with Laura Lawler and Alison Titterington led the FV40 Women category to first place. Phil Leybourne, John Wright, David Williamson, Richard Wallace, Paul Beech and Steven Simpson led the Open Vets to third. Leybourne and Wright along with Paul Sparrow and Nick Hume led the Vet 50s to first place, with Hume (96th 26:26), Les Endean and Peter Singleton leading the Vet 60s to 2nd place.

The first Mid Lancs T&F League meeting was held at a wet and gloomy Witton Park, Blackburn. There were 35 BWFAC athletes competing. Amongst the many excellent results there were wins by BWFAC Seniors Susan Ball in the Discus (25.81m) and Nia Rutter in the Shot Putt (10.76m).

On the road the main event was the Manchester Marathon and Danny Smith had an excellent initial run achieving his sub 4 hour target with 3:56:44. Nearer to home at the Fleetwood 10Km, Nicola Unsworth ran a speedy race finishing 19th and 2nd lady in 42:44.

At the Rivington 10 Mile Trail Challenge, Anthony Blight was 162nd (1:40:58), Simon Scarr 178th (1:43:20) and Kevin Woods 234th (1:53:56).

The Pendle Fell Race was also the Lancashire Fell Championship. BWFAC’s Harry Poole, a relative novice at running on the hills, performed well, finishing 11th on the 4.5 mile 1499 feet race in 36:32.

There were 22 BWFAC runner’s at the Blackpool parkrun led home by Liam Craine in 17:51 and Bev Wright was 2nd lady (13th) and posted a PB 20:45. At Lytham Hall parkrun there were 4 BWFAC led home by Paul Sparrow (17th 21:30).

For the BWFAC Juniors, the first of six Mid Lancs Track & Field meetings, five league and concluding with a Medal Meeting at Blackpool in August, started at Witton Park, Blackburn. The first few outdoor track & field meetings have not been blessed with spring like conditions and Witton Park was no exception, as the action started in heavy rain and although this stopped, it was still bleak and not very warm. However, there were still plenty of sparkling performances to lighten the gloom.

Although not as many in attendance compared with the Blackpool Open a few weeks ago, there were still thirty five Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde AC athletes competing. In the sprints the best performance was posted by U15 Girl Mary-Jayne Broomhead with 2nd (13.2) behind Kayleigh Watson of Carlisle Aspatria (12.1) and she battled it out with Alesha Azonubi of Preston (27.9) in the 200m to win in 27.4. In the male category, James Nicholas, whose principle event is normally the 400 metres, concentrated on the shorter sprints, posting 12.2 (3rd) in the 100m and 24.1 (2nd) in the 200m.

In the middle distance events, Jake Dudley (U17M), running his first official 800m, ran a mature controlled race to win in 2:04.9, with James Smith 5th in a good 2:14. Jake also tackled the 3000m, finishing strongly in 2nd with 9:39.4. Jack Tickle(U17M) started his T&F season in a confident way with a 6+ second PB in the 1500m recording 4:40.0 (2nd). His sister Lucy, running in the U15 Girls 800m, held on to second place in a close finish with 2:36.4.

In the field events, Scott Sinclair posted three impressive performances starting with a win in the Under 15 Boys Long Jump with a PB 5.16m, equalled his PB with 1.60m (3rd) in the High Jump and concluded with 2nd and a PB of 14.9 in the 80m Hurdles. In the U15 Girls Leah Howard posted three good performances, with 2nd places in the Long Jump (4.62m) and High Jump (1.40m) and 3rd in the 75m Hurdles (13.2). Natalia Luczak was also 3rd in the Long Jump (4.45m). In the U13 Boys Long Jump, Thomas Wilkinson was 2nd with a PB of 4.24m.

The best results in the throw events were by Natasha Webster in the U17W Javelin (4th 30.93m), Kacie Calvert in the U15 Girls Javelin (3rd 21.16m), Charlotte Jones in the U15 Girls Hammer (2nd 27.60m) and Kieron Howard, who was 2nd in both the U13 Boys Shot Putt (7.64m) and Discus (18.47m).

Away from the track three Under 17 men made a significant contribution to the BWFAC Open team, which finished third in the first Inter Club race of the season held at Stanley Park. In the 2 lap, 4 mile race, Jake Dudley was 13th (22:41), Danny Fletcher 18th (23:04) and Jack Tickle 28th (23:35). Jess Rogers aged 19 was first Junior lady, 2nd female and was instrumental in helping the BWFAC Ladies team to first team place.

Finally, 11 year old Holly Tickle achieved a 41 second PB at the 5km Blackpool parkrun finishing 48th in 23:51 and Aimee Harling aged 8 was 17th (10:10) at the Parkview 2Km Junior parkrun.

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9th April 2018

Below is a link to a list of BWFAC members that Nick Hume has affiliated to England Athletics as of now. Could anyone who believes that they have renewed but are not on the list please contact Nick Hume (apart from U11s who are not affiliated).
BWFAC EA Affiliated Athletes as at 08.04.18

8th April 2018

After months of training, Daniel Smith completed his first marathon today at Manchester in a fantastic time of 3:56:44.

Also running today was Nicola Unsworth (42:43 & 2nd female) and Stephanie Wood (1:03:15) who ran the Fleetwood 10K.

Taking on the challenging Rivington 10K were Anthony Blight (1:40:58), Simon Scarr (1:43:20) and Kevin Woods (1:53:56).

Well done to all!

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7th April 2018

Thank you to all OFFICIALS and SUPPORTERS that gave up their time to officiate at the first Mid Lancs Track & Field event at Witton Park, Blackburn today. Your help has not gone unnoticed. If it wasn’t for your valuable services, this event would not be able to go ahead. The new club tent is brilliant! Massive thank you to Tracy Smith for sourcing this for us.
A few items were left in the club tent:-
• purple blanket
• small black umbrella
• black hoodie size L 12-13 years
Please contact Justyna Luczak if anything belongs to you.

The club shop is now open and taking orders! Please click here to order.

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6th April 2018

Thank you to everyone who marshalled and supported at Blackpool interclub on Wednesday evening. It was much appreciated given that the weather conditions weren’t great! Well done to all who ran…a great turnout from BWFAC with 57 runners (which included 4 juniors!) taking part! Lastly, thank you to everyone who provided food for the post run buffet! As always the runners were well fed after their run!
The next interclub is Lytham on Thursday 3 May! Lets keep it going!

After Wednesday’s interclub, the presentation for last year’s interclub series took place. To view the interclub winners for the 2017 Series please click here.

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5th April 2018

The fourth designated race of the Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC Road Race Championship was the Salford 10Km held on a fast and relatively flat two lap course starting and finishing at the Salford Sports Village. It was a high quality race with the winner John Ashcroft (30:17) and eight others crossing the line in under 32 minutes. First lady was Laura Hesketh of Clayton le Moors 37th in 34:38. First BWFAC runner was Amelia Beaman, who was 146th and 16th female in an impressive 38:40 for her first 10Km. The rest of the squad were Michelle Tickle (282nd 44:18), Jeff Wilson (317th 45:51, Simon Scarr (443rd 51:03), Bob Massey (542nd 56:43), Amanda Fuller (552nd 57:03), Nickola Walker (585th 60:52), Andy Hume (606th 63:34) and Fiona Little (630th 69:15). Second claim member Phil Leybourne (Salford Harriers) was 28th and 1st Vet 50 in 33:42.

Although not feeling at her best, Nicola Unsworth was 69th (68:27) with Jeff Wright (200th 1:45:24) in the picturesque tough Caldervale 10 Mile race.

A couple of days before in the multi terrain undulating Curly’s 5Km Trail Race, Simon Scarr was 79th (28:25), Beverley Gigli 113th (32:53), Amanda Fuller 117th (33:26), Andy Hume 124th (34:56) and Fiona Little 142nd (44:33).

At the Llandudno Easter Dash 5Km Andrew Simm was 25th in 20:04. Javelin thrower Robbie Morris swapped discipline to run as part of the Sheffield University team at the Isle of Man Festival of Running finishing 98th with a total time of 1:35:14 from three races (10Km – 42:13, Multi-terrain 4M – 32:42, 5Km – 20:21).

Connor Norman was in good form at the electronically timed Trafford AC meeting, posting three PBs in the 100m (2nd 14.25), 200m (3rd 29.30) and Long Jump (3rd 3.90m). In the U15 Girls Long Jump Natalia Luczak was first (4.37m) with Georgia Norman 4th (4.17m) and Katie Calvert 9th (3.45m). Natalia was also 5th in both the 300m (49.59) and High Jump (1.20m) and Georgia was 3rd (14.38) in the 100m.

Both local 5Km parkruns attracted large Bank Holiday participation with 212 running at Blackpool and 264 at Lytham Hall Park. Seventeen BWFAC ran at Stanley Park, with Liam Craine leading the way in 2nd with a PB 17:20, James Greenaway (5th 18:29), Adam Callow (8th 19:03), Steve Dunn (15th 20:27), Paul Beech (17th 20:36), Nick Hume (18th 20:39), Nicola Unsworth (28th & 1st F 21:56), Lucy Tickle (30th 22:04), Michelle Tickle (38th 23:05), Peter Gibson (50th 24:10), Holly Tickle (54th 24:32 PB), Alison Titterington (63rd 25:15), David Twizell (109th 27:39), Malcolm Beech (135th 29:10), David Heaton (175th 33:33), Andy Hume (180th 35:38), and Bob Massey (181st 35:39).

At Lytham Hall parkrun, Emily Balshaw was first BWFAC in 23rd (20:54) with Paul Sparrow (29th 21:15), Peter Singleton (36th 21:36), Aimee Harling (122nd 27:48 PB) and Howard Henshaw (166th 30:37). At the 2Km Parkview junior parkrun Otis Leah posted a PB of 8:04.

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26th March 2018

Membership Renewals: If you have not received the email regarding Membership Renewal can you check your Spam, check the EA Portal to ensure your details are
correct and then contact Nick Hume for a form. Athletes will not be registered with EA until the BWF AC Membership is renewed so that could mean that they are not allowed to compete in the first Mid Lancs T&F for example.

BWFAC Interclub numbers can be collected from the clubhouse at Stanley Park Arena this Wednesday 28 March between 6.15pm-6.30pm and 7.15pm ish-7.45pm.

Please click here to view last year’s 2017 BWFAC AGM minutes.

Please click here for details about Jenny Meadow’s Mental Skills Workshop that is taking place on Wednesday 11 April 7pm-9pm. Join Jenny Meadows and Coach Trevor Painter in a workshop where we will look at ways to improve your mental skills so that nerves and anxiety do not get in the way of your performance. Available for Athletes and Sports people of all ages. Please pay on the door.

Please take a look at the Young Athletes Track and Field section of the website and familarise yourself with any key dates for Mid Lancs T & F, YDL, Lancs AA Combined and Schools events and ESSA T & F.

Any queries or if you spot any errors please contact Michelle Tickle

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24th March 2018

The updated trail race championship results are now available to view here.

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20th March 2018 

Senior News

Last weekend, Spring was put on hold as icy winds blew in from Siberia resulting in many athletics events and road races being cancelled. Thankfully West Lancashire missed the worst of the arctic conditions!

BWFAC member, Danny Smith spent the whole of Saturday stood on the Timekeeping Stand at the BWFAC Winter Warm Up exposed to a freezing cold wind and snow showers. Not the best preparation to run 20 miles along the River Lune in the Trimpell 20. However, he was 157th in an excellent time of 2:47:29, well on target for the Manchester marathon in April. Also training for her London marathon was Kirsty Holland who finished 287th in 3:11:57.

There was bitterly cold wind for the start of the Sweatshop 10 Mile Race on the cliffs at Bispham. The race was won by Rob Affleck of Preston Harriers in 56:21 and first Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC was James Greenaway in 7th (61:50). Paul Sparrow was 18th and 2nd Vet 50 in 69:03 and Bev Wright 25th, 2nd woman and inevitably first Vet 55 in 72:17. The rest of the BWFAC squad were Jeff Wilson (62nd 80:03), John Reason (86th 85:48), Simon Scarr (96th 88:28), Malcolm Beech (117th 95:39), Bob Massey (118th 95:39), Amanda Fuller (120th 96:41) and Fiona Little 159th (2:14:10).

There were 16 BWFAC members at the Blackpool parkrun led by John Wright (4th 18:44) and Adam Callow (6th 19:14), with Nicola Usworth first woman in 21:13. At the Lytham Hall park run Peter Singleton was 21st (22:35) and Club President, Howard Henshaw (111th 31:08). Forest Leah was first at the Park View junior parkrun in a PB 7:29.

Further afield, while over in Leeds to watch the English Schools Cross Country Championships, three members of the Tickle Family took on the ‘Hill of Doom’ at Roundhay parkrun which was hit by snow as well as a biting cold wind. First home was Simon in 25:23 (37th), followed by Michelle in 26:44 (60th) and 11 year old Holly who bravely fought against the weather to finish in 29:35 (101st).

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19th March 2018

Message from Justyna Luczak: Mid Lancs Track & Field 2018

I would like to introduce myself as the Mid Lancs Track and Field League Manager for the 2018 season and provide you with some general information about the league. The Mid Lancs Track and Field League is open to all athletes from Under 13s to Seniors. All athletes that wish to complete must be fully paid members of BWFAC.
A membership application form can be downloaded from our club website here. Completed forms need to be returned to Nick Hume no later than 1st April. If you are currently a member, please ensure your membership is renewed by the 1st April.

The first fixture is at Witton Park in Blackburn on Saturday 7th April 2018. Please click here for the full fixture list. In preparation, please would all athletes wishing to take part in any of the Mid Lancs Track & Field events, come and register at the track this week. We have been asked to declare athletes that are likely to participate. If you would like to compete at the Mid Lancs T&F competitions please register with me. I will be at the track on Tuesday 20th March at around 6pm and Thursday 22nd March at around 7pm. I should be at the track on Sunday 25th March between 12.30 – 1.30/2.00pm. I will need your England Athletics number.

In addition, BWFAC is required to provide 5 officials for each meeting (3 of which must be graded to a minimum level 2 and at least 1 should be graded in a track discipline). Please can officials or volunteers inform me in advance of their availability.
The Field Duties list can be viewed here along with the
rules of competition here. To be allowed to compete for a medal in the last Medal Meeting the athlete must compete in at least two Mid Lancs T&F League events.

The Order of Events for 2018 can be viewed here. Hammer starts at 11am and all other events at 12pm however events are not always announced on the day. Please allow plenty of time to collect your number from me and inform me on the day which events you would like to do – maximum 3 plus relay. Please note there will be limited numbers in some events.

You must wear a club vest to be able to compete. Vests are available to purchase at £18.50 for child size and £22.50 for adult size from Tracy Smith (07981 005383).

Please note that car parking charges have been introduced at Witton Park – £1.50 per day and 50p per 2 hours. The Blackburn Easter Fun Fair will be on site on Saturday 7th April so car parking may be difficult on that day. There are surrounding streets across from Witton Park; Tower Road (free car parking). The main car park and football pitches car park, both will be subject to charges. The machines should take coins and cards but please prepare some change if you are thinking about parking there.

Below are some useful links:
Mid Lancs Track and Field website    BWAC website     Membership fees

If you have any queries please contact me on 07802 588 940 (if possible by text) and I should be available for one hour between 12.30 – 2.30pm from Monday to Friday and I will be able to respond to queries / questions.
I will hopefully see you at the first meeting and wish you all a great season!

Kind Regards
Justyna Luczak (Natalia’s mum)

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19th March 2018

Junior News

The first outdoor Track & Field meeting of the season, the Winter Warmup took place on Saturday 17 March at Stanley Park Arena. Although it was sunny, it lived up to its name with a bitterly cold wind and sweeping snow showers across the expanse of the stadium, as the ‘Beast From the East 2’ hit Britain. With over 450 athletes entered, it was a busy day despite some deciding against travelling to compete or not staying for some of the later events. The officials have to be complemented on enduring the extreme weather conditions, often with smiles on their faces. With over 80 Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC young athletes from 8 to 16, as well as several seniors, they have to be admired for competing with tenacity in the tough conditions. Mary-Jayne Broomhead performed well in the Scottish Age Indoor Championship by reaching the final of the Under 15 Girls 60 metres. She continued this good form by finishing third (14.1) overall out of 30 girls in the 100 metres and first (27.5) in the 200m. BWFAC girls Megan Lewis (4.42m), Natalia Luczak (4.38m) and Georgia Norman (4.34m) took the first three places in the U15G Long Jump and Leah Howard won the High Jump (1.39m) in difficult windy conditions. Scott Sinclair was second in the U15B Long Jump with a PB of 5.13m and was first in the High Jump (1.56m) and Joseph Smalley second (13.3) in the 100 metres. In the Under 17 age category Kate Jenkinson won the 200 metres (27.5) and even won the Discus – after just one training session! Also in the Under 17 category Bradley Parsons won the 100 metres (12.00) with James Nicholas third (12.3) and Ciaran Medd second in the Discus with 33.60m. New member, Jefferson Kong impressed in the Under 13 Boys Long Jump with second place (4.20m) and was also second in the 200 metres (30.1). Kieran Howard won the U13B Shot Putt with a PB of 7.91m, with George MacKenzie second (7.22m) and Thomas Wilkinson won both the High Jump (1.25m) and 75m Hurdles (15.6). In the youngest age category, the Under 9s, Aimee Harling and Otis Leah, who are regulars at the Junior Park View parkrun, both impressed in the girls and boys 600 metres with 2:23.8 and 2:12.5 respectively.

BWFAC’s Jake Dudley and Lucy Tickle, both coached by Stan Taylor, travelled across the Pennines to represent Lancashire in the English Schools Cross Country Championships at Temple Newsam in Leeds. As at Blackpool, conditions were very tough with a biting cold wind on the undulating and muddy course. Jake ran in the Inter Boys race, finishing 83rd (19:16) out of 339 and was part of the squad who finished in an excellent third place. For Lucy, who ran in the Junior Girls race, saying it was the best experience of her athletic life so far, represented Lancashire for the first time. Lucy was 182nd (13:02) out of 342 and the team was 22nd overall.

Forest Leah competed at the Winter Warm-up, but decided not to stay in the cold for the 1200 metre and competed the next day at Parkview Junior parkrun, as it was his last opportunity to improve his PB before his eleventh birthday. Forest was successful, finishing first in a PB 7:29.

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19th March 2018

The results from Saturday’s BWFAC Winter Warmer are now available to view on Power of 10. Please click here to view.

16th March 2018

The inter-club series starts on Wednesday 4 April with BWFAC hosting the first event at Stanley Park, with the race starting at 7pm.
After the race, the presentation of trophies to our 2017 inter-club winners will take place at Blackpool Cricket Club. BWFAC members provide the refreshments for all those that attend this race (every club that hosts a race in the series provides refreshments after their race).
Therefore we have two requests:-
Please can all BWFAC runners/marshals bring some refreshments with you to the race; sandwiches, pies, sausage rolls, crisps, desserts, biscuits, etc, all will be welcome as we usually have to feed a lot of runners! If you can bring them to the cricket club before the start of the race that would be great.
If you are not running in the interclub race on Wednesday 4 April then please can you consider marshalling? If you are available to marshal can you please contact
Karen Dunford on 07891 068151
or Andrea Smith 07754408463

Many thanks in advance for your support!

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13th March 2018

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Nicola Unsworth was 3rd woman and 1st female Vet 45 (33rd 43:24) at Mothers Day 10Km in Lancaster. Other BWFAC runners were Ellen McLachlan (79th 52:20), Clare Clarke (137th 58:32), Tracey Sharrock (190th 64:57) and Nickola Walker (193rd 65:50).

Paul Plummer and Kirsty Holland took on the challenge of the tough 20 mile Irwell Valley trail race finishing 38th (2:35:06) and 197th (3:25:09) respectively.

There was a good turnout at the first designated Club Trail Championship at the 9Km Roddlesworth Roller Trail race, held in Abbey Village, with Peter Singleton (69th 44:26) leading the way for BWFAC, Michelle Tickle (76th 45:17), Simon Scarr (134th 51:32), Gina Whiteley (172nd 55:04), Clare Clarke (208th 58:49), Beverley Gigli (214th 59:43), Jeff Wright (220th 60:13), Alan Smart (226th 60:52), Bernard Singleton (227th 60:53), Bob Massey (232nd 61:38), Amanda Fuller (233rd 61:39), Nickola Walker (245th 66:22) and Fiona Little (265th 79:20).

Four young Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes travelled to the Glasgow Emirates Stadium for the Scottish Age Group Championships. Amelia Shearman won Gold in the Under 20 Pole Vault 3.02m. Mary-Jayne Broomhead qualified for the Final of the U15G 60 metres and was 7th in the final with a PB 8.32 and also qualified for the 200m semi-final. Leah Howard was 6th with a PB 4.65m in the Long Jump and 8th in the High Jump (1.43m), with her brother Keiran 5th with a PB 7.14 in the U13B Shot Putt.

Representing Lancashire at the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships held in Loughborough Jess Rogers was 64th (30:15) in the Under 20W race (6Km) Danielle Whipp was 182nd (27:54) in the U17W race (5Km) and Danny Fletcher 167th (24:32) in the U17M race (6Km).

BWFAC Athletes of the Month for February are Under 11 athletes Grace Oates for her performance in Cross Country, Sportshall and support of teammates and Forest Leah for his Cross Country and parkrun performances. Also nominated were Fiona Hockey, Lucy Tickle, Rafael Eaton and Danny Fletcher.

At the Blackpool parkrun Rafael Eaton was 9th (21:31), with Michelle Tickle 1st female (19th 22:46), Lucy Tickle (20th 23:01), Peter Gibson (34th 24:16), Alison Titterington (48th 25:37), Malcolm Beech (86th 29:57), Andy Hume and at Lytham Hall parkrun Paul Sparrow posted 22;00 (15th).

It was very appropriate that as International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day were being celebrated, that BWFAC’s Lucy Tickle finished first in 7:32 at the Parkview Junior parkrun in Lytham. Maximus Nelson was 4th, Holly Tickle 5th with a PB of 8:28 and Aimee Harling 15th in 9:40.

The following time were posted at the March Club Handicap: Nick Hume 26:24, Peter Gibson 29:37, Graham Davies 32:15, Gina Whiteley 32:15 and Tony Croft 36:23.

11th March 2018

Stan Taylor

Following on from Stan Taylor’s Lifetime Achievement Award last week for his commitment to athletics as a coach, we thought we would share the piece from the awards programme, written by John Blackledge.

Stan is recognised for not only his long time commitment and involvement in Athletics, being a coach for in excess of five decades now, but also as an internationally renowned athlete, who achieved a ranking as high as 6th in the world in 1962 for the mile, running 3.58.01, a major achievement in itself!
He has been recognised by the House of Lords having received the British Citizens Award for his outstanding commitment and dedication, where his wisdom, undoubted knowledge and ability to support many athletes, has earned him great respect in the sport.
From the local track scene to the International stage, Stan has coached at all levels, be it rain or shine he has been there on track side, in the country or road side supporting athletes to achieve their best. His experience and his ability to encourage others to reap the benefits of simply running for fun and health is as equally valuable in the community. Stan’s care, passion and his undoubted dedication to athletics cannot be overstated and again his recognition is fully merited.

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9th March 2018

The Blackpool Community Sports Awards sponsored by Story Homes were held at the Winter Gardens and Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC were delighted to receive the ‘Club of the Year’ Award. Individual awards received were: Coach of the Year – Katy Wyper; for her support and for teaching good practice and skills to the club’s young athletes, whilst still training on a daily basis. Katy was also runner up for the Wilkinson Sword Award, which recognises the achievements of an elite athlete. Both Stan Taylor and Derek Newton were recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award for their long time commitment to athletics as coaches, along with Sandra Stephenson and Ian Howson of Blackpool Bears Disability Sports Club.

Last weekend many athletic events across the country were affected by the unseasonably cold and snowy weather. Although there were doubts expressed about the advisability of holding the final Mid Lancs fixture at Ulverston, it successfully went ahead and although chilly, conditions were good and ironically probably the best of the season. For Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC it proved a very successful day. In the first race of the day, over a tricky 2.2Km course, the Under 11 Girls team of Gracie Scott (8th 9:17), Grace Oates (10th 9:30, Holly Tickle (15th 9:43) and Louise Bradshaw (35th 10:46) put in an excellent performance to secure first place and the Under 11 Girls Championship. The Under 17 Men’s team had already secured the Championship, however, the team turned out on the 6.9Km course, with Jake Dudley (1st 23:07), Danny Fletcher (2nd 24:56) and Jack Tickle (3rd 25:09) winning individual Mid Lancs Gold, Silver and Bronze and Joe Lund (5th 25:32).

The Senior Lady’s race was on the same course. Emily Japp was unable to run due to injury, however was there to offer support. Several other members of the Squad were also unavailable, however, the team led by Bev Wright (16th 18:09), with Michelle Tickle (25th 32:02), Laura Lawler (53rd 35:03) and Alison Titterington (62nd 35:39) were the second team on the day in League One, having already secured the League title at the previous meeting in Lancaster.

The Men’s team have been struggling for most of the season, however, at Ulverston the squad of Phil Leybourne (6th 33:49), John Wright (5th 38:56), Andrew Simm (84th 41:00), Paul Sparrow (89th 41:21), Nick Hume (93rd 41:27), Daniel Smith (142nd 47:13), Simon Scarr (155th 52:11) and Alan Wilkinson (161st 56:47) were second team on the day in their division and have finished in third place, just one point off promotion. Leybourne was also first Vet 50 and with Wright and Sparrow were the first Vet 50 team and have won the Bronze Award in the Vet 50 League.

Nicola Unsworth ran in the inaugural Vitality Big Half Marathon held in London which was won by Mo Farah. She finished 1601st in 98:26 and at the 3-1-5 Lancaster 5Km, Emily Balshaw (U15G) was 22nd in 22:20.

The majority of parkruns over the country were cancelled, however nine BWFAC members led by Steve Dunn (9th 20:21) satisfied their parkrun fix at Blackpool and Otis Leah set a 8:17 PB (2nd) with Aimee Harling (8th 9:50) at the 2K Junior Park View parkrun in Lytham the following day.

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4th March 2018

The final Cross Country Championship results are now available to view here . If athletes/parents notice any errors please contact Nick Hume asap.

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1st March 2018 – Senior News

The English National Cross Country Championships were held this year at Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath, London on a cold, but sunny day. The men’s ‘virtually mud free’ course was over 12Km and contested by over 2300 runners and was won by Adam Hickey of Southend. Harry Poole, who is returning to fitness after a period out with injury, was the lone Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC runner and finished 445th in 48:26. Also running were former BWFAC members Stuart Robinson (108th 43:37) and second claim member Phil Leybourne, both members of Salford Harriers, which finished the 9th club overall.

The Stanley Park 10KM double took place over the weekend. On Saturday, Stephen Dunn finished 21st in 41:46 and picked up the Vet 40 prize, with Nicola Unsworth 26th and 3rd lady in a PB 42:25. On Sunday, Ellen McLachlan finished 14th in 50:02.

At the Blackpool parkrun first BWFAC was Adam Callow (9th 20:04), Paul Beech (10th 20:11), Nick Hume (11th 20:25). Stasia Bligh was first female (23rd 22:13), Peter Gibson (40th 24:08), Malcolm Beech (105th 28:16), Bob Massey (105th 28:16), Nickola Walker (110th 28:42), Andy Hume (124th 30:40 PB), Amanda Fuller (132nd 30:40) and Fiona Little (199th 37:03).

At Lytham Hall parkrun, Simon Tickle was 19th (21:15) and Peter Singleton 29th (22:04).

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27th February 2018

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC fielded 27 athletes at the Lancashire Sportshall Competition, the third and final fixture of the season. The best individual performances belonged to Grace Oates in winning the under 11 Girls 2 lap race for the second time this season, second place in the Speed Bounce and fifth in the triple jump. Millie Turner also secured top 5 finishes in the Vertical  Jump and Javelin. Dominic Birch won the Under 11 Speed Bounce and followed this with two top 5 finishes in the in the Triple Jump 2 lap race. Jonathan Fielding won the Under 11 Target Throw event in his first competition for BWFAC and second place in the Speed Bounce. Other notable Under 11 performances included top 5 finishes for James Boak (Speed Bounce and 2 lap) and Oliver Hargreaves (Speed Bounce and 3rd place in the Foam Javelin).  Harrison Booth-Isherwood took third places in the the Vertical Jump and Balance Test.  The boys Under 11 Speed Bounce was a particular success for BWFAC with 6 of the top seven being from the  team. For the Under 13 Boys, Jefferson Kong produced four times 5 finishes in the two lap, six lap, Vertical Jump and Long Jump.  Rafael Eaton posted three top 5 finishes, including second place in the Speed Bounce and third place in the six lap race.  In addition, there were top 10 finishes for Alfie Hall, Tom Wilkinson, Lohan Sparrow,  Gracie Rutter and Ruby Linley.

It was an excellent team effort,  and the athletes were really supportive of each other and really enjoyed  the afternoon.

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26th February 2018 – Junior News

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC young athletes were involved in indoor athletics, parkrun and Sportshall last weekend.

The competition was tough for BWFAC’s Jasmine Carey and Bradley Parsons at the England Indoor Age Group Championships held in Sheffield. Jasmine was fifth in the U17 Women Pole Vault with 3.35 metres and Bradley reached the Semi-Final of the U17 Men’s 60 metres with 7.40.

At the regular Sale Open, held at the indoor track at Sportcity, five Under 15 young athletes honed their skills for the outdoor track & field season. Imogen Reader ran 8.81 in the 60 metres and 28.65 in the 200 metres, whilst Mary-Jayne Broomfield concentrated on the shorter distance, sprinting 8.43 and 8.46, a fraction below her best in the 60m.

Leah Howard posted 10.59 in the 60m Hurdles and in the High Jump cleared 1.40m. Also in the High Jump, Scott Sinclair equalled his best with 1.60m and was close to his best with 4.90m in the Long Jump. Sebby Holt also equalled his best in the High Jump with 1.45m and ran 30.21 in the 200 metres.

Several BWFAC juniors warmed up for the final Mid Lancs meeting of the season at Ulverston next weekend and the first outdoor Track & Field Meeting of 2018 at Blackpool on March 17th by running at the local parkruns.

Forest Leah aged 10 ran in his first Blackpool parkrun and posted an impressive 20:39 on the 5K course!

Meanwhile at Lytham Hall parkrun, Danielle Whipp ran a PB 20:11 (9th) and was for most of the course the leading female, before experienced parkrunner Joanna Goorney (LSARRC) overtook her just before the end. Emily Balshaw also posted a PB 20:27 (12th), as did Lucy Tickle with 20:47 (18th). Bethany Whipp ran 22:47 (36th) and Holly Tickle aged 11 in her first solo run at Lytham, posted a PB of 25:20 (66th).

The final Lancashire Sportshall of the season was held at Blackpool Sports Centre on Sunday. A full report will follow next week.

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25th February 2018

Inter Club Series 2018

Below is the proposed list of names that will be initially registered for the 2018 Inter Club Series.  If your name is missing and you intend to compete please let Nick Hume know by Wednesday 28th February. Numbers will be allocated based on the list but runners can still register and obtain a number of the night of the race. All competitors MUST BE 15 or over on the day of the race to comply with EA Regulations.

BWFAC Inter Club 2018 Runners Names

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Hambleton Fun Run Committee  hold a family fun day incorporating a 5K run each year. The event this year is being held on the 27th May 2018 and we have been contacted to see if we would be interested in sending a team to compete in the event. There is an entrance fee of £4 per head for adults and £2 for children. All proceeds go to various charities. For more information please contact John Donaldson 

24th February 2018

Mid Lancs XC, Ulverston – Saturday 3 March – Final Details

Glaxo Hoad Hill have kindly sent full details for parking and
directions to next week’s final cross-country fixture at Ulverston (see link below). As you will see, parking is very handily sited close to the competition area. There is also a link below for the course maps. Thank you to Glaxo for their very efficient organization and good luck to all for the final event.

Directions and Site Plan for Mid Lancs Ulverston XC

MID LANCS ULVERSTON CROSS COUNTRY – INDIVIDUAL RACE MAPS

20th February 2018

There was action in track & field, cross country and on the road for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes last week.

Having already won 60m Golds at the Northern and Scottish Championships, Katy Wyper’s Indoor Season moved onto Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena for the British Championships. Having comfortably qualified from the heats for the 60m semi-final, Katy posted yet another PB of 7.47 in 4th place to qualify for the final, where despite false starting, Katy was still ecstatic to reach the final.

Meanwhile in the British University & Colleges Championships in Sheffield, Fiona Hockey competed in the Pole Vault competition and put in a strong performance clearing heights from 3.40 to 3.70 metres at her first attempt and after three good attempts at 3.80m won the Silver Medal with 3.70m.

The penultimate Mid Lancs Cross Country fixture of the season was held at a muddy Ryelands Park on a beautiful sunny spring day. For the Senior Women’s squad it was the strongest team performance of the season, ensuring that they won the team championship for the third year running. Emily Japp had a battle with Junior International, Scarlet Dale of Lancaster, for two laps, before Dale pushed away to finish 10 seconds ahead, with Japp 2nd (21:40). There were strong runs by Amelia Beaman (7th 24:04), Lauren Gowland (10th 24:37) and Jess Rogers who had her best finish of the season (11th 24:48 and 3rd Under 20). Jess along with Elizabeth Whittaker (37th 28:12) and Michelle Tickle (43rd 28:40) formed the B team, which was second in Division Two. Team Captain Laura Lawler (59th 30:32) and Alison Titterington (70th 31:34) made up the rest of the squad.

It was the best performance of the season by the Men’s team, finishing first of the Division 3 teams and ensuring the team won’t be relegated. The squad comprised of Harry Poole (22nd 36:37), John Wright (38th 38:32), Paul Sparrow (86th 41:55), Nick Hume (93rd 42:52), Paul Plummer (142nd 47:23), Daniel Smith (145th 47:29), Simon Scarr (171st 53:22) and Alan Wilkinson (176th 57:02).

In the Junior ranks the best results were by the Under 17 Men who won the fixture and League with a 1,2,3 finish by Jake Dudley, Danny Fletcher and Jack Tickle and the Under 11 Girls team, which finished second.

It was perfect weather for the Great North West Half Marathon along Blackpool Promenade, where Nicola Unsworth was 199th (1:37:52), Jeff Wilson 437th (1:50:15), Basia Pawelczak 475th (1:52:49), Rick Pinches 785th (2:07:16) and Kirsty Holland 841st (2:09:49)

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19th February 2018

Advance Notice of the BWFAC AGM and details of how to nominate Committee Members and raise motions for discussion

Please click here for more information.

Weekend’s Action – BWFAC Juniors

It was back to the ‘country’ for the Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC young runners at the penultimate Mid Lancs Cross Country League held at Ryelands Park in Lancaster last Saturday. After a couple of rain showers, it turned into a beautiful early spring day reflecting many good team and individual performances.

First up on a 2km muddy course was the Under 11 Girls team led by the indomitable Gracie Scott (7:42), who fought it out at the front, finally finishing third behind Emily Dean of Southport Waterloo and Eva Karalius, a non counter from Sale. Holly Tickle, with her best position since the first meeting was 12th (8:11), with Grace Oates 19th (8:24), Louisa Bradburn 43rd (9:06) and Maria Smith 48th (9:35). It was a magnificent team performance and they finished on the same points as a strong team from Burnley, however frustratingly as their final counter was ahead of BWFAC’s, meaning Burnley finished ahead in first place. BWFAC still remain top of the League ahead of Burnley and the final fixture at Ulverston will decide who are Champions. Forest Leah has been improving throughout the season and had his best finish at Ryelands Park of fourth (7:15) in the Under 11 Boys race.

In the Under 13 races, Bethany Whipp was 32nd (9:52) and Grace Blincow was 30th (10:10) in the Girls race over 2.4km and in the Boys race over 3.4km, Luke Rawcliffe was 13th (12:21).

Lucy Tickle has had an excellent February, finishing 5th in the Lancashire School’s Championship, thus qualifying for the Lancashire team at the the English School’s Championship next month. Lucy backed this form up with her best Mid Lancs finish of third (12:45) in the Under 15 Girls race over 3.4km. In the Boys race over 4km Max Swarbrick was 16th (15:27) and James Smith was 21st (16:09).

Danielle Whipp ran strongly to finish second (15:46) behind Rosie Woodhams of Kendal-Helm Composite in the Under 17 Women’s race over 4km.
It has been an impressive performance throughout the season by the Under Men’s 17 team and in the 6km race they confirmed winning the League with a 1,2,3 finish, with Jake Dudley (20:45), Danny Fletcher (21:08) and Jack Tickle (22:00), with Joe Lund 8th (25:58).

He might have had a hard run at Ryelands Park, however Forest Leah was back running the next day at the Parkview Junior parkrun and obviously still had plenty of energy as he crossed the line first, equalling his PB of 7:36 and his younger brother Otis was third in 8:31.

Mid Lancs XC Presentation Evening – Friday 20th April 2018

A new venue for this year’s Mid Lancs Cross Country Presentation night on Friday 20th April 2018! Blackburn Rovers FC, Ewood Park! Arrive 7pm for 7.30pm Supper in the Premier Suite overlooking the pitch!
Seniors £11
Juniors (up to U20) £9

The application form for tickets can be downloaded here

Lancashire Fell Running Championships 2018

Dear all,
I am writing to you as the contact for your Lancashire Athletic
Association affiliated club with news and details of the 2018
Lancashire Fellrunning Championships.

This year’s Championships Senior and Junior will be held at the
Pendle Fell race at Barley Village on Saturday the 7th of April. Many
thanks to the race organisers Mark Nutter and Alan Dorrington and
Clayton-le-Moors Harriers for staging the race and agreeing to have the
Lancashire Championships as part of their races.

There are races for all of the Junior age groups from Under 9s
to Under 19s and Under 23s as part of the Senior race. Details of the
Championships and the selection criteria for the Junior and Inter
Counties Fellrunning Championships are outlined below.

The race entry form will include a “ tick box “ for
Lancashire eligible athletes to fill in so that we can identify
eligible runners from those from other counties. This is important and
needs to be relayed to your club runners. We will also post notices on
the day to remind everyone.

Hopefully the races will be well attended by Lancashire athletes
from all age groups and we can have a successful Championships and a
great days sport.

We are still several perpetual trophies outstanding, if
they are in the possession of someone from your club please let us know
so that we can arrange to have them returned before this years race.

My contact details are below if you need to contact me on
any subject relating to this years Fellrunning Championships.
Graham Wright
Lancashire fell Secretary
email rossendaleharriers@sky.com
Tel 07764 949199

2018 Lancashire Fellrunning Championships.
The 2018 Lancashire fell Championships (Senior and Junior) will be held
at the Pendle Fell race at Barley Village on Saturday the 7th of
April. (A big thank you to the race organisers and Clayton-le-moors
Harriers )
Details of the races can be found on their club website.
http://www.claytonlemoors.org.uk/races/pendle-fell-races/
Junior Races
Medals will be awarded to the first 3 finishers in each category-U/9,
U/11, U13, U15, U17, and U/19 boys and girls.
Seniors/Under 23s
Lancashire County Championship medals will be awarded to:
First 3 Seniors men and women.
First 3 Under 23s.
First 3 Vets men and women Over 40, Over 50, Over 60 and Over 70.
First team men and women 4 to count made up of Seniors, Vets and Under
23s
( Clubs must be affiliated to Lancashire AA to qualify for the team
award )

The Lancashire fell Championships are open to all eligible athletes who
qualify by :
1. Birth
2. By 9 months continuous residence in the County of Lancashire
immediately prior to the race date ( 7th of April )
Its important that all eligible athletes Senior and Junior tick the
Lancashire County box on the race entry form.

Inter Counties
Senior Inter Counties
The UKCAU Senior & U23 Inter-Counties Championships – Saturday 19th May
at the Lads Leap race, Crowden Campsite, nr Woodhead, off A628. 9.5
k/518m. Ladies 12noon & Men 13.15pm. Details :
http://www.fellrunner.org.uk/races.php?id=5758
Selection-5 men including at least one MU23 and 5 female including at
least one FU23. (The minimum age for Senior competitors is 19 on 31st
December 2018)
The Lancashire county team will comprise of the first 3 from the
Selection race at Pendle on the 7th of April plus one Under 23 and one
other to be chosen at the team managers discretion.

Junior Inter Counties.
The Junior U17 & U19 Inter-Counties Championships – Saturday 30th June,
Up the Nab, 6.4k/365m, 1pm, Glossop Rugby Club, Hargate Hill Lane,
Charlesworth, SK13 5HG Details :
http://www.fellrunner.org.uk/races.php?id=5773
Thr Lancashire county team will comprise of the first 2 finishers in
the Under 17s and Under 19s races boys and girls at the selection race
at Pendle on the 7th of April plus one other in each cat/age group to
be chosen at the team managers discretion.

Details of the Fell Inter-Counties Senior and Junior can be found on
the link below.
https://britishintercountiesfellrunningchampionships.wordpress.com/

Lancashire County vests will be provided unless the chosen athletes are
in possession of one from previous events.
For queries or further details contact Graham Wright at
rossendaleharriers@sky.com
Tel 07764 949199

Northern Athletics Proposal

The links below relate to the proposal by Northern Athletics for Clubs to affiliate to NA from 1st April. In short EA has reduced the grant to NA and in order to survive as a
Championship provider NA has decided to charge those clubs who affiliate £2.00 per registered EA athlete. The BWF AC Committee has discussed and debated the implications for us and will be recommending to the AGM in April that we affiliate to
Northern Athletics and ask that you support this motion.

For further information please follow the links below to the Northern
Athletics website.

https://www.northernathletics.org.uk/2018/02/16/consultation-review/

Click to access NA-Funding-Booklet-31st-October-2017-PDF.pdf

If you have any questions please send them to Nick Hume

Courses at Witton Park

A reminder that these are taking place before the start of the T&F
season at Witton Park, Blackburn on Sunday 11th March 2018. There is a
link from the county officials page at

http://www.lancsaa.co.uk/page22.html

So far the field course is just viable but the track and timekeeping
courses are in danger of being cancelled. The deadline is 1st March.

The details and entry form are available on the England Athletics
website if you follow

http://www.englandathletics.org/courses.aspx?siteSectionId=33&postCode=Postcode&distance=5®ion=000100010002001300020003&keyword=&courseType=0001300000030013

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18th February 2018

BWFAC Tent!

Unfortunately when Andrew and Emily came to take the tent down at Lancaster on Saturday they also had to clear up a lot of litter that had been left behind. Please could we ask that before people leave the event they are responsible for their own litter and not leave it for those left at the end to sort. This has happened at a few events this year and doesn’t reflect well on the club.

Thank you in advance for everyone’s support with this.

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18th February 2018

GNW Half Marathon (Chip times)
Nicola Unsworth 199th 1.37.52
Jeff Wilson 437th 1.50.15
Basia Pawelczak 475th 1.52.49
Rick Pinches 785th 2.07.16
Kirsty Holland 841st 2.09.49

Well done to all!!

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17th February 2018

Mid Lancs XC – Ryelands Park, Lancaster

The full results can be viewed here.

Well done to all who ran…

U11 Girls: Gracie Scott 3rd 7:42 –  Holly Tickle 12th 8:11 – Grace Oates 19th 8:24 – Louisa Bradburn 43rd 9:06 – Maria Smith 48th 9:35 (finished 2nd team)

U11 Boys: Forest Leah 4th 7:15

U13 Girls: Bethany Whipp 32nd 9:52 – Grace Blincow 38th 10:10

U13 Boys: Luke Rawcliffe 13th 12:21

U15 Girls: Lucy Tickle 3rd 12:45

U15 Boys: Max Swarbrick 16th 15:27 – James Smith 21st 16:09

U17 Women: Danielle Whipp 2nd 15:46

U17 Men: Jake Dudley 1st  20:45 – Danny Fletcher 2nd 21:08 – Jack Tickle 3rd 22:00 –       Joe Lund 8th 25:58 (finished 1st team)

U20 Women: Jessica Rogers 3rd 24:42

Senior Women: Emily Japp 2nd 21:40 – Amelia Beaman 8th 24:04 – Lauren Gowland 10th  24:37 – Jessica Rogers 11th 24:42 – Elizabeth Whitaker 37th 28:12 – Michelle Tickle 43rd 28:40 – Laura Lawler 59th 30:32 – Alison Titterington 70th 31:34 (finished first ladies open team)

Vet 70 Men: John Winters 7th 44:13

Senior Men: Harry Poole 22nd 36:37 – John Wright 38th 38:32 – Paul Sparrow 86th 41:55 -Nick Hume 93rd 42:52 – Andrew Simm 97th 43:14 – Paul Plummer 142nd 47:23 – Daniel Smith 145th 47:29 -Simon Scarr 171st 53:22 – Alan Wilkinson 176th 57:02

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17th February 2018

Stainland Lions, a running club based in Halifax, have contacted our club regarding some running assistance during their weekend away in Blackpool, specifically Saturday 3rd March at 10:30am. They will be doing a run starting at Stanley Park Sports Centre and making their way through the park, around de Vere’s golf course and Marton Mere. This is 6.35 miles. They are obviously not familiar with the route and need guidance. The run will be at a fairly leisurely pace and some of their runners are also doing the Parkrun beforehand. They intend to have a buffet at Stanley Park café afterwards to which BW&FAC helpers are invited. I know there is XC the same day, but if you’re not doing that and can help out by running with us, can you text me or leave a message on 07967 241029.
Alternatively, speak to Bob Massey.

Thank you in advance!
Terry Westhead

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16th February 2018

Please click here for information about Lancashire Sports upcoming courses in Lancashire through March – July 2018. For more information, please contact the email address within the PDF document.

Let Me Play Ltd are getting prepared for their Residential Summer Athletics Camp which is held at Loughborough University. Last year they had 120 participants and expect to sell out once again.You can find out more information at http://www.letmeplay.co.uk/athletics-camps/ or book a place at https://letmeplay.campbrainregistration.com/

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15th February 2018

Gait Analysis Day – Saturday 24th February – Ribby Hall Activate Store

Have you seen our most recent event on our Facebook page? We are
launching our first ever Gait Analysis Day on the 24th of February! All
day our fantastic team of experts will be dedicated to making sure that
you can find the right trainers for your feet which can help with
injuries, motivation and speed!

And on top of that we are offering 15% off all full price items for
anyone who gets their Free Gait Analysis done!

There is no need to book, simply pop into store and one of our team
members will be happy to help!

Regards
Sophie (Activate)

Sophie Warden | Activate-Sales Assistant | The Health Club | 01772
674555 | Sophie.Warden@ribbyhall.co.uk

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13th February 2018

January’s Athletes of the Month are Emily Japp for her performance in Cross Country,  1st at the Mid Lancs in Burnley and 13th at the Northern XC Championships and Nick Hume who made his reappearance at Cross Country after almost 10 years in the Lancashire Cross Country Championships and Mid Lancs League finishing 4th M60 in both and scoring counter in the A teams. Nick also ran in two parkruns on New Years Day, as well as the Club Handicap.

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12th February 2018

It was a quiet weekend after a busy January on the Indoor track & field and cross country fronts. However there was still action on the road and trail for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde runners.

The Caldervale Muddy Shoes 11 and 5 Mile races are famous for there muddy courses and after the wet weather over the last few months, conditions were swamp like in places and the most difficult that anyone could remember in the fields around Caldervale. For Kevin Woods and Anthony Blight it is an annual outing and this time they completed the 11 Mile race in 18th and 19th places in 2:15:37. Jeff Wright took on the 5 Mile race, finishing in 24th (69:33).

Paul Beech, Simon Scarr, Tracey Sharrock, Nickola Walker, Amanda Fuller, Michelle Tickle and Fiona Little at the start line of the Valentine’s 10K in Lancaster.

The second Club Championship race, the Valentine’s 10K, was run in very windy conditions in Lancaster, which was especially difficult in the first half of the race. Paul Beech led the way for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC finishing 28th (42:01), with Michelle Tickle 49th (44:57) and Simon Scarr 92nd (51:20). In such tough conditions Nickola Walker (167th 58:46) and Amanda Fuller (170th 59:39) did well to post 10Km PBs, with Tracey Sharrock (192nd 65:38) and Fiona Little (264th 82:55) completing the BWFAC contingent.

At the Blackpool parkrun, Nicola Unsworth was first woman in 21:53 (7th), with Peter Gibson (27th 25:06), John Reason (33rd 26:09), Clare Clarke (58th 28:43), Bob Massey (70th 30:21), Andy Hume (72nd 30:46) and Thomas Baron (84th 32:18).

The same day, a week after qualifying for the Lancashire team at the Lancashire Schools Cross Country, Lucy Tickle kept her legs ticking over nicely by completing a very wet and muddy Lytham Hall 5k parkrun in 24:03 (30th). She was joined by Paul Sparrow who was 6th in 20:20 and mum, Michelle Tickle (24th 22:57).

At the Parkview 2km Junior parkrun, BWFAC young runners Forest Leah (1st 7:36), Bethany Whipp (3rd & 1st girl 8:19), Otis Leah (4th 8:24) and Jack Ford (13th 9:57) all achieved best times on the course.

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7th February 2018

BWFAC’s Mollie Mason is celebrating after being selected for the 2018 England U18 Hockey Squad. Mollie had her first taste of international hockey playing for England U16 last season and was keen to continue up the England Hockey Player pathway towards her ultimate goal of selection for the senior side. Well done, Mollie!!

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6th February 2018

Track & Field Officials Courses – Sunday 11th March 2018 at Witton Park, Blackburn

A reminder that these are taking place before the start of the T&F
season. There is a link from the county officials page, please click here.

There will be courses for track & field officials in timekeeping, track
judging, field judging and H&S at Witton Park, Blackburn on Sunday 11th
March 2018.

The details and entry form are available on the England Athletics
website…please click here to view/download.

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6th February 2018

It was another busy weekend for members of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC!

The British University & Colleges Sport held their National Cross Country Championships at Hillingdon House Farm, near Brunel. In the Women’s race over a 6.5Km muddy course won by European Under 20 champion Harriet Knowles-Jones (22:40), with BWFAC Lauren Gowland (Lancaster University) 144th in 27:17 and Jess Rogers (Central Lancashire Uni) was 169th in 27:39.

Three BWFAC Women took on the challenge of the Blackburn Winter Warmer 10Km and the daunting steep climb up Buncer Lane. Michelle Tickle led the way finishing 120th and 8th woman in 45:11, with Amanda Fuller in 483rd (62:52) and Nickola Walker in 501st (63:12).

Fiona Hockey continued her good early season for in the Pole Vault at the Cardiff Met Grand Prix by clearing 3.70m just 10cm below her best. Meanwhile at the Sale Open in Manchester Katy Wyper sprinted 24.70 in the 200 metres and is currently 10th in the 200m 2018 UK rankings.

There were nine members running in the February Club Handicap over the 3.72 mile course. First back was Nick Hume in 25:44 and fastest was Bev Wright in 25:38.

It was the one year anniversary and 52nd running of the Blackpool parkrun last Saturday and 11 BWFAC runners took part, led by James Greenaway (2nd 18:25), Adam Callow (5th 20:27) and Steve Dunn (6th 20:27).

At the Lytham Hall parkrun Paul Sparrow was the first BWFAC runner in 20:39.

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5th February 2018

It was a busy weekend for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC young athletes at cross country, track and road.

The Lancashire Schools Cross Country Championships was held at a very muddy Witton Park. The skies were leaden and there was light rain.

The best results for BWFAC were posted by Jake Dudley who finished 4th (20:52) in the Inter Boys Race and Lucy Tickle who finished 5th (15:02) in the Junior Girls Race. Both Jake and Lucy qualified to represent Lancashire at the English Schools Cross Country Championships which takes place at Temple Newsam, Leeds in March. Lucy’s older brother, Jack was 13th in the Inter Boys Race (22:02) and is a reserve for the English Schools.

Luke Rawcliffe had a busy morning having competed at the Lancashire Swimming Championships in Manchester, before travelling to Witton Park to compete, finishing 8th (16:35), and with Max Swarbrick (15th 16:42) are reserves for the Lancashire team. Deetray Jarrett was 23rd (17:12).

In the Inter Girls race, Danielle Whipp was 9th (18:32) and qualified as a reserve for Lancashire. Hollie Winstanley was 21st (20:08) and Emily Balshaw was 29th (21:29). Bethany Whipp was 40th (16:59) in the Junior Girls Race and Rafael Eaton was 11th (9:29) in the Year 7 race. In the Inter Boys race, James Smith was 39th (24:27) and was closely followed across the finish line by Joe Lund who was 40th (24:36).

On Sunday, nine Under 13 and Under 15 athletes experienced their first major Regional Championships at the Northern Indoor Under 15 & 13 Championships held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.

It was a close contest in the Under 15 Boys High Jump competition with the winning height 1.65m. Three boys were on 1.60m including Scott Sinclair, who missed out on a medal on count back and was very close to clearing 1.65m, just clipping the bar with his heel. Scott was also 9th (4.81m) in the Long Jump. In the U15 Girls High Jump, Leah Howard was 5th with 1.45m and 14th (4.48m) in the Long Jump.

Mary-Jayne Broomhead qualified from the heats (8.52) for the semi final of the U15G 60 metres and in the 200m qualified for the quarter finals with a PB of 28.57.

Also in the Under 15 Age category, Imogen Reader in the 60m posted 8.97 and a PB of 28.63 in the 200m heats. Georgia Norman recorded 9.03 in the 60m and a PB of 29.36 in the 200m heats.

In the Under Age, Kieran Howard just missed out on a medal with 4th place in the Shot Putt with a PB of 6.84m.

Connor Norman posted 8.88 in the 60m and a PB 29.50m in the 200m heats. Keira Tomes recorded 9.50 in the 60m and 32.82 in the 200m heats. Jessica Roache ran 9.60 in the 60m heats and was 20th with 3.56m in the Long Jump.

On the same day, five BWFAC competed at the latest regular winter series of Sale Open meetings. Bradley and Chloe Parsons 7.47 and 9.33 in the 60 metres and whilst there, met up with International 800 metre runner, Michael Rimmer, who was trying out his 600m form. Alex Hughes posted a 7.44 PB in the 60m and 23.74 in the 200m and Andrew Woodhouse recorded 7.84 and 24.89 in the 200m.

Four Junior runners travelled to Witton Park on Sunday to run in the Junior 2Km Winter Warmer race. Forest Leah was 5th overall and 2nd 8-10 year old boy and Gracie Scott was 11th overall, 2nd Girl and 1st 8-10 year old girl. Otis Leah was 12 overall and 1st 5-7 year old, Naomi Wrigley 5th in 10:28 and Louisa Bradburn 4th 8-10 year old in 9:17.

Finally at the One Year Anniversary of the Park View junior parkrun Emily Balshaw was 5th in 8:06.

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2nd February 2018

Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Katy Wyper is in a rich vein of form that continued at the Scottish Senior and Under 17 Championships, held at Glasgow’s Emirates Indoor Championships. Katy, after qualifying from the heats fastest with 7.53, collected her second Gold medal of 2018 by winning the Senior 60 metre Championship Final with another PB of 7.51.

At the other end of the distance spectrum, Emily Japp ran in the Northern Cross Country Championships. It was a tough 8km course for the 435 women in the Senior Ladies race at Harewood House, Leeds and Emily finished strongly in 13th place (32:45), with Michelle Tickle 211th (41:56).

Kirsty Holland and Rick Pinches used the St Annes 10 Mile race, staged on the out and back course on the windy promenade between St Annes and Lytham, as part of training for the London Marathon. Both finished in 1:36:38 in 251st/252nd places.

It was also tough conditions, especially the final two miles into the wind, for Nicola Unsworth in the Hunters 10km near Preston. Nicola completed the course in 44:57 and won the Lady Vet 45 prize.

At the Blackpool parkrun, Steve Dunn was first BWFAC runner in 11th (20:43), with Nick Hume (13th 20:48), Jeff Wilson (29th 22:47), Karen Dunford (36th 23:48), Derek Crane (44th 24:35), Peter Gibson (48th 24:35), Ellen McLachlan (52nd 25:11), Jeff Wright (88th 28:07), Nickola Walker (94th 28:54), Amanda Fuller (119th 30:44), Andy Hume (123rd 30:54), Kirsty Holland 122nd (30:53), Rafael Eaton (137th 32:53) and Fiona Little (165th 37:48).

Paul Sparrow was 8th (20:51) at the Lytham Hall parkrun, with Peter Singleton (24th 22:21), Clare Clarke (88th 28:15), Bob Massey (100th 28:43) and Howard Henshaw (136th 31:57).

Four girls of Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC’s Pole Vault squad went to Sportcity for the annual festival of pole vaulting at Vault Manchester with nearly 100 vaulters competing. Jasmine Carey fresh from winning Gold at the Northern Indoor Championship, was again in good form clearing 3.43m, just 3cm below her best. Amelia Shearman was just 2cm below her best with 3.13m. Minnie Rogers cleared 2.73 to post a new best and Chloe Parsons (U15) in her first pole vault competition made an excellent start with 2.23m.

Lucy Tickle travelled to Harewood House in Leeds for the Northern Cross Country Championships to compete in the Under 15 Girls race over 4000 metres. It was a tough undulating course with plenty of mud underfoot and Lucy finished 104th in 18:50. Her coach was keen that Lucy should do a recovery run the next day so she was back out at ParkView Junior parkrun in Lytham. Clearly still full of energy, Lucy finished first overall in a PB of 7:28.

Gracie Scott aged 10 was third, also with a PB of 8:17 and along with Lucy Tickle, both now hold age category course records for ParkView Junior parkrun. Holly Tickle also ran and finished seventh in a PB of 8:51.

23rd January 2018

For Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC athletes it was a break from cross country action with the main focus being the Inskip Half Marathon. There was a possibility that it might be cancelled, due to the ice, however the temperature overnight stayed above freezing and over 350 set off around the country lanes of Inskip, battling very tough conditions, with rain turning to snow and a blizzard ensued!

The winner was Stuart Robinson, a former BWFAC member and now of Salford Harriers, in 70:59. First BWFAC runner was Ian Dawson in 33rd (83:36), with James Unsworth 55th (86:42) and Bev Wright 105th, 8th lady (92:55) and 1st Vet 55. Other BWFAC runners were Paul Beech (107th 93:12), Nicola Unsworth (161st 1:41:56), Daniel Smith (166th 1:42:29), Jeff Wilson (29th 1:49:34), Simon Scarr (248th 1:55:02), Mark Wright (258th 1:57:04), Bob Massey (308th 2:08:07) and Clare Clark (309th 2:08:21).

Fiona Hockey celebrated her 20th birthday by competing in Vault Cardiff, clearing 3.52 metres in the pole vault. Meanwhile nearer home, sixteen young athletes tested their winter training by competing in the Sale Open meeting at Sportcity in
Manchester. Katy Wyper, fresh from her gold medal success in the 60 metres at the Northern Indoor Championships, tested out her form over 200 metres by posting an encouraging 24.91 (7th in 200m UK rankings at this early stage of the 2018 season). Faith Wood (U20F) returned to competitive action, after nearly 18 months, by sprinting in the 60 metres (8.79). Amongst the standout performances were PBs by Mary-Jayne Broomhead (U15) in the 60m (8.41) & 200m (28.66) and Alex Hughes (U20) in the 60m (7.47) & 200m (23.42). In the High Jump, Under 15 athletes Leah Howard (1.50m) and Sebby Holt (1.45m) both equalled their PBs.

During a visit to Birmingham, the Tickle family were part of 736 runners at an icy Cannon Hill parkrun, with Jack (27th 18:40), Michelle (125th 22:59), Simon (132nd 23:07), Lucy (142nd 23:21) and Holly (283rd 26:20).

At Blackpool parkrun, Paul Sparrow was 6th with 20:38 and Nicola Unsworth 10th with a PB 21:12. Other BWFAC runners were Danielle Baines (36th 25:08), Rafael Eaton (48th 25:08), John Cardwell (111th 32:26), Andy Hume (112th 32:34p), Nickola Walker (113th 32:34) and Fiona Little (146th 38:20). And at
Lytham Hall parkrun, Peter Singleton was 28th (22:15) and Howard Henshaw 153rd (31:40).

It may still January but it is less than two months to the start of the outdoor track & field season with BWFAC Winter Warm-up meeting on Saturday March 17th, members are deep in training. Sixteen BWFAC athletes tested out their training at the most recent Sale Open Indoor meeting held in Sportcity.

Among the highlights for BWFAC was the return to competitive action of Faith Wood, who was out of action for the latter part the 2016 season and the whole of 2017, in the 60 metres posting 8.79. Other encouraging performances with PB times in the 60 metres were posted by Alex Hughes (7.47), Mary-Jane Broomhead (8.41) and Megan Lewis (8.75).

For some it was a first experience of the hustle and bustle of an Indoor track in particular for Keira Tomes and Jessica Roache who are in their first year as an Under 13 athletes. Both posted 9.46 and 9.55 respectively in the 60m.

Both Leah Howard and Sebby Holt equalled their High Jump PBs with 1.50 and 1.45 metres respectively and Natalia Luczak (1.35m) and Kacie Calvert (1.25m) were close.

At the recent 2Km Park View parkrun BWFAC’s Forest Leah was first across the line in 7:43.

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20th January 2018

This year’s BWFAC Winter Warmup Open Meeting will take place on Saturday 17th March 2018. Please click here for more details.

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18th January 2018

The Blackpool Wyre & Fylde AC shop is now open allowing all club members to order directly! The current ordering window is WEDNESDAY 17 JANUARY 2018 until THURSDAY 25 JANUARY 2018 with EXPECTED DELIVERY DATE 16 MARCH 2018.

Please click here for more information.

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16th January 2018

It was a successful competition for BWFAC at the Northern Indoor Championships held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. Katy Wyper, who has won 60 metre bronze twice previously, has started 2018 in excellent form and qualified first (7.62) in her heat in the Senior Women’s 60 metres and in the final, Katy blew the competition away as she won in a whirlwind 7.54 (PB) to be crowned champion.

All the hard work of the last few months in returning to full fitness after injury last year came to fruition for BWFAC’s Emily Japp. Running away from the rest of the field, Emily won by 75 seconds (19:23) in the Senior Women’s 5.8km race at a cold and windswept Towneley Park in Burnley! The rest of the ladies squad were Amelia Beaman (6th 21:12); Jess Rogers (13th 21:54), who was also first Under 20W; Michelle Tickle (52nd 25:04) and Debbie Terras (131st 31:18). The team finished first ahead of Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton. On the same course John Winters was 7th Vet 70 in 44:14.

The Senior Men’s squad was somewhat stronger than at previous fixtures and were led home by Phil Leybourne (15th & 1st Vet 50, 34:08) on the 9.8Km course. The rest of the squad were John Wright (53rd 37:21), Darren Tremble (85th 39:09), Paul Sparrow (113th 41:00), Nick Hume (123rd 41:28), Andrew Simm (136th 42:07), Peter Singleton (181st 43:01), Daniel Smith (187th 45:22), Simon Scarr (227th 53:48) and Alan Wilkinson (229th 54:24). The Open team was 15th, the Vet 40s 6th and both Vet 50s and Vet 60s were both second.

BWFAC runners were involved in two road races. Bev Wright was 43rd, 2nd female and 1st Vet 55 out of 534 runners at the East Lancashire Hospice 10Km. At the hilly Garstang 10Km, Stephen Dunn was 66th in 42:33 and Nicola Unsworth 79th, 6th lady and 3rd Vet 45 in 43:17. Also running were Amanda Fuller (340th 60:11 PB), Nickola Walker (346th 60:32) and Fiona Little (441st 78:25).

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Sportshall (Match 2) – Sunday 14 January

Blackpool fielded 28 athletes in the second Sportshall, which was a significant improvement. All the age group teams finished in the top 5 overall, with the Under 13 boys finishing second overall. The best individual performances belonged to Grace Oates in winning the under-11 2 lap event and finishing in the top 10 for all four events, and Max Nelson who wont he under 11 Target throw event. Other notable performances included 2 top 5 finishes for Dominic Birch (speed bounce and triple jump), James Boak (speed bounce and 2 lap) and Oliver Hargreaves (speed bounce and javelin) in the under 11s, third place in the vertical jump for Harrison Booth-Isherwood. Millie Turner (vertical jump), Marcia Rutter (triple jump) and Grace Cholmondeley (1 lap) also secured top 5 finishes. For the under 13 boys, Finlay Pollard (4 lap, 6 lap, speed bounce and triple jump) produced four top 5 finishes, Rafael Eaton (speed bounce, 2 lap and 6 lap) produced three top 5 finishes, while Seb Holt (shot putt), George Mackenzie (Shot putt) and Deetray Jarrett (6 lap) all produced one top 5 finish. In addition, there were top 10 finishes for Alfie Hall, Tom Wilkinson, Lohan Sparrow, Gracie Rutter and Ruby Linley. It was an excellent team effort, and the athletes were really supportive of each other and really enjoyed the afternoon. Well done to all!

The results from the Sportshall event and the current overall standings can be viewed here.

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15th January 2018

It was a busy weekend for Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC both on the track & field and cross country front. A small group travelled to the English Institute of Sport Indoor Stadium in Sheffield for the two day Northern Senior, Under 20 and Under 17 Indoor Championships. The outstanding field competition for competitive and tense action was the Under 17 Women’s Pole Vault. Training partners Jasmine Carey and Amelia Shearman both competed for the first time in the Under 17 age category. Amelia finished 6th by clearing 3.10 metres, her best since the 3.15m she posted at the English Schools U15 competition. Sophie Ashurst of Sale finished in the Bronze Medal position with 3.20m. This left both Jasmine and Harriet Vaughan of Bury level on 3.30m, both having failed three times at 3.40m. A jump-off starting at 3.40m and going down 5cm each time came into play to decide the winner. However it was decided on the first jump as Jasmine cleared 3.40m and Harriet failed. James Nicholas qualified from the heats of the Under 17M 400m with a PB of 53.37 and in the final finished 4th (54.09). Later, he posted 7.66 in the 60m heats. Alex Hughes also qualified with a PB of 52.38 in the heats of the U20M 400m and in the final was 6th, improving his PB to 52.33. The next day, Alex posted a PB of 23.04 in the heats of the 200m. Bradley Parsons qualified with 1st place (7.44) in the heats of the 60m for the semi final, where he he posted a PB of 7.38 in 3rd place. In the final, Bradley was 8th with 7.41. The next day, Bradley posted 23.58 in the 200m heats. Kirsty Rushton posted a PB of 8.48 in the heats of the U17W 60m and in the 200m heats ran 27.97. Danielle Whipp qualified with 2:26.10 in 3rd place of the U17 800m and in the final was 4th with 2:25.07. The fourth fixture of the Mid Lancs Cross Country League took place at Towneley Park near Burnley. Conditions were good underfoot, although there was a cold wind sweeping across the the park! The best result for BWFAC was in the Under 17M race over 5.8K. Jake Dudley was first (18:33) with Danny Fletcher 3rd (19:04), Jack Tickle 5th (19:48) and Joe Lund 6th (20:22). The team easily finished first in the league. On the 2Km course, the Under 11 girls team of Gracie Scott (9th 7:47), Grace Oates (20th 8:04), Holly Tickle (29th 8:13) and Maria Smith (47th 8:49) finished in 6th place. On the same course Forest Leah was 11th (7:01) in the U11 boys race. The U13 girls race was over 2.7Km and Bethany Whipp was 28th (10:35), with Grace Blincow 5th (14:43). Luke Rawcliffe (11th 11:08), Rafael Eaton (14th 11:13) and Zac Terras (51st 18:03) brought the Under 13 boys team across the line in fifth place on the 3.2km course. On the same course in the U15 girls race Lucy Tickle was 7th (11:34) and Hollie Winstanley 16th (12:30). The U15 boys race was run over a 4Km course. James Smith was 24th (14:28) and Max Swarbrick 28th (14:54) and in the U17W race over the same course, Taylor Holland was 4th (15:31). The next day at the Garstang 2 Mile race Luke Rawcliffe was 1st (10:53) with Forest Leah 4th (11:54) and Gracie Scott 6th and first girl (13:14).

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11th January 2018

The first major Championship of the season was the Lancashire Athletic Association Cross Country Championships held at sunny Witton Park.  Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC had runners in all age categories and there many good performances, however despite several fourth places there was only one team medal. Last year Emily Japp, although suffering with a heavy cold, was runner-up in Senior Women’s Championship.  After being out of action for three months last summer with injury, Japp has been training hard, however again she had a heavy cold.  Despite this she ran with determination, finishing sixth (25:28) and qualified to represent Lancashire at the Inter Counties Championships on March 10th.  Lauren Gowland also had an excellent run finishing ninth (26:55) and will be a reserve for the Inter Counties Senior Women’s team.  Jess Rogers was 20th (28:52) and completed the team which won the team Bronze Medal.  Jess was also 4th Under 20 and qualified for the Under 20 Inter County Team.  The rest of the BWFAC team were Karen Dunford  (45th 33:38) who was also 4th Vet 50, Laura Lawler (58th 38:55) and  Debbie Terras (68th 44:24).  They were also the 7th Vet team. In the Men’s race sadly there wasn’t a full BWFAC team.  Darren Tremble was 86th (40:37), Paul Sparrow 106th (42:12), Nick Hume 119th and 4th Vet 60 (43:21) and Andrew Simm 120th (43:40). In Junior races the best results were achieved by the U11 Girls team and U17 Men’s who despite each losing a member due to injury both finished fourth.  There was also success for Danielle Whipp who finished sixth (23:01) and qualified for the Under 17 Women’s Iner County team. Several BWFAC athletes competed at an Indoor track & field meeting at Sportcity and Katy Wyper showed she is in excellent form prior to the Northern Indoor Championship in Sheffield as she equalled her 60 metre PB with 7.62 and 7.61. Away from the Country Jeff Wright was 203rd in 1:54:50 in the Central Lancashire Half Marathon.  For the first Club Handicap of 2018 the format was as a Predictor race and the winner was Nick Hume, who ran the fastest time of 25:59 and predicted 26:05 over the 3.72 mile course. The first three BWFAC runners at the Blackpool park run were Luke Minns (1st 16:58), Steve Dunn (12th 21:04) and Nicolas Unsworth (26th & 2nd F 22:56).  At the Lytham Hall park run Peter Singleton was 21st in 22:34.

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10th January 2018

BWFAC Cross Country Championship results as at 10.1.18 can be viewed here, please notify Nick Hume of any errors asap.

All age groups are best of 4 out of 7 races to count, so with 3 races left, there is still time for some runners to complete a total of 4 races!

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9th January 2018

The first major championship of 2018 was held at Blackburn’s Witton Park, bathed in beautiful winter sunshine. Conditions were good for both runners and spectators. Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC had runners in all of the age categories. The first Championships were the Under 11 races over 1.8Km. In the boys race, Forest Leah, a regular on the junior parkrun front, was 17th (6.38) and Alfie Hall in his first cross country in BWFAC colours, was 42nd (7.52). In the girls race there were five BWFAC girls on the line, however Gracie Scott, who normally leads the team, received an elbow in her ribs and was unable to continue. Holly Tickle stepped up to the mark with her best cross country run to date finishing 7th (7:43), followed by Grace Oates 8th (7:44), Louisa Bradbury 28th (8:26) and Maria Smith 30th (8:28). The team just missed out on Lancashire medals finishing fourth. The next day, Forest Leah and Gracie Scott still had enough energy to run in the Park View Junior 2Km parkrun, Forest finishing first in 7:49 and Gracie 9th and first girl in 9:16. Both also received the ‘Half Marathon Award’ based on the number of parkruns they have completed. The under 13 races were over 3.2Km and included an ascent of the famous Saucer hill. Luke Rawcliffe ran well in the boys race, finishing 12th (12:29) and Rafael Eaton was 18th (12:53), despite having his shoe sucked off in the morass at the bottom of the Saucer and having to carry it for the rest of the race. Zac Terras was 45th (20:41). Bethany Whipp was 31st (14:08) and Grace Blincow 51st (16:00) in the girls race. The Under 15 races were over 3.8Km, with James Smith 21st (14:38) in the boys race and Lucy Tickle was 15th (16:19) in the girls race. In the Under 17 races the course was 5.5Km over two laps. For the first time in many years BWFAC fielded a full team in the U17 men’s race. Sadly, as in the U11 girls race, Jake Dudley, who was first at the last Mid Lancs XC meeting, was forced to drop out because of injury, however Danny Fletcher (9th 19:19), Jack Tickle (15th 20:21) and Joe Lund (17th 21:20) brought the team home in fourth place. Danielle Whipp was pleased with her race, finishing 6th (23:01) and qualifying to represent Lancashire at the Inter Counties.

There was also an indoor track & field meeting at Sportcity and several BWFAC athletes competed, some preparing for the Northern Indoor Championships this weekend. In the 60 metres Alexander Hughes (U20M) posted 7.56 and in the 300m 37.27. Other 60 metre times were Bradley Parsons (U17M) 7.56, James Nicholas (U17M) 7.68, Kirsty Rushton (U17W) 8.58, Mary-Jayne Broomhead (U17W) 8.56 & 8.60 and Chloe Parsons (U15G) 9.26. Scott Sinclair jumped 4.62m in the Long Jump and 1.50m in the High Jump. Leah Howard jumped 4.80m in the Long Jump, 1.40m in the High Jump and 10.86 in the 60m Hurdles. Jasmine Carey and Amelia Shearman prepared for the Northern Indoor Pole Vault competition with 3.25m and 2.80m respectively.

David Wood

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Athletes of the Month & Volunteer of the Quarter for December 2017

Congratulations to AotM Jake Dudley (1st U17M) and Bev Wright for their performances at the Leigh Mid Lancs and Volunteer of the Quarter, Neil Salanki, for his work with Junior  Coaching and his involvement with setting up the new Lancashire Sportshall competition.

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New Website

Well, after a few little ‘teething’ problems with certain browsers etc, the brand new BWFAC is now up and running! It is still work in progress but the main information from the old site should now have been transferred over (or is in the process of being transferred!)  If you notice a link that isn’t working or some information from the old site that has been missed please do let me know! If you have any information you would like adding, again let me know! Many thanks for your support! Michelle Tickle x

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January 2018 Handicap

The results from today’s ‘predictor’ handicap are now available to view here.

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Results from today’s Christmas Predictor can be viewed by clicking the link below. Thank you to everyone who took part and those who came along to assist and support. It was good to see a number of new runners and we hope you enjoyed the occasion!

Xmas Predictor 2017 Results

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Monthly Handicap – Sunday 7 January 2018

Please note that the Monthly Handicap run on Sunday 7 January will be a ‘predictor race’. Predict your finishing time and run without a watch!

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