One hundred and eighty eight runners at this years very tough Hendon Brook ‘Half Marathon’ with the Race being won by David Rigby in a fine time of 76.21.
Among the runners were four Blackburn Harriers plus two who run for Blackburn on the Track – Ben Fish, Chris Davies, Gary Pearse, Jonathan Bridge, Joanne Nelson and Laura Hesketh.
Full Results HERE
Ben was first of the Harriers home in 3rd place with a time of 79.35 and commented that he was “nowhere near my best. Great race, just couldn’t stand up to the challenge of the course three weeks after the marathon. Good performances from Chris, Gary and Jonathan”
Next in was Chris in a very good 7th spot (90.13) and said he was “Really pleased with my efforts today. 7th place on what has to be said ‘an absolute beast of a half marathon’. The last climb was a killer but got through it and I’m pleased with the time. Good to do something different on a Sunday run for a change which was in a strong field of runners as well. Well done to Ben Fish, Gary Pearse and Jonathan Bridge who also competed and Joanne Nelson who was first back in the women. Well done guys”.
Gary (V50) wasn’t far behind in 18th place with 96.51, a time which earned hin the the 2nd V50 spot and afterwards he told the Club that he was “Pleased with how I raced, kept it together reasonably well with not many training miles over the last couple of months. Place more important than time for the series as now got the nine qualifiers in with still a couple races to come. This is one of the toughest races around and good to see other harriers out giving it their best.”
Right behind Gary came Joanne – running for Darwen – who won the Women’s Race in a time of 97.06 and was also 1st V40 which was a great run on her part. Next in was V45 Jonathan (40th) in 1.40.57. In 44th place came Laura – running for Clayton – who also took the 2nd placed Woman in the Race and 1st in her age group and said that she was “Really pleased to knock nearly four minutes off my previous time at Hendon Brook. Not done many long runs as been concentrating on the shorter distances so started to suffer towards the end of the race. A great race with some brutal climbs.”
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Josh Boyle at Todmorden Park Summer 5k Race 3 ran a fine race in the latest one of this Series to finish 3rd overall in the 100 strong field with a time of 16.49 with brother Jacob (Clayton) in 2nd place 16.30 just one second behind the winner – Jason Parker (16.29).
Full Results HERE
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The Todmorden Race was followed up quickly with another 5k Race, this time at Lancaster which saw V45 Andy Buttery join Josh Boyle in the event. Andy took 7th place and 1st V45 in a time of 16.17 and commented after the Race that it was “My best time for a couple of years and feel like I’m close to being back under 16mins as it was a bit windy last night. Should hopefully be hitting good form for the 6 stage relays!” whilst Josh set a new PB in 9th place with 16.27 and was the 1st Junior overall.
Full Results HERE
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Outlaw Triathlon Relay – July 26th in Nottingham
Shaun Livesey who been in pretty good form was part of a Team which was attempting to not only win the Race but to try and break the Course record which stood at 8.01.
Full Results HERE
Shaun’s Team just missed out in the end and this is what he had to say about the day and how it went. “Well the team was put together by my brother and Danny from Langdale Lightweights cycling. First up was Will Clarke a GB professional triathlete, next up was Ryan Perry from Burnley Ryan Perry from Burnley who is an Officer in the Army, Then onto yours truly. The aim was to set a new team record which was 8;01. Will got us of to a flyer swimming with a blistering 49;20 for the 3.2m swim. With a fast transition it was over to the Ryan aka ( the champ) who was in fine form, he rode an unbelievable 4hr;20m for the 112m bike route smashing the previous record by 8 mins. Then it was over to me, I ran out onto the course knowing that if i ran a 2:48 marathon the record was ours. I set off feeling good helped by the fantastic crowd support, I completed one circuit and got to the half way point at around 1:21 and I thought to myself this is on! However at around 17m my stride started to shorten. I could feel the onset of cramp coming on in both hamstrings. By mile 20 I was reduced to running and stretching all the way back in, finishing my run in 3:03 and bringing the team home in first position but well short of our goal. Total race time 8:15:01.
The team was one of the several teams put together to raise money for the Karen Green Foundation. There were also individual competitors raising money for the same cause, one of which being my brother Mark Livesey who finished on the podium in 3rd place with a time of 9hr20m.
In addition to the outlaw on the Sunday there was a Big Swim event on the Saturday . My daughter Sophie and her friend Ruby swam in the 1500m open water swim- there first ever open water event. They both did fantastically well helping each other all the way round. They completed the swim well inside the 1hr cut off time, getting out of the the water in 52mins. Watching those two 11 year olds was definitely the highlight of the weekend.
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