Race Report by Katie Kingston
Storm Brian tried his hardest to defeat us, but the intrepid runners battled back and managed to complete this really pretty 5-mile route. Starting in the tree lined Green Drive on the outskirts of Lytham, the route takes you over Saltcoates Bridge turning left to towards Warton, then turning left again to travel through the lanes working their way back towards Lytham. This was where Storm Brian was at his worst. With winds of 50-60 miles per hour, let alone any stronger gusts, it really felt as though at times swimming against a tide would have been easier. Or was that the ‘puddles’ we ran through! (although there were only two left as opposed to the nearly completely flooded lane that we drove through on Saturday as we checked the route – thank goodness).
Apart from the wind there are no complaints about this run. As part of the Lancashire AA Championships it is well organised, with chip timing, a lovely, generally flat route through lanes and countryside. A lovely touch was the 1-mile race for children at 9am, which was also chip timed for them, with medals and water bottles at the finish for the youngsters, my great niece and nephew included.
As for us older runners, having ran the first half with my much younger nephew-in-law, I allowed him to continue without me, but having used him as a pace setter I did manage to finish within my target time. Jonathan, who couldn’t manage to find a successful windbreak, was slightly behind his target, but we claim success as Storm Brian didn’t win!
We also quite liked the Announcer or whatever the correct word is for the bod on the microphone, saying ‘ nice to see two Massey Runners, from Coventry I didn’t know they came this far North! ‘
Jonathan 40.08
Katie 49.04