Mark Whittington led the Burnden group home at this week’s visit to Tawd Valley parkrun – the first on the list for the Off Road Championship this year. The parkrun course is based at Tawd Valley park in Skelmersdale and features trail and paths.
Whittington continues his super streak of speedy times following his first MV50 win at Lostock 6 two weeks ago. He smashed Tawd Valley with a sub-20 – crossing the line in 19:57 – 4th in a field of 175 runners.
Tawd Valley parkrun welcomed 32 Burndeners overall and first lady to cross for the Club was Anne Ferguson in 25:04. Following Whittington as 2nd Burnden male was Paul Duke in 20:37 and Steve Nolan in 21:09 – both in the top 10 finishers. Second lady to cross for Burnden was Jane Forrest in 26:28 and third was Katie Walsh in 27:03.
Here are the other terrific Tawd athletes – Stephen Horsman – 22:06, Andrew Crawford – 22:56, Gareth Doherty – 23:06, Gareth Lowe – 23:18, David Smith – 23:48, Paul Drew – 24:16, Mark Butler – 24:54, Keith Thomas – 25:17, Colm O’Brien – 26:22, Michael Kermode – 26:27. Louise Righini – 28:27, Andy Warburton – 28:59, Jenni Partington – 31:35, Emma Walker – 31:36, Carol Richardson – 32:06, Andrew Parkinson – 33:34, Julie Riddle – 33:46, Luke Newell – 33:51, Tony Fulop – 35:53, Michelle Livesey – 37:57, Sarah Brown – 38:27, Cheryl Dunleavy – 39:15, Gillian McGowan – 42:58, Ian Mann – 45:12, Jocelyn Chadderton – 47:12, Kathryn Baron – 47:12
TREMENDOUS TRIMPELLERS
A quartet of racers training for some big distances took on the annual Trimpell 20 – one of the few 20 mile distance races that are relatively local to Burnden.
The daunting distance has the attraction of a 90% traffic free route through the historic City of Lancaster and the scenic Lancashire Lune Valley countryside. The foursome struck lucky with the dry weather and clocked up some great finishing times to soothe their undoubtedly aching legs. First home was Michael ‘Fast Mode’ Kermode who finished in a speedy 2:30:20. Next home was Andy ‘Nailed it’ Norman in 2:35:00, third place went to Mike ‘Yes He Can’ Caine in 2:38:20 and Carolyn ‘Chaser’ Edwards was the sole Burnden lady in 4:12:38.
LISBON HALF FOR PAUL
One Burndener managed to get away this week and achieve a PR in the Half Marathon distance. Travelling to Lisbon, Portugal was Paul Cox with his eyes and soles set on completing the EDP Lisbon Half.
Part of a set of ‘SuperHalfs’, a series of five glorious half marathon races in five different cities, the Lisbon edition offers the only possibility to run on the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge, giving one of the most beautiful views of the city, and an accessible course that follows the river shore.
Paul crossed the Lisbon line in an impressive 1:50:00.
SMITHY’S TRAIL SWIFTIES
Two Burndeners were smoking at the trainer soles as they powered round the annual Smithy’s 5 Mile Charity Trail. Based in Egerton and starting in Rainy’s Deacon Park, the challenging but accessible race, founded by Matt Smith in aid of various charities, usually has some Burnden representation. Flying the black stripe this year was the speedy duo – Jonny Sangster and Matt Dewhurst. The pair took 3rd and 4th overall positions – Jonny 3rd in 34:12 and Matt 4th in 34:43.
BONES CONQUERS THE CROSSES
The Two Crosses Circuit challenges runners and walkers to complete a choice of two distances across the scenic Western Pennine region featuring beautiful reservoirs and vast moorland.
Organised by the East Lancs Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA), this event is in its 39th year and promotes community spirit amongst the participants.
Burndener Justin Bones was the sole representative this year – completing a superb 17 miles and 700 metres of elevation.
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