Summer Series 2016 – Long Distance Competition

The 2016 Summer Series has seen the introduction of two new features this year, the parkrun and the Long Distance Competitions. The parkrun competition ends on 5th November however the Long Distance Competition came to its conclusion on 24th September after the Macclesfield Half Marathon.

This year there have been SEVEN races classed as ‘Long Distance’, with each of them covering a distance of 9 miles of more, they were as follows:

Radcliffe 10 mile – Trail

Bispham 10 mile – Road

Buxton Half Marathon – Road

Meerbrook 15k – Road

Two Hillforts – Trail

Hatters Half Marathon – Trail

Macclesfield Half Marathon – Road

It has been a challenging Summer Series this year with the increase of long distance races, and the inclusion of the two Trail Half Marathons at Radcliffe and Hatters proved to be very worthwhile with both of these races attracting the highest numbers of the Long Distance Competition, 35 at Radcliffe and 28 at Hatters. The ‘undulating’ courses at Buxton and Macclesfield Half Marathons turned out to be the least popular with only 20 runners appearing at each.

A total of 64 runners this year completed at least one ‘Long Distance’ (LD) race. Those running one, two or three of these races unfortunately failed to qualify for any extra bonus as a minimum of four were needed to earn bonuses.

14 runners managed to complete just one LD race, and amongst these we have some impressive performances to mention. Jon Cheshire left it late in the season to come 4th finisher at the Macclesfield Half Marathon, Pete Speake ran Meerbrook taking 2nd finisher and Di McVey also chose the hilly course to make her SS comeback as 2nd Lady.

Another 20 runners completed two LD races. Injury prevented many of these from progressing further. Jim Pendrill, Carolyn Hirons, Tim Billington, Sue Strang, Jan Wyles and Simon Fenton have all suffered from ongoing injuries through 2016 though still managed two of the LD races. The most notable performance was from Mick Fairs who in both appearances at Meerbrook and Macclesfield won his V65 age category.

A further 12 runners completed three LD races. Our club was well represented by some superb age category wins from those running three races, Tom McGaff won V60 in all three he ran, Rob Downs not only took the V50 age category but also came 2nd overall in both the Hatters and Macclesfield Half Marathons. Sally Gilliver won the V50 age prize at Radcliffe and Sally Price came 2nd V35 at the Bispham 10 Mile.

18 runners have completed four or more of the LD races and have gained themselves extra bonus points that will be awarded to the main Summer Series table at the end of the season.

The first eight who have completed four LD races and receive ONE bonus point are: Janine Ellis, Paul Norris, Andy Watts, Bernard McCarron, Pete Stock, Huma Rahman, Chris Cannon and Elspeth Gibson. Both Andy Watts and Bernard are both long distance specialists so we should not be surprised to see their names, but for others completing four Long Distance runs has been tough after illness or injury. Huma has had a challenging year but this has not stopped her from running both the Hatters and Macclesfield Half Marathons as part of her recent return to training and Chris has done well to include four long distance runs as he struggled with injury. Age category wins have come from Janine who has taken the V45 prize at Macclesfield, Bispham and Buxton, Andy Watts who has won three V65 age category prizes at Radcliffe, Buxton and Bispham and Pete Stock who took the V60 prize at the Hatters Half Marathon.

We have a further 8 runners who have complete five LD races and receive TWO bonus points each. Sharon Johnstone, Matt Taylor, James MacDonald, Christian Hook, Amy Longmore, Nicky Mowat, Angela McCarthy and Trevor Faulkner. This has been an excellent year for Sharon in the long distance category, taking 1st Lady at both the Bispham 10 mile and the Hatters Half Marathon, she was also 1st V40 at Radcliffe and 2nd lady at Hillforts. Our continued strength in the V55 Ladies category continued with wins for Nicky at Radcliffe and Hatters and for Angela at Macclesfield. Credit also to Amy who has had a great year of running securing a PB at the Hatters Half Marathon.

Only 1 runner has completed six of the seven and receives THREE bonus points, well done Ian Ashcroft. Nothing has stopped him this year, not bird attacks or even hitting a concrete post at speed, he just keeps on going and going. Joking apart, Ian took the V70 prize at two of these races – Two Hillforts and Macclesfield Half Marathon, both demanding courses at any age.

The title of ‘King of the Long Distance’ goes to Patrick Grannan who has completed all seven races. He receives FOUR bonus points for running races 4, 5 ,6 and 7 and receives an extra THREE bonus points on completing all the races, totalling SEVEN bonus points in all. Congratulations to Patrick!

Patrick has his own special knack in conquering long races which he currently keeps a closely guarded secret. Those who have watched him race will know that at most stages he will appear as though about to collapse, but as a true long distance expert he invariably finishes …. a tactic to unnerve his Group 3 rivals presumably! Whatever his secret is it’s working, as he triumphs at the top of the 2016 Long Distance Leaderboard.

Elspeth