26-05-2025
Lostockers put in ‘great' runs at popular Manchester events
Lostockers were part of a busy day of racing in Manchester as the city held its annual half-marathon and 10k event last weekend.
This is a huge event with 35,000 taking part in the event and racing with incredible athletes, including Vicent Ngetich, Selemon Barega, Medina Eisa and Emily Sisson.
It is a long day of racing with the half-marathon starting 8.10am and the final wave in the 10k commencing at 1.10pm.
Lostock's Matthew Carney competed in the half-marathon, starting on Portland Street in the city centre, the route starts with an out-and-back, heading to the Etihad Stadium before returning towards the city centre. Participants then head to Salford Quays, complete a lap around the Wharfside and then it is back to the city centre passing Old Trafford.
The support around the race is fantastic and crowds gather at Deansgate to welcome runners completing the race.
Carney had an awesome race, finishing in 1hr 50mins 59secs.
Jo McManus, Rachel Stevens and Markus Stevens took part in the 10k. McManus and Rachel Stevens set off in the Orange Wave at 11.45am, the race started by local girl, Keely Hodgkinson, Dame Kelly Holmes and Ann Brightwell Packer - the only three British women ever to win 800m Olympic gold.
This is also a popular race with celebrities with Strictly Come Dancing stars and Coronation Street actors also taking part.
It was a hot day which made racing conditions tough and prior to the race there were announcement warning runners against trying for a PB.
Despite this, McManus had an amazing race, finishing in 46:13 followed by Rachel Stevens (54:17). It was Markus Stevens' race debut for Lostock, starting in the Pink Wave at a hot 1.10pm, and he finished in a fine time of 1:08:39.
Josie Greenhalgh headed to the Lake District to complete Old County Tops Fell Race, organised by Achille Ratti and possibly the toughest event in the fell-running calendar.
This is largely down to the distance of 36 miles and the amount of climb involved at more than 10,000 feet. Furthermore, the route is not defined, so runners must navigate in pairs - often over rough terrain.
Greenhalgh joined forces with Kat Klunder, from Chorley AC, and the temperature was already high when they set off from Great Langdale alongside around 126 teams.
The route traverses the fells over to Grasmere before a long, gradual climb up to Helvellyn and a steep descent down to Wythburn. On the following section up and over to Angle Tarn, the heat escalated with no breeze and made racing conditions extremely difficult. Before long, the pair were summiting England's tallest mountain, Scafell Pike. Following the very quick refreshment stop, it was the final push up Coniston Old Man.
The last half mile on the road felt like forever but, crossing the finish line back in Langdale, Greenhalgh and Klunder had an amazing run, clocking 10:01:00.
Finishers received a coveted County Tops T-shirt and Greenhalgh and Klunder were also presented with a bespoke Old County Tops stoneware mug for winning their age category.
Back at Lostock AC, the club held their annual treasure hunt - always a fun event, with members racing around Westhoughton and Aspull trying to find the answer to clues prepared by member Mark Smith.
Members covered distances of more than five miles and many got lost, including one team that spent time wondering around a field.
There is a mad dash to the finish as for every minute runners are late, 10 points are deducted from their score. This was the unravelling of some teams whose desire to find the answer to more clues resulted in them being almost 10 minutes late!
The victorious team was Ian Johnson, Janet Rhodes, Sally McCoy and Heather Soden, while in second place were Ian and Lee Burns and in third was Josie Greenhalgh and Tony Marlow. The club thanked Janet and Ian Johnson for hosting the event.
Parkrun results: Bolton - Teri Aldred 28:46 (first in age category); Haigh Woodland - Anthony Sutton 22:21 (third in age category), Chris Baker 23:35, Luke Baker 24:11PB, Ian Burns 29:05 (first in age category), Katie Edern 30:24 (third in age category); Worsley Woods - Hazel Hatfield 23:06 (seventh female and second in age category), Mark Shuttleworth 23:27.
