Handforth Wilmslow Alderley Athletics Club

Cheshire T&F League, Round 1 - Stockport

19th April 2009

As far as the day went we had a good turnout (boosted by 3 of Jim's flock) though having only 2 girls was disappointing. At first glance there were about 11 PB's bettered and many new marks set by our "first timers". Of the PB's the ones of particular note are George Sumner who bettered his 600m time by 6.5 secs, Jamie Scobbie clipped 3 secs off his 200m time and Kevin Acton 2.4 secs (all these will require confirming). James Grannan bettered his Triple Jump distance by almost a meter and Joel Norman added 0.26m to his Long Jump taking him over the 4m mark for the first time, whilst you pushed out your Javelin PB by 1.23m. However the best performer of the day was Fergus who set 3 PB's including putting 11cm on his High Jump and 1.9m on his Shot Putt. The overall performance of our athletes was very good with many 1st, 2nd and 3rd places being recorded in the events/heats so it will be interesting to see how we are placed in the league table, all in all a very satisfying start to the season.

Mike

There are 47 photos from the day, sorry if I've missed you but with so many athletes it was difficult to get everyone: Photos  If you want to look at your times, distances, heights or placements the full results can be found here: Results There are a few errors on the official results but we do hope to get them corrected.

Graham

UKA Inter Counties XC - Nottingham - 7th March

Kevin Acton U13B represented Cheshire at the Inter Counties XC race in Nottingham. This was a televised, invite only event with the best runners in the country from u13 to seniors. Kevin thoroughly enjoyed himself coming in about 3/4 down the field. Cheshire team were 23 out of 40.

A great achievement to run for your county, well done. Apparently he even spotted himself on television! Results

Sporthall - Regional Final

 The finale to the Sportshall athletics season is a UK final at the NEC Birmingham between teams representing the regions of England and the other countries of the UK.  Before that county teams contest regional finals for the honour of representing their region. This year, two Handforth athletes, James Grannan and Joel Norman, were selected for the Cheshire team that gathered for the North West Final at Robin Park, Wigan on 22^nd February. 

James and his under-15s team-mates faced rivals from Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, with Joel’s age group (under 13s) also including a team from Cumbria. The schedule contained most of the events familiar from the NW League with the addition of high jump and obstacle relay for the under-13s and paarlauf races in both age groups. There were girls team in both age groups too.

 

 

Joel with first up, having the dubious honour of being the first Cheshire boy to compete as he led off the obstacle relay.  His lightning start immediately put him in a good position and he handed over in 2^nd place to his team-mate, a placing that the Cheshire team held to the finishing line. His next event was speed bounce where, despite a couple of slips, he earned 6^th place with 71 bounces.  Joel’s final event was his least favourite, the 6-lap relay time trial, where he again came in 6^th out of the 12 runners.

 

 

James was also picked for speed bounce where his 77 bounces earned him a respectable 6^th place.  Next came the standing long jump where he achieved a best jump of 2.24m. Then it was on to his preferred track events, starting with the 4-lap time trial race. James’s sportshall experience showed here as he paced himself perfectly in the more competitive of the two heats allowing him to take fourth place overall for the event.  Finally there was the 8-lap Paarlauf, an interesting really in which 2 runners for each team run 4 laps each but in any combination of their own choice. The event turned out to be a stand-off between just two teams with Lancashire just beating the Cheshire pair to take maximum points.

 

And the final outcome?  With so many events and no team with an obvious clear advantage, it was impossible for the spectators to keep track of scores, so there was an excited buzz as the athletes assembled for the presentations.  In the end it turned out to be an extraordinarily successful day for Cheshire who took first place in three out of the four categories, and narrowly missed out in the under-15 boys event as there 635 points was just 9 behind the winners, Lancashire.  A shame for James, after his fantastic contribution to sportshall for Handforth, but an exciting day at the NEC in prospect for Joel.

 

Altogether this was a superb event.  The Cheshire team managers were positive and supportive. The final was extremely well-organised and conducted in a great atmosphere. And a final thought for our other athletes - compete in the league next season and you may be noticed by our county selectors!

 

Mark Norman

MAXCL - Match 5, Wythenshawe Park - 7th Feb 2009

Todays last race of the series clashed with the Manchester Schools Championships so this gave our runners the opportunity to gain a high placement for a final position. And didn't they just!

Wythenshawe is a flat course but the woods section holds a few very wet ditches ditches to catch the unwary runner out. Hannah u13Gs had a fantastic race settling in to 3rd place almost from the start. She held that position to the finish line never looking threatened, an excellent run.

Next was Kevin u13B, with perhaps too fast a start he soon dropped down to 6th place and a gap started to open up infront of him. Kevin percevered and made sure that gap wasn't too much. With 100m to go he had a huge effort to put in to gain another place. Yet again he kicked for the finish not only overtaking the runner in front but clinching 4th place at the finish line!

James u15B had a strong feild in front of him. He worked really hard keeping pace with 2 Warrington AC runners. Dropping back a little in the woods he nevertheless came out of the woods in 9th place with a strong sprint finish. He even jogged away from the finish line. Terrific run.

Full results and photos can be found here: Results and a few photos of my own here: Photos

The final series placements in the MAXCL are:

Hannah Cusworth u13G   10th

Kevin Acton u13B            2nd

James Grannan u15B       11th

These are great results. Terrific work by our three regulars.

N.W. Sportshall League Result - Round 4 – Widnes, 18/1/09

It was good to see so many new faces at our final Sportshall event of the season. Out of the ten athletes seven had not been to any of the earlier events of the season, even better, for the first time we were able to field a relay team in one age group.

 

In the Under 11 Girls age group we have to congratulate Cloe Atkins & Sophie Emsley who on their very first outing for the club produced some excellent results, Sophie recording the forth highest overall score in her age group.

 

Ewan McWalter had newcomer Daniel Bundred for company on this occasion and both had a good afternoon with Ewan taking second place in the 4 Lap Race and whilst he could not manage to equal his club record in the Chest Push (CP), he did beat the opposition to take first place with an excellent throw of 6.25m.   Daniel who has only been with the club for a few weeks also did very well and was placed forth in both the 2 Lap Race and the Standing Long Jump (SLJ).

 

The five strong Under 15 Girls team had a super day with Abigail Acton and Katie Wharton both setting two P.B.s, Abigail with 2.05m in the SLJ and 5.72m in the Standing Triple Jump (STJ), and Katie with 2.00m in the SLJ and 7.00m in the Shot Putt (SP).  Imogen and Emily Taylor (not related) both tried new events setting good marks for the future, Imogen recording 65 in the speed bounce to take 3^rd place.  However one of the best performances of the day came from April Gardner being the only member of the squad to take on the 6 Lap Race who after a real gutsy run in a very competitive race was placed 3^rd with a time of 1:44.2, so great was her effort and determination that she finished too exhausted to take her place in the relay team (the team did however manage a 3^rd place in the race).  On the day the Girls were the second highest scoring team in the league.

 

Not to be out done by the girls, James Grannan (U.15 Boy) once again put in a terrific performance taking first place in the 6 Lap Race and the Speed Bounce (equalling his club record) and third place in both the Standing Long Jump and Vertical Jump to finish off a cracking Sportshall season.

 

Our congratulations to all our athletes for supporting the club and on an excellent performance.

 

Mike Bullock

North of England XC Championships

With a couple of thousand runners and as many supporters cheering on, this was a major XC event. It attracts all of the best runners from all the top Athletics Clubs over the whole of Northern England. So no pressure then!

At 12:15, Hannah Cusworth was lining up with 163 other entries in the u13Gs. A 3km course over two laps on soft ground but at least the weather was kind. Hannah had made sure she was near the front at the start and at the gun they sprinted off the start line. The pace soon settled down and it was down to hard work. Concentrating throughout, she held her ground finishing with a sprint to pass 5 runners at the end to secure in 92nd place. A great performance.

Next was James Grannan, u15B amongst 159 other athletes. A 4km course again over a small and then large lap with a couple of extra hills thrown in. James again ensured he was at the front of the pack and after 50m was winning! A more sensible pace was established and James was comfortably in the middle of the pack. At halfway he looked relaxed but now in the upper half of the race. He cleverly used the extra down hill to grab another place. His final position was 89th and I think it was his best performance this season. James looked pleased with it too!

Finally, at 1:50 it was Kevin Acton, u13B with 184 other athletes. The 3km course now thoroughly cut up by 2 ¹/₂ hours of racing was very soft and heavy. Kevin ran strongly but sensibly. He gained ground throughout the race and finished in a terrific 58th place.

It is a great experience to run in these large major XC events. Our 3 club runners worked hard and were rewarded with superb positions. They should be very proud of their achievements.

Results can be found here: Results and a few photographs here: Photos or on the Northern Athletics Web Site: NOEAA

Cheshire XC Championships - Winsford, 10th Jan 2009

It was bitterly cold and with a breeze, doubly so. But our runners lined up keen and ready to go. Now the County Championships is all the Cheshire Athletic Clubs best runners competing against each other. Every County in the country was holding an event that day, so it was a strong field.

The u13G & u13B were running in the same race, 2,900m over flat frozen fields. We had Joel to boost our regular 3 and he duly set off with Kevin and Hannah on a fast downhill start. With 1/2 a mile to go Kevin was vying with a Vale Royle runner for 4th or 5th place. With 20m to go it was still neck and neck but Kevin was pipped at the line. However with a 5th place Kevin has been picked to run for his County at the Inter-county Championships in Nottingham, a televised event! Kevin had worked really hard to secure that place, a fantastic effort. Next in was Hannah, with 1/2 a mile to go she was in 13th place but her strong finish gave her 12th and again selected as a reserve for her County. Another superb result. Joel, not having been able to race all season nevertheless showed his great ability coming in 21st, well up the field.

James was up against another strong field but over 4,800m. A third of the way round he was in 13th place just outside a reserve county position. But there were a lot of keen runners out there and with 1/2 mile to go he was in 19th place. James pulled back a place and was only beaten by 1 u17G so again demonstrated his improved performance this year. James needs some more training mileage so that he can maintain his undoubted speed in the second half of races.

So great results all round for our club runners. Official results can be found here: AWAITED, and a few photos here: Photos

Graham

MAXCL - Match 4, Woodbank Park, Stockport - 4th Jan 2009

Another disappointing turnout in terms of numbers but excellent runs by our three regulars this year. Again no u11s!!

This is a tough course for those who don't like hills, woods and twisting courses but superb for those who do! The ground was very hard after all the frost so the going was quick. Hannah was up first in the u13Gs. After a fast start she started feeling a pain in her knee so sensibly had a cautious run coming in, in 29th position. She is a much much better runner than this position, so will hopefully bounce back for next weeks County race.

Next was Kevin u13B. Kevin has been having a great season benefiting from his regular attendance at the 5K race in Bramhall. With top ten placements on his previous races he was down a bit on this race. With half a mile to go he was in 8th place with no threat from behind but a huge 50m gap to the next runner in front. I don't know if it was because I had told him he was in 8th but this clearly wasn't enough and by the finish Kevin had caught and comfortably passed the Sale Harries runner in front. This shows great belief, determination and starting to understand what he can achieve. With 3 non-counters (guest runners) from Bury AC his final position is actually 4th!

Finally it was James, u15B. James again has been benefiting from the Bramhall 5Ks and has been improving all season. Disappointed in his last race this is his "least favourite venue...I don't like hills" Well he didn't start off like he thought that, being in 6th place at the first bend! With two laps and therefore 2 hills to climb he was in 8th place about a third of the way through the race but with a bunch of runners on his tail. By the finish, the second hill had taken its toll and he was back in 14th place. This is an excellent result. As James missed Match 1, a good run at Wythenshaw will ensure a great final placement.

Full results can be found here: Results and photos here: Photos

Graham

Boxing Day Dash 2008

A big turnout for this years Boxing Day Dash. The 1.25mile run from Lindow Common proved to be a good run for most with 8 personnel bests and a new course record! I hasten to add I only have last years results to base the pb's on!

Thank you to Rosalie for her mince pies and drinks afterwards.

1	Liam Bartlett	6:16	CR	0:11
2	David Henshaw	6:26	PB	0:01
3	James Grannan	6:53	PB	0:32
4	Dominica McGuire	7:20		0:32
5	Patrick Grannan	7:46		1:42
6	Gabriel Kelly	7:52
7	Mark Norman	7:53	PB	3:05
8	Andy Acton	8:05
9	Thomas Acton	8:09
10	Joel Norman	8:16
11	Fergus Taylor	8:20	PB	0:29
12	Sophie Grannan	8:44	PB	0:44
13	Ross Waddel	8:52
14	Abigail Acton	9:44
15	Dave Cham	10:03
16	Alistair Fyfe	10:40	PB	2:28
17	Colin Fyfe	10:41	PB	2:29
18	Jami Champness	10:45	PB	1:05
19	Rob H	10:50
20	Rory Stobbard	11:12
21	Carys White	11:29
22	Joanne Taylor	12:22
23	Norma Waddel	12:23
24	Paula White	14:00
25	Leslie Fyfe	14:12
26	Marolyne	14:13
27	Louise Champness	14:33	EQ
28	Susan Champness	14:34	EQ
29	Andrew Fyfe	15:05
CR	Course Record
PB	Personnal Best
EQ	Equalled PB

If I have any names spelt wrong I do apologise. Please email me and I will correct: [email protected]

MAXCL - Match 3, Sherdley Park - 14th Dec 2008

Another disappointing turnout in terms of numbers but excellent runs by our three regulars this year. Again no u11s.

Hannah was first, u13Gs. Hannah looked tired from the start. Although she worked hard throughout "I just felt tired". She had done 2.5km on a tread mill the day before and knowing Hannah probably pushed herself very hard! So the run wasn't her best. With a final position of 27th it was a good training run and has demonstrated to her that rest is needed before a race!

Next was Kevin, u13B. Kevin was 'firing on all cylinders' and about a third of the way round was comfortably in 6th place. After some steep hills, drops and sharp bends he still was holding his position behind a couple of Bury AC athletes. About a mile to go having left all the hills behind he passed the two runners. By the time the finishing line was in sight he was well ahead of any rival. 4th a terrific position.

James, u15Bs was our final runner. James was running smoothly and looked relaxed. His position at halfway was however down on previous matches and he lost more places through the second half. He also finished in 27th and again the culprit was a bit of a cold and a school XC race earlier in the week!

The final league position is based upon the athletes best 4 results.

Full results can be found here: Results Photos can be found here: Photos

Graham 

Indoor Athletics - Round 3

  30th November 2008 - Hazel Grove

     Jim has just dropped an official copy of the results round and I am glad to say that they tally with the ones our athletes reported at the time. 

Considering that we only had 5 boys and 2 girls competing they all put in some very commendable performances particularly our U.11 Boys. First Harry Sumner equalled the club Chest Push record of 5.50m only to have Ewan McWalter smash it by a mile with a massive throw of 7.0m and just to prove it was not a fluke he did it again with his third throw, great throwing by both boys to take maximum points in the event being 1st A and 1st B competitors.

All in all a pleasing day, pity we did not have a full team.

 

Full results can be found here: Results

 

Mike Bullock

 

Young Athletes XC - 'Over the Bales' race report

Sale 23rd November 2008

The weather was truly awful, but 8 club athletes braved the cold and rain for the “Over the Bales” cross country event in Sale. A flat course but with numerous hay bales placed across the course to jump over!

Sadly we had no u9 girls for the first race but 2 u9 boys for the 2nd. Alistair (17th) and Rory (36th) both had great runs finishing in the middle of the field, a great debut run for the lads. Again no u11 girls but George and Luke stepped up to the start line and again ran really well in the u11 boys finishing 40th and 45th in the biggest race of the day. Next was Hannah in the u13g. Hannah as determined and competitive as ever was in 10th place half way round the course. Not satisfied with this she worked her way up to 8th place then with 200m to go sprinted past her next rival to open a gap and secure 7th place, a great run. Finally in the u13b we had a team! Kevin, Fergus & Ross lined up at the start. Kevin raced to the front holding first place as he exited the main field. A Warrington Harriers runner however pulled ahead of him in the middle part of the race. Kevin stayed in 2nd place well ahead of the next runner securing a trophy award for himself. Fergus and Ross came in, in 8th and 9th places with a blistering sprint finish. Their collective performance earned the Boys and Handforth AC, 1st Team in the u13b, well done to them all. Full results can be found here: Results in and photos here: Photos

MAXCL - Match 2, Boggart Hole Clough - 16th Nov 2008

The sun was shinning at Boggart this year but there was still plenty of mud to play in! This is probably the hardest (but personally the best) course of the series. Ewan was first up making his XC debut, u11B. Unfortunately the keen runners raced off at the 5 minute warning and ended up doing half the race before they could be stopped and re-started!! Ewan ran well but learn't legging collect water, mud and slow you down!

Next up was Hannah, u13G. With a stealy determination fought her way round the course with a terrific sprint to the finish line. 14th place a terrific placement in the largest junior race.

Calum and Kevin were next. Kevin dropped in to the conversation that he'd knocked 40 seconds off his 5K pb the day before so, although very pleased for him, I didn't hold out a repeat of the previous 6th place. How wrong was I, a very strong second half to the race saw him burst out of the woods to finish in 3rd place!! Calum found the course tough but it was good to see him out representing the club and trying hard.

Finally it was James, u15B. He set off at pace nearly being tumbled in to a tree at the frantic start. A third of the way round he was running smoothly and in control. His 5K racing at Bramhall park has made a big improvement to his running and there is still much more to come. The field is tougher higher up the age groups so a 13th position is a great result.

Overall great performances by Handforth all round. Official results can be found here: Results and a few photos of our runners can be found here: Pictures

MAXCL - Match 1, Heaton Park - 25th Oct 2008

The Heaton Park race is usually pleasant weather but with a few of our regulars missing this year we had only 2 runners to enjoy the pouring rain and wind sweeping across the Park!

First up was Hannah Cusworth U13G. In probably the largest race she came over the final hill with a large pack of girls in her wake. With 200m to go and a hard pull up to the finish there was no way she was going to let anyone past. With great determination she drove to the finish in 9th place!

Next was Kevin Acton U13B. Kevin came over the hill in 6th place behind a Manchester Harriers runner. Soaked through, he attacked the steep hill just past the gate and left the other runner beaten. With only a 100m to go he pulled away to secure 6th place!

Both of these results are superb. If they continue with this performance throughout the series they could both hold club records for their age catagory. Great runs. Pictures

Cheshire T&F League Results Round 4

Below are the results from Connah's Quay on the 7th September. A good turnout allowing us to run 2 relay teams and some excellent individual results:

U13 Girls	200m	33.9		sec	Hannah Cusworth
U13 Girls	800m	2:44.60		min:sec	Hannah Cusworth	G3
U15 Girls	200m	31.8		sec	Abigail Acton
U15 Girls	200m	34.2		sec	Emily Taylor
U15 Girls	200m	33.5		sec	April Gardner
U15 Girls	200m	36.5		sec	Imogen Taylor
U15 Girls	4 x 100m	1:03.00		min:sec	Imogen Taylor
U15 Girls	4 x 100m	1:03.00		min:sec	Emily Taylor
U15 Girls	4 x 100m	1:03.00		min:sec	April Gardner
U15 Girls	4 x 100m	1:03.00		min:sec	Abigail Acton
U15 Girls	800m	3:18.70		min:sec	Emily Taylor
U15 Girls	800m	3:00.80		min:sec	April Gardner
U15 Girls	Discus	17.58		m	Imogen Taylor
U15 Girls	Discus	11.68		m	Abigail Acton
U15 Girls	Long Jump	3.74		m	Abigail Acton
U15 Girls	Long Jump	2.28		m	Emily Taylor
U13 Boys	100m	16.7		sec	Joel Norman
U13 Boys	100m	15.3		sec	James Scobie
U13 Boys	100m	15.1		sec	Fergus Taylor
U13 Boys	100m	16.9		sec	Ben Wright
U13 Boys	1500m	6:14.10		sec	Joel Norman
U13 Boys	1500m	6:45.00		sec	Ben Wright
U13 Boys	4 x 100m	01:04.0		min:sec	Joel Norman
U13 Boys	4 x 100m	01:04.0		min:sec	Jamie Scobbie
U13 Boys	4 x 100m	01:04.0		min:sec	Fergus Taylor
U13 Boys	4 x 100m	01:04.0		min:sec	Ben Wright
U13 Boys	Javelin	11.45		sec	Jamie Scobbie
U13 Boys	Javelin	11.37		sec	Fergus Taylor
U13 Boys	Long Jump	3.75		sec	Joel Norman	G4
U13 Boys	Long Jump	3.08		sec	Ben Wright
U15 Boys	100m	13.2		sec	James Grannan
U15 Boys	800m	2:28.90		sec	James Grannan
U15 Boys	Shot	6.51		sec	James Grannan

Cheshire Multievent Championships

A good turn out from Handforth at this years multi event championships with 11 athletes competing:

U11s Triathlon: George Sumner, Ewan McWaler u11 results

U13s Triathlon: Joel Norman, Harry Stobbart, Kevin Acton, Fergus Taylor, Robbie Mecro u13B results u13G results

U15s Pentathlon: James Grannan, Abigail Acton, Imogen Taylor u15B results u15G results

U17s Pentathlon: Ian Hare u17B results u17G results

All Results of events can be found here in excel format: Results

Club Triathlon Results

Here are the triathlon results in a more user friendy form

Download club_triathlon11.htm

Club Triathlon results

We had the club triathlon on Thursday 3rd July where club members competed in 4 events. Results for each competitors best 3 events were then taken to get a final triathlon result.

U11 Boys and Girls Results  Download triathlon_u11bg.xls

U13 Boys results Download triathlon_u13_boys.xls

U13 Girls results Download triathlon_u13_girls.xls

Cheshire T&F Round 1 - Results

20th April 2008, Stockport

A great turnout at Stockport, one of the highest the club has seen in recent years. Both U13 boys and U15 girls put a team out to enter in the 4 x 100m relays. This is ones of the hardest of the 4 Rounds with: Stockport, West Cheshire, Deeside & Trafford competing.There were some great individual performances, full results can be found here: CT&FLR1 - Results . Most notable however was Matthew Penny 1st in the Soft Javelin & 600m! The following athletes competed, great to see so many U13 & U15's, but where were all the U11's?

U11 Boys - George Sumner
U11 Boys - Matthew Penny
U13 Girls - Hannah Cusworth
U13 Boys - Fergus Taylor
U13 Boys - Jamie Scobbie
U13 Boys - Harry Stobart
U13 Boys - Kevin Acton
U15 Girls - Imogen Taylor
U15 Girls - Abigail Acton
U15 Girls - Katie Wharton
U15 Girls - Ellie Mecro
U15 Boys - James Grannan
Senior Men - Andy Acton
Senior Men - Graham Taylor

There are a lot of photos for this event, sorry if anyone has been missed: Cheshire T&F Round 1 Photos

Graham Taylor

Wilf Richards - Cross Country Race

Heaton Park - Saturday 16th February

Only one club member ran this event and an excellent result:

8th - Kevin Acton  14:13

Full results can be found here: Wilf Richards 2008 XC Results

Graham Taylor