Liverpool Rock ‘n’ Roll Weekend 2018

Race Date: 19th & 20th May 2018

Race Report by Loz Harvey

Liverpool. Home to The Beatles, Superlambananas (no, I’m not talking about Andrew Woffindin), Margi Clarke, Red Rum and, for one weekend only, more than 40 Striders who took part in various 5Ks, half marathons and a full-blown 26-mile bad boy set to test your resolve more than listening to the Beatles Revolution Number Nine on repeat. (Yes, this report will attempt to crowbar as many Beatles references as possible into it. I’m A Loser, I know.)

Something that really struck me this weekend was just how brilliant it was to see so many Striders young and old come together to celebrate, drink (in the Peaky Blinders bar of course) and help take part in the fifth edition of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series. It certainly didn’t Rain, and it was more a case of Here Comes The Sun as temperatures topped the 24 degree mark as Striders set off on a 26-mile long and winding road that took in an extended loop around Anfield and Goodison, or an abridged 13.1mile version that snaked around leafy Sefton Park.

Both versions featured Penny Lane, Princes Park and a long, long, long and terrible three-mile section along Liverpool’s famous river which had everyone begging for Mersey [that’s by Duffy – Accuracy Ed.] All along the route were bands playing rock n’ roll music of various descriptions (was that a death metal band at mile 11 or did I just feel like death?) and an amazing Samba band just past the halfway point. At one point I heckled a band that were playing famous Liverpool anthem Never Gonna Give You Up but I got No Reply. On a day where it was more a case of Here Comes The Sun Cream than Get Mac, getting an amazing time was always going to be an uphill struggle (although I was one of the lucky ones who did). However, it was an amazing time – a great turn-out of Striders who all had memorable races (for a whole host of reasons) in one of our best and most historic cities.

Please please me and organise another one.

The End.

5K, Saturday 19th May

3,772 runners completed the 5K, including 4 Striders.  Race winners were Jay Walker in 16:57 and Ania Gabb in 19:14. FIrst Strider was Kate Kelly in  25:53.

P Name Time
601 Kate Kelly 25:53
803 Sallyann Winslow 27:06
900 Matt Winslow 27:29
* David Adams 30:31

Half-Marathon, Sunday 20th May

8,957 runners completed the half-marathon, including 20 Striders. Race winners were Matt Rees in 1:12:43 and Rachel Doherty in 1:23:24.  First Strider was Martyn Goldsack in 1:42:13.

P Name Time
663 Martyn Goldsack 1:42:13
792 Letty Hancock 1:44:01
930 Nicola Ross 1:45:42
963 Loz Harvey 1:46:12
* Gillian Burgon 1:48:51
* Regan Hanson 1:50:22
1321 Laura Fletcher 1:50:37
1406 Matthew Burgon 1:51:27
1437 Andrew Woffindin 1:51:44
* Cara Morris 1:55:41
2003 Ben Nevill 1:56:50
2116 Lucy Woodward 1:57:42
3400 Nancy Stuart 2:07:40
3591 Kate Kelly 2:08:53
4271 Jemma Anderson 2:14:11
4425 Nicole Nield 2:15:19
5110 David Adams 2:20:23
5534 Michelle Vermeulen 2:23:38
5619 Helen Smith 2:24:12
8308 Graham Nield 2:59:49

Marathon, Sunday 20th May

3,234 runners completed the marathon, including 15 Striders.  Race winners were Terence Forrest in 2:35:55, and Hilary Honeyball in 3:13:48. First Strider was Ben Jones in 3:04:18, but 2nd Strider and 2nd place in the ladies’ race was Ashleigh Barron in an incredible 3:17:22 – a pair of phenomenal performances, all the more impressive given the punishing conditions on race day.

P Name Time
47 Benjamin Jones 3:04:18
107 Ashleigh Barron 3:17:22
409 James Garner 3:42:09
478 Stuart Jones 3:46:32
648 Richard Strafford 3:54:27
667 Paul Johnson 3:55:12
715 Matt Gibson 3:56:40
851 Rob Betts 4:01:28
1256 Liam Russell 4:17:52
1572 Matt Barton 4:28:30
1896 Sallyann Winslow 4:41:03
1979 Catherine McKeown 4:44:04
2398 Tony Lyell 5:02:21
2542 Luke Prest 5:10:03
2986 Matt Winslow 5:42:58

[Editor’s note: the published results from the Liverpool weekend are incomplete (marked with *, above) and do not include club affiliations. It’s possible that some Steel City Striders runners have been missed from this report. If you know of any omissions please let us know on our Facebook group.]

 

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