Fantastic 10 save Port position at Borders League. Mike Burns closely pursued by Gary Richards at Llandudno 10

Last Sunday saw round three of the Borders League held by Eryri Harriers in Caernarfon. With family commitments and injuries over the weekend Ellesmere Port RC found themselves scraping the barrel to produce the 10 runners required to score points. Thankfully EPRC managed to just make a full team with a few injured and hung over runners making the 150 mile round trip to tackle the measured 10K undulating course.

First runner home for Ellesmere Port was Ian Copper who fought off a cold to finish in 11th position in a time of 35.30. Closely on the heels of Ian for the 3rd round in a row was Steve Crowe who tackled the course in 35.34 to secure 13th position.

Next runner home for Ellesmere Port was Tony Hyland who finished in a gutsy 30th position (37.09) despite struggling with a groin strain. Paul Robertson came home as counter number 4 finishing in 34th position in 37.34. Danny Legg produced a fine run to finish 6th counter in 60th position (39.10).

Chris Marshall was next runner home for the club finishing in a quick 39.15 for 62nd position. Men’s captain Matt Whitfield suffering with a tight calf managed to get round in 41.42 to claim 105th position.

Les Fleetwood produced his quickest 10K time for a while when he crossed the line in 41.49 taking 107th position. Les was followed by Ian Robinson who finished in a good 42.30 for 113th position and 9th counter for the team.

Gary Richards was the all important 10th counter for the club and completed the scoring for the men’s team by finishing in 43.00 for 117th position.

The scoring meant that Ellesmere Port totalled 652 points and finished 4th in Division 1 on the day and dropping a place to 4th overall in the league standings but still have a good chance of moving up the league.

On Sunday 21st November a total of 21 Ellesmere Port RC runners headed to Llandudno for the hugely popular 10 mile race.

The race was run in poor weather conditions but that didn’t stop a record turn out of 1179 enthusiastic runners. The eventual winner was Ray Plant of City of Stoke AC in a time of 51.11 followed by Steven Henshaw of Deeside AAC in 51.15 and Gerry O’Neill of Menai Track & Field 52.22.

First runner home for EPRC was Ian Cooper who finished 41st in a time of 58.50, Ian was followed by Steve Crowe who was running his first 10 mile race and finished in a respectable 59.20 for 47th position. Breaking the hour mark for the first time was Tony Hyland who was the Port’s next runner home finishing in 59.44 for 52nd position.

Paul Robertson agonisingly watched the clock tick away as he approached the finish line and couldn’t quite go Sub-60 finishing in 60.07 (58th). Paul was followed by Danny Legg who tackled the course in a satisfactory 63.17 (97th). Dave Nalder who is in great form at the moment was the next runner home for the club finishing in 66.46 (187th).

Steve Blaylock produced a good run to finish in 67.10 and claim 202nd position. Mike Burns who has had a lengthy lay off through injury got back into the swing of it with an excellent 68.37 (246th) and was immediately followed by Gary Richards who finished in 68.44 (251st).

Les Fleetwood was the next runner home for the club finishing in 69.21 (279th) then came Ian Robinson 69.48 (291st), Alan Durston 71.14 (348th), Michael Mcshane 74.21 (448th), Kevin Curtis 74.48 (463rd), Chris Bennion 75.45 (498th), Brian Treadwell 84.19 (781st) and finally Eric Corker 1.24.36 to claim 787th position.

In the team event that is based on the first 3 runners to finish from each club Ellesmere Port finished a very respectable 7th.

On the ladies race Alison Macdonald produced a good run to tackle the course in 72.21 for 391st position and an impressive 7th in the Lady Vets 35 category. Finally Karen Erlandson running only her second race for the club produced another excellent time finishing in 78.03 for 580th overall and 82nd in the senior ladies category.