The competition, having started in Caernarfon on the Saturday morning makes its way through Wales in a series of 20 legs eventually finishing at Cardiff Castle on Sunday afternoon.
First off for Lytham was Sue Samme who ran the 9.1 miles to Penygroes in fine fashion finishing 1st lady (13th overall) in a time of 1:02:06 and in doing so she picked up a much sought after yellow sweatshirt for finishing 1st lady. The 2nd leg to Criccieth was run by Richard Storey in 1:23:23(46th) and he was followed by Terry Hellings running the first of the six mountain stages so named because of severity of the terrain they cross. Terry had a fantastic run finishing in 1:24:35(34th) which was 4.5minutes faster than he ran the leg last year. The fourth leg to Harlech was run by an in-form Rob Davies who completed the 9.4 miles in a creditable 1:10:25(27th) and he was followed by Chris Holland who ran the 9.6miles along the coastal road to Barmouth in 1:29:32(50th).
Mountain
The Barmouth to Dolgellau leg was undertaken by Rae Willoughby in 1:29:32(50th) and it was Bryan Heap who took on the challenge of the second mountain stage of the day – the 9.75miles to Dinas Mawddy which he completed in 1:24:23(47th). The 11.2 miles to Foel was run by Ian Squire in 1:24:43(47th) and club chairman Nigel Simpkins was next off completing the 8.6miles to Caereinion in 58:58(22nd). Steve Hargreaves completed the final stage of day one – the third mountain stage of the day and the longest stage of the weekend – a gruelling 13.3-mile run to Newtown. The logistics of competing in an event such as this relies on the whole team working all the time – driving runners to the start of their leg; picking them up when they finish; supporting them whilst they are running and marshalling a leg. The overnight stay at Newtown, therefore, provided a welcome rest for the whole team.
Mel Koth was up early on Sunday Morning for the start of the 11th leg – 12.3 miles to Llanbadarn Fynydd which she finished in 1:50:01(58th) and Sarah Tatton ran the next leg – 11.2miles to Crossgates in a time of 1:31:05(54th) which was almost 4 minutes faster than last year. Emily Hargreaves lined up against international runner Sonia O'Sullivan in leg 13 which was 10.6miles to the picturesque town of Buith Wells. Emily ran well to finish in 1:11:48(24th). Stage 14 encompasses the highest climb of the weekend to the Drovers Arms and it fell to club champion Nigel Thompson to undertake the greatest challenge of the weekend which he did in fine form finishing in 1:07:28 (8th) which was the team's highest position of the weekend. Leg 15 to Brecon was undertaken by Graham Webster who had a good run to finish 22nd in 1:21:34 and Trevor Willoughby was next off to run the 8.8miles to Beacons Reservoirs which is the last of the mountain stages. Trevor ran well to finish in 1:23:30 (56th). Team Captain Dave Dunn ran leg 17 – 9.2miles to Cyfartha Castle in good form to finish 10th in 56:41 and Janet O'Doherty also ran well in the next leg which was 9.1 miles to Navigation Park which she completed in 1:14:54(46th). Tony Croft ran the penultimate leg of the weekend – 10.4miles to Caerphilly Castle which he completed in 1:20:40(31st) and it then fell to last minute stand in Roy Upton to complete the final 10.4 miles to Cardiff Castle. Unfortunately though, due to a marshalling error, Roy along with another runner ended up running 12.4 miles and he therefore did extremely well to cross the line in 1:25:31(54th). The team overall finished the competition in 41st and in a cumulative time of 26:15:02 which is a club best for the four years in which they have competed.
l Six Lytham runners turned to the fells last Thursday when they competed in the popular Two Lads Fell Race which is a 4.25 mile race from Horwich up on to Winter Hill. The first 1.5miles is an arduous 900ft accent on to the fell tops which is followed by an undulating mile along the tops before runners begin the fast and furious decent back to Horwich. Tony Croft was first back for Lytham in 43:03(81st) followed by Emily Hargreaves in 44:28(96th).Other Lytham runners: Paul McAllister 52:26(187th), Phil Martin 54:47(187th), Mel Koth 56:23(194th), Dawn Lock 76:04(207th).

l The Freckleton Half Marathon was a blustery affair this year with winds reaching almost gale force strength during parts of the race. Lytham St Annes Road Runners were represented by 12 of its members in the race which started on the Freckleton Gala field before following a 13.1 mile rural course which took runners through Wrea Green and Moss-Side. With the wind on their backs for the final four miles, runners were able to claw back some of time lost fighting against the headwinds although times were generally slower than in previous years. Nigel Thompson moved into third place soon after the start and that was the position he maintained throughout the race - he finished 1st vet 40 and also awarded the first local trophy. Dave Rigby who has been sidelined for many months with a knee injury, ran well as too did Mel Koth who improved her time from last year's race by more than seven minutes.
Full results for Lytham: Nigel Thompson 1:16:51 (3rd), Graham Webster 1:29:06 (34th 2nd V50), Colin Laidlaw 1:29:55 (40th), Roy Upton 1:31:33 (51st), Neil Roberts 1:34:02 (72nd ), Ian Squire 1:41:34 (137th), Simon Cole 1:46:31(192nd), Chris Holland 1:49:54(237th), Dave Rigby 1:51:44 (259th), Mel Koth 1:54:10 (288th), Janet O'Doherty 1:57:41(334th), Ed Bowes 2:14:54 (442nd).
Considering the conditions described by the organiser as the worst ever, there was a surprisingly good turn-out for the 16th running of the aptly named "Keep on Ticking". Two hundred and fifty-three runners, the majority of them children with a high proportion of under 10s, competed in this race in aid of a heart charity and supported by the North Lancashire Primary Care Trust to promote exercise and health. The out and back course headed straight into the teeth of a gale and blew everyone back to the finish with zest. Bill Lock finished well up in the field in 65th place and 29:43 and Dawn Lock, taking advantage of the conditions to do an unusually strong negative split, finished 124th in 37:00.