THREE Royton Road Runners have reached significant running milestones, writes Gary Smith.
Janet Jobey and Bernadette Ball have completed 50 competitive club runs and at the Cheshire half marathon on September 2, Dave Peart celebrated his 100th club run.
To join the roll of honour the trio have ran distances from 5km to 13 miles on weekday evenings, Saturday and Sunday morning and afternoons, running in all weathers round Cowm and Brownlow reservoirs, Hollingworth Lake, and out to the Saddleworth villages and back to Oldham town centre – on more than a few occasions.
They were also in a contingent of club runners that entered the annual North West Counties Road Relays at Edge Hill University campus, Ormskirk on Sunday, September 8.
Runners of similar ability compete as a team of four men or three women, each completing 5km on a pathway around the campus to achieve a cumulative time for the club.
The weather stayed dry and the event gave an opportunity to run against the fastest athletes from clubs feeding into the national squads.
Even their swifest men’s team could not match the fastest teams at this event.
Salford Harriers’ A team averaged under 16 minutes for the distance in winning the men’s event in one hour, two minutes, two seconds while women’s winners, Wirral AC, achieved a cumulative time of 54 minutes 44 seconds.
RRR’s men’s A team were 41st in 1:15:40 through: Dave Peart (19:26), George Booth (18:41), Martin Thompson (18:50), Shane Reading (18:43).
RRR’s women’s A team clocked 1:15:09 to finish 39th overall through Jillian Heywood (25:52), Karen Jones (27:45) and Janet Jobey (21:32).
The event was an opportunity, however, to watch and encourage fellow club runners from trackside rather than have them running in front of or behind when you are running in the same race together.