The club’s most southerly race walking venue brought with it the best weather of the year but being nearer the equator it’s hardly surprising. Quite a number of our usual heel toers were unavailable with health issues, holidays and a clash of events. While the walkers always do their thing thanks must be given to Glyn Jones, Chris Bolton and Chris Harvey for marshalling, recording and photography.

Sean Goldsmith has recovered completely from his recent Manx End to End experience so much so that after trailing Tony Bell to the first leg turnaround point at roughly 1 mile he took off and retraced his steps having not previously seen the course. At a third distance he clocked a solid 20 mins 29 some 79 seconds ahead of initial race leader Tony Bell. Adrian Edwards our most recent centurion arrived in third place at this point after “strolling” the first section with Sailash Shah on his tail.

At roughly 4 miles our newest club member was accelerating and clearly prepared to put more distance behind him and his pursuers. At this juncture Sean had a lead of 4 mins 32 secs. While we had 6 aspirants doing the full 10k two club members Pat Evans and Roy Gunnett were on the course to assess their current condition with a number of issues under enquiry. Both completed 2 of the 3 “laps”. With the sun still very much in evidence the field arrived at the finish with Sean racing into the finish in a fine 62 mins 28. Tony hung onto his second place with a decent 69 mins 28 and Adrian claimed third spot.

SCRATCH

1. Sean Goldsmith 62:28(20:29/41:28)
2. Tony Bell 69:28(21:48/46:00)
3. Adrian Edwards 71:27(23:55/47:50)
4. Sailash Shah 74:02(24:09/48:47)
5. Steven Wilde 78:44(25:34/5:54)
6. Joe Hardy 81:46(26:18/53:45)
7. Pat Evans 56:00(28:12)
8. Roy Gunnett 64:43(32:25)

HANDICAP

1. Sean Goldsmith 62:28
2. Sailash Shah 63:02
3. Tony Bell 66:58
4. Steven Wilde 68:44
5. Adrian Edwards 68:57
6. Joe Hardy 70:46
7. Pat Evans
8. Roy Gunnett

AGE-GRADED

1. Joe Hardy 75.07%
2. Tony Bell 68.35%
3. Adrian Edwards 67.18%
4. Steven Wilde 67.06%
5. Sailash Shah 62.85%
6. Sean Goldsmith 59.53%

---

TRAINING DAYS

Adrian Edwards will be organising the next Club Training Days on Sunday October 18th and November 15th, at the Stockport Woodbank Park track from 12 noon until 5pm. New faces very welcome.

ON THE WAY TO RECOVERY

Adrian informs us that one of our newer members, Nigel Shaw, had his triple bypass heart surgery last week. He’s back home, looking good, and doing plenty of walking to build his fitness back up again.

Best Wishes to Nigel from everyone at the club. We hope to see him on the road in the near future.

RACING ELSEWHERE

Greg Smith reports:

1. Sean Goldsmith finished 138th in the IoM End to End Walk. He got as far as Peel (22.16 miles) in 4:33:13, which puts him in the frame as one contender for the Cliff Royle award.
2. Andrea Lennon, listed as representing Lancashire Walking Club, finished the Bury 10k. She finished 1st in the F80+ group in 1:38:10. See page 55 of:
   https://chiptiming.co.uk/events/run-for-all-bury-10k-2026-2026/

---