On Saturday, June 12 the Wirral Festival of Sport '77 road relays organised by Wallasey Athletic Club were held on Egremont Promenade.
In ideal conditions, the youths' 4 x 2 mile road relay opened the meeting. Once again the Wallasey youths demonstrated their strength in depth by fielding two teams which finished first and second. The A team of Kevin McGee (10 min 53 sec.), Rick Hemmings (11 min. 7 sec.) Tommy Bond (11 min. 11 sec.) and Rob Heap (11 min. 10 sec.) won in a time of 44 min. 21 sec. The B team of Alan Smith (11 min. 29 sec.) Dave Smith (11 min 47 sec.) Phil Ashley (11 min. 28 sec.) and Phil Jenkinson (11 min . 8 sec.) were second in a time of 45 min. 18 sec. Sefton Harriers, who were third, finished 4 min. 16 sec. later. Kevin's time of 10 min. 53 sec was the fastest recorded for the two mile lap.
In the girls' 1,500 metres road race, Alison McDonald, Wallasey's only competitor, finished 15th in 7 min 10 sec.
Lynn Jenkinson (4th in 6 min. 14 sec.), Oona Norris (7th in 6 min. 28 sec.), Joanne McDonald (8th in 6 min. 31 sec.), Carole Jenkinson (9th in 6 min. 36 sec.), Lol Harrison (10th in 7 min) and Pamela Hannah (11th in 7 min. 31 sec.) represented Wallasey in the junior ladies 1,500 metres road race,
In the seniors 4 x 3 mile road relay, the Wallasey team of Bob Brimage (15 min. 14 sec.), Pete Smith (15 min. 33 sec.), Pete Jones (16 min. 26 sec.) and Len Durkin (17 min. 31 sec.) finished 10th in a time of 64 min 44 sec. The race was won by Blackpool A.C. in a time of 55 min. 57 sec. Wirral A.C. A were second in a time of 56 min. 54 sec. and Liverpool Pembroke were third in 57 min. 18 sec. The fastest lap was recorded by F. McGuire with a time of 13 min. 44 sec.
On Thursday evening, June 16, a party of 37 travelled to Macclesfield for a Cheshire League meeting. A combination of bad organisation, the poor state of the track and a cold wind resulted in performances being below par. The journey, home was marred when the coach was involved in a collision with a double decker bus in Stockport. Four young members of the party needed hospital treatment but fortunately -no-one was detained overnight. Another coach was provided to transport the main party back to Wallasey but it was nearly 1 a.m. on Friday morning before they arrived home. Those who had been taken to hospital arrived home about 3 a.m. having been collected by members of the club returning to Stockport in their own vehicles.
On Friday evening a number of athletes who had been on the trip to Macclesfield competed at Kirkby in the Merseyside Schools Championships, thus showing their dedication and enthusiasm. The club Is delighted that Kevin McGee qualified for the English Schools 1,500 metres with a time of 4 min. 12 sec. Kevin is the first track athlete from the club to achieve this for several years. Lynn Jenkinson recor-ded a personal best of 2 min. 27 sec. in the 800 metres.
At the Northern Championships on Saturday, Pete Jones achieved a personal best of 1 min. 58.6 secs. in the 800 metres and also recorded a time of 53.1 sec. in the 400 metres. Bob Brimage recorded his best time for two years in the 1,500 metres with a time, of 4 min. 10 sec.
Rob Heap, of Wallasey Athletic Club, comes in to finish for the club's A team, which won the four by two mile race during the Wirral Festival of Sport road relays.
Ends
Source - Wallasey News - Saturday, 25/06/1977
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