A wind of change blew Todmorden’s ladies road championship wide open at the weekend with a 40 second advantage at the finish of the Accrington 10k allowing Sarah Glyde to edge past closest rival Mel Blackhurst in the overall standings.
Over 300 runners took to the hilly course fighting their way through windy conditions, with Wesham’s Steve Littler taking the win in 33:53. First Harrier to finish was a resurgent Paul Brannigan in 20th strengthening his claim for 2nd place in the men’s championship, followed by Richard Butterwick in 43rd and Andrew Bibby in 85th.
Sarah led in the ladies ahead of Mel. Elise Milnes was next to finish, taking the prize for 1st vet45, and Moyra Parfitt had a strong run to win the vet60 prize.
Rachel Henthorne held off a late challenge from husband David, as he overtook Helen Hodgkinson in the run in to the line, with Graham Milnes rounding off the Todmorden entry.
Todmorden results: 20 Paul Brannigan 39:22; 43 Richard Butterwick 41:51; 85 Andrew Bibby 45:11; 105 Sarah Glyde 46:15; 115 Mel Blackhurst 46:55; 165 Elise Milnes 50:19 (1st v45); 199 Moyra Parfitt 52:29; 223 Rachel Henthorne 54:53; 224 David Henthorne 54:55; 225 Helen Hodgkinson 55:12; 247 Graham Milnes 57:14.
At the OMM two day event in mid-Wales, Harriers achieved considerable success with Mandy Goth and Sue Roberts winning the ladies pairs in the long score event. Helen and David Wilson finished 2nd in the veteran mixed pairs and Jon Wright and Andrew Horsfall were 13th in the men’s pairs, also in the long score which attracted nearly 200 entries.
Ben Crowther and Nick Barber finished 2nd in the medium score event, after a sensational 2nd day performance that saw them move up from 25th place.
A little further north, two Harriers took on the Snowdonia Marathon. The 26 mile course is reputed to be the most scenic marathon course in the UK. However, the wild windy wet weather meant there was little chance of sight-seeing for the 1800 runners as the route circumnavigated the Snowdon peak. Emma Osenton finished in a time of 4:24 and Julie Wyant in 4:38.
Closer to home on Saturday, a quartet of Harriers braved the stormy conditions for the Race to the Summit Fell Race. The short 4 mile course is a steep dash up from the Summit pub to the Whitehouse pub and back. Former Harriers Sean Willis led Chris Smale at the turnaround, with the positions reversed at the finish as Smale took the win by 4 seconds in a time of 29:14. Todmorden’s Sean Carey was in close attendance throughout and gained a place on the descent to finish 3rd only a few seconds behind. Lauren Jeska won the ladies race in 35:17 with Dan Taylor finishing 29th and Phil Cook 43rd.
On Sunday, several Harriers made their way to Haworth for the Withins Skyline Fell Race. The 7 mile route is a loop from Penistone Country Park out into the moors past Top Withins. Andrew Wrench was first Todmorden man to finish, just behind winner Tom Addison.
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