Moel Wnion | Jungfrau Marathon | Yorkshireman Marathon | Burnley parkrun



Photo by Jim Smith

 Lauren Jeska sealed her first British Fell Championship with a win at the final race in Wales. Lauren needed to overhaul Calder Valley’s Helen Fines in the standings, and quickly established a lead on the Moel Wnion race, and went on to win with a new ladies course record of 43:40.


In the men’s race, Dan Taylor finished in 55:43 for 76th place.

Photo by Bev Wright

A trio of Todmorden runners were in Switzerland for the Jungfrau Marathon, which follows a mainly uphill mountainous route in the shadow of the Eiger.

Jon Wright completed the course in 3:53:49, with Andrew Horsfall finishing in 4:55:38 and James Riley in 5:38:33.



Closer to home, at Haworth, Joe Daniels finished in 22nd place at the Yorkshireman Marathon in 4:28:57 and Elise Milnes was 104th with a time of 5:32:58.

In the 15 mile ‘half’ marathon Lucy Hobbs was 88th completed the course in 2:30:46 and Paul Cruthers crossed the line in 2:44:25 for 129th place.



Todmorden’s youngster’s were setting the pace for the club at Burnley parkrun, with Jackson Cowie finishing in 5th place, Jack Crummett in 15th, Henry Antemes in 24th and Alex Duffield in 79th place.

Alice's Run 10k | Ben Nevis Race | Blackshawhead Fell Race | Littleborough Lions 5k

Todmorden Harriers’ club Trail Championship concluded at the weekend with Alice’s Run in Mytholmroyd, a 10k multi terrain race that weaves up and down the Calder Valley.


Although not running on the day, Paul Hobbs was crowned Trail Champion having already built up a sufficient lead in the earlier rounds.

On Sunday, 21 Harriers joined the 200 entrants in the Epilepsy Action race, with Paul Brannigan leading the way for the club in 3rd place, pursued by Darren Tweed in 5th place.

Dave Collins was first v50 and 11th overall, followed by Richard Butterwick in 16th and Guy Whitmore in 22nd position.

Kath Brierley finished 3rd lady, with Mel Blackhurst finishing 5th lady and Karen Gray 11th lady.

Elise Milnes and Moyra Parfitt picked up prizes for first v50 and first v60 ladies respectively.

Todmorden results: 3 Paul Brannigan 38:43; 5 Darren Tweed 41:22; 11 Dave Collins 42:55; 16 Richard Butterwick 45:02; 22 Guy Whitmore 45:30; 33 Kathleen Brierley 47:24; 35 Andy Glyde 47:45; 37 Phil Cook 47:49; 39 Melanie Blackhurst 48:14; 50 Chris Drinkwater 49:48; 52 Richard Blakeley 50:00; 65 Karen Gray 52:11; 67 David Leslie 52:33; 70 Fiona Armer 52:53; 73 Elise Milnes 53:28; 76 Ray Poulter 53:35; 79 Peter Ehrhardt 54:08; 83 Mel Whitmore 55:03; 85 Moyra Parfitt 55:14; 94 Graham Milnes 57:47; 125 Myra Wells 1:05:16.

Epilepsy Action photographs from Alice's Run...

Farmer Gizmo's Alices Run photos... & Tod Harriers...


At the Ben Nevis Mountain Race, Jon Wright once again claimed the Wallace Plaque for the highest placed police runner, finishing the 10 mile up and down route in 1:45:17 for 9th place overall out of over 450 finishers.

Marcel Ellison was the next Todmorden runner to finish in 69th position, improving on his previous best time by some margin to finish in 1:59:42.

Todmorden’s other finishers: 108 Andrew Horsfall 2:06:26; 142 Dan Taylor 2:11:56; 222 Phil Hodgson 2:22:14; 437 Mandy Goth 3:07:44; 438 Mick Howard 3:07:44.

On Saturday, the Blackshaw Head Fell Race attracted 66 runners to its 5.5 mile course.

First Harrier was Dwane Dixon in 4th place, followed by Andy McFie in 11th position. Hatty Nylan finished 5th lady.

Todmorden Results: 4 Dwane Dixon 39.04; 11 Andy McFie 43.29; 26 Simon Anderton 49.31; 27 Roger Haworth 49.32; 40 Hattie Nylan 52.57; 43 Mark Whittaker 53.50; 61 Reg Czudek 70.22; 62 Jo Rutter 72.24.

Farmer Gizmo's Blackshawhead Fell Race photos...



Bev Wright finished 3rd lady at the Littleborough Lions 5k, recording a time of 23:54 for 22nd place overall.

Richard Butterwick crossed the line in 20:08 for 7th, with Chris Drinkwater stopping the clock at 22:16 for 17th place.

Myra Wells finished in 39th position in a time of 28:52.

Fleetwood Half Marathon | Stan Curran 5k | Padiham 5 | Burnsall | Norland Moor

Todmorden Harriers Road Championship was back on the agenda with a trip to the seaside for the Fleetwood Half Marathon.

John Lloyd and Sarah Glyde both consolidated their respective leads in the men’s and ladies standings, and with three races to go are looking strong favourites for this year’s titles.

John was the first Harrier to finish the 13.1 miles in sixth position, with nearest rival Robin Tuddenham finishing in 13th place.

Paul Alexander set a new personal best time for the distance as he crossed the line in 46th, whilst Andrew Bibby finished in 60th and Michael Harper in 73rd position.

Sarah Glyde won the ladies v35 prize and was 10th lady overall as she also improved on her best time, and Mel Robertson just beat her time from a year earlier to finish 33rd lady.

Peter Ehrhardt completed the Todmorden entry with 231st position.
Todmorden Results: 6 John Lloyd 1:17:56; 13 Robin Tuddenham 1:22:33; 46 Paul Alexander 1:31:20; 60 Andrew Bibby 1:34:33; 73 Michael Harper 1:35:30; 80 Sarah Glyde 1:36:10; 189 Melanie Robertson 1:48:49; 231 Peter Ehrhardt 1:52:13.



Other Todmorden Harriers in action included Myra Wells who was first v55 lady at the Stan Curran 5k at Whitworth on Thursday, and then repeated her prize winning form the following evening at the Padiham 5 mile Diamond Jubilee Race.

Also running at Whitworth were Richard Butterwick who finished 24th and Ray Poulter in 55th place, with Richard also going on the following night to finish 15th at the Padiham 5.

Dave Collins finished first v55 at the Burnsall Classic Fell Race, whilst Chris Preston was sixth lady over the 10 mile Burnsall road race course.

David Leslie and Julie Wyant took on the Tour of Norland Moor Fell Race on Sunday, finishing the 10.1km route in 57th and 80th places.



Many Todmorden Harriers will be looking forward to the Blackshaw Head Fell Race that takes place on Saturday 1st September at 2:00pm from the fete field, with entries taken on the day from 12:30pm.

Weasdale Horseshoe | Pikes Peak Marathon | Crow Hill Reverse Fell Race

Dwane Dixon was once again in the points for Todmorden Harriers as the English Fell Championship reached the penultimate round with the Weasdale Horseshoe Fell Race on Saturday.


Dwane completed the 8 mile route in the Howgill Hills in 1:04:34 for 49th place, with John Lloyd in 60th position less than two minute behind and Paul Brannigan also squeezing into the top 100.

Todmorden men’s results: 49 Dwayne Dixon 1:04:34; 60 John Lloyd 1:06:25; 99 Paul Brannigan 1:11:46; 115 Dave Collins 1:14:10; 130 Dan Taylor 1:16:54; 139 Simon Anderton 1:19:54; 168 Mark Whittaker 1:27:03; 177 Chris Drinkwater 1:32:11; 189 Peter Ehrhardt 1:38:41; 192 Peter Marshal 1:43:13.

Kath Brierley finished in 37th place in the ladies race, with Fiona Armer in 56th, as the ladies team suffered from holiday and injury absences.



Lauren Jeska, having already secured the ladies championship, opted for a trip to America for the high altitude Pikes Peak Marathon where she finished in 5th place.



The previous week had seen a good turnout of over 100 for the Crow Hill Reverse Fell Race at Mytholmroyd on a fine sunny evening.

The race is organised, and sponsored, by local physiotherapist and Todmorden Harrier Ali Mills and in addition to raising over £450 for Ovarian Cancer, the runners also raised £150 towards the flood relief fund.

Halifax’s Ben Crowther narrowly edged out Calder Valley’s Tim Black to win in a time of 31:29.

The first Todmorden Harrier to finish was Sarah May who was also first lady overall.

Dave Collins crossed the line in 20th, with Phil Hodgson in 31st position, as they finished second and third v50’s respectively.

Gemma Kendall was third lady and 34th followed by 7th lady Sarah Warburton to help the ladies to the team prize.

Todmorden results: 17 Sarah May 37.08; 20 Dave Collins 37.40; 31 Phil Hodgson 39.35; 34 Gemma Kendall 39.55; 56 Sarah Warburton 44.11; 62 Richard Leonard 44.58; 65 Jane Leonard 45.10; 67 Paul Cruthers 45.33; 72 Chris Drinkwater 45.59; 74 Maria Prescott 46.12; 78 Ray Poulter 48.23; 86 Mick Howard 50.27; 96 Laura Sutcliffe 53.25; 104 Reg Czudek 56.44; 106 David O'Neill 59.30.

Borrowdale Fell Race | Cuerden Valley Badger 10k

Lauren Jeska retained the ladies title in the English Fell Running Championships at the Borrowdale Fell Race on Saturday, whilst Dwane Dixon scored his first championship points in the men’s competition.


Dwane finished in 46th place, covering the extremely tough 17 mile course, which features over 6000 feet of ascent and descent over several Lake District peaks, in 3:37:02.

Lauren finished third lady on the day in 3:41:02 for 57th overall, and with just two races to go in the six race series cannot be caught for the gold medal.

Dave Collins finished in 4:18:38, with Joe Daniels in 200th in a time of 4:38:25 and Mark Whitaker coming home just past the 5hr mark, in 5:07:35.

Jane Leonard crossed the line in 5:22:56 for 330th place, with Chris Drinkwater finishing in 5:57:54 for 366th place.



On Thursday evening 17 Harriers travelled to Cuerden Valley Park near Preston for the Badger 10k trail race, which was the penultimate round of the club’s Trail Championship.

John Lloyd was the first Harrier to complete the multi terrain course, in fifth place, followed by Paul Brannigan in ninth place overall and first v45.

Paul Hobbs finished in 13th place, a result which means he has clinched the Trail Championship ahead of the final race, Alice’s Run which takes place in Mytholmroyd in September.

Maria Prescott was the first Todmorden lady to finish, followed by Elise Milnes as they won the v45 and v50 prizes respectively.

Ray Poulter and Peter Ehrhardt battled their way to finish first and second v65 in the race.

Todmorden results: 5 John Lloyd 37:51; 9 Paul Brannigan 39:51; 13 Paul Hobbs 40:36; 14 Trevor Davis 40:38; 23 Darren Tweed 42:06; 42 Dan Taylor 44:05; 45 Michael Harper 44:22; 69 Andy Glyde 47:36; 71 Phil Hodgson 47:46; 75 Maria Prescott 48:14; 107 Elise Milnes 52:40; 119 Julie Wyant 54:13; 124 Ray Poulter 54:53; 132 Peter Ehrhardt 55:38; 159 Graham Milnes 58:57; 169 Andrea Marshall 1:01:03; 173 David O'Neill 1:03:17;