Todmorden Harriers had further success this week with Chris Smale 1st V45, Sean Carey 1st U18 and Sarah May 3rd lady as 27 Harriers joined a record 400 strong field for the Ilkley Moor Fell Race on Sunday. The 5 mile race with 1300 feet of ascent and descent, which has a reputation for being demanding and not for beginners, took place in mild and breezy conditions.
The route started from Wells Road on the outskirts of the town and after a bottle neck past The Tarn, the runners soon spread out on the climb past the Cow and Calf Rocks. A further climb to the Pancake Stone was followed by a fast and tricky descent down Backstone Beck; before a bridge crossing and a long climb all the way back up the other side of the beck. After a level section interrupted with a short steep scramble, a further level section took the field to a longer steep ascent up to the Badger Stone at the highest point of the race. A fast descent followed before a sting in the tail final climb led onto a second fast plunge down the aptly named Weary Hill to the finish.
Ian Holmes of Bingley Harriers soon took up the lead and held it to take a comfortable win. Chris Smale was first Todmorden runner in 10th, closely followed by Andrew Wrench. Sean Carey finished in 16th winning the U18 prize, following on from his earlier win in the U16 junior races which themselves had attracted over 250 youngsters. Craig Stansfield made a promising debut for the Harriers with a solid run to finish 76th.
Sarah May was first Todmorden lady home, continuing her profitable start with the club. With Jo Waites of neighbouring club Calder Valley taking the ladies prize, Sarah had to settle for 3rd on this occasion. Lauren Jeska and Claire Duffield were the next Todmorden ladies as the team made a strong showing.
Todmorden results: 10 Chris Smale (40:37); 11 Andrew Wrench (41:00); 16 Sean Carey (42:29); 62 Dave Collins (46:37); 76 Craig Stansfield (47:52); 91 Martin Roberts (48:29); 95 Sarah May (48:58); 108 Simon Galloway (49:37); 114 Kevin Booth (50:02); 124 Nick Wigmore (50:52); 128 Lauren Jeska (51:11); 149 Claire Duffield (52:20); 156 Dan Taylor (52:47); 171 Andrew Bibby (53:46); 178 Jeremy Godden (54:07); 194 Peter Jackson (55:33); 202 Mick Craven (55:54); 211 Chris Preston (56:31); 262 Peter Marshall (59:20); 282 Kevin Coughlan (1:00:48); 297 Helen Hodgkinson (1:01:31); 306 Louise Abdy (1:01:57); 313 John Medcalf (1:02:32); 324 Sue Roberts (1:03:18); 333 Helen Wilson (1:04:54); 357 Barry Chapman (1:09:24); 387 Myra Wells (1:22:58).
Another race with a tough reputation for experienced fell runners only is the Harriers own Pennine classic, the Noon Stone Fell Race, which take place on Saturday 28th February. Details can be found on the club’s website www.todharriers.co.uk
Thursday, 26 February 2009
Thursday, 19 February 2009
19 feb 09
Todmorden Harriers continued their strong start to the year with two top ten placings and individual and ladies team winners at the weekend.
The opening race in the Harriers’ 2009 Road Championship was the Radcliffe Trail Race with barely a stretch of tarmac in sight. The race makes its way through an area of rejuvenated Lancastrian industrial heartland to the south of Bolton, following nature trails, former railway lines and canal paths.
As with previous occasions when the race has been included in the championship, it tempted some of the club’s runners who are more usually associated with success on the fells, as well as newer members making their debut in a championship race. With the recent thaw, conditions underfoot were very muddy and made for sapping progress around the 12 mile course for the 220 finishers.
Jon Wright was first Todmorden finisher in 4th place less than a minute behind the winner, Wilmslow’s Damien Nicholls. Andrew Wrench was 2nd Harrier across the line in 8th place followed by Sarah May who had a tremendous run to finish 27th overall, and first lady overall. Along with Lucy Hobbs and Bev Wright, this meant that the club comfortably took the honours for first ladies team.
Todmorden results: 4 Jonathan Wright 1:14:51; 9 Andrew Wrench 1:19:49; 27 Sarah May 1:26:49; 38 Duncan Ritchie 1:30:15; 46 Kevin Booth 1:31:43; 79 Mick Craven 1:36:57; 81 Lucy Hobbs 1:37:40; 84 Dave Collins 1:38:12; 86 Dan Taylor 1:38:37; 95 Richard O'Sullivan 1:41:03; 122 Gareth Vickers 1:45:24; 135 Beverley Wright 1:47:43; 142 Jeremy Godden 1:49:09; 144 Helen Wilson 1:49:52; 153 Elise Milnes 1:52:27; 163 Melanie Siddall 1:55:10; 171 Paula Haworth 1:56:59; 214 David Henthorne 2:13:15; 215 Rachel Henthorne 2:13:15; 217 Derek Clutterbuck 2:23:51.
The opening race in the Harriers’ 2009 Road Championship was the Radcliffe Trail Race with barely a stretch of tarmac in sight. The race makes its way through an area of rejuvenated Lancastrian industrial heartland to the south of Bolton, following nature trails, former railway lines and canal paths.
As with previous occasions when the race has been included in the championship, it tempted some of the club’s runners who are more usually associated with success on the fells, as well as newer members making their debut in a championship race. With the recent thaw, conditions underfoot were very muddy and made for sapping progress around the 12 mile course for the 220 finishers.
Jon Wright was first Todmorden finisher in 4th place less than a minute behind the winner, Wilmslow’s Damien Nicholls. Andrew Wrench was 2nd Harrier across the line in 8th place followed by Sarah May who had a tremendous run to finish 27th overall, and first lady overall. Along with Lucy Hobbs and Bev Wright, this meant that the club comfortably took the honours for first ladies team.
Todmorden results: 4 Jonathan Wright 1:14:51; 9 Andrew Wrench 1:19:49; 27 Sarah May 1:26:49; 38 Duncan Ritchie 1:30:15; 46 Kevin Booth 1:31:43; 79 Mick Craven 1:36:57; 81 Lucy Hobbs 1:37:40; 84 Dave Collins 1:38:12; 86 Dan Taylor 1:38:37; 95 Richard O'Sullivan 1:41:03; 122 Gareth Vickers 1:45:24; 135 Beverley Wright 1:47:43; 142 Jeremy Godden 1:49:09; 144 Helen Wilson 1:49:52; 153 Elise Milnes 1:52:27; 163 Melanie Siddall 1:55:10; 171 Paula Haworth 1:56:59; 214 David Henthorne 2:13:15; 215 Rachel Henthorne 2:13:15; 217 Derek Clutterbuck 2:23:51.
Thursday, 12 February 2009
12 feb 09
Whilst the wintery weather caused the postponement of Todmorden Harriers’ AGM last week, there was no interruption to the running, with the club revelling in alpine landscapes over the weekend.
Under normal conditions Calder Valley’s Wadsworth Trog and Half-Trog fell races, starting from Old Town Cricket Club, are both tough undertakings, but with deep drifts of snow over the moors they required considerable extra effort this year.
The Half Trog follows a figure of eight route through High Brown Knoll to Cock Hill and returns via Wadsworth Moor. Lee Athersmith of Bingley matched his result of the previous year, albeit 20 minutes slower due to the tough conditions, edging out Shaun Godsman of the host club. First Todmorden runner was Peter Bowles in 15th place, closely followed by Paul Cotton in 18th and Lee McCluskey in 25th.
Whilst the snow and sunshine made for picturesque views, it also increased the navigational difficulty and after last year’s ladies winner Lisa Lacon had gone astray on the return leg, Todmorden’s Lucy Hobbs headed the ladies field in her first attempt at the race from Holmfirth’s Jacqui Dews, before she suffered her own route difficulties that put her out of contention, allowing a Holmfirth one-two as Lisa Lacon recovered to 2nd place. With Todmorden taking 3rd place with Chris Preston, 4th Helen Hodgkinson and Elise Milnes in 7th they narrowly lost out on the ladies team prize.
The 20 mile full Trog with a total of 4000ft of ascent, equivalent to climbing Ben Nevis, follows a similar course at the start and finish but with an additional middle section of 11 miles taking in Top Withens. Bingley’s Rob Jebb blazed a trail from start and held a comfortable 8 minute advantage over Calder Valley’s Adam Breaks at the finish.
First Todmorden finisher in 59th was Kath Brierley who had made steady progress through the field to cross the line as 6th lady. Jeff Walker and Rhys Watkins were the Harriers’ other finishers.
Jon Wright continued his bright start to the year finishing joint first in the 25 mile Rombald’s Stride on Sunday. The challenge walk over Baildon & Ilkley Moors and Otley Chevin, organised by Airedale scouts, is open to runners and walkers. This year’s inviting conditions attracted over 350 entrants, with Bev Wright and Colin Duffield also competing.
At the aptly named Winter Hill fell race also on Sunday, Todmorden’s Andy McFie and new club member Dan Taylor tackled the 11 mile looping course that climbs to the summit three times to total 2,700 feet of ascent. The icy conditions proved a blessing in some ways as the normally boggy route was firmer than usual allowing for fast progress to be made, with Simon Bailey of West Mercia taking a narrow win over Darren Kay of Horwich.
Under normal conditions Calder Valley’s Wadsworth Trog and Half-Trog fell races, starting from Old Town Cricket Club, are both tough undertakings, but with deep drifts of snow over the moors they required considerable extra effort this year.
The Half Trog follows a figure of eight route through High Brown Knoll to Cock Hill and returns via Wadsworth Moor. Lee Athersmith of Bingley matched his result of the previous year, albeit 20 minutes slower due to the tough conditions, edging out Shaun Godsman of the host club. First Todmorden runner was Peter Bowles in 15th place, closely followed by Paul Cotton in 18th and Lee McCluskey in 25th.
Whilst the snow and sunshine made for picturesque views, it also increased the navigational difficulty and after last year’s ladies winner Lisa Lacon had gone astray on the return leg, Todmorden’s Lucy Hobbs headed the ladies field in her first attempt at the race from Holmfirth’s Jacqui Dews, before she suffered her own route difficulties that put her out of contention, allowing a Holmfirth one-two as Lisa Lacon recovered to 2nd place. With Todmorden taking 3rd place with Chris Preston, 4th Helen Hodgkinson and Elise Milnes in 7th they narrowly lost out on the ladies team prize.
The 20 mile full Trog with a total of 4000ft of ascent, equivalent to climbing Ben Nevis, follows a similar course at the start and finish but with an additional middle section of 11 miles taking in Top Withens. Bingley’s Rob Jebb blazed a trail from start and held a comfortable 8 minute advantage over Calder Valley’s Adam Breaks at the finish.
First Todmorden finisher in 59th was Kath Brierley who had made steady progress through the field to cross the line as 6th lady. Jeff Walker and Rhys Watkins were the Harriers’ other finishers.
Jon Wright continued his bright start to the year finishing joint first in the 25 mile Rombald’s Stride on Sunday. The challenge walk over Baildon & Ilkley Moors and Otley Chevin, organised by Airedale scouts, is open to runners and walkers. This year’s inviting conditions attracted over 350 entrants, with Bev Wright and Colin Duffield also competing.
At the aptly named Winter Hill fell race also on Sunday, Todmorden’s Andy McFie and new club member Dan Taylor tackled the 11 mile looping course that climbs to the summit three times to total 2,700 feet of ascent. The icy conditions proved a blessing in some ways as the normally boggy route was firmer than usual allowing for fast progress to be made, with Simon Bailey of West Mercia taking a narrow win over Darren Kay of Horwich.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
5 feb 09
Todmorden Harriers narrowly missed out on a top three place in the Pennine Bridleway Relay on Sunday by just 3 seconds, after over 5 hours of racing in strong icy winds with occasional snow flurries.
The final major fell relay race of the winter covers a full circuit of the 47 mile Mary Townley Loop and attracted a record 84 teams of 10 runners to tackle the near 7000 feet of climbing along the way. The distance is split into 5 legs which are each run by a pair of different runners.
Starting at Waterfoot, the first leg follows the trail to Holme Chapel before a ‘sting in the tail’ climb to the finish near Coal Clough, that was made all the harder by the tough weather conditions. Chris Smale and Sean Willis made the perfect start and headed the field at the first changeover, with a 14 second advantage over 2nd placed Rossendale. Jon Wright and Andrew Wrench took over for the 12.5 mile second leg, much of it straight into the cold easterly headwind, after which the team had lost the lead to Rossendale at the changeover at Callis Bridge.
The third leg saw Calder Valley take up the lead as Todmorden slipped back to third place, with team captain Andrew Horsfall and Alistair Rhodes-Dawson maintaining the challenge. After the shortest leg from Calderbrook, Dave Collins and Ben Crowther kept the team in third, as the overall lead switched back to Rossendale. The final leg back to Waterfoot saw Horwich RMI, with Todmorden resident James Logue and teammate, make dramatic progress through the field from 6th position and in a desperate dash for the finish Andy McFie and Nick Barber were split by the Horwich pair to cruelly lose out by the narrowest of margins.
Despite the disappointment on the line, this was the best team performance for some years and reflects the growing strength of the club.
The Ladies team also put in a strong challenge for honours and battled throughout with local rivals Calder Valley and Rossendale. With Rossendale leading after leg 1, Todmorden leapfrogged Calder Valley with a strong 2nd leg by Sarah May and Lauren Jeska to take the lead, before Calder Valley took pole position on the following leg which they then held to the finish. After Rossendale had closed the gap on leg 4, ladies team captain Mel Blackhurst and Lucy Hobbs ran a strong final leg to comfortably ensure 2nd place but were unable to close the gap on the leaders.
Matching that performance were the Men’s B team, who also finished as 2nd placed open B team, with new club ‘B’ records set by Simon Galloway and Mark Anderton on leg 3, and David Baldaro and Peter Bowles on leg 4. That helped the team to an excellent 23rd place overall.
Todmorden also had two further teams competing, and after the mixed team had held the advantage in the first two legs, the Z team then took up the initiative for the next two legs before the mixed team edged out the Z team on the final leg by 4 minutes and 2 places, finishing in 57th overall.
The final major fell relay race of the winter covers a full circuit of the 47 mile Mary Townley Loop and attracted a record 84 teams of 10 runners to tackle the near 7000 feet of climbing along the way. The distance is split into 5 legs which are each run by a pair of different runners.
Starting at Waterfoot, the first leg follows the trail to Holme Chapel before a ‘sting in the tail’ climb to the finish near Coal Clough, that was made all the harder by the tough weather conditions. Chris Smale and Sean Willis made the perfect start and headed the field at the first changeover, with a 14 second advantage over 2nd placed Rossendale. Jon Wright and Andrew Wrench took over for the 12.5 mile second leg, much of it straight into the cold easterly headwind, after which the team had lost the lead to Rossendale at the changeover at Callis Bridge.
The third leg saw Calder Valley take up the lead as Todmorden slipped back to third place, with team captain Andrew Horsfall and Alistair Rhodes-Dawson maintaining the challenge. After the shortest leg from Calderbrook, Dave Collins and Ben Crowther kept the team in third, as the overall lead switched back to Rossendale. The final leg back to Waterfoot saw Horwich RMI, with Todmorden resident James Logue and teammate, make dramatic progress through the field from 6th position and in a desperate dash for the finish Andy McFie and Nick Barber were split by the Horwich pair to cruelly lose out by the narrowest of margins.
Despite the disappointment on the line, this was the best team performance for some years and reflects the growing strength of the club.
The Ladies team also put in a strong challenge for honours and battled throughout with local rivals Calder Valley and Rossendale. With Rossendale leading after leg 1, Todmorden leapfrogged Calder Valley with a strong 2nd leg by Sarah May and Lauren Jeska to take the lead, before Calder Valley took pole position on the following leg which they then held to the finish. After Rossendale had closed the gap on leg 4, ladies team captain Mel Blackhurst and Lucy Hobbs ran a strong final leg to comfortably ensure 2nd place but were unable to close the gap on the leaders.
Matching that performance were the Men’s B team, who also finished as 2nd placed open B team, with new club ‘B’ records set by Simon Galloway and Mark Anderton on leg 3, and David Baldaro and Peter Bowles on leg 4. That helped the team to an excellent 23rd place overall.
Todmorden also had two further teams competing, and after the mixed team had held the advantage in the first two legs, the Z team then took up the initiative for the next two legs before the mixed team edged out the Z team on the final leg by 4 minutes and 2 places, finishing in 57th overall.
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