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.