Liverpool Half Marathon | Heaton parkrun | Liverpool Princes parkrun | Midgley Moor Fell Race

Lauren Jeska stepped up her London Marathon training with first place at the Liverpool Half Marathon on Sunday.

After a strong start, Liverpool Harrier Jenny Clague took an early lead in the ladies race buoyed on by local support.

Despite not feeling on top form, Lauren put in a strong finish to move ahead with just over a mile to go, and maintained her pace to cross the line 30 seconds ahead in a time of 1:19:03.

Todmorden’s second representative in the race was Joanne Scholfield who completed the course in 1:55:19.


On Saturday, Martin Stork recorded 18:04 to win the weekly Heaton Park 5k parkrun, whilst Richard Butterwick and Myra Wells also travelled to Liverpool for the inaugural Princes Parkrun.

Richard covered the distance in 19:25 for 10th place overall, with Myra 12th lady.


Closer to home five Harriers took on the Midgley Moor Fell Race with Ben Crowther completing the course in 16th place, followed by Dave Collins in 26th and Clive Greatorex in 32nd place.

Lucy Hobbs finished 3rd lady with Hatty Nylon 4th; on a day when had any other ladies turned out they would surely have won the team prize.

Steve Bateson's Midgley Moor photos...
Woodentops Midgley Moor photos...
Jellybabyfairy's photo's...

Heptonstall Fell Race

The new Heptonstall Fell Race saw a strong contingent of Todmorden Harriers tackle the 15.5 mile course. The race, which was organised to help raise funds for the church restoration fund, attracted a good first turnout of over 200 runners.

Starting from the main street, the race followed a large loop to the north of the village, taking in a variety of Pennine terrain including steep-sided wooded valleys, upland pasture and pathless moorland. Whilst much of the route was flagged to guide the runners, misty and drizzly conditions added to the difficulty. The race featured over 3000 feet of ascent, with the toughest climb of the day coming in the last half mile, as tired legs were tested by a long steep climb out of Hebden Dale towards the finish field.

It was a day of second places for the Harriers, with no less than five Todmorden runners finishing second in their respective age categories: Jon Wright (v40), Dave Collins (v50) and Richard Blakeley (v60) for the men, with Kath Brierley (lv40) and Louise Abdy (lv50) for the ladies.

Jon Wright had a strong run to finish 5th overall. New member John Lloyd finished 18th and Paul Hobbs crossed the line in 30th place.

Kath Brierley led the way for Todmorden ladies finishing 5th lady, with Lisa Parsons 13th and Helen Hodgkinson 17th lady.

Todmorden Results: 5 Jon Wright 2:00:13; 18 John Lloyd 2:10:04; 30 Paul Hobbs 2:17:43; 32 Dave Collins 2:18:43; 56 Paul Brannigan 2:27:16; 63 Ben Crowther 2:28:41; 64 Clive Greatorex 2:28:43; 69 Andy McFie 2:29:40; 70 Dan Taylor 2:29:40; 106 Kath Brierley 2:41:53; 118 Paul Smith 2:45:03; 120 Andrew Bibby 2:45:23; 129 Mick Craven 2:46:59; 141 Derek Donohue 2:50:14; 148 Simon Galloway 2:54:27; 155 Lisa Parsons 2:56:09; 164 Paul Cruthers 3:04:53; 170 Helen Hodgkinson 3:08:13; 176 Stuart Boulton 3:11:57; 177 Richard Blakeley 3:12:45; 178 Peter Ehrhardt 3:16:22; 182 Patsey Reilly 3:22:37; 185 Fiona Armer 3:25:55; 189 Louise Abdy 3:35:07.

Roddlesworth Roller | Spen 20 | Haworth Hobble | Ian Roberts Fell Race

Todmorden Harriers’ inaugural Trail Championship got off to a flyer on Sunday with the Roddlesworth Roller, with the club winning both the ladies and men’s team prizes.

Nineteen Harriers took on the undulating 6 mile course at Abbey Village near Chorley.

Martin Stork continued his current excellent form to finish in 6th place, with Dwane Dixon in 13th one place ahead of Paul Brannigan.

It was a remarkable run for Dwane, and for Elise Milnes, as both had completed the 32 mile Haworth Hobble the previous day.

Gemma Kendall made a dazzling debut for the club to finish first Todmorden lady, and 6th lady overall, over a minute ahead of Sarah Glyde who was 8th lady, with Jayne Williams 12th lady

Todmorden results: 6 Martin Stork 36:44; 13 Dwane Dixon 37:58; 14 Paul Brannigan 38:22; 30 Dan Taylor 40:27; 50 Simon Galloway 42:50; 52 Gemma Kendall 43:22; 66 Sarah Glyde 44:47; 77 Jayne Williams 46:18; 84 Kevin Coughlan 47:58; 92 Hatty 48:28; 95 Elise Milnes 48:41; 108 Peter Ehrhardt 50:05; 131 Rachel Henthorne 51:45; 136 David Henthorne 51:51; 148 Helen Hodgkinson 53:15; 150 Graham Milnes 53:36; 176 Mandy Goth 57:13; 178 David O'Neill 57:28; 206 James Smith 1:27:40.

Sport Sunday's Roddlesworth photos...

Several Harriers took part in the Spen 20 mile race, a favourite for those training for the London Marathon. Sarah May completed the course in 2:27:07, followed by Mel Blackhurst in 2:44:08, with Johnny Medcalf 2 seconds behind. Mel Robertson and Julie Wyant finished just past the 3 hour mark.

At the Haworth Hobble on Saturday, Oz Kershaw was the first Harrier to finish in 5:12:29 with Nick Barber and Robin Tuddenham, the third pair to complete the distance in 5:27:07.

Sean Carey was the sole Todmorden runner at the Ian Roberts Memorial Fell Race, where he repeated his win from a year ago. It was a hard fought victory as he triumphed in a close finish with Jack Ross of Mow Cop Runners, who was just three seconds behind.

Long Mynd Valleys Fell Race - 2011 English Championships

Todmorden Harriers’ Ladies Team recorded a win in the opening event of this year’s English Fell Championships.

The six event series opened with the Long Mynd Valleys Fell Race in the Shropshire Hills near Church Stretton.

The team were led in by Lauren Jeska, the current individual champion, who started the defence of her title with 4th place.

Sarah May followed in 15th and Sarah Warburton in 27th to give the club a full 12 points in the team competition.

For the men, Jon Wright was the first Todmorden man to finish in 26th place, with Alistair Rhodes-Dawson in 76th and Andrew Wrench in 89th.

Dave Collins made a strong start in the V55 category, finishing 93rd overall.

Todmorden Results: 28 Jon Wright 1:43:07; 76 Alastair Rhodes Dawson 1:54:59; 89 Andrew Wrench 1:57:26; 93 Dave Collins 1:57:57; 114 Lauren Jeska 2:00:33; 128 Nick Barber 2:02:32; 163 Sarah May 2:09:24; 227 Sarah Warburton 2:19:32; 260 Kath Brierley 2:25:22; 295 Melanie Blackhurst 2:32:02; 312 Andrew Bibby 2:37:25; 353 Sue Roberts 2:47:55; 356 Peter Ehrhardt 2:49:31.

Noon Stone Fell Race | Lynn Hindle, Brian Hargreaves & John McDonagh Memorial Littleborough 5 mile

The Noon Stone Fell Race, organised by Todmorden Harriers, attracted almost 250 runners last Saturday. Despite the relatively mild conditions, rain showers and heavy going underfoot added to the challenge of the 9 mile course which features over 2300 feet of ascent and descent.

The race climbed steeply up to Coldwell Hill from Mankinholes, then immediately back down to London Road for a steady rise to Stoodley Pike. A descent down to Withins Clough led onto the navigation section across open moorland, past Little Holder Stones to the rain gauge at Warland Reservoir.

A steep drop into Black Clough below Langfield Edge was followed by the final climb of the day back past Coldwell Hill and a testing steep descent back to the finish.

A close race soon developed with five runners battling for the win for much of the distance, with the lead changing hands several times. Tom Addison of Lakeland club Helm Hill eventually winning in a time of 1:12:05, just 15 seconds ahead of Ben Mounsey of Calder Valley. Simon Harding of Macclesfield Harriers finished in 3rd place.

Calder Valley won the team prize with Alex Whittem crossing the line in 4th and Gavin Mulholland in 5th.

First Todmorden runner was Sean Carey, recording 8th place in his first attempt at the distance. Ben Crowther was next to finish in 47th, just ahead of Shaun Pickard in 51st.

The ladies race was won in a time of 1:25:40 by Helen Berry of Holmfirth with Kath Brierley taking the honour of first Todmorden lady in 6th, and first v40, having overhauled Sarah Warburton in the final mile. Together with Lucy Burnett, in her first race for the club, they won the ladies team prize for Todmorden.

Tod Results: 8 Sean Carey 1.17.53; 47 Ben Crowther 1.28.28; 51 Shaun Pickard 1.29.22; 69 Clive Greatorex 1.32.46; 75 Ozzy Kershaw 1.33.29; 111 Dan Taylor 1.38.48; 115 Kath Brierley 1.39.42; 120 Sarah Warburton 1.40.10; 143 Andy Glyde 1.44.19; 153 Lucy Burnett 1.45.21; 214 Sue Roberts 1.57.22.




On Sunday, twenty one Harriers turned out for a memorial race in Littleborough for former Todmorden runners John McDonagh and Brian Hargreaves, and Blackburn Road Runners' Lynn Hindle, who all passed away last year.

Originally planned as a 5km road race, roadworks meant a course switch to a longer and tougher 5 mile trail race. The runners were faced with an early steep climb up Blackstone Edge Old Road and then a further climb along the Pennine Bridleway.

After crossing over the motorway, a steep descent looped them back under Rakewood viaduct and past Hollingworth Lake for a fast downhill finish back in Littleborough.

Rob Jackson of Horwich RMI won in a time of 29:37, with former Todmorden runner Sue Becconsall now of Bingley Harriers finishing first lady in 33:07 and 8th overall.

Dwane Dixon and Martin Stork led the way for Todmorden finishing in 2nd and 4th places respectively, with Dave Collins completing the course in 10th place.

Sarah Glyde finished 3rd lady, just ahead of Lucy Hobbs in 4th with Mel Siddall just edging out Hatty Nylon for 8th lady.

Tod Results: 2 Dwane Dixon 30.31; 4 Martin Stork 31.03; 10 Dave Collins 33.31; 15 Simon Galloway 35.03; 17 Richard Butterwick 35.21; 18 Kevin Booth 35.23; 24 Keith Parkinson 37.38; 26 Phil Cook 38.29; 27 Sarah Glyde 38.36; 28 Lucy Hobbs 38.55; 34 Paul Brannigan 39.50; 35 Mel Siddall 40:00; 36 Hatty Nylan 40.05; 40 Kevin Coughlan 41.35; 46 Nigel Hanson 42.49; 49 Peter Ehrhardt 43.24; 52 Helen Hodgkinson 43.54; 53 Andrea Marshall 44.26; 63 Dave O'Neil 48.29; 72 Barry Chapman 50.17; 73 Myra Wells 50.42.

Steve Bateson's Littleborough 5 pics...