Cragg Vale Fell Race

Todmorden Harriers made the short trip to Cragg Vale on Wednesday for the Cragg Vale Fell Race.

 The 4 mile race started from Cragg Church and featured 800 feet of ascent. After a narrow woodland path, the runners climbed up to Bell House Moor. The climbing continued up Dicks Lane before the runners turned and descended via Sunderland Pasture and Swan Bank.

John Lloyd led the way for the Harriers with 7th place. Alistair Rhodes-Dawson was 10th and Paul Hobbs 11th.

Hatty Nylan finished 3rd lady, with Lisa Parsons 6th lady and Chris Preston 9th lady.

Todmorden Results: 7 John Lloyd 29:44; 10 Alastair Rhodes-Dawson 30:35; 11 Paul Hobbs 30:47; 24 Shaun Pickard 32:54; 28 Peter Bowles 33:31; 29 Paul Brannigan 33:45; 30 Marcel Ellison 33:47; 43 Jack Crummett 35:40; 58 Angus Barclay 37:48; 59 (lady 3) Hatty Nylan 37:50; 65 Phil Cook 38:45; 71 (lady 6) Lisa Parsons 39:25; 81 (lady 9) Chris Preston 42:30; 84 (lady 10) Elise Milnes 42:58; 90 Graham Milnes 44:52; 91 (lady 11) Melanie Robertson 45:38.

Cragg Vale Results...

Cragg Vale Fell Race 2011 Photos...


The Stoodley Pike Fell Race takes place on Tuesday 5th July at 7:30pm. Entry on the night is £3.50 at race HQ in the Top Brink Inn and is open to runners aged 14 and above, with proceeds donated to a local charity.


The 3.5 mile race starts with a stiff climb up the Calderdale Way past Lea Dam and follows the flat ridge along to the Stoodley Pike monument. A steep descent down to London Road takes the runners back to the finish field via Broad Carr.

Loughrigg-Silver Howe [English Champs]

Todmorden's Lauren Jeska scored an unexpected but well deserved win at the Loughrigg Silver Howe Fell Race to open up an unassailable lead in this year's English Fell Championships, to win the ladies gold medal for the second consecutive year.

Calder Valley's Helen Fines - Lauren's closest rival in the championship going into this round - and Jo Buckley looked to have secured a one-two for Calder Valley, having set the pace from the off. However, a faster route choice on the final descent handed victory to the Todmorden Harrier by 11 seconds over Kendal's Lou Roberts.

Sarah May had an inspired run to finish in 6th place, and together with Gemma Kendall in 21st, the Todmorden ladies secured second placed team behind Calder Valley.

That result leaves the club on target for their first ever English Championship medal, with a silver medal already guaranteed. However, with two wins and two second places so far this year, the ladies will be pushing hard for gold at the next Championship race, the Whittle Pike Fell Race, at Cowpe at the end of July.

Todmorden Ladies Results: 1 Lauren Jeska 1:27:38; 6 Sarah M 1:33:26; 21 Gemma Kendall 1:43:01; 22 Kath Brierley 1:43:03; 34 Mel Blackhurst 1:46:31; 56 Jane Leonard 1:58:41; 61 Helen Hodgkinson 2:00:30; 73 Louise Abdy 2:18:47.



In the men’s race, Bingley veteran Ian Holmes also came from behind to snatch victory in a time of 1:08:20.

Jon Wright finished in 25th for the Harriers before Nick Barber crossed the line in 51st, just ahead of 53rd placed John Lloyd and Alistair Rhodes-Dawson in 57th.

Todmorden Men’s Results: 25 Jon Wright 1:15:48; 51 Nick Barber 1:20:05; 53 John Lloyd 1:20:28; 57 Alistair Rhodes-Dawson 1:21:31; 128 Andrew Bibby 1:44:36; 140 Simon Galloway 1:48:19; 148 Richard Leonard 1:51:35; 167 Richard Blakeley 2:01:56.

Pete's Loughrigg Silver Howe Photos...

Paul Dobson's Loughrigg Silver Howe Photos...


The Stoodley Pike Fell Race takes place on Tuesday 5th July at 7:30pm. Entry on the night is £3.50 at race HQ in the Top Brink Inn and is open to runners aged 14 and above, with proceeds donated to a local charity.


The 3.5 mile race starts with a stiff climb up the Calderdale Way past Lea Dam and follows the flat ridge along to the Stoodley Pike monument. A steep descent down to London Road takes the runners back to the finish field via Broad Carr.

Whicken Hill Whizz | Hendon Brook

Nick Barber was the highest placed Todmorden Harrier at the Midsummer Madness Series, as the men’s team snatched the team prize on the final day. The three race series, organised by Calder Valley Fell Runners, comprises of three fell races held on consecutive days.

The first race on Friday evening, from Mytholmroyd, was the Whicken Hill Whizz, a steep 3 mile climb up to Sheepstones trig point and back.

Calder Valley’s Ben Mounsey took the win in 20:05, half a minute ahead of club mate Alex Whittem.

Todmorden’s Sean Carey held off a strong challenge from Calder Valley’s Max Wharton to finish in 3rd place.

Nick Barber was the next Todmorden runner in 8th, just ahead of Dwane Dixon in 9th. A further three Harriers made it into the top fifteen with Alistair Rhodes-Dawson in 12th, Paul Hobbs 13th and Paul Brannigan 15th.

Sarah May finished 1st lady in 25:33, with Helen Hodgkinson and Chris Preston finishing 8th and 9th ladies.


On Saturday, the 7 mile Reservoir Bogs also was something of a mental test as well as physical, as the runners were only handed a map of the checkpoints at the start and were faced with the decision as to which route to take between them.

Ben Crowther was the first Harrier to finish in 12th, with Paul Hobbs in 13th. Nick Barber crossed the line in 15th despite adding to the difficultly by losing his map part way round, to finish the day in 4th place for the series.

Helen Hodgkinson was Todmorden’s first lady finisher in 10th, with Elise Milnes navigating herself round as 13th lady.

The 4 mile Tom Tittiman Fell Race on Sunday marked the final race in the series and Nick Barber was once again the first Todmorden man in 4th place, lifting him into 3rd place for the series overall.

Paul Hobbs finished 7th and Ben Crowther 8th which meant they finished the series in 5th and 6th respectively to take the series team prize.

Darren Graham and Marcel Ellison also completed the series in 7th and 8th overall.

Helen Hodgkinson finished the final race as 12th lady, taking her into 6th lady for the series.


Whicken Hill Whizz 2011 Results...  Reservoir Bogs Results... Tom Tittiman Results...

Midsummer Madness overall standings...

Whicken Hill Whizz Photos...


The 13.5 mile Hendon Brook road race also took place on Sunday, attracting several Todmorden Harriers to the tough hilly course near Colne.


Salford’s Tom Cornthwaite was in a class of his own as he completed the route in 1:19:04, over 7 minutes ahead of the next runner.

John Lloyd led the way for Todmorden in 5th place in 1:30:29, with Paul Brannigan in 11th place, and first v45, and Martin Stork in 15th.

Mel Blackhurst crossed the line in 1:53:28 for 3rd lady, with Sarah Glyde 5th lady. Chris Preston finished strongly taking 14th lady just ahead of Elise Milnes. Moyra Parfitt finished first vet 65.

Hendon Brook 2011 Results...

Hebden Bridge Fell Race | Knowl Hill Fell Race

It was a record breaking night for the Hebden Bridge Fell Race on Thursday. The Todmorden Harriers organised race saw a record entry of over 170 runners take on the 5.8 mile route from Calder Holmes Park up across Erringdon Moor to Stoodley Pike and back down again.

As well as the host club, there were also large turnouts from Calder Valley Fell Runners and Stainland Lions.
Fine conditions made for perfect running and Calder Valley’s Ben Mounsey shaved 4 seconds off the course record as he won in 42:37, ahead of team mate Gavin Mulholland in 44:02.

Todmorden’s Sean Carey finished a further 9 seconds back to take 3rd place, with Jon Wright in 4th for the Harriers.

Helen Fines made it a double for Calder Valley, as she also set a new ladies course record of 51:48, bettering Lisa Lacon’s mark from 2007 by 41 seconds.

Gemma Kendall finished 4th lady for Todmorden, with Sarah Warburton and Kath Brierley 6th and 8th ladies respectively.

Hebden Bridge Fell Race Results

Keith Parkinson's Hebden Bridge Fell Race Photos...

Steve Boyer's Hebden Bridge Fell Race Photos...

Rachel from Fix Lifestyles - Blog about 2011 Hebden Bridge Fell race...


The Knowl Hill Fell Race on Sunday saw a strong showing by Todmorden’s men, with Jon Wright finishing in 2nd place, 11 seconds behind race winner Matt Proctor. Jon had led the race at the midway point, but Rochdale’s Proctor overhauled him in the run in to win in 44:24.

Alistair Rhodes-Dawson and John Lloyd ran a close race to finish 4th and 5th.

The race was the final event in Rochdale Harriers three day event, and Todmorden’s sole completer of all the races was Robin Tuddenham who finished in 11th place at Knowl Hill. This followed a 4th place at Friday’s Norden 10k and 4th again at Saturday’s Naden Valley Trial race, and meant he finished 4th in the series overall.

Dave Collins finished in 17th, and first v55, with Marcel Ellison in 32nd place.

Knowl Hill Fell Race Results

Rochdale Three Day Event Results and Photos...

Duddon Valley Fell Race | Jura Fell Race

Todmorden Harriers Ladies Team recorded another excellent win at the Duddon Valley Fell Race on Saturday to strengthen their hold at the top of this year’s English Fell Championship standings. With three of the six races completed the club now hold a nine point lead over second placed Keswick.


The classic race started and finished at Seathwaite and the route covered 18 miles around the head of the Duddon Valley with 6000ft of climb over several Lakeland peaks.

Todmorden’s Lauren Jeska won the ladies race, after another epic battle with Calder Valley’s Helen Fines, with just 13 seconds between them after over three hours of racing in the hot sunny conditions.

Sarah May finished 14th lady and Kath Brierley completed the winning team line up with 31st place.

Lauren has now doubled her advantage over Fines in the individual Championship to six points, with Sarah consolidating her position in the top ten.

Alistair Rhodes Dawson was the first Todmorden man to finish in 49th, with Dwane Dixon in 61st. Dave Collins finished 4th vet55, and 90th overall, with Ben Crowther finishing 100th.

Todmorden Results: 32 Lauren Jeska 3:14:26; 49 Alastair Rhodes-Dawson 3:20:23; 61 Dwane Dixon 3:26:49; 90 Dave Collins 3:39:58; 100 Ben Crowther 3:44:10; 129 Sarah May 3:58:04; 136 Robin Tuddenham 4:01:43; 151 John Lloyd 4:09:14; 165 Darren Graham 4:16:34; 168 Darren Tweed 4:17:01; 186 Kath Brierley 4:24:09; 190 Jane Leonard 4:25:11; 223 Melanie Blackhurst 4:40:28; 259 Mandy Goth 5:18:11; 263 Richard Blakeley 5:43:17; 264 Peter Ehrhardt 5:43:46.

Sports Sunday's Duddon photo's...


The previous weekend had seen a quartet of Harriers take on the Isle of Jura Fell Race. The 28 km route featured 2370m of climbing including 7 mountain summits. First Harrier to finish was Phil Hodgson in 5:07:15 for 94th place.
Richard Leonard completed the course in 6:32:27 with Rhys Watkins finished 1 second apart for 182nd and 183rd, with Mandy Goth in 184th three minutes further back.

Jack Crummett won the U13 Jura junior race in a new record time.


The attentions of club will now turn to their own race - the Hebden Bridge Fell Race on Thursday 9th June at 7:15pm. 

Registration is at Machpelah Mill, next to Calder Holmes Park, Hebden Bridge. This is between the town centre and the railway station, south of A646 Burnley Road. Enter on the day £3.50. Minimum age 16.

Prizegiving/food afterwards at the White Swan, Bridgegate, Hebden Bridge. Special prize category for runners entering their first fell race.

Starting on Hebden Bridge Calder Holmes Park, this 5.8mile race goes to Stoodley Pike and back via Erringden Moor, thereby adding a different twist to the climb up to the Pike than other races.