David Staff Memorial Fell Race

Todmorden Harriers were in attendance at the David Staff Memorial Fell Race in Darwen at the weekend. The 5 mile race climbed out of Sunnyhurst Woods, then up and around Darwen Tower, before a descent back to the woodland finish.



The ground was muddy underfoot after heavy overnight rain, and together with strong winds meant for slower than usual going for the 177 runners except for race winner Ben Fish of Blackburn Harriers who was over two minutes clear by the finish.

Marcel Ellison was the first Harrier to finish in 41st position, followed by Simon Galloway in 74th place.

Kath Brierley posted a time of 47:35 to finish seventh lady and just twelve seconds behind first v50, Anne Ferguson of Burnden Road Runners.

Keith Parkinson was the next to finish, closely followed by Lucy Hobbs, 12th lady, and Chris Drinkwater.

Elise Milnes finished in 52:05, three minutes ahead of Graham Milnes.

Todmorden Results: 41 Marcel Ellison 42:13; 74 Simon Galloway 45:19; 91 Kath Brierley 47:35; 108 Keith Parkinson 49:39; 112 Lucy Hobbs 50:04; 123 Chris Drinkwater 50:58; 134 Elise Milnes 52:05; 149 Graham Milnes 55:15.


Pictures from Pete Thompson...

Preston 10 | Tour of Pendle Fell Race

Sarah Glyde clinched the ladies crown in the final race of Todmorden Harriers club road championship in dramatic fashion, at the Preston 10, despite a strong challenge from Mel Blackhurst who came close to snatching the title away.


Nick Barber had been the first Harrier to cross the line in 57:16 for 10th place, just ahead of men’s road championship runner-up John Lloyd in 14th place. Men’s champion Robin Tuddenham already held a commanding lead in that competition and chose not to race.

Mel Blackhurst put in a sterling effort, finishing 1st v45, but despite pulling out a lead of over 3 minutes on Sarah it was not enough to overhaul her in the final standings.

Mel Robertson and Nigel Hanson enjoyed a battle of their own, with Mel finishing just 8 seconds ahead on the day, followed shortly afterwards by Elise Milnes.

Todmorden results: 10 Nick Barber 57:16; 14 John Lloyd 57:59; 164 Melanie Blackhurst 1:12:51; 211 Sarah Glyde 1:16:31; 263 Melanie Robertson 1:21:21; 268 Nigel Hanson 1:21:29; 332 Elise Milnes 1:28:40.

Preston 10 photos from Steve Bateson...



Results from the Tour of Pendle and Sports Sunday's Tour of Pendle Photos...

Oldham parkrun #66

Another parkrun video from a warm autumnal Alexandra Park... spot the Toddies!

FRA Awards | Wadsworth Half Trog | Bolton Cross Country

Todmorden Harriers Ladies collected their first ever medals at the Fell Running Association’s Presentation Dinner held at Pennine Manor near Huddersfield at the weekend.


The club collected the team gold medal in the English Fell Championships. Contributing performances had come from Lauren Jeska, Sarah May, Sarah Warburton, Kath Brierley, Gemma Kendall, Jane Leonard, Lucy Hobbs and Mel Blackhurst.

Lauren Jeska also collected the individual ladies trophy and gold medal after winning the English Fell Championship for the second consecutive year.

The ladies team then added the bronze medal for the British Fell Championships, with contributions coming from Kath Brierley, Jane Leonard, Sue Roberts, Lauren Jeska, Sarah May, Elise Milnes, Mandy Goth, Gemma Kendall and Mel Blackhurst.



Photo by Keith Parkinson



There was no let up in the race action at the weekend, despite the awards ceremony. Lauren Jeska was first lady at the Dunnerdale Fell Race, with John Medcalfe, Jane Leonard and Mick Howard also taking on the South Lakeland course.



The Wadsworth Half Trog was run over 9 miles, following a figure of eight route through Cock Hill and Crow hill and passing over High Brown Knoll twice.

Paul Hobbs was the first Todmorden finisher in 21st place, with Ben Crowther in 28th position. Chris Preston finished 10th lady, just ahead of Hatty Nylan and Bev Holmes as the ladies finished second team.

Todmorden Results: 21 Paul Hobbs 1:23:04; 28 Ben Crowther 1:25:16; 69 Mick Craven 1:39:00; 80 (lady 10) Christine Preston 1:41:06; 88 (lady 13) Hatty Nylan 1:43:59; 96 (lady 16) Beverley Holmes 1:45:15; 106 (lady 18) Fiona Armer 1:50:30; 113 Paul Cruthers 1:51:53; 118 (lady 23) Elise Milnes 1:53:13; 121 (lady 25) Helen Hodgkinson 1:55:48; 126 (lady 26) Sue Roberts 1:57:16.



The third round of the Red Rose Cross Country League visited Leverhulme Park in Bolton for the most challenging course so far, including a refreshing stream crossing.

A strong performance from the men’s team saw them finish in 6th place, with the ladies team finishing in 14th position.

Oldham parkrun #65

Short video from 12th November 2011's Oldham parkrun at Alexandra Park - runners a few hundred metres into their weekly 5k run - photos added to the Oldham parkrun flikr group -

Shepherds Skyline Fell Race | Lancaster Half Marathon

Photo by Myra

The Shepherd’s Skyline Fell Race attracted a large field of 357 runners on Saturday, with Bingley’s Ian Holmes recording another win ahead of Calder Valley Fell Runner James Logue. The junior races also attracted a good turnout with 116 youngsters taking part across the four age groups.


Sean Carey was Todmorden’s first finisher in the main race in 5th position, ahead of Jon Wright in 6th place. John Lloyd was the 16th runner across the line.

Calder Valley’s Anne Johnson was the first lady, with Hatty Nylan the first Todmorden women closely followed by Chris Preston.


Todmorden Results: 5 Sean Carey 44.12; 6 Jon Wright 45.05; 16 John Lloyd 47.21; 42 Andy McFie 51.30; 46 Paul Hobbs 51.46; 66 Peter Bowles 53.33; 87 Dan Taylor 55.17; 98 Darren Graham 56.06; 142 Angus Barclay 60.01; 162 Duncan Ritchie 62.05; 170 Lee McCluskey 62.32; 187 Hatty Nylan 63.38; 189 Richard Leonard 63.39; 203 Garry Quested 64.2; 204 Chris Preston 64.31; 221 Jane Leonard 65.58; 231 Fiona Armer 66.39; 245 Bev Holmes 67.27; 247 Chris Drinkwater 67.41; 253 John Medcalfe 68.12; 282 Ray Poulter 71.15; 295 Jeanette Dowling 72.25; 342 Kathy Bridger 85.21.



Shepherds Skyline Fell Race 2011 Results... 
Shepherd's Skyline Junior Results...


Shepherds Skyline Photos by Keith Parkinson...


Shepherds Skyline Photos by Sports Sunday...


On Sunday the penultimate race of the Club’s Road Championship took a small band of Harriers to the Lancaster Half Marathon, which attracted over 700 runners.


Nick Barber led the way with sixth place in 1:16:52, with Robin Tuddenham in seventh place in 1:18:09.

Dan Taylor completed the 13.1 mile course in 1:34:45, followed by Mel Blackhurst in 1:38:49 as she continued to close in on current club road championship leader Sarah Glyde, who was not running, meaning that the destiny of the ladies title will go the wire at the last race in two weeks time.

Paul Cruthers recorded a time of 1:42:38 and Andrea Marshall completed the Todmorden contingent with a time of 1:57:59.