Midsummer Madness | Round the Resers | Warrington 10k | Aggies Staircase | Oldham 10k | Nice Ironman

Todmorden Harriers enjoyed a successful weekend of Midsummer Madness, the three day fell running event organised by Calder Valley Fell Runners.

The series started on Friday evening in Mytholmroyd with the Whicken Hill Whizz Fell Race, a steep 4.5k climb up to the Sheepstones trig point and back down.

Todmorden’s men and women both recorded second placed teams, with Paul Hobbs in 11^th position, followed by Jack Crummett, second under16, and Ben Crowther in 21^st and 23^rd places respectively.

Jane Leonard was fifth woman, followed by Issy Pollard sixth and Louise Abdy in 13^th place.

The Reservoir Bogs race on Saturday, required runners to make their own route choices after being handed the location of the checkpoints to visit on the day, leading to some confusion after a group of runners leapfrogged into the lead after missing a checkpoint.

There was no such problem for the Todmorden runners who navigated their way around with skill, with Ben Crowther putting in a master class to finish fifth on the day, Paul Hobbs in ninth and Dave Collins in 12^th place to land the men’s team prize.

That was matched by Todmorden’s ladies who also won the team prize, with Kath Brierley finishing third woman, Jane Leonard fourth and Issy Pollard eighth placed woman.

The final race on Sunday, was the Tom Tittiman Fell Race, a fast 6.4k course where Paul Hobbs finished in sixth place, Ben Crowther in 14^th and Jack Crummett in 17^th position.

Kath Brierley finished fourth woman, with Issy Pollard ninth and Jane Leonard tenth woman as they once again recorded second place team in both the women’s and men’s standings. 

In the overall series standings, Paul Hobbs finished in third place and Ben Crowther in seventh.  Mick Craven finished the series in 21^st, and first v55.

Jane Leonard ended the series as second placed woman, and 26^th overall, with Issy Pollard in third place and Louise Abdy sixth placed woman for the series.

Reg Czudek completed the Todmorden three dayers in 44^th position for the series.

On Wednesday, Richard Butterwick finished in 114^th position at the Round the Resers 5 mile Trail Race in Tintwistle with a time of 37:44 for the two lap course around Vale House Reservoir in the scenic Longendale Valley and Myra Wells crossed the line in 49:03 for 198^th place.

Paul Alexander improved his 10k personal best at the Warrington 10k, on Thursday, recording 41:14 for the flat course.

Marcel Ellison finished in 36^th place at Aggie’s Staircase Fell Race in Darwen on Thursday in a time of 35:17 for the 6.4km course, and followed that up at the weekend with 28^th place at the Trawden 7 trail race with a time of 4628.

John Lloyd finished in 7^th place at the inaugural Milltown 10k in Oldham, completing the hilly circuit in 35:42 whilst Michael Harper finished in 41:01 for 25^th position.

Chris Preston was in France for the Nice Ironman Triathlon, where she completed the event in 14 hours 30 minutes to finish 15^th in her age category.  The event started with a 3.8km swim in rough seas, followed by a 180km cycle and a full marathon distance run to finish.