Hades Hill Fell Race | Ben Nevis Race

Todmorden Harriers dominated the entries at the Hades Hill Fell Race on Thursday, with twenty seven Harriers making the short trip to Whitworth for the race that traditionally marks the end of the summer fell racing season.

The forecast rain held off making for ideal conditions for the 5 mile race that climbs steeply past Brown Wardle Hill and Middle Hill to reach the highest point on Hades Hill, followed by a return by the reverse route.  The firm running allowed Josh Tighe of Northumberland Fell Runners to set a new course record of 31:04, almost 2 minutes ahead of his nearest rival. 

There was a close battle between Andrew Wrench and Nick Barber to be the first Harrier home as they finished third and fourth respectively, with Paul Brannigan finishing in seventh place.

Kath Brierley was the first Todmorden woman, finishing fourth woman, and first v55, followed by Jane Leonard seventh woman, and first v55 and Jackie Holden was twelfth woman back.

Todmorden Results: 3 A. Wrench 33.42; 4 N. Barber 33.49; 7 P. Brannigan 35.11; 15 D. Taylor 37.16; 18 J. Wrench 38.04; 19 T. Davis 38.1; 21 R. Gray 38.33; 25 J. Alan 39.08; 34 M. Roberts 40.11; 39 P. Alexander 41.12; 44 S. Galloway 41.56; 45 A. Bibby 41.58; 60 A. Glyde 43.57; 62 Kath Brierley 44.19; 63 P. Cruthers 44.3; 68 Jane Leonard 44.58; 69 R. Butterwick 44.59; 77 Jackie Holden 47.01; 82 K. Coughlan 47.48; 83 R. Leonard 48.01; 90 Kirsty Patton 48.52; 91 D. Leslie 48.53; 94 Andrea Marshall 51.34; 98 D. Collins 52.13; 103 Sue Roberts 53.56; 107 P. Ehrhardt 54.3; 116 D. O'Neill 59.59.

Jon Wright completed his 20^th consecutive Ben Nevis Race, completing the 9 mile route up and down Britain’s highest mountain in 1:52:37 for 30th place, winning the Wallace Plaque in the process for being the first police runner.

Craig Stansfield finished in 1:54:55 for 40^th position, with Andrew Horsfall in 123^rd, at 2:10:26, and Marcel Ellison in 144^th position at 2:13:14.

Clare Harris crossed the line in 2:39:57 for 318^th place, with Mandy Goth in 427^th with a time of 3:04:42 and Rhys Watkins not far behind in a time of 3:06:19 for 434^th place.

Alice's Run 10k | Ben Nevis Race | Blackshawhead Fell Race | Littleborough Lions 5k

Todmorden Harriers’ club Trail Championship concluded at the weekend with Alice’s Run in Mytholmroyd, a 10k multi terrain race that weaves up and down the Calder Valley.


Although not running on the day, Paul Hobbs was crowned Trail Champion having already built up a sufficient lead in the earlier rounds.

On Sunday, 21 Harriers joined the 200 entrants in the Epilepsy Action race, with Paul Brannigan leading the way for the club in 3rd place, pursued by Darren Tweed in 5th place.

Dave Collins was first v50 and 11th overall, followed by Richard Butterwick in 16th and Guy Whitmore in 22nd position.

Kath Brierley finished 3rd lady, with Mel Blackhurst finishing 5th lady and Karen Gray 11th lady.

Elise Milnes and Moyra Parfitt picked up prizes for first v50 and first v60 ladies respectively.

Todmorden results: 3 Paul Brannigan 38:43; 5 Darren Tweed 41:22; 11 Dave Collins 42:55; 16 Richard Butterwick 45:02; 22 Guy Whitmore 45:30; 33 Kathleen Brierley 47:24; 35 Andy Glyde 47:45; 37 Phil Cook 47:49; 39 Melanie Blackhurst 48:14; 50 Chris Drinkwater 49:48; 52 Richard Blakeley 50:00; 65 Karen Gray 52:11; 67 David Leslie 52:33; 70 Fiona Armer 52:53; 73 Elise Milnes 53:28; 76 Ray Poulter 53:35; 79 Peter Ehrhardt 54:08; 83 Mel Whitmore 55:03; 85 Moyra Parfitt 55:14; 94 Graham Milnes 57:47; 125 Myra Wells 1:05:16.

Epilepsy Action photographs from Alice's Run...

Farmer Gizmo's Alices Run photos... & Tod Harriers...


At the Ben Nevis Mountain Race, Jon Wright once again claimed the Wallace Plaque for the highest placed police runner, finishing the 10 mile up and down route in 1:45:17 for 9th place overall out of over 450 finishers.

Marcel Ellison was the next Todmorden runner to finish in 69th position, improving on his previous best time by some margin to finish in 1:59:42.

Todmorden’s other finishers: 108 Andrew Horsfall 2:06:26; 142 Dan Taylor 2:11:56; 222 Phil Hodgson 2:22:14; 437 Mandy Goth 3:07:44; 438 Mick Howard 3:07:44.

On Saturday, the Blackshaw Head Fell Race attracted 66 runners to its 5.5 mile course.

First Harrier was Dwane Dixon in 4th place, followed by Andy McFie in 11th position. Hatty Nylan finished 5th lady.

Todmorden Results: 4 Dwane Dixon 39.04; 11 Andy McFie 43.29; 26 Simon Anderton 49.31; 27 Roger Haworth 49.32; 40 Hattie Nylan 52.57; 43 Mark Whittaker 53.50; 61 Reg Czudek 70.22; 62 Jo Rutter 72.24.

Farmer Gizmo's Blackshawhead Fell Race photos...



Bev Wright finished 3rd lady at the Littleborough Lions 5k, recording a time of 23:54 for 22nd place overall.

Richard Butterwick crossed the line in 20:08 for 7th, with Chris Drinkwater stopping the clock at 22:16 for 17th place.

Myra Wells finished in 39th position in a time of 28:52.

Blackshaw Head | Ben Nevis | Alice's Run | Stainland 7 | Bradley Fell Race

Todmorden Harriers were faced with a good choice of races at the weekend starting with the short trip for the 5.5 mile Blackshaw Head Fell Race, held in conjunction with the Fete.

Sean Carey led the way for the Harriers in 6th place, with newcomer Steve Pullian in 9th place.

Todmorden Results: 6 Sean Carey 40.29; 9 Steve Pullian 41.39; 18 Darren Tweed 43:59; 21 Duncan Ritchie 45.56; 28 Roger Haworth 47.14; 34 Clive Greatorex 47.43; 40 Guy Whitmore 48:56; 41 Angus Barclay 49.05; 76 Trevor Smith 1:03:39; 80 Louise Abdy 1:13:13.



On the same day, several Todmorden runners were in Scotland for the Ben Nevis Race, a 10 mile up and down climb from Fort William to the summit of Britain’s highest mountain.

Jon Wright finished in 18th position in 1:45:54, with Andrew Horsfall completing the route in 91st place.

Todmorden Results: 18 Jon Wright 1:45:54; 91 Andrew Horsfall 2:01:59; 185 Marcel Ellison 2:17:42; 203 James Riley 2:20:19; 262 Dan Taylor2:28:58; 312 Simon Anderton 2:35:35; 449 Mandy Goth 3:01:50.



On Sunday, five Harriers tackled Alice’s Run from Mytholmroyd on Sunday, with the 10k route winding its way up and down the Upper Calder Valley.

Guy Whitmore and Paul Cotton ran a close race for 17th and 18th place, with only 10 seconds separating them at the finish line.

Elise Milnes finished 8th lady, and 40th overall, ahead of husband Graham in 58th and Myra Wells in 104th place.



At the same time a trio of Harriers tackled the tough Stainland 7 mile road race.

Mel Blackhurst finished first v45 and Moyra Parfitt first v65 for the ladies, in 67th and 120th places overall, with Kevin Coughlin also completing the hilly course in just under an hour for 91st place.



Mel then travelled to Skipton to complete her second race of the day at the Bradley Fell Race, finishing in 71st place.

Nick Barber was the first Harrier to finish the 3.5 mile route, in 4th place, with John Lloyd in 13th and Paul Brannigan in 14th place. Dave O’Neill completed the Todmorden entry with 88th position.

Shelf Moor | Ben Nevis | Blackshaw Head | Alice's Run

Todmorden Harriers were celebrating two English Champions after this year’s final English Championship Fell Race at Shelf Moor on Sunday.

Picture by John Crummett

Lauren Jeska went into the race knowing that only a win would be sufficient to overhaul Olivia Walwyn’s 4 point lead, but also having to guard her position from Eyrie’s Jackie Lee and Calder Valley’s Helen Fines who were close behind in the standings.

A close battle ensued as first Lauren set the pace before Helen Fines took up the lead on the climb up and retained it for much of the race. In a sprint finish, Lauren managed to outpace Fines by 3 seconds to clinch the overall Ladies English Championship Gold Medal.

Minutes later, the club’s delight was doubled as Moyra Parfitt crossed the line to clinch the vet65 Gold Medal.

A sizeable turnout from Todmorden had made the trip to the Peak District for the 5.8 mile race and although they put in an excellent performance to finish 2nd team on the day, a win for Calder Valley meant Todmorden ladies finished just outside the medals in 4th place for their highest ever placing in the Championships. The Ladies v40 team also finished 4th veteran team.

Ladies Results: 1 Lauren Jeska 48.49 ; 7 Sarah May 53.56 ; 27 Claire Duffield 58.58 ; 30 Kath Brierley 59.24 ; 32 Sarah Warburton 59.47 ; 33 Rachel Skinner 59.52 ; 47 Emma Osenton 1.01.43 ; 55 Melanie Blackhurst 1.04.19 ; 62 Elise Milnes 1.07.00 ; 71 Fiona Armer 1.10.42 ; 72 Maria Prescott 1.10.54 ; 75 Moyra Parfitt 1.11.34 ; 76 Isobel Pollard 1.11.36 ; 80 Melanie Robertson 1.19.19.

Whilst the limelight was firmly fixed on the ladies, Todmorden’s men were well represented in the 2nd separate race of the day with Alistair Rhodes-Dawson leading them home in 45th and Dave Collins in 76th – to finish 8th in the overall v50 Championship standings - and Nick Barber in 92nd.

Men’s Results: 45 Alastair Rhodes-Dawson 48.01; 76 Dave Collins 51.21; 92 Nick Barber 52.53; 104 Martin Stork 54.07; 122 Paul Brannigan 56.30; 142 Lee McCluskey 1.00.24; 157 Richard Blakeley 1.03.29; 173 Peter Ehrhardt 1.11.19; 174 Graham Milnes 1.12.31; 175 Barry Chapman 1.13.52; 181 Ian Stansfield 1.55.03.


On Saturday, several Harriers were in Scotland for the annual Ben Nevis Mountain Race which attracted a world class entry of nearly 500 competitors. Jon Wright put in an outstanding run to finish in 4th place completing the 10 mile route up to Britain’s highest summit and back, in 1:43:29, to retain the Wallace Plaque for the highest placed police runner.

Andrew Horsfall finished in 99th, with first Todmorden lady Jane Leonard in 235th ahead of husband Richard Leonard. Mick Howard was the next Todmorden runner with Sue Roberts and Mandy Goth also successfully finishing the course.


Much closer to home on Saturday, several Harriers tackled the 5.5mile Blackshaw Head Fell Race. Featuring over 900 feet of climb, over 70 runners were headed by a close battle between Halifax’s Ben Crowther and Rossendale’s Brendon Taylor, who were separated by only 1 second at the finish.

The Todmorden runners were led in by Andy McFie in 14th place. Martin Robert edged out Mark Harris for 23rd and 25th respectively, with Mick Craven in 31st. Four Harriers then came in within a minute of each other with Dan Taylor 45th, Duncan Ritchie 47th, Angus Barclay 48th and Ali Richards in 49th.


Also staying local, on Sunday several Harriers completed Alice’s Run from Mytholmroyd. The 10k multi-terrain race, organised by Epilepsy Action, weaved its way up one side of the valley to Hebden Bridge and back on the other taking in several small climbs.

First Harrier to finish was Richard Butterwick in 21st, followed by David Leslie in 78th. Eric Wrathall was next over the line followed by Myra Wells and Matthew Wrathall.