Blisco Dash | Todmorden 5k | Towneley 10k

Several Todmorden Harriers were in the Langdales for the Blisco Dash, the latest counter in both the British and English Fell Running Championships.

Jane Leonard was the sole representative in the women’s race, as the club was hit by absences due to injuries and holidays, and finished in 58:02 for 32^nd place and 2^nd v55 to keep alive her individual medal prospects.

In the men’s race, a trio of Harriers battled it out with Nick Barber the first back across the line in 45:54 for 71^st place, with John Lloyd in 77^th and Craig Stansfield in 79^th position.

Richard Blakeley finished first v70 to keep him in the running for a medal also.

Todmorden results: 71 Nick Barber 45:54; 77 John Lloyd 47:10; 79 Craig Stansfield 47:30; 104 Dave Collins 51:55; 130 Peter Bowles 54:22; 168 Andrew Bibby 58:38; 182 Mark Whitaker 1:03:28; 188 Richard Blakeley 1:04:08; 200 Peter Ehrhardt 1:14:03; 205 Paul Brannigan 1:22:08.

The Todmorden 5k series switched to a new route on Wednesday for the second of four races in Centre Vale Park.  The improved circuit made for faster running with Gary Shaw of Burnley AC setting the pace at 15:57.  Max Wharton running for Halifax Harriers crossed the line in 16:25 just ahead of Calder Valley’s Alex Whittem in 16:37.

Martin Stork continued his return from injury to finish first Todmorden Harrier in 18:46, chased in by Dan Taylor in 16^th and Rob Gray in 19^th position.

Mel Siddall finished 5^th woman and 47^th overall in a time of 22:41, with Bev Wright and Andrea Marshall in finishing 8^th and 11^th women respectively.  Myra Wells finished 14^th woman, and first v55.

Ian Stansfield won the v70 prize, finishing in 75^th place.

Todmorden Results: 14 Martin Stork 18:46; 16 Dan Taylor 19:01; 19 Rob Gray 19:10; 24 Darren Tweed 19:29; 26 Paul Alexander 19:52; 27 Ben Crowther 20:02; 36 Mark Anderton 21:02; 37 Simon Anderton 21:04; 47 Mel Siddall 22:41; 54 Richard  Butterwick 23:55; 57 Bev Wright 24:19; 63 Andrea Marshall 27:03; 66 Myra Wells 28:21; 75 Ian Stansfield 34:33.

Robin Tuddenham finished first at the weekly Burnley parkrun on Saturday, recording 17:45 for the 5km route in Towneley Park.

Towneley Park was also the focus for the Towneley 10k on Sunday with Richard Butterwick completing the new course based upon the former Cliviger 6 route in 48:25 and Myra Wells in 1:01:31.

Manchester Marathon | Highlander Mountain Marathon | Three Peaks

Pics by Cannonball & Tudds

Todmorden Harriers’ focus was very much on longer distances at the weekend.

A trio of Todmorden runners were in magical form at the Manchester Marathon, with all three setting personal bests for the distance.

Jon Wright was at the sharp end of the 7000 runners, finishing with the 15th fastest time of the day at 2:39:33. Andy McFie completed the 26.2 mile course in 3:10:57 for 387th place.

Julie Wyant improved her marathon time considerably to 3:52:55 for 2112th position.

Todmorden Harriers achieved further success at the two day Highlander Mountain Marathon in Scotland.

Phil Hodgson and Dwane Dixon finished 3rd pair in the Score Class and first veteran team. Mandy Goth and Sue Roberts finished second ladies pair, also in the score class.

In the ‘A’ class, Ben Crowther finished in 8th position overall, partnering Jon Underwood of Calder Valley Fell Runners.


Five Harriers were in the Yorkshire Dales, for the Three Peaks Race. The 24 mile route took in the summits of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-Y-Ghent.

Craig Stansfield finished in 56th place in a time of 3:39:02, followed by Peter Bowles in 182nd with a time of 4:03:51.

Phil Cook and Mel Blackhurst crossed the finish line together, tying for 470th position with the same time of 4:47:43 and Elise Milnes finished in 5:05:47 for 590th place.


On the shorter side of running, Ian Stansfield completed his 50th parkrun, at the 5km Burnley parkrun on Saturday, representing a total of 250km of running at the free weekly events.

On Tuesday evening at the Hilary Craft 5k at Healey near Rochdale, Ian had finished in 30th place, with James Riley 10th and Myra Wells in 24th position over the multi terrain course.

Preston Half | Snowdonia Marathon | Yorkshire Coast 10k | OMM

Todmorden Harrier’s Club Road Championship was back on the agenda, but it was the recently crowned Club Fell Champion who was leading the way for the club at the Preston Guild Half Marathon.


Nick Barber recorded a time of 1:19:02 as he finished in 9th place out of over 2300 runners, in wet and windy conditions on Sunday.

Martin Stork continued his return from injury with 26th place, followed by Paul Alexander in 135th place.

Mel Robertson was the sole Todmorden lady, finishing 3rd in her age category.

Todmorden Results: 9 Nick Barber 1:19:02; 26 Martin Stork 1:24:31; 135 Paul Alexander 1:35:13; 244 Guy Whitmore 1:40:44; 302 Phil Cook 1:43:14; 467 Mel Robertson 1:48:34; 693 Nigel Hanson 1:53:44; 1107 Peter Ehrhardt 2:01:33.

In the simultaneously held Guild event, Joe Daniels took on the full Marathon distance and finished 125th in a time of 3:24:01.



A trio of Harriers were in Wales for the Snowdonia Marathon, with Darren Graham completing the 26 mile circular route around the base of Mount Snowdon in 3:40:07, whilst Julie Wyant finished in 4:24:24 and Elise Milnes completed the tough course in 5:12:00.



Robin Tuddenham finished first at the Burnley parkrun, the third different Todmorden Harrier to do so in the last three weeks.



Two Todmorden runners enjoyed a weekend double starting with the Sewerby parkrun on the cliffs above Bridlington on Saturday, with Richard Butterwick finishing first and Myra Wells in 20th place.

The following day they joined 1200 runners for the Yorkshire Coast 10k in Scarborough, with Richard crossing the line in 40:22 in 74th position and Myra stopping the clock at 57:30 in 805th place.



At the OMM Mountain Marathon, several Todmorden Harriers took on the two day navigational test in the Howgill Hills, with particularly challenging conditions on the second day.

Phil Hodgson teamed up with Calder Valley Fell Runner Phil Scarf to finish in 3rd place in the long class and first veteran pair, just ahead of Dwane Dixon and Ben Crowther who were fifth overall.

Mandy Goth and Sue Roberts finished first female pair and 35th overall, with John Crummett and Kath Brierley in 78th position, and 5th mixed vets, and Dave and Helen Wilson in 83rd place, and 6th mixed vets.

Trevor Smith teamed up with Dave Prentice in the medium class for 93rd position overall and 11th veteran pair.

British Fell and Hill Relay | Burnley parkrun

Todmorden Harriers sent three teams to Shropshire for the British Fell and Hill Relays at the weekend.


The relay was made up of four legs, two run solo and two run in pairs.

Todmorden ladies finished in a respectable 10th position, with Sarah May on leg 1 and Lauren Jeska on leg 4, both posting the 4th fastest ladies times on their respective legs.

The men’s A team finished in 25th place with the men’s B team running them close at times, to finish in 64th position overall.



Jackson Cowie was first finisher at Burnley parkrun on Saturday with a time of 18:44, with Jack Crummett finishing in 6th place with a time of 19:27.

Kevin Coughlan just edged out Keith Parkinson as they crossed the line in 22:06 and 22:08 respectively, as all four Harriers set new best times for the 5km Towneley Park course.

Moel Wnion | Jungfrau Marathon | Yorkshireman Marathon | Burnley parkrun



Photo by Jim Smith

 Lauren Jeska sealed her first British Fell Championship with a win at the final race in Wales. Lauren needed to overhaul Calder Valley’s Helen Fines in the standings, and quickly established a lead on the Moel Wnion race, and went on to win with a new ladies course record of 43:40.


In the men’s race, Dan Taylor finished in 55:43 for 76th place.

Photo by Bev Wright

A trio of Todmorden runners were in Switzerland for the Jungfrau Marathon, which follows a mainly uphill mountainous route in the shadow of the Eiger.

Jon Wright completed the course in 3:53:49, with Andrew Horsfall finishing in 4:55:38 and James Riley in 5:38:33.



Closer to home, at Haworth, Joe Daniels finished in 22nd place at the Yorkshireman Marathon in 4:28:57 and Elise Milnes was 104th with a time of 5:32:58.

In the 15 mile ‘half’ marathon Lucy Hobbs was 88th completed the course in 2:30:46 and Paul Cruthers crossed the line in 2:44:25 for 129th place.



Todmorden’s youngster’s were setting the pace for the club at Burnley parkrun, with Jackson Cowie finishing in 5th place, Jack Crummett in 15th, Henry Antemes in 24th and Alex Duffield in 79th place.

Burnley parkrun | Cliviger 6

Todmorden Harriers claimed the first two places at Burnley parkrun on Saturday, with Nick Barber finishing first and Paul Hobbs in second place.


Nick was clear on his own as he recorded a time of 17:44 for the free timed 5k run that is held every week in Towneley Park.

Paul had more company and faced a tough battle to claim second spot in 18:52, with Trevor Davis finishing in 19:11 for sixth place.

Maria Prescott completed the distance in 23:02 to finish seventh lady, with Bev Wright finishing ninth lady in 25:24, as they both recorded new best times for the course.

Ian Stansfield crossed the line in 37:51 for 92nd place.


The Harriers headed back to Burnley the following day, for the Cliviger 6 mile road race.

Maria Prescott finished seventh lady once again, as she claimed the v45 prize in 42:53 for 56th overall.

Kevin Coughlan was 75th in 45:23, followed by Elise Milnes finishing first v50 in 49:32.

Peter Ehrhardt stopped the clock at 53:53 for 120th, with Graham Milnes finishing in 129th position in a time of 56:42.


The Crow Hill Reverse Fell Race takes place on Tuesday 7th August starting at 7:30pm, with registration at Mytholmroyd Community Centre.

Entry on the night for the 5 mile race is £3:50 with all proceeds going to Ovarian Cancer Action. There will also be a raffle on the night, with proceeds being donated to the Flood Relief Fund.

Wadsworth Jubilee Fell Race | Burnley parkrun

The Wadsworth Jubilee Fell Race suffered the worst of the weekend weather on Sunday, but that didn’t stop over 50 runners taking to the hills above Hebden Bridge.


The 5 mile course followed an anticlockwise loop up and around High Brown Knoll.

Calder Valley’s Tim Black won in a time of 30:54 ahead of Holmfirth’s Alistair Rees.

Ivan Gee was the first Todmorden runner in third place, with Paul Hobbs in fifth place.

Calder Valley’s Holly Page was the first lady in 34:47, with Todmorden’s Sue Roberts finishing fifth lady.

Todmorden Results: 3 Ivan Gee 32.50; 5 Paul Hobbs 34.22; 23 Lee McCluskey 40.24; 31 Phil Cook 42.05; 36 David Leslie 44.57; 42 Sue Roberts 48.35; 43 Peter Ehrhardt 48.40; 50 Reg Czudek 51.25.



In the earlier junior races, two Todmorden runners Jack Crummett and Henry Antemes enjoyed a close battle in the U14 boy’s race with Jack eventually crossing the line ahead of his team mate.

Wadsworth Photos by Sally Baines...



On Saturday, eight Harriers attended the first Burnley parkrun event in Towneley Park. The venue is the latest addition to the parkrun family of free 5k runs that take place every Saturday at 9am.

First Harrier to finish in third place in a time of 17:17 was Robin Tuddenham, who then added a first place at the Jubilee parkrun at Wythenshawe Park on the Monday.

Dan Taylor was next to complete the distance in 16th, with Richard Butterwick in 22nd and Keith Parkinson in 40th position.

Andrea Marshall was the first of three Todmorden ladies, finishing in 75th place, ahead of Louise Abdy in 81st and Myra Wells 107th place.

Ian Stansfield finished in 110th of the 120 runners to complete the club’s contingent.