Langdale Half | Three Shires | Littleborough 10k | Good Shepherd | Stainland 10k

Todmorden Harriers Road Championship continued with the Great Langdale Half Marathon, with three Harriers making the trip on Saturday.
 

Paul Brannigan put in a strong run to finish first v45 and in third place overall with a time of 1:24:12.
 

Mel Blackhurst was first v45 woman crossing the line in 1:45:37, and Kevin Coughlan completed the demanding hilly course in 1:50:50 for 95^th place.

 

On the same day, the Three Shires Fell Race was taking place just around the corner with misty conditions on the hill tops making for a challenging day.
 

Geoff Read made the most of his navigational skills to finish in 124rd place, just ahead of Jane Leonard and Marcel Ellison as the trio all came in around the 3 hour mark.
 

Phil Hodgson and Richard Leonard followed them a few minutes further back in 132^nd and 135^th respectively.

Steve Pullan then crossed the line in 200^th position and Mandy Goth was just behind in 202^nd place.
 

Todmorden results: 123 Geoff Read 2.59.23; 124 Jane Leonard 2.59.51; 126 Marcel Ellison 3.00.24; 132 Phil Hodgson 3.06.09; 135 Richard Leonard 3.08.28; 200 Stephen Pullan 3.40.10; 202 Mandy Goth 3.43.36.

Closer to home, several Todmorden runners tackled the inaugural Littleborough 10k, which followed a scenic loop along country lanes, including a lap around Hollingsworth Lake.
 

Dwane Dixon and Martin Stork battled to end with Dwane finishing in 8^th position in 39:00, with Martin just 3 seconds behind.
 

Paul Alexander improved his 10k personal best to 41:08 as he finished in 18^th position, followed by Mark Anderton in 34^th with a time of 44:05 and Mick Craven in 43^rd position in 45:42.
 

Karen Gray finished 8^th woman and 67^th overall with a time of 50:59 and Ian Stansfield finished in 110^th place stopping the clock at 1:14:51.
 

Todmorden results: 8 Dwane Dixon 39:00; 9 Martin Stork 39:03; 18 Paul Alexander 41:08; 34 Mark Anderton 44:05; 43 Mick Craven 45:42; 67 Karen Gray 50:59; 110 Ian Stansfield 1:14:51.

Peter Ehrhardt finished first v65 at another new race, the Stainland Trail 10k, completing the hilly course in 1:05:25.

A handful of Harriers were in Mytholmroyd for the Good Shepherd Fell Race, a 14 mile route featuring 2000 feet of climbs including two ascents of Stoodley Pike.

Paul Hobbs finished in 10^th position in 1:54:57, followed by Dan Taylor in 21^st position, stopping the clock just inside 2 hours, at 1:59:54.
 

David Leslie finished in 2:46:01 for 81^st, followed by Sue Roberts in 89^th at 2:58:34 and Reg Czudek was 97^th at 3:42:00.

Robin Tuddenham was a little further afield, as he finished first at the Melbourne parkrun in Australia.

Good Shepherd Fell Race | Leigh Cross Country | Beefy's Nab Fell Race

Todmorden Harriers were in action on several fronts at the weekend.

The Good Shepherd Fell Race attracted over 100 runners to Mytholmroyd on Saturday morning despite the rainy weather. The 14 mile route started from Dauber Bridge and looped around the moors, passing over Stoodley Pike twice and returning via Robin Hood Rocks to the Good Shepherd Centre.

Calder Valley’s James Logue improved on his own course record to win in a time of 1:42:20.

Nick Barber was the first Todmorden runner in 8th place, with Paul Hobbs in 17th place and Dan Taylor in 28th position.

The ladies record was also bettered by Calder Valley’s Anne Johnson, with Mel Blackhurst finishing second lady for Todmorden and Bev Holmes ninth lady.

Todmorden Results: 8 Nick Barber 1:52:54; 17 Paul Hobbs 2:00:52; 28 Dan Taylor 2:11:18; 38 David Baldaro 2:18:33; 40 Melanie Blackhurst 2:19:15; 41 Kevin Booth 2:19:23; 71 Bev Holmes 2:36:05; 101 Julie Wyatt 3:22:18; 102 Moyra Parfitt 3:22:19; 103 Elise Milnes 3:22:20.


On Saturday afternoon Todmorden made a respectable return to the Red Rose Cross Country League with a seventh place for the men’s team at the opening race of the season held at Leigh Sports Village.

The fixture was the first of four in this year’s competition, and was the first time for several years that the club had entered a team. In the men’s race John Lloyd led the way for the club with 19th place, followed by Robin Tuddenham in 26th and Martin Stork in 41st position.

Sean Carey completed the course in 55th, despite a fall, with Ben Crowther in 72nd place. Simon Anderton was 101st, with Richard Butterwick finishing in 135th position.

Kath Brierley completed the ladies 5k course in 31st place, and 3rd v50, with Mel Robertson in 59th position, and 5th v50. Jack Crummett finished 12th in the U13 boys race.


On Sunday, a short trip to a very wet Oxenhope beckoned for Beefy’s Nab Fell Race, which was the final race in the club’s Trail Championship.

Dwane Dixon finished in 4th place, ahead of John Lloyd in 6th place, which was sufficient to keep him at the head of the table and win the Trail Championship.

Hatty Nylan won the ladies race, with Helen Hodgkinson finishing first v40 lady.

Elise Milnes completed the course to be crowned ladies Trail Champion.

Todmorden Results: 4 Dwane Dixon 21:52; 6 John Lloyd 22:11; 15 Dan Taylor 25:35; 19 Peter Clarke 26:27; 24 Hatty Nylan 27:32; 34 Helen Hodgkinson 29:53; 35 Richard Butterwick 31:29; 36 Kevin Coughlan 31:40; 39 Graham Milnes 32:12; 40 Andrea Marshall 32:15; 41 Elise Milnes 32:23; 43 Sue Roberts 32:36; 48 Dave O’Neill 36:46; 49 Kathy Bridger 39:18; 51 Myra Wells 44:52.


Lauren Jeska lined up on the elite women’s start for the Great Yorkshire Run 10k in Sheffield and finished in 5th place in 35:33, only 8 seconds outside a personal best time on a testing course.

Sarah May tackled the Chester Marathon, completing the 26 miles in 3:09:44 to finish 13th lady.

Cowm Reservoir 4.2 | Hades Hill | Good Shepherd | Norland Moor

Todmorden Harriers' Road Championship was back on the agenda this week with the shortest of this year’s counters, the 4.2 mile multi terrain Graham Wright Cowm Reservoir Race at Whitworth on Wednesday.

After living with the early pace of Barnsley’s Shaun Dimelow, who won in a time of 23:23, Jon Wright had to settle for 2nd place in 24:00 with Nick Barber in 5th in 24:41. Paul Brannigan managed to edge in front of Martin Stork as they fought over 13th place to the end.

Mel Robertson was the first Todmorden lady to finish, followed by Myra Wells.

Tod results: 2 J. Wright 24:00; 5 N. Barber 24:41; 13 P. Brannigan 26:51; 14 M. Stork 26:52; 17 D. Tweed 27:45; 21 M. Anderton 28:35; 23 J. Riley 28:46; 31 R. Butterwick 30:07; 43 R. Blakeley 31:42; 67 Melanie Robertson 35:35; 71 N. Hanson 35:49; 74 P. Ehrhardt 37:22; 81 D. O'Neil 38:33; 91 Myra Wells 42:47; 96 I Stansfield 48:49; 98 J. Newby 56:48.


On the other side of the Whitworth valley, Sean Carey put in a strong performance on Thursday at the Hades Hill Fell Race. Organised by Harrier Derek Clutterbuck, the 5 mile route climbed up and over Brown Wardle Hill. After dropping down there was then a further climb to the top of Hades Hill, before a return via the same route to the finish near Lobden Golf Club.

Traditionally the race is the last evening fell race of the summer, and whilst held in pleasant warm sunny conditions, recent rainfall meant there were plenty of boggy patches to negotiate and it was heavy going underfoot at times.

Sean was in control from the steep start up Whitworth Rake, holding his lead throughout to cross the finish line in 34:18, 38 seconds ahead of Steve Smithies of Calder Valley. James Riley was the next Harrier to finish in 26th with Simon Galloway in 29th. Dan Taylor and Richard Butterwick completed the Todmorden men’s turnout in 43rd and 67th respectively.

Mandy Goth was the first Todmorden lady in 76th just ahead of Myra Wells in 78th.


On Saturday, the Good Shepherd Fell Race from Mythomlroyd featured in the club’s Fell Championship. The 14 mile route included over 2000 feet of ascent and runners experienced an unwelcome early drenching from a heavy shower as they climbed up from the start at Dauber Bridge through Spring Wood towards Stoodley Pike. After a loop passing around Withens Clough, a climb up to the Cloven Stone and along Warland Drain, they reached London Road for another climb towards Stoodley Pike again. A long descent into Cragg Vale led to the final climb of the day past Robin Hood Rocks and the long run into the finish at the Good Shepherd in Mytholmroyd.

Won by the host club’s Steve Smithies in 1:57:14, Darren Tweed and Peter Bowles led the Harriers home in 6th and 7th places. Mel Blackhurst was the first lady overall, and along with Jane Leonard and Sue Roberts they won the ladies team prize.

Tod results: 6 Darren Tweed 2:10:55; 7 Peter Bowles 2:12:03; 19 Clive Greatorex 2:19:15; 22 Mick Craven 2:23:29; 27 Melanie Blackhurst 2:27:10; 31 Richard Leonard 2:33:34; 32 Jane Leonard 2:35:59; 34 Richard Blakeley 2:40:50; 35 Paul Carruthers 2:44:11; 42 Sue Roberts 2:52:32; 43 Peter Ehrhardt 2:59:30; 46 Elise Milnes 3:09:03; 47 Moira Parfitt 3:09:06.



It was another local race on Sunday with Halifax Harrier’s Norland Moor Trail Race. The 6.3 mile route started at Copley and climbed through woodland for a circuit around the moor. After a steep descent, runners returned via the Calder riverbank for the run in to the finish.

Robin Tuddenham found the terrain to his liking and finished in 2nd place, and first v40, with Martin Stork and Martin Roberts both finishing in the top 15. After Dan Taylor had crossed the line, Mel Robertson took the honour of being first Todmorden lady ahead of Andrea Marshall.