Bluebell Trail | Coiners Fell Race | Cake Race | Hambledon Hill

The Bluebell Trail Race on Sunday was the third of Todmorden Harriers Trail Championship fixtures and attracted a good turnout from the club, on a day when Stockport Harrier Andi Jones set a new course record of 59:17 with a winning margin of over 6 minutes.


Paul Brannigan finished in 10th place with a time of 1:11:24, out of the 400 entrants, and also was first v45.

A quartet of Harriers then finished within a minute of each other, headed by Ben Crowther. He was closely followed by Ivan Gee, Darren Tweed and Robert Gray.
Richard Blakeley claimed the first v70 prize, with Moyra Parfitt winning the women’s v65 prize.

Todmorden Results: 10 Paul Brannigan 1:11:24; 34 Ben Crowther 1:17:25; 37 Ivan Gee 1:18:00; 38 Darren Tweed 01:18:05; 40 Robert Gray 1:18:17; 49 Trevor Davis 1:19:34; 64 Michael Harper 1:22:51; 94 Andy Glyde 1:26:50; 104 Paul Cotton 1:28:18; 128 Lee McCluskey 1:32:15; 129 Paul Cruthers 1:32:16; 155 Mark Williams 1:35:06; 173 Richard Blakeley 1:37:08; 204 David Leslie 1:40:13; 208 Issy Pollard 1:40:53; 273 Helen Wilson 1:49:00; 279 Peter Ehrhardt 1:49:49; 285 Moyra Parfitt 1:50:54.


Paul Hobbs finished fourth at the Coiners Fell Race in Mytholmroyd on Monday, with Claire Duffield finishing fifth lady.
Todmorden Juniors were also out in force, with Jack Crummett finishing in second place in the under 16’s race.

Alex Duffield went one better as he finished first in the under eight’s race, closely followed by Joseph Hobbs in 3rd place. Oonagh Brooks was the next Harrier across the line as she finished 5th girl.

Under 8’s: 1 Alex Duffield 5:02; 3 Joseph Hobbs 5:12; 14 Oonagh Brooks 6:53; 15 Euan Logue 6:54; 17 Noah Lane 7:09; 18 Ben Julian 7:10; 20 George McFie 7:13; 21 Flo Fortune Bayliss 7:46; 22 Rachel Davis 7:59; 23 Jasmine Gale 8:00; 24 Mia Wharfedale 8:21; 26 Isaac Lane 8:28; 27 Gretel Wolfendale 9:25; 28 Ptolemy Gregory 9:48.

Under 10’s: 19 Maebh Logue 3:53; 22 Thea Crowther 4:17; 23 Sam Fortune Bayliss 4:35; 26 Katie Crowther 9:16.


A trio of Todmorden runners took part in Davina Raidy’s Birthday 5k at Healey, with James Riley finishing in 26th with a time of 22:09. Myra Wells recorded 27:59 for 52nd and Ian Stansfield was 57th in 33:55.

Mick Craven was the sole Harrier at The Cake Race, finishing in 100th place with a time of 1:31:53 for the 10 mile fell race over the Saddleworth Moors.

There was also just one Todmorden Harrier at the first of this year’s Pendle & Burnley Grand Prix fixtures, the Hambledon Hill Fell Race, near Accrington. Kevin Booth completed the 6 mile course in 53:42 for 95th place.

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.

Cliviger 6 | Healey Reservoir 5k

Todmorden Harrier’s Road Championship continued on Sunday with the Cliviger Six. Starting from Mount Lane Sports Field the route began with a stiff climb up Red Lees Road. A gentle downhill then took the runners into and through Towneley Park. More uphill followed as they passed by Towneley Hall and exited the park for an undulating return along Todmorden Road, which led to the last climb back up Red Lees Road to the finish in the sports field.


Jon Wright was the first Harrier to finish in 7th place closely followed by Nick Barber in 9th and Paul Brannigan in 14th. After Martin Stork had crossed the line, a close battle between Mark Anderton, Kevin Booth and Darren Tweed saw just 6 seconds between them at the end.

Maria Prescott finished first Todmorden lady followed by Elise Milnes, who won the first v50 prize, and Mel Robertson.

Todmorden Results: 7 Jon Wright 34:53; 9 Nick Barber 35:09; 14 Paul Brannigan 37:02; 25 Martin Stork 38:38; 38 Mark Anderton 39:44; 39 Kevin Booth 39:47; 40 Darren Tweed 39:50; 72 Richard Butterwick 43:19; 87 Maria Prescott 45:12; 96 Phil Cook 46:24; 112 Elise Milnes 48:39; 117 Melanie Robertson 49:59; 118 Peter Ehrhardt 50:05; 130 David O'Neill 54:57; 131 Graham Milnes 55:11; 141 Myra Wells 1:00:08; 147 Ian Stansfield 1:05:12.

The previous Tuesday had seen five Todmorden Harriers take on the Emily Hughes Healey Reservoir Dash at Whitworth. The 5k multi terrain race included sections of road, rocky track and two laps of the reservoir with Richard Butterwick first Harrier back in 13th place, followed by Peter Ehrhardt in 27th and first v60. Myra Wells was the sole Todmorden lady in 34th, with Ian Stansfield in 39th and Jon Newby in 44th.