Hendon Brook 13.5 Road Race | British Masters 5k Championship

The British Masters 5K road championship attracted the cream of athletes aged 35 to 85 from all over the British Isles. A one mile road circuit was closed off in Horwich town centre to host a range of running, walking and cycling races as part of the Festival of Racing. 

Todmorden Harriers’ sole representative was North Shields born Paul Brannigan who ran his second quickest time ever of 17.02 finishing a creditable 7^th in a race won by another North Shields athlete Guy Bracken in a phenomenal time of 15.47. 

Eight brave (or daft) Tod Harriers raced in the Hendon Brook Road Race, which is just over a half marathon in distance, but contains 2100 feet of ascent. 

The steepest climb, the ‘Lenches’, occurs in the 12^th mile. In the past the Lenches has reduced some leading runners to a crawl on all fours. 

The winner of each category takes home a t-shirt emblazoned with the race profile and 3 Tod athletes won their age category and secured the much prized t-shirt. 

The first 4 harriers swapped places throughout a race that was only settled in the last 3 miles when Sarah Glyde became Tod’s first counter and 1^st lady V40 annihilating her previous best reducing it by 10 minutes to 1 hour 46 minutes. 

Glyde was followed by Michael Harper in 1:47, 1^st lady V45 Mel Blackhurst in 1:48 and Richard Butterwick in a personal best 1:49. 

English Fell Champion Richard Blakeley took the men’s V70 prize.

Hendon Brook Results:

44th Sarah Glyde 01:46:46

45th Michael Harper 01:47:23

49th Mel Blackhurst 01:48:30

53^rd Richard Butterwick 01:49:36

84^th Kevin Coughlan 02:02:05

92nd David Leslie 02:05:00

100th Richard Blakeley 02:10:11

114th Moyra Parfitt 02:21:15

Todmorden Harriers welcome and look after runners of all ability. Check out www.todharriers.co.uk for details.

By PB

Otley 10 | Buckden Pike | Cwm Pennant | Holcombe Two Towers | Cannonball Relay | Hendon Brook

The Otley 10 formed the latest round of Todmorden Harriers’ Road Championship last Wednesday.

Trevor Davies was the first Todmorden runner to complete the tough hilly course in 31^st position with a time of 1:04:39, followed by Ben Crowther in 65^th and Michael Harper in 87^th place.

Sarah Glyde recorded a time of 1:13:14 to finish ninth lady and strengthen her place at the top of the ladies standings.

Richard Blakeley finished first v70 with a time of 1:20:10.

Todmorden Results: 31 Trevor Davis 1:04:39; 65 Ben Crowther 1:08:57; 87 Michael Harper 1:10:27; 115 Paul Alexander 1:12:52; 123 Sarah Glyde 1:13:14; 177 Lee McCluskey 1:18:20; 195 Richard Blakeley 1:20:10; 269 David Leslie 1:27:17; 298 Peter Ehrhardt 1:31:45.
 

Photo by Anna Brannigan

The latest round of the English Fell Championship took place at the weekend, with the Buckden Pike Fell Race in the Yorkshire Dales.

In the ladies race Jane Leonard was the only Todmorden representative as she finished 3^rd v55 lady, and 50^th overall.

Dwayne Dixon was the first Harrier home in the subsequent men’s race, finishing in 71^st position, followed by John Lloyd and Nick Barber who were separated by just a few seconds as they finished 88^th and 89^th.

Richard Blakeley finished third v70 to keep in the running for a championship medal.

Todmorden Men’s Results: 71 Dwayne Dixon 37:48; 88 John Lloyd 38:41; 89 Nick Barber 38:47; 155 Dave Collins 43:26; 177 Garry Quested 44:27; 219 Mark Whitaker 47:30; 252 Richard Blakeley 51:18; 268 Ray Poulter 57:04; 276 Peter Ehrhardt 59:46.

 

Lauren Jeska finished first woman in the Cwm Pennant Horseshoe Fell Race in North Wales, recording 3:07:29 for the 24km race.

At the Holcombe Two Towers Fell Race James Riley completed the 5 mile route in 43:45 for 31^st position, whilst Clare Kenny claimed the v50 prize with a time of 47:05 and 43^rd place overall.

 At the Cannonball Hill Roller Relay Myra Wells, Ian Stansfield and Jackie Hesketh finished second team.

Mel Blackhurst finished fifth lady at the Hendon Brook 13.5mile road race with a time of 1.53.52 and Kevin Coughlan stopped the clock at 1.58.20.

Whicken Hill Whizz | Hendon Brook

Nick Barber was the highest placed Todmorden Harrier at the Midsummer Madness Series, as the men’s team snatched the team prize on the final day. The three race series, organised by Calder Valley Fell Runners, comprises of three fell races held on consecutive days.

The first race on Friday evening, from Mytholmroyd, was the Whicken Hill Whizz, a steep 3 mile climb up to Sheepstones trig point and back.

Calder Valley’s Ben Mounsey took the win in 20:05, half a minute ahead of club mate Alex Whittem.

Todmorden’s Sean Carey held off a strong challenge from Calder Valley’s Max Wharton to finish in 3rd place.

Nick Barber was the next Todmorden runner in 8th, just ahead of Dwane Dixon in 9th. A further three Harriers made it into the top fifteen with Alistair Rhodes-Dawson in 12th, Paul Hobbs 13th and Paul Brannigan 15th.

Sarah May finished 1st lady in 25:33, with Helen Hodgkinson and Chris Preston finishing 8th and 9th ladies.


On Saturday, the 7 mile Reservoir Bogs also was something of a mental test as well as physical, as the runners were only handed a map of the checkpoints at the start and were faced with the decision as to which route to take between them.

Ben Crowther was the first Harrier to finish in 12th, with Paul Hobbs in 13th. Nick Barber crossed the line in 15th despite adding to the difficultly by losing his map part way round, to finish the day in 4th place for the series.

Helen Hodgkinson was Todmorden’s first lady finisher in 10th, with Elise Milnes navigating herself round as 13th lady.

The 4 mile Tom Tittiman Fell Race on Sunday marked the final race in the series and Nick Barber was once again the first Todmorden man in 4th place, lifting him into 3rd place for the series overall.

Paul Hobbs finished 7th and Ben Crowther 8th which meant they finished the series in 5th and 6th respectively to take the series team prize.

Darren Graham and Marcel Ellison also completed the series in 7th and 8th overall.

Helen Hodgkinson finished the final race as 12th lady, taking her into 6th lady for the series.


Whicken Hill Whizz 2011 Results...  Reservoir Bogs Results... Tom Tittiman Results...

Midsummer Madness overall standings...

Whicken Hill Whizz Photos...


The 13.5 mile Hendon Brook road race also took place on Sunday, attracting several Todmorden Harriers to the tough hilly course near Colne.


Salford’s Tom Cornthwaite was in a class of his own as he completed the route in 1:19:04, over 7 minutes ahead of the next runner.

John Lloyd led the way for Todmorden in 5th place in 1:30:29, with Paul Brannigan in 11th place, and first v45, and Martin Stork in 15th.

Mel Blackhurst crossed the line in 1:53:28 for 3rd lady, with Sarah Glyde 5th lady. Chris Preston finished strongly taking 14th lady just ahead of Elise Milnes. Moyra Parfitt finished first vet 65.

Hendon Brook 2011 Results...

Midsummer Madness [Whicken Hill Whizz, Reservoir Bogs,Tom Tittiman] | Hendon Brook 13.5

Todmorden Harriers were well represented at the Midsummer Madness Series, organised by Calder Valley Fell Runners, with five Harriers completing all three races, which took place on consecutive days. Starting from Mytholmroyd on Friday evening the opening race was 3 mile Whicken Hill Whizz, a steep climb up to the Sheepstones trig point and back down.

Sean Carey finished in 4th, and 1st U18, for the Harriers with Paul Hobbs in 9th and Jackson Cowie 14th, and 1st U16. Todmorden Ladies added another team prize, with Jane Leonard 3rd lady, Fiona Armer 7th and Louise Abdy 9th.

The following day saw a move to Chiserley for the 7.5 mile Reservoir Bogs race, which was also a counter in the club’s fell championship. The race route was unmarked and runners did not find out the location of the checkpoints until the morning of the race. They were then faced with a quick decision as to which route to take between the checkpoints.

This time it was the turn of the Todmorden Men to take the team prize with Jon Wright in 2nd, Andrew Wrench in 4th and Andrew Horsfall in 7th.

The ladies finished 2nd team with Chris Preston 3rd lady, Jane Leonard 4th and Louise Abdy 8th, leading the way. Sean Carey continued his challenge as he won the U18 race.

The final race on Sunday was the 4 mile Tom Tittiman Race from Chiserley, with Sean Carey finishing 3rd to take the Series U18 win and new Harrier Robin Tuddenham made a flying start with the club in 7th. Paul Hobbs finished 11th to place him 3rd in the senior Series ahead of Ben Crowther in 5th.

Jane Leonard finished the ladies Series in 3rd, with Fiona Armer narrowly pipping Louise Abdy for 6th.

On Sunday, the 13.5 mile Hendon Brook road race was a counter for the club’s Road Championship. The hilly race is highly rated as one of the most scenic, and toughest, races and despite a change of date this year once again was run in hot and sunny conditions.

Darren Tweed and Kevin Booth ran a close race with Darren eventually crossing the line in 1:44:30, a half minute ahead of his team mate as they finished 32nd and 33rd respectively.

Keith Parkinson was the next Harrier in 51st with Mel Blackhurst just behind, winning the FV45 category. Elise Milnes finished 2nd LV50, followed by Nigel Hanson and Ian Stansfield 1st V65.