Rochdale 10k | Cragg Vale Fell Race | Helen Windsor 10k

There was a good turnout of twenty-one Todmorden Harriers at the Rochdale 10k last week, with heavy rain throughout failing to dampen the spirits of the 340 runners.

John Lloyd was the first Harrier to finish in 5^th place with a time of 35:28, followed by Robin Tuddenham in 10^th place in 36:21.

Trevor Davies was the next Todmorden man across the line in 24^th position, with Michael Harper 48^th and Rob Gray in 56^th place.

Sarah Glyde improved on her best time for the distance to finish 6^th woman overall, and first v35.

Jane Leonard made a rare foray onto the roads to finish 41^st woman, followed by Helen Wilson 49^th woman.

Richard Blakeley claimed the first v70 prize for the club.

Todmorden results: 5 John Lloyd 35:28; 10 Robin Tuddenham 36:21; 24 Trevor Davis 37:58; 48 Michael Harper 40:34; 56 Robert Gray 40:57; 93 Sarah Glyde 42:57; 146 Phil Cook 46:44; 155 Paul Cruthers 47:04; 156 Richard Blakeley 47:09; 178 Richard Leonard 48:18; 218 Jane Leonard 50:30; 219 Richard Butterwick 50:38; 230 Helen Wilson 51:26; 249 Nigel Hanson 52:34; 252 David Wilson 52:41; 253 David Leslie 52:44; 277 Ray Poulter 55:28; 280 Jilly Davidson 55:31; 284 Moyra Parfitt 55:45; 299 Louise Abdy 58:22; 305 Myra Wells 59:19.

 

The following evening saw Robin Tuddenham lead home another sizeable Todmorden contingent at the Cragg Vale Fell Race, finishing in 8^th position in a time of 31:47 for the 4 mile course.

He was followed over the line by Peter Bowles in 15^th place and Jack Crummett in 21^st place, and first under-16 runner, taking the men into 3^rd placed team.

Todmorden’s women were in dominant mood, easily winning the team prize with Gemma Ford in first place and Rebecca Patrick in third place, and first v40, and Clare Harris fifth woman, and first v50.

Todmorden results: 8 Robin Tuddenham 31:47; 15 Peter Bowles 32:37; 21 Jack Crummett 33:59; 26 David Baldaro 34:30; 27 Dave Collins 34:41; 40 Gemma Ford 36:08; 41 Andrew Bibby 36:13; 57 Rebecca Patrick 39:45; 73 Clare Harris 41:42; 78 Elise Milnes 42:33; 81 Graham Milnes 42:59; 98 Peter Ehrhardt 47:34; 104 Reg Czudek 52:04. 

Two Todmorden runners tackled the hilly Helen Windsor 10k, with David Leslie finishing in 106^th and Ian Stansfield in 151^st place. 

Photo courtesy of woodentops.org.uk

On Saturday, the weather had taken a warmer and dryer turn for the 6 mile Heptonstall Festival Fell Race, making for a tough race. 

After leading early on in the race Nick Barber had to settle for fifth position, with full results yet to be published.

Woodentop's Heptonstall Photos... and more
 

At the two day Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon, Sue Roberts teamed up with daughter Annie to finish 3^rd women’s pair.

Stoodley Pike Fell Race | Helen Windsor 10k | Heptonstall Festival Fell Race | Arrochar Alps

The Stoodley Pike Fell Race on Tuesday attracted a field of 165 runners to the 5km course, with Ian Holmes of Bingley Harriers winning in a time of 19:46 despite wet conditions.


Andrew Wrench was the first Todmorden runner in sixth place, closely followed by Ivan Gee in eighth place, with Trevor Davis finishing in 46th position.

Gemma Kendall was the first Todmorden lady in 67th overall, followed by Hatty Nylan and Sarah Warburton.

Todmorden Results: 6 Andrew Wrench 20.47; 8 Ivan Gee 21.21; 46 Trevor Davis 25.23; 67 Gemma Kendall 27.03; 81 Garry Quested 27.41; 82 Hatty Nylan 27.45; 99 Sarah Warburton 28.55; 114 Peter Clarke 29.34; 117 John Medcalfe 29.41; 124 Maria Prescott 30.12; 132 John Preston 30.52; 136 Kevin Coughlan 31.17; 151 Peter Marshall 33.44.



The following evening saw drier but humid conditions for the Helen Windsor 10km road race at Greetland.

John Lloyd led the way for the club in fourth position, followed by Paul Brannigan and Trevor Davis.

Sarah Glyde finished fifth lady, taking home the v35 prize and Maria Prescott was sixth lady, winning the v45 prize. Mel Robertson held off a challenge from Elise Milnes as they finished second and third v50 respectively.

Todmorden Results: 4 John Lloyd 36:08; 17 Paul Brannigan 39:28; 19 Trevor Davis 39:39; 44 Darren Tweed 42:55; 52 Richard Butterwick 43:48; 54 Paul Alexander 43:57; 57 Sarah Glyde 44:26; 65 Andy Glyde 45:42; 69 Maria Prescott 46:14; 89 Phil Cook 48:15; 114 Richard O'Sullivan 50:21; 119 Melanie Robertson 50:58; 126 Elise Milnes 51:30; 136 Fiona Armer 52:30; 143 Julie Wyant 53:28; 148 Ray Poulter 55:01; 155 Moyra Parfitt 56:06; 169 Peter Ehrhardt 58:19; 177 Graham Milnes 59:09; 207 Ian Stansfield 1:14:39.

The Heptonstall Festival Fell Race on Saturday was blessed with blue skies and sunshine.

Andrew Wrench was first Todmorden runner back in fifth position, with Dave Collins in 23rd position ahead of close battle between Joe Daniels and Clive Greatorex who finished 32nd and 34th respectively.

Kath Brierley was the sole Todmorden lady, finishing fifth lady on the day.

Todmorden Results: 5 Andrew Wrench 54:03; 23 Dave Collins 1:01:20; 32 Joe Daniels 1:04:33; 34 Clive Greatorex 1:04:59; 56 Garry Quested 1:11:09; 65 Kath Brierley 1:12:59; 85 Paul Cruthers 1:18:37; 109 Reg Czudek 1:38:18.



Further afield several Harriers were in attendance at the Arrochar Alps Fell Race in Scotland, the latest round of the British Fell Championships, with Lauren Jeska keeping her medal hopes alive with a third place in the ladies race.

Stoodley Pike Fell Race | Ras Yr Aran [British Champs] | Heptonstall Festival Fell Race

Todmorden Harriers claimed both the men’s and ladies team prizes at the Stoodley Pike Fell Race last Tuesday.

The 3 mile race successfully dodged the showers to start under a rainbow. The runners tackled the tough climb up Long Causeway and travelled along the ridge to Stoodley Pike. A nerve testing steep descent to London Road followed, before a fast flat return to the finish at the Top Brink Inn.

Ilkley’s Tom Adams established an early lead on the climb and held it to the end, to finish in 19:09.
Calder Valley’s Max Wharton crossed the line 30 seconds behind for second place, and first under-18, just ahead of last year’s winner Alex Whittem.

Jon Wright was the first Harrier in 6th place, and first vet40, with Sean Carey in 8th place. Todmorden took the team prize with Dwane Dixon in 10th and John Lloyd in 11th place making up the winning quartet.

Todmorden’s Lauren Jeska repeated her win from last year in the ladies race, ahead of Tara Krzywicki of Accrington and Anne Johnson of Calder Valley.

Gemma Kendall finished in 4th and Hatty Nylan in 9th as the ladies narrowly won the team prize from Calder Valley and Accrington, with all three clubs having their three counting runners in the top ten.

Todmorden Results: 6 Jon Wright 20.41; 8 Sean Carey 20.58; 10 Dwane Dixon 21.21; 11 John Lloyd 21.34; 13 Alastair Rhodes-Dawson 21.40; 21 Lauren Jeska 22.36; 40 Marcel Ellison 24.08; 54 Dan Taylor 25.14; 58 Gemma Kendall 25.28; 93 Mick Craven 27.01; 97 Hatty Nylan 27.23; 136 Jane Leonard 29.30; 138 Matt Edwards 29.38; 177 Louise Abdy 36:00.

Stoodley Pike Fell Race Results 2011...

Stoodley Pike Photos...

Todmorden posted a strong showing at Saturday’s British Championship Fell Race in Wales. The second race in this year’s championship was the Ras Yr Aran near Bala.

Todmorden ladies finish 3rd team to repeat their result from round one in Northern Ireland and keep hopes high of a team medal this year, with two races remaining.

Lauren Jeska finished 4th lady in 1:44:32, with Jane Leonard and Kath Brierley crossing the line together for 27th and 28th places and Sue Roberts completing the course for 42nd lady.

Jon Wright led a strong showing from the men with 1:33:46 taking him into 31st place, with Alistair Rhodes Dawson in 39th. Nick Barber finished in 53rd with John Lloyd one place behind.

Todmorden Results: 31 Jon Wright 1:33:46; 39 Alistair Rhodes-Dawson 1:37:12; 53 Nick Barber 1:41:05; 54 John Lloyd 1:42:11; 67 Lauren Jeska 1:44:32; 122 James Riley 2:04:01; 161 Jane Leonard 2:14:40; 162 Kath Brierley 2:14:40; 164 Richard Leonard 2:15:56; 190 Sue Roberts 2:31:40.

Ras Yr Aran Results...

Ras Yr Aran Al Tye Photos(up)... Photos (down)

Graham Spencer's Yr Aran Photos..

Closer to home on Saturday the inaugural Heptonstall Festival Fell Race attracted over 90 runners to its 6 mile testing course.


Todmorden’s Sean Carey set the pace and won the race in 53:01, with Paul Hobbs in 8th and Ben Crowther in 9th, allowing Todmorden to also win the team prize.

Hatty Nylan finished 8th lady and Louise Abdy 13th lady.

Todmorden Results: 1 Sean Carey 53:01; 8 Paul Hobbs 56:11; 9 Ben Crowther 56:21; 20 Shaun Pickard 59:32; 30 Jeff Walker 1:01:56; 32 Duncan Ritchie 1:02:10; 62 (lady 8) Hatty Nylan 1:11:40; 67 Richard Butterwick 1:14:00; 86 (lady 13) Louise Abdy 1:31:04.

Hepstonstall Festival Fell Race Results...

From Azerbaijan to Heptonstall – Festival Fell Race wins friends far and wide

by Steve Grimley...

Another bumper Heptonstall turnout saw Todmorden Harriers take local honours in first ever Heptonstall Festival Fell Race on Saturday. The race was conceived by local runners Heptonstall Hurriers to support the Heptonstall village festival and was the result of a tremendous community effort as friends, neighbours, and families pulled together to act as marshals, time keepers, and race officials. An informal running group comprised of local Tod Harriers and Calder Valley members, the Hurriers were delighted at the success of the race having planned the event only 4 weeks earlier. Featuring 1500 feet of ascent the race was specifically designed to qualify for Fell Running’s “Category A” status, the highest difficultly level in the sport. The challenging route helped to attract a field of 93 runners from across the region, with many runners travelling from as far afield as Kent and Leicestershire to swell ranks at the White Lion start. 

Photographs by Ed Lister

Stephen Heath took the prize for the furthest flung entrant; travelling from Azerbaijan as the only representative of Baku Hash House Harriers he finished in a creditable 63rd place. The BP employee used to running through the arid badlands of Baku oil fields, in temperatures topping 40’C, noticed the Heptonstall Fell Race website and decided to include the race in his preparations for his up coming ultra marathon in the High Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. The Hash House Harrier, based in Baku since 2004, was full of praise the event, “I was back in the UK for a week or two for the birth of my daughter and thought it would be great opportunity to have a go at my first fell race – the whole village festival-fell race format made it a great day out, the route was pretty formidable, but the village and local landscape made it a memorable run. The Calder Valley is a wonderful place with warm and generous people”. Stephen’s wife Rebecca gave birth to their daughter Georgia 5 days before the race, both were on hand to cheer him on as he finished the race in 71 min. The much travelled Hash House Harrier promised he would spread the word of Heptonstall’s new race across the hills and mountains of Central Asia.


Both Calder Valley and Todmorden Harriers were well represented to add friendly local rivalry to the event. Calder Valley had previously dominated proceedings at the inaugral 15 mile Heptonstall Fell Race in March, but Todmorden Harriers turned the tables on their local rivals to take the Festival Honours.

 

As torrential rain gave over to bright sunshine, 17 year old Todmorden Harriers Sean Carey ran a dazzling race to finish in 1st place ahead of Calder Valley’s Andy Thorpe. Leading the field from Heptonstall on the “white knuckle” descent to the Blue Pig, before a 1000 foot ascent to High Brown Knoll, Carey showed he had stamina in his young legs as he skipped up the daunting 500 foot ascent to the finish line, setting a new race record of 53.01mins. The up and coming Todmorden runner has recently won a host of short races, and his victory helped secure team honours for Todmorden as Paul Hobbs and Ben Crowther finished 8th and 9th respectively to out score Calder Valley’s 3 highest placed runners.

 

Some pride was restored for Calder Valley, as Anne Johnson, Gayle Sugden, and Trudi Entwhistle took the ladies team prize. But Calder ladies didn’t have it all their own way as highly talented Holmfirth Harrier Katie Walshaw set a stunning pace to finish first lady beating off many of the stronger male runners to take 7th place overall in the ladies course record of 55.42min.

A number of beginners and none attached runners from the village also ran including new Hurrier Sam Swindells who lent a pair of fell-trainers to run his first ever race.The Manchester University student finished in an impressive 15th place winning the honour of fastest Heptonstall Hurrier (of 10 running either as Hurriers or official clubs).
 

Runners and motorists may have been surprised to be confronted by a troop of clowns marshaling the Draper Corner road crossing as the village volunteers were dressed for the their later roles in the Festival fun; not to be out done, a bunch of leading (but unnamed) Calder Valley clowns were heard to have completely missed the well flagged route to find themselves wading through brambles and nettles to emerge 100 yards short of the official road crossing on Lee Road.

Heptonstall Results: 15  Sam Swindells 57:19; 40 Jo Daniels 1:04:26; 43  Gavin Lee  1:04:53; 47  Chris Cavey  1:06:52; 60  Paul Cruthers 1:10:58.

Heptonstall Festival Fell Race

Beginners encouraged to run to the hills as new Fell Race kicks off Heptonstall Festival by Steve Grimley...

Excitement is building in Heptonstall as the village prepares to stage its second major fell running event of 2011 this Saturday 9th July. Following the success of the epic 15 mile Heptonstall Fell Race in March Heptonstall Hurriers were asked to organise a new short, fun, fell race for Heptonstall Festival.


The Hurriers rose to the challenge, working with land owners, Calder Valley Fell Runners, Todmorden Harriers, plus a host of friends and neighbours to make the new race a reality. Heptonstall Festival Fell Race will kick off a day of family fun including live music, folk dancing, local food, and children’s entertainment.


The 6 mile course should be an instant hit with fell runners, featuring some of the best scenery in the area on little known paths and rights of way; The unusual double-descent format starts at the White Lion Pub with a quick run up the cobbles, followed by a 500 ft descent to the Blue Pig. After the 1000 ft ascent to High Brown Knoll runners turn tail and head back to the Heptonstall the way they came.


Set against the iconic backdrop of Hardcastle Craggs, Heptonstall, and Stoodley Pike, Peckett Well War Memorial is a real highlight. As the race progresses from Peckett Well to the summit of High Brown Knoll runners will be clearly visible from Heptonstall. Standing at 1453 feet, and 120 feet higher than Stoodley Pike, High Brown Knoll and its moorland flanks provide classic fell running, whilst offering festival-goers with binoculars the unique opportunity to monitor the race from the comfort of the finishing field in Town Field Lane. (weather permitting!). The return ascent to Heptonstall should be a real test of runner’s endurance on the final, and steepest climb from Midgehole to Lee Bank.


The race will swell the crowds at the Heptonstall Village Festival, as runners from across the region are expected to join locals on the start line. Race Organisers hope the race will become an annual community event, inspiring local runners, new to fell running, to experience the exhilaration of racing over hills. Beginners will find the route easy to follow, fully flagged, and well marshalled, whilst seasoned fell runners will enjoy the 1500 feet of climbs and descents over wide variety of terrain.


Runners can register from 9.00, race starts at 11.00; followed by prize giving at 12.45 in White Lion Pub. Village gala, food stalls, music, and beer kick off at 12.00. Full details and map; www.heptonstallfestivalrace.org.uk/