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.

Ennerdale Horseshoe | Hebden Bridge Fell Race | Otley 10

Todmorden Harriers’ Ladies won the team prize at the English Fell Championships on Saturday. The Ennerdale Horseshoe Fell Race was the third of the six races that make up the championship, and was also the longest at 23 miles, with over 7,500 feet of ascent and descent. Starting and finishing at Ennerdale Scout Camp the epic route travelled over the many peaks surrounding Ennerdale Water, with warm weather adding to the challenge.

Lauren Jeska maintained her challenge for a medal with 5th place, in what is unfolding as one of the most competitive ladies championships in recent years. The next counter is in a fortnight with the first short race in the series at Sedburgh, but the destiny of the medals is not likely to be settled until the final race in September.

Jane Leonard continued her comeback from injury with 15th place, and 2nd V50, with Sarah Warburton and Kath Brierley the other victorious team prize winners.

Rob Jebb of Bingley won the men’s race, holding off Dark Peak’s fast finishing Lloyd Taggart. Jon Wright was Todmorden’s first counter in 14th, with Alistair Rhodes-Dawson and Nick Barber in 61st and 67th respectively.

Todmorden Results: 14 Jonathan Wright 4:03:02; 61 Alastair Rhodes-Dawson 4:36:38; 67 Nick Barber 4:40:16; 74 Lauren Jeska 4:44:25; 108 Oz Kershaw 5:02:04; 136 Phil Hodgson 5:13:00; 137 Dave Collins 5:14:04; 151 Clive Greatorex 5:19:11; 157 Jane Leonard 5:22:42; 195 Sarah Warburton 5:38:16; 221 Kath Brierley 5:48:05; 239= Ben Crowther 5:55:56; 239= Richard Leonard 5:55:56; 247 Kevin Booth 5:59:36; 267= Louise Abdy 6:47:45; 278 David Wilson 7:28:23.

The Hebden Bridge Fell Race, organised by Todmorden Harriers, took place in cool and breezy conditions last Thursday evening. Starting and finishing at Calder Holmes Park the 5.8 mile race followed a looping route over Erringdon Moor up to Stoodley Pike taking in 1150 feet of ascent.

The race quickly developed into a two way battle between Calder Valley’s Karl Gray and Alex Whittem, with Gray eventually pulling out a 40 second lead on the descent to win in a new course record time of 42:41.

Todmorden’s Sean Carey finished in 4th place narrowly losing out to Pudsey’s Colin Walker in their race long tussle for 3rd. Paul Hobbs was the next Harrier in 8th with Peter Bowles in 14th.

Chris Preston finished 2nd lady and Patsy Reilly 3rd lady for Todmorden behind Calder Valley’s Jackie Scarf.

The club’s final summer fell race is the 3.5 mile Stoodley Pike Fell Race, which takes place on Tuesday 6th July.

Todmorden Results: 4 Sean Carey 44.49; 8 Paul Hobbs 48.03; 14 Peter Bowles 50.32; 18 Martin Roberts 53.36; 22 Paul Brannigan 55.14; 28 Paul Cotton 55.47; 32 Deon Bamford 56.35; 34 Lee McCluskey 57.03; 37 Peter Clarke 57.18; 38 Andrew Bibby 57.29; 40 Paul Cruthers 57.42; 45 Richard Blakeley 60.36; 52 Chris Preston 61.58; 54 Derek Donohue 62.27; 60 Patsy Reilly 66.42.


On Tuesday, the latest round of the club’s Road Championship took place, with the Otley 10. Six Harriers tackled the 10 mile undulating scenic route with Paul Brannigan first Harrier home. Mel Blackhurst was next ahead of Nigel Hanson and 1st V65 Moira Parfitt. Mel Siddall was next to finish with Ian Stansfield completing the club entry.