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.

Three Peaks Fell Race | Manchester Marathon

Todmorden Harriers faced two very different long distance challenges at the weekend.


On Saturday, five Harriers completed the classic Three Peaks Race. The 24 mile route took in the iconic Yorkshire peaks of Ingleborough, Pen Y Ghent and Whernside.

Nick Barber led the way for the club with Dwane Dixon keeping the pressure up all the way round as they finished in 3:38:13 and 3:46:51 respectively.

Peter Bowles completed the course in 4:13:51 with Andy McFie and Ben Crowther following over the line just seconds behind.



Almost 5000 runners braved the heavy rain and strong winds as the Manchester Marathon made a return on Sunday.

John Lloyd finished his first attempt at the marathon distance of 26.2 miles in a time of 2:55:31 for 38th position.

It was also a first marathon for Kevin Coughlan who completed the course in 3:40:41 with Mel Robertson finishing not far behind in 3:41:58, beating her London Marathon time from a year ago by over 30 minutes, to claim 5th vet50 female.

Three Peaks Fell Race | Bluebell Trail 10 | Coiners Fell Race

Jon Wright led the way for Todmorden Harriers at the Three Peaks Fell Race on Saturday, which attracted almost 700 competitors. The 23.3 mile course featured over 5000 feet of climbing as it passed over the summits Pen Y Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.

Jon finished in 12th place overall in a time of 3:13:39, also finishing 2nd vet40. Nick Barber had a strong run to finish in 39th, with Alistair Rhodes Dawson in 74th.

Todmorden Results: 12 Jonathan Wright 3:13:39; 39 Nick Barber 3:29:51; 74 Alastair Rhodes-Dawson 3:40:40; 195 Robin Tuddenham 4:04:23; 259 Paul Hobbs 4:14:03; 266 Andy McFie 4:15:02; 418 Paul Cotton 4:36:37; 618 Elise Milnes 5:09:33.


On Sunday over 20 Harriers took on the Bluebell Trail 10.3 mile race, including Elise Milnes who had completed the Three Peaks race the previous day.

Four hundred runners took on the undulating route along trails and tracks to the south of Halifax, with a shallower than usual river crossing at the finish.

Dwane Dixon was the first Todmorden finisher in 7th, just ahead of John Lloyd in 8th, with Martin Stork completing the course in 39th.

Sarah May was the 3rd lady overall, and together with Mel Blackhurst, first vet45, and Maria Prescott they narrowly missed out on the ladies team prize to Burnden. Moyra Parfitt finished first vet65 to add to the club’s successful day.

Todmorden Results: 7 Dwane Dixon 1:10:53; 8 John Lloyd 1:11:25; 29 Martin Stork 1:16:51; 46 Sarah May 1:21:27; 47 Mark Anderton 1:21:31; 53 Clive Greatorex 1:22:19; 59 Richard Butterwick 1:23:56; 90 Keith Parkinson 1:28:36; 112 Simon Galloway 1:31:02; 115 Melanie Blackhurst 1:31:18; 142 Paul Cruthers 1:34:54; 157 Maria Prescott 1:37:05; 197 Kevin Coughlan 1:41:14; 226 Elise Milnes 1:46:07; 233 Peter Ehrhardt 1:46:51; 241 David Leslie 1:48:32; 254 Moyra Parfitt 1:50:34; 281 Graham Milnes 1:53:28; 283 Rachel Henthorne 1:53:42; 310 David Henthorne 1:58:36; 318 Barry Chapman 1:59:29; 374 Katy Moore 2:10:28.

On Monday, three Harriers tackled the 7 mile Coiners Fell Race from Mytholmroyd, organised by Calder Valley Fell Runners.

The circular route travels through Coiners country as it ascends to Stoodley Pike and back down.

Dave Collins was the first Todmorden man, followed by Martin Roberts and Mick Craven.

In the earlier junior races, which formed part of the Junior English Championships, Sean Carey finished 4th in the U18 race.

Jack Crummett was 19th U14 boy, with Bill Furminger 37th U10. In the U8 race, Ewan Logue was 23rd boy and Thea Crowther 12th girl.

London Marathon | Three Peaks | Bunny Run 3

The streets of London beckoned for Todmorden Harriers on Sunday as a handful of Harriers took part in the London Marathon.
Andy McFie was the first Harrier to complete the course in a time of 3:15:33. Helen Wilson, raising funds for the Ear Foundation, was next to finish in 4:17:14.
Rhys Watkins, 4:26:04, Dan Taylor, 4:28:51, and Carla Williamson, 4:44:33, were Todmorden’s other representatives amongst the 37,000 finishers.

No less of a challenge was faced by four Harriers on Saturday at the Three Peaks Fell Race. The 24 mile route features over 4,500 feet of climb as it passes over the iconic Yorkshire peaks of Pen Y Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.
Peter Bowles was the first to complete the epic in a time of 4:20:12 followed by Paul Cotton in 4:36:43. Elise Milnes was Todmorden’s sole female entrant finishing in 5:08:26 with John Medcalf rounding off the quartet with 5:18:16.

The third Bunny Run last Tuesday saw Martin Stork comfortably lead in the Todmorden contingent in 19:41, with Clive Greatorex, 20:17, just edging out James Riley in 20:26 and Peter Clarke 20:37 respectively. Sarah Warburton was Todmorden’s first lady in 21:34, ahead of Kath Brierley in 22:08 and Andrea Marshall in 26:00. Ian Stansfield completed the club’s entry in 36:28.