Crow Hill Reverse Fell Race | Todmorden 5k | Whittle Pike | Boulsworth | Sierre Zinal

Todmorden Harriers were out in force at the Crow Hill Reverse Fell Race in Mytholmroyd on Tuesday, which attracted a record 123 entries.

Twenty four Harriers tackled the 4.5 mile route with Nick Barber finishing in fourth place in a time of 33:37, with Paul Brannigan in sixth place 15 seconds behind.

A strong descent lifted Dan Taylor into 14th place, a few seconds ahead of Peter Bowles in 15th position, one of many battles between club mates throughout the race.

Richard Blakeley claimed the v70 prize with 73rd place overall.

Todmorden won the women’s team prize, after Clare Harris finished fourth woman, winning the v50 prize in the process, with Jackie Holden in eighth place and Kirsty Pattern crossing the line ninth placed woman.

Race organiser Ali Mills, of Mills Physiotherapy, was pleased to announce that over £700 had been raised for Ovarian Cancer Research.

Todmorden results: 4 Nick Barber 33:37; 6 Paul Brannigan 33:52; 14 Dan Taylor 34:27; 15 Peter Bowles 34:31; 23 Robert Tyson 35:24; 24 Robin Tuddenham 35:34; 26 Trevor Davies 36:23; 29 Dave Collins 36:42; 40 Paul Alexander 39:26; 45 Andrew Bibby 40:43; 58 Clare Harris 43:02; 71 Keith Parkinson 44:23; 72 Jackie Holden 44:27; 73 Richard Blakeley 44:32; 75 David Leslie 45:04; 78 Richard Butterwick 45:44; 79 Richard Leonard 45:51; 80 Kirsty Patten 46:36; 82 Kevin Coughlan 47:22; 85 Andrea Marshall 48:22; 91 Peter Ehrhardt 50:41; 102 Natalie Yates 53:33; 110 Reg Czudek 57:11; 115 Dave O’Neill 58:55.

The final race in the Todmorden 5k series attracted over 100 runners to Centre Vale Park the following evening.

Robin Tuddenham finished fifth on the night in 17:21 to end the series in third place overall.

Martin Stork was 15th with a time of 18:24, followed by Dan Taylor in 18:44 for 21st position.  Paul Alexander stopped the clock at 19:35 for 31st place and Richard Butterwick was 65th in a time of 23:36.

Bev Wright was the first Todmorden woman crossing the line in 23:47, followed by Andrea Marshall in 26:08.  Myra Well finished first v55 woman in 27:58 and Ian Stansfield was first v70 man in 33:49. 

Marcel Ellison finished in 23rd place at Whittle Pike Fell Race on Wednesday, and went one better with 22nd place on Sunday at Boulsworth Fell Race.

At the World Police and Fire Games in Northern Ireland, Mel Siddall won the v50 age category of the Triathlon. The event was completed over a 1500m swim, a 37km cycle ride and a 10k run.

Craig Stansfield was also on his travels to Switzerland, finishing in 129th place out of over 1100 competitors at the 31km Sierre Zinal Mountain Race.

Cuerden Valley 10k | Cowm 5k | Todmorden 5k | Top O' Leach | Borrowdale

Cuerden Valley was host to the penultimate round of Todmorden Harriers’ Trail Championship on Thursday evening.  The Badger 10k organised by Lancashire Wildlife Trust attracted over 150 runners to the park.

Paul Brannigan was the first Todmorden runner, finishing in sixth place in a time of 39:06, followed by Dan Taylor in exactly 44 minutes for 22^nd place.

Simon Galloway was the next Harrier to finish in 57^th position at 48:52, with Peter Ehrhardt completing the scenic course in 58:28 and 115^th place just ahead of Andrea Marshall in 119^th, with a time of 59:21.

Todmorden Harriers were in the prizes at the Harry Kelly Cowm Reservoir 5k, with Mandy Goth finishing first v50 woman in 26:50 for 40^th place overall and Myra Wells first v55 woman, and 49^th overall,  in 28:37, followed by Kathy Bridger, second v50 woman and 53^rd with a time of 31:25.

Richard Butterwick finished the two lap route in 27^th place with a time of 22:48.

The club continued collecting prizes the following night at the third Todmorden 5k race in Centre Vale Park.

Robin Tuddenham finished in fifth overall and first v40 male, whilst Bev Wright claimed the corresponding v40 women’s prize, stopping the clock at 23:50.

Myra Wells was first v55 woman and Ian Stansfield first v70 male.

Todmorden results: 5 Robin Tuddenham 17:55; 13 Martin Stork 18:42; 21 Paul Alexander 19:35; 28 Simon Anderton 20:24; 39 Richard Butterwick 22:48; 41 Bev Wright 23:50; 54 Andrea Marshall 26:11; 61 Myra Wells 28:30; 72 Ian Stansfield 34:20.

A quartet of Harriers kept up the successes at the Top O’Leach Fell Race on the same evening. The 8 km route from Cowpe was the first race of Rossendale Harriers mid-week series.

Dave Collins was the first Harrier home in 8^th place, and first v55, with a time of 52:55. Marcel Ellison finished in 53:25 for 13^th position.

Jackie Holden finished 2^nd woman, in 1:08:18 just 27 seconds behind the ladies winner, and Kirsty Patten was 3^rd woman in 1:11:14. 

A longer challenge was on offer at the weekend in the form of the Borrowdale Fell Race, with the 27km route featuring over 2000m of ascent over several Lakeland peaks including the summits of Scafell Pike and Great Gable.

Paul Hobbs was the first Todmorden runner back in a time of 3:55:27 for 86^th place.

Jane Leonard finished sixth woman, and first v55, with a time of 4:21:19 and Darren Graham was 197^th, in a time of 4:35:53.

Blisco Dash | Todmorden 5k | Towneley 10k

Several Todmorden Harriers were in the Langdales for the Blisco Dash, the latest counter in both the British and English Fell Running Championships.

Jane Leonard was the sole representative in the women’s race, as the club was hit by absences due to injuries and holidays, and finished in 58:02 for 32^nd place and 2^nd v55 to keep alive her individual medal prospects.

In the men’s race, a trio of Harriers battled it out with Nick Barber the first back across the line in 45:54 for 71^st place, with John Lloyd in 77^th and Craig Stansfield in 79^th position.

Richard Blakeley finished first v70 to keep him in the running for a medal also.

Todmorden results: 71 Nick Barber 45:54; 77 John Lloyd 47:10; 79 Craig Stansfield 47:30; 104 Dave Collins 51:55; 130 Peter Bowles 54:22; 168 Andrew Bibby 58:38; 182 Mark Whitaker 1:03:28; 188 Richard Blakeley 1:04:08; 200 Peter Ehrhardt 1:14:03; 205 Paul Brannigan 1:22:08.

The Todmorden 5k series switched to a new route on Wednesday for the second of four races in Centre Vale Park.  The improved circuit made for faster running with Gary Shaw of Burnley AC setting the pace at 15:57.  Max Wharton running for Halifax Harriers crossed the line in 16:25 just ahead of Calder Valley’s Alex Whittem in 16:37.

Martin Stork continued his return from injury to finish first Todmorden Harrier in 18:46, chased in by Dan Taylor in 16^th and Rob Gray in 19^th position.

Mel Siddall finished 5^th woman and 47^th overall in a time of 22:41, with Bev Wright and Andrea Marshall in finishing 8^th and 11^th women respectively.  Myra Wells finished 14^th woman, and first v55.

Ian Stansfield won the v70 prize, finishing in 75^th place.

Todmorden Results: 14 Martin Stork 18:46; 16 Dan Taylor 19:01; 19 Rob Gray 19:10; 24 Darren Tweed 19:29; 26 Paul Alexander 19:52; 27 Ben Crowther 20:02; 36 Mark Anderton 21:02; 37 Simon Anderton 21:04; 47 Mel Siddall 22:41; 54 Richard  Butterwick 23:55; 57 Bev Wright 24:19; 63 Andrea Marshall 27:03; 66 Myra Wells 28:21; 75 Ian Stansfield 34:33.

Robin Tuddenham finished first at the weekly Burnley parkrun on Saturday, recording 17:45 for the 5km route in Towneley Park.

Towneley Park was also the focus for the Towneley 10k on Sunday with Richard Butterwick completing the new course based upon the former Cliviger 6 route in 48:25 and Myra Wells in 1:01:31.

Wasdale Horseshoe | Ian Terry 5k | Todmorden 5k | Widdop Fell Race

The Wasdale Horseshoe Fell Race proved a suitable test as it formed the latest round of the English Fell Championships.  The 35 km route that traverses several high Lakeland Peaks including Scafell Pike and Great Gable, already had a reputation as one of the hardest events in the calendar, and was made all the tougher by the high temperatures that led to around 100 runners dropping out from the 300 that chose to start.

Craig Stansfield revelled in the conditions to complete the route in 4:59:47 for 41^st place, with Dwane Dixon not far behind in 54^th place, in a time of 5:08:30.

Ben Crowther completed the distance in 5:43:31 for 101^st position, followed by Andy McFie in 199^th with a time of 5:56:24 and Peter Bowles in 128^th place in 6:01:51.

Jane Leonard finished in 6:16:26 for 26^th woman, and 3^rd v55, and Clare Harris was 33^rd woman in 6:45:05 and 4^th v50.

On Tuesday evening John Lloyd claimed first place at the Ian Terry Memorial 5k in Littleborough in a time of 17:15, with Myra Wells crossing the line in 30.27 for 82^nd place.

Photo by Keith Parkinson

The following evening John was back in action, but this time as race organiser of the Todmorden 5k, the first in a series of weekly evening races in Centre Vale Park. 

Former Todmorden runner Chris Smale, now running for Bingley Harriers, won in a time of 17:15, with Robin Tuddenham in 3^rd place for the Harriers at 17:40.

Dan Taylor and Martin Stork ran a close race, crossing the line in 7^th and 9^th places respectively, with Dan just 5 seconds ahead in 18:52, as Todmorden won the team prize.

Darren Tweed crossed the line in 14^th position with 19:40, with the same advantage over Paul Alexander 15^th place.   Simon Anderton finished in 20^th place in 21:05, a couple of places and 10 seconds ahead of brother Mark Anderton.

Mel Siddall was the first Todmorden woman to finish in 23:34 collecting the women’s v50 prize in the process.  Andrea Marshall completed the distance in 26:21 with Myra Wells first v55 in 28:29 as the trio also won the women’s team prize.

Ian Stansfield finished in 46^th and Jim Smith in 47^th place. 

On the same evening, there was another sizeable Todmorden entry at the Widdop Fell Race, which followed a 7 mile moorland loop.

Steve Pullan was the first Harrier to finish in 1:00:01 for 21^st place, with Rob Gray in 31^st with a time of 1:01:46 and Dave Collins half a minute behind in 35^th place. Paul Cruthers finished in 94^th position in 1:11:51.

Kirsty Pattern was the first Todmorden woman, and 11^th woman overall, in 1:20:05, with Sarah Hughes and Jackie Holden completing the distance in the same time of 1:22:31 for 15^th and 16^th women.

Peter Ehrhardt was the next to finish in 1:27:47, followed by a trio of Harriers in 1:32:06 as Claire Duffield, Moyra Parfitt and Mel Blackhurst came in together.

In the Widdop junior races, Jack Crummett finished in 2^nd place in the under 16’s race.

Joe Hobbs and Alex Duffield battled it out at the front of the under 8’s race, finishing in 2^nd and 3^rd place, with Ben Hodgkinson in 11^th place.

On Saturday, Robin Tuddenham finished in 104^th position at the Snowdon Mountain Race in a time of 1:34:08 for the 10 mile race up and down Wales’ highest mountain.

A pair of Harriers were in Middleton for the Moonraker 10k on Sunday, in slightly cooler conditions than of late, with Myra Wells finishing in 107^th and Richard Butterwick in 108^th place, just under the hour mark.

Bohuslav Barlow completed the Pudsey 10k in a time of 57:05 for 207^th position.