Joe Salt 5k | Bunny Run | Silent Valley | Wardle Skyline | Calderdale Hike | Radcliffe 10k

Todmorden Harriers were out in force for the Joe Salt 80th Birthday 5k at Cowm Reservoir. With the race featuring in the club’s Trail Championship thirty two Harriers took on the flat two lap course.

Robin Tuddenham was the first Harrier to cross the finish line in ninth place, just six seconds ahead of Paul Brannigan in tenth, with the pair claiming the first v40 and first v45 prizes respectively.

Richard Blakeley had a fight to line with Salford’s Sidney Sacks, with the Todmorden man claiming the v70 prize by just one second.

Claire Duffield was the first Todmorden lady, finishing ten second ahead of Mel Blackhurst with the pair claiming the ladies v40 and v45 prizes. Issy Pollard added the first lv35 prize and Myra Wells was first lv55.

Todmorden results: 9 Robin Tuddenham 17:26; 10 Paul Brannigan 17:32; 14 Ivan Gee 17:48; 22 Dan Taylor 18:26; 24 Darren Graham 18:34; 25 Trevor Davis 18:38; 29 Darren Tweed 18:55; 30 Richard Butterwick 18:56; 32 Robert Gray 19:03; 38 Ben Crowther 19:21; 40 Paul Alexander 19:28; 73 Jonathan Daniels 21:04; 74 Dave Collins 21:08; 75 Simon Galloway 21:15; 79 Andrew Bibby 21:27; 80 Phil Cook 21:32; 84 Paul Cruthers 21:35; 93 Keith Parkinson 22:05; 94 Claire Duffield 22:11; 97 Melanie Blackhurst 22:21; 108 Melanie Siddall 22:53; 110 Richard Blakeley 22:58; 117 Issy Pollard 23:47; 122 Bev Wright 24:01; 128 David Leslie 24:38; 132 Helen Wilson 24:55; 136 Ray Poulter 25.17; 145 Andrea Marshall 25:47; 152 Moyra Parfitt 26:11; 154 Louise Abdy 26:34; 160 Myra Wells 27:51; 170 David O'Neill 29:37.


For several Harriers it was their second successive night of racing, following on from Tuesday evenings Bunny Run at Haworth.

Dan Taylor was the first Todmorden runner to cross the line in 18:52, with a late sprint nudging him a fraction ahead of Darren Graham as they finished 43rd and 44th.

Rob Tyson was next to finish in 70th place in 19:42, with Jack Crummett stopping the clock at exactly 20 minutes for 77th position.

Other Todmorden finishers were: 114 John Killerby 21:27; 135 Mark Whitaker 22:22; 224 Andrea Marshal 27:22, 231 Paul Hobbs 27:29; 258 Naomi Watt 30:01.


On Saturday, the focus turned to the opening race in this year’s British Fell Championships. The ladies team got themselves off to a promising start with second place at the Silent Valley Race in Northern Ireland.

Lauren Jeska finished 6th lady, combining with Sarah May and Gemma Ford 15th and 18th ladies to give the team an excellent beginning to the four race series.

Jane Leonard was next to complete the course, closely followed by Todmorden’s sole male entrant Andrew Bibby and Kath Brierley.


Jilly Davidson was also on her travels, completing the Edinburgh Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in 2:02:06 for a new personal best for the distance.


Closer to home a quartet of Harriers took on the Wardle Skyline Fell Race. Marcel Ellison was the first to complete the 7 mile route in 54:26 for 37th place, with Rob Gray hot on his heels in 40th place just 21 seconds behind.

Dave Collins was 56th with a time of 56:41 and Phil Cook finished in 1:00:05 for 81st place.


Taking on a much stiffer test were Colin Duffield and Darren Graham at the Calderdale Hike who were part of the winning Team Krypton quartet that took the first placed team prize for the 37 mile route.

Other Todmorden runners to complete the testing route were Clare Kenny and Bev Holmes.


Darren then rounded off a busy week of racing with a steady run at the Radcliffe 10k finishing in 140th place. Richard Butterwick was the first Todmorden finisher in 61st place with a time of 42:33.

Julie Wyant completed the multi terrain route in 205th with a time of 54:31, and Myra Wells stopped the clock at 1:04:29 for 256th position.

Coledale Horseshoe | Wardle Skyline | Steve Rothwell Memorial 4

Lauren Jeska claimed a course record breaking victory, in the British and English Fell Running Championships, for Todmorden Harriers at the Coledale Horseshoe Fell Race on Saturday.


The 9 mile circular route from Braithwaite near Keswick featured over 3000’ feet of ascent.

Lauren reached the top of the main climb to Grisedale Pike, with just Sarah O’Neil of Hunters Bog Trotters for company.

After a brief respite with a short downhill section, the two runners then reached the highest point of the course at Crag Hill.

The pair stayed clear of the field on long descent back to the village, before Lauren was finally able to extend a winning lead on the final climb over Barrow, to complete the course in 1:22:40. That time was well inside the former course record and over half a minute ahead of second placed O’Neill, with Catriona Buchanan of Ochil heading the rest of the challengers a further three minutes behind.

Lucy Burnett was Todmorden’s next finisher in 31st with Jane Leonard in 70th position.

Todmorden Ladies results: 1 Lauren Jeska 1:22:40; 31 Lucy Burnett 1:39:01; 70 Jane Leonard 1:51:10; 77 Becca Marshall 1:52:34; 83 Melanie Blackhurst 1:55:19; 95 Helen Hodgkinson 1:59:47; 98 Fiona Armer 2:01:43; 119 Helen Wilson 2:13:13.



In the men’s race, Sean Carey had a fine run to finish in 71st position and 5th under 23 runner.

Dwane Dixon was the next to complete the course in 91st with John Lloyd in 132nd position.

Todmorden Men’s results: 71 Sean Carey 1:20:51; 91 Dwane Dixon 1:23:09; 132 John Lloyd 1:27:40; 192 Marcel Ellison 1:34:00; 211 Dave Collins 1:36:38; 251 Phil Hodgson 1:41:00; 310 Richard Leonard 1:51:21; 352 Chris Drinkwater 2:02:06; 358 Richard Blakeley 2:05:44; 371 David Wilson 2:21:26; 375 Peter Ehrhardt 2:23:46.



Closer to home on Saturday, a number of Harriers tackled the 7 mile Wardle Skyline Fell Race.

Todmorden Results: 33 Clive Greatorex 57:11; 40 Rob Gray 57:59; 55 Michael Harper 59:45; 60 Geoff Read 1:00:04; 75 Mick Craven 1:01:44; 98 James Riley 1:03:58.



On Wednesday evening, the focus was on the club’s Road Championship with the Steve Rothwell Memorial 4 mile road race near Rochdale.

John Lloyd set the pace from the off eventually finishing in 3rd place, with Nick Barber in 6th and Robin Tuddenham in 10th place.

Helen Wilson was the first Todmorden lady, followed by Mandy Goth.

Todmorden results: 3 John Lloyd 21:36; 6 Nick Barber 21:54; 10 Robin Tuddenham 22:37; 21 Paul Brannigan 23:52; 29 Darren Graham 24:39; 48 Joe Daniels 26:10; 51 Richard Butterwick 26:41; 72 Simon Galloway 28:16; 89 Richard Blackley 29:27; 105 Helen Wilson 31:47; 107 Nigel Hanson 32:02; 117 David Wilson 32:53; 124 Mandy Goth 33:42.

Mourne Peaks [British Champs] | Wardle Skyline Fell Race

Todmorden Harriers sent a quartet of runners to the Mourne Peaks in Northern Ireland for the first round of the British Fell Championships at the weekend and were rewarded with third place in the ladies team competition.

The opening race in this year’s championship was a demanding rollercoaster route over 10 mountain peaks, racking up over 6,300 feet of ascent and descent over a 12.5 mile course. A strong breeze in the hot and sunny conditions added to the challenge.

Kath Brierley led the way for the club, finishing 14th lady and second v45 in a time of 3:15:02. Jane Leonard was the first v50 lady to finish, seven minutes later, in 3:22:29.

Sue Roberts completed the course in 3:52:18 and Mandy Goth in 4:19:57.



Whilst the ladies were away, Todmorden’s men chose to stay local as eight Harriers took on the Wardle Skyline Fell Race in equally hot and sunny conditions.

The 7.2 mile race, organised by Rochdale Harriers, started with a climb from Wardle village, past Watergrove Reservoir, to the summit of Brown Wardle Hill. It then followed an undulating route over Hades Hill, Rough Hill and Crook Hill.

A long descent towards Shore led onto a cobbled section and the final climb of the day on the track back to Wardle.

John Lloyd and Alistair Rhodes-Dawson enjoyed a race long battle, with John crossing the line in 5th place to take the honour of first Todmorden finisher.

Alistair finished 6th, and first v40, with Robin Tuddenham closing rapidly on the pair towards the line for 7th place, to win the team prize for Todmorden.

Clive Greatorex finished in 56:20 for 31st place, half a minute ahead of Martin Roberts in 39th.

Richard Butterwick finished fast to squeeze in just under the hour mark for 57th, with Simon Galloway in 67th and Simon Anderton crossing the line in 74th place.

Myra's Wardle Skyline Photos...
Dave Woodheads pictures...
Eileen Woodheads pictures...

British Champs Silent Valley | Bunny Run1 | Cowm Reservoir | Wardle Skyline

Lauren Jeska made a flying start at the first of this year’s British Fell Championship Races in Northern Ireland’s Mourne Mountains at the weekend with a hard earned 2nd place in the Silent Valley Mountain Race. The Todmorden runner put in a tremendous performance to split last year’s ladies gold and silver medallists in a close contest to the end.
The 10 mile route, which packed in a substantial 4500 feet of ascent and descent, had been specifically designed for this year’s Championship and proved a worthy test.
Current champion Phillipa Maddams of Keswick was first lady in a time of 2:09:35, with Lauren in close attendance with a time of 2:10:53 ahead of Calder Valley’s Helen Fines in 2:12:22.
Whilst Lauren was the only Harrier to make the trip over the Irish Sea, Todmorden Harriers found plenty of other local races to enjoy in the spring weather.

On Tuesday the first of the weekly Bunny Runs at Haworth attracted a strong turnout from the club. The 3 mile races held every April are a fast dash around the Dimples Quarry area and are famed for their chocolate prizes.
First Todmorden Harrier was Shaun Pickard in 32nd place in a time of 18:45, followed by Martin Roberts in 72nd and Peter Clarke in 96th. Jack Crummett was the first Todmorden junior finishing in 125th in a time of 21:59. Todmorden’s first lady was Kath Brierley in 23:09, edging out Chris Preston.

A trio of Harriers were in Whitworth on Wednesday evening for the Ken Taylor Cowm Reservoir Race. First to finish the two lap circuit was James Riley in 20:34, 13 seconds ahead of Keith Parkinson, with John Newby in 32:14.

On Saturday twelve Harriers joined the biggest field in the past 10 years for the 25th Wardle Skyline Fell Race. Starting from Wardle Square the 7.2 mile route circles the hills around Watergrove Reservoir and features 1250 feet of ascent.
Dave Collins led in the Todmorden contingent in 32nd place out of the 239 starters, with Clive Greatorex pipping Steve Brandwood by 2 seconds to snatch 53rd. Kevin Booth finished 71st before a 4 way battle saw Lee McCluskey lead in Mick Craven, Peter Clarke and James Riley all within a minute. Mandy Goth finished first Todmorden lady ahead of Kathy Bridger.