Midsummer Madness | Round the Resers | Warrington 10k | Aggies Staircase | Oldham 10k | Nice Ironman

Todmorden Harriers enjoyed a successful weekend of Midsummer Madness, the three day fell running event organised by Calder Valley Fell Runners.

The series started on Friday evening in Mytholmroyd with the Whicken Hill Whizz Fell Race, a steep 4.5k climb up to the Sheepstones trig point and back down.

Todmorden’s men and women both recorded second placed teams, with Paul Hobbs in 11^th position, followed by Jack Crummett, second under16, and Ben Crowther in 21^st and 23^rd places respectively.

Jane Leonard was fifth woman, followed by Issy Pollard sixth and Louise Abdy in 13^th place.

The Reservoir Bogs race on Saturday, required runners to make their own route choices after being handed the location of the checkpoints to visit on the day, leading to some confusion after a group of runners leapfrogged into the lead after missing a checkpoint.

There was no such problem for the Todmorden runners who navigated their way around with skill, with Ben Crowther putting in a master class to finish fifth on the day, Paul Hobbs in ninth and Dave Collins in 12^th place to land the men’s team prize.

That was matched by Todmorden’s ladies who also won the team prize, with Kath Brierley finishing third woman, Jane Leonard fourth and Issy Pollard eighth placed woman.

The final race on Sunday, was the Tom Tittiman Fell Race, a fast 6.4k course where Paul Hobbs finished in sixth place, Ben Crowther in 14^th and Jack Crummett in 17^th position.

Kath Brierley finished fourth woman, with Issy Pollard ninth and Jane Leonard tenth woman as they once again recorded second place team in both the women’s and men’s standings. 

In the overall series standings, Paul Hobbs finished in third place and Ben Crowther in seventh.  Mick Craven finished the series in 21^st, and first v55.

Jane Leonard ended the series as second placed woman, and 26^th overall, with Issy Pollard in third place and Louise Abdy sixth placed woman for the series.

Reg Czudek completed the Todmorden three dayers in 44^th position for the series.

On Wednesday, Richard Butterwick finished in 114^th position at the Round the Resers 5 mile Trail Race in Tintwistle with a time of 37:44 for the two lap course around Vale House Reservoir in the scenic Longendale Valley and Myra Wells crossed the line in 49:03 for 198^th place.

Paul Alexander improved his 10k personal best at the Warrington 10k, on Thursday, recording 41:14 for the flat course.

Marcel Ellison finished in 36^th place at Aggie’s Staircase Fell Race in Darwen on Thursday in a time of 35:17 for the 6.4km course, and followed that up at the weekend with 28^th place at the Trawden 7 trail race with a time of 4628.

John Lloyd finished in 7^th place at the inaugural Milltown 10k in Oldham, completing the hilly circuit in 35:42 whilst Michael Harper finished in 41:01 for 25^th position.

Chris Preston was in France for the Nice Ironman Triathlon, where she completed the event in 14 hours 30 minutes to finish 15^th in her age category.  The event started with a 3.8km swim in rough seas, followed by a 180km cycle and a full marathon distance run to finish.

Midsummer Madness - Whicken Hill Whizz | Reservoir Bogs | Tom Tittiman

Todmorden Harriers were in local action at the weekend at the appropriately named Midsummer Madness three day race series organised by Calder Valley Fell Runners.

The first race on Friday evening, the Whicken Hill Whizz Fell Race, was a steep up and down race from a soon to be flooded Mytholmroyd.

Dwane Dixon was the first Todmorden man to finish in 6th place, followed by John Lloyd in 8th position.

Issy Pollard finished 3rd lady, with Maria Prescott 5th lady and EliseMilnes 6th lady as the club claimed the ladies team prize.

On Saturday the race HQ moved to the Hare and Hounds at Old Town for the Reservoir Bogs race, a navigational test that saw several runners go astray and miss checkpoints.

First Harrier to finish was Ben Crowther in 8th, followed by Trevor Davies in 10th and Dave Collins in 12 place.

Elise Milnes, Issy Pollard and Maria Prescott crossed the line in quick succession for 6th, 7th and 8th placed ladies to win the team prize again.

On Sunday, the final race was the Tom Tittiman Fell Race, a 4 mile route up to High Brown Knowl and back.

Jon Wright finished in 4th place for Todmorden, with Trevor Davies in 14th and Ben Crowther in 17th place.

The ladies narrowly missed out on a third team prize to Keighley and Craven, with Lucy Hobbs in 5th, Elise Milnes in 8th and Sue Roberts finishing 9th lady.

Three Todmorden men successfully completed the series with Ben Crowther 8th, Trevor Davies in 9th and Dave Collins in 10th. Elise Milnes finished 3rd lady for the series.

Whicken Hill Whizz | Hendon Brook

Nick Barber was the highest placed Todmorden Harrier at the Midsummer Madness Series, as the men’s team snatched the team prize on the final day. The three race series, organised by Calder Valley Fell Runners, comprises of three fell races held on consecutive days.

The first race on Friday evening, from Mytholmroyd, was the Whicken Hill Whizz, a steep 3 mile climb up to Sheepstones trig point and back.

Calder Valley’s Ben Mounsey took the win in 20:05, half a minute ahead of club mate Alex Whittem.

Todmorden’s Sean Carey held off a strong challenge from Calder Valley’s Max Wharton to finish in 3rd place.

Nick Barber was the next Todmorden runner in 8th, just ahead of Dwane Dixon in 9th. A further three Harriers made it into the top fifteen with Alistair Rhodes-Dawson in 12th, Paul Hobbs 13th and Paul Brannigan 15th.

Sarah May finished 1st lady in 25:33, with Helen Hodgkinson and Chris Preston finishing 8th and 9th ladies.


On Saturday, the 7 mile Reservoir Bogs also was something of a mental test as well as physical, as the runners were only handed a map of the checkpoints at the start and were faced with the decision as to which route to take between them.

Ben Crowther was the first Harrier to finish in 12th, with Paul Hobbs in 13th. Nick Barber crossed the line in 15th despite adding to the difficultly by losing his map part way round, to finish the day in 4th place for the series.

Helen Hodgkinson was Todmorden’s first lady finisher in 10th, with Elise Milnes navigating herself round as 13th lady.

The 4 mile Tom Tittiman Fell Race on Sunday marked the final race in the series and Nick Barber was once again the first Todmorden man in 4th place, lifting him into 3rd place for the series overall.

Paul Hobbs finished 7th and Ben Crowther 8th which meant they finished the series in 5th and 6th respectively to take the series team prize.

Darren Graham and Marcel Ellison also completed the series in 7th and 8th overall.

Helen Hodgkinson finished the final race as 12th lady, taking her into 6th lady for the series.


Whicken Hill Whizz 2011 Results...  Reservoir Bogs Results... Tom Tittiman Results...

Midsummer Madness overall standings...

Whicken Hill Whizz Photos...


The 13.5 mile Hendon Brook road race also took place on Sunday, attracting several Todmorden Harriers to the tough hilly course near Colne.


Salford’s Tom Cornthwaite was in a class of his own as he completed the route in 1:19:04, over 7 minutes ahead of the next runner.

John Lloyd led the way for Todmorden in 5th place in 1:30:29, with Paul Brannigan in 11th place, and first v45, and Martin Stork in 15th.

Mel Blackhurst crossed the line in 1:53:28 for 3rd lady, with Sarah Glyde 5th lady. Chris Preston finished strongly taking 14th lady just ahead of Elise Milnes. Moyra Parfitt finished first vet 65.

Hendon Brook 2011 Results...

Midsummer Madness [Whicken Hill Whizz, Reservoir Bogs,Tom Tittiman] | Hendon Brook 13.5

Todmorden Harriers were well represented at the Midsummer Madness Series, organised by Calder Valley Fell Runners, with five Harriers completing all three races, which took place on consecutive days. Starting from Mytholmroyd on Friday evening the opening race was 3 mile Whicken Hill Whizz, a steep climb up to the Sheepstones trig point and back down.

Sean Carey finished in 4th, and 1st U18, for the Harriers with Paul Hobbs in 9th and Jackson Cowie 14th, and 1st U16. Todmorden Ladies added another team prize, with Jane Leonard 3rd lady, Fiona Armer 7th and Louise Abdy 9th.

The following day saw a move to Chiserley for the 7.5 mile Reservoir Bogs race, which was also a counter in the club’s fell championship. The race route was unmarked and runners did not find out the location of the checkpoints until the morning of the race. They were then faced with a quick decision as to which route to take between the checkpoints.

This time it was the turn of the Todmorden Men to take the team prize with Jon Wright in 2nd, Andrew Wrench in 4th and Andrew Horsfall in 7th.

The ladies finished 2nd team with Chris Preston 3rd lady, Jane Leonard 4th and Louise Abdy 8th, leading the way. Sean Carey continued his challenge as he won the U18 race.

The final race on Sunday was the 4 mile Tom Tittiman Race from Chiserley, with Sean Carey finishing 3rd to take the Series U18 win and new Harrier Robin Tuddenham made a flying start with the club in 7th. Paul Hobbs finished 11th to place him 3rd in the senior Series ahead of Ben Crowther in 5th.

Jane Leonard finished the ladies Series in 3rd, with Fiona Armer narrowly pipping Louise Abdy for 6th.

On Sunday, the 13.5 mile Hendon Brook road race was a counter for the club’s Road Championship. The hilly race is highly rated as one of the most scenic, and toughest, races and despite a change of date this year once again was run in hot and sunny conditions.

Darren Tweed and Kevin Booth ran a close race with Darren eventually crossing the line in 1:44:30, a half minute ahead of his team mate as they finished 32nd and 33rd respectively.

Keith Parkinson was the next Harrier in 51st with Mel Blackhurst just behind, winning the FV45 category. Elise Milnes finished 2nd LV50, followed by Nigel Hanson and Ian Stansfield 1st V65.