Burnley Lions 10k
‘The race was starting to thin out with Chris Holdsworth in 3rd, Capt. Brewster in 5th and me in 6th. I vividly remember checking my watch at 2.2m and being amazed we were only one third through the race!’
Stood at the start line at Colne Cricket Club on Friday evening I had a lot of questions spinning through my mind; most of them negative. Having not raced a 10k for nearly six months it’s safe to say I wasn’t feeling the most confident on entering the race. However, a combination of my resolution to try to race more often and the race being a Road Championship qualifier I couldn’t turn down the chance to have a run out.
On the start line there was pretty much every Clayton-le-Moors member I would have expected to be involved. Possibly due to Capt. Motley taking the spoils at the Blackpool half there seemed to be a few road runners who wanted to ensure the Fell captain wouldn’t have bragging rights in both disciplines come the end of the year. On the other hand this could have just been me…
Photo By Nick Gaskell
Come 7pm the race was off and despite a decent sized hill almost immediately after exiting the cricket club the pace didn’t let up. I settled in to sixth place and dug in for the climb up to the Alma pub. After dropping down from the Alma and heading back towards Colne I was passed by Capt. Brewster who seemed to be absolutely flying. The race was starting to thin out with Chris Holdsworth in 3rd, Capt. Brewster in 5th and me in 6th. I vividly remember checking my watch at 2.2m and being amazed we were only one third through the race! I felt like I was really struggling at this point and seeing both Chris and Tom moving further ahead didn’t do me any favours.
Photo By Nick Gaskell
We were soon back at the cricket club at the end of the first of two laps and still in the positions previously mentioned. Just before the second climb to the Alma I decided to make a move and to give it everything as soon as I hit the incline. Half way up I managed to pass Tom and soon set my sights on Chris who I was able to slowly reel in and pass as we reached the top of the climb. From here on in I felt third place was achievable but Andy Buttery, who eventually finished there, had a great run and I wasn’t able to close the gap. With a mile or so to go my lace came undone however it didn’t cause me as much trouble as it could have done on another day. Lesson learned!
Photo By Nick Gaskell
The finish at the school came as a surprise, as I thought we were running back to the cricket club, but was more than welcome. I finished in 4th just in front of both Tom (5th) and Chris (6th) who have both improved tremendously over the last 6 months and I fully expect many more very close races over the coming months.
Photo By Nick Gaskell
Thanks to Jonny Mckenna for this weeks race report! Washed away results just about found here..
The Rest of the Weekends Action
There were lot’s of you racing this weekend! Leading the way were new Clayton-le-Moors Harriers couple Adrienne and Nicholos Olszewski, racing at this years Hogwills Trail 26. Both put in a great effort, finishing in 04:30:09.50 and 06:20:05.70 respectively.
Next up we had the Hutton Roof Craggs Fell Race, which had a total of 12 harriers competing at the event. Alan Life put in a spectacular effort finishing as the first in 44th position, finishing ahead of Mick Dobson in 48th and Ivan Whigam in 65th. The three men helped us to finish in 10th overall. We also had a lady running in Nichola Horsfall, finishing the race in 01:22:30. Well done to all who ran!
There was the just the one Clayton-le-Moors Harrier at Great Eccleston Scouts Fast 4. Martin Brady flew the flag for us, finishing the race in 46th position, with a time of 00:29:15. Well done Martin!
Dave Motley put in a cracking effort in this years Bowely Hill Trail Race, finishing in 5th place overall. New member Carl Helliwell also had a fanastic run, giving the Captain a run for his money finishing in 7th place. Carl’s other half and also a new member Sarah Helliwell also had a storming effort, finishing as the 4th overall lady! There were also great runs from Richard Briscoe, Stephen Breckell, Martin Brady (again) and Ron Chappel.
Over at the Saddleworth Fell Race, two Harriers competed in Rick Moore and Stephen Fish. Rick finished in 00:31:55, whilst Stephen finished in 00:34:33. Well done men!
And lastly, Matt Perry had the run of the weekend by finishing 3rd at Austwick Amble (what a great name). He finished just 12 seconds behind 2nd in an impressive time of 00:53:58. There was also strong runs from Ivan Whigam in 33rd, Mick Dobson in 41st and Colin Woolford in 101st.
Super Junior Molly Hesketh also had a great run at this race finishing in 00:14:55 for the under 12s.
Well done to all who ran this weekend!
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