Maesgywm Muddle Fell Race – The 4th and final British Championship fell race for 2014
“…The clue was in the title, although the race could more aptly be named the Maesgym Rollercoaster with 3800ft of climbing over 10 miles. It certainly felt like there was more up than down with large amounts of very steep ascents and rapid descents…”
Clayton ladies’ vets team were in silver medal position so it was crucial for all of us to put on our best performances!
Neil Hardiman joined the usual suspects – Wendy Dodds, Jean Brown, Katy Thompson, myself (and several others) for what turned out to be a real grueller!!
The start of the race was in Llanberis and the route went over the hills next door to Snowdon. The clue was in the title, although the race could more aptly be named the Maesgym Rollercoaster with 3800ft of climbing over 10 miles. It certainly felt like there was more up than down with large amounts of very steep ascents and rapid descents. It wasn’t a bad day weather wise with just a little cloud on the tops.
Mr Blake from Eryri, the organiser, gave a clear indication of what was in store by setting us off on a steep incline in the middle of a boggy field. This was followed by a bridle way up to Hebron station then a brutal climb up to moel Cynghonion which in the words of Wendy is like the front face of Whernside but much longer -and she wasn’t wrong!
Katy Thompson
All the height gained was soon lost with a rapid descent to join a trail which on any other day would have been pleasantly runnable, but the legs were left somewhere on the previous climb. There were three steep climbs after that ,the high point being Moel Elio which was shrouded in Welsh mist.
The long descent off Moel Elio led to a sneaky out and back to Cefn Du through boggy heather. Just to cheer us up the better runners were to be seen coming down the other side looking not so tired.
Wendy Dodds
And finally we were on our way home,over trail, bracken and Tarmac terminating in the savage climb back up to the top of the boggy field which saw many runners
collapsing on the line including our very own Wendy (see picture) who had a last minute tussle with an Eryri lady whom she pipped at the post!
Neil was the first home followed by Jean, Wendy, myself and Katy.
From Left to right:
Wendy Dodds, Jean Brown, Barbara Savage, Katy Thompson
A very tough day out in Snowdonia!
Thanks to Barbara Savage for this weeks race report! Full results can be found here.
The Rest Of The Weekend’s Action
To kick start ‘The Rest of the Weekend’s Action’, Clayton-le-Moors would like to proudly congratulate Jacob Boyle on receiving a call up to represent England at the Junior Home Internationals in Glendalough, Ireland.
Jacob Boyle (left)
This fantastic achievement comes after a superb race from Jacob at the Sedbergh MU20 Trials. He came in at 4th, with an excellent time of 00:28:11. Great effort Jacob!
This weekend, Blackpool was the stage for two running events. First was The Hilton Illuminations 10k, followed the next day by The Hilton Half Marathon. In the first of the Fylde Coast Running events, the increasingly improving Jacob Watson finished in 8th position in a very speedy 00:36:32. Next through for Clayton-le-Moors Harriers was the talented new member Jon Hanson. He managed to finish in under the 40 minute mark in 00:39:12 and returned home in 21st position. Our Harrier 10k specialist, Stephen Biscomb, was next through the finish in 00:41:32, but most importantly as the 1st V60! Lee Moore also put in a solid effort, finishing in 00:46:21, whilst Amanda Duffy flew the flag for Clayton-le-Moors ladies, completing the race in 00:49:12.
Courtesy of Fylde Coast Running – Jonny McKenna
Two Harriers returned the next day, this time in the form of Johnny McKenna and Brian Wildman. Jonny‘s recent participation in long distance races has certainly paid off, as he put in a storming effort to win the half marathon! He completed the race almost a minute ahead of 2nd place, finishing 1st in 01:15:26. Brian also had an excellent race, finishing in 01:41:57. Well done to all who ran at Blackpool this weekend!
The other major race this weekend was Cannonball’s inaugural Pendle 3 Peaks Fell Race, where a massive 20 Harriers competed, which was almost a 1/5th of the entire race attendance.
Clayton-le-Moors Harriers sure do love a race on Pendle don’t we!
Courtesy of CSHoldsworth Art & Race Photography – Ivan Whigham
There were some excellent performances from our runners on the 9 miles, 2700ft course, and as always unfortunately too many to name, but here are some individual highlights –
Mens:
Christopher Holdsworth finished in 2nd in a time of 1:26:15
Paul Hesketh secured the 2nd MV45 position in 01:32:29
Michael O’Donnell was the 2nd MV40 in 01:34:18
Christopher, Paul and Michael managed to win the Team Prize for Clayton-le-Moors Harriers
Ivan Whigham scooped the 1st MV50, whilst Nicholas Olszewski was 2nd MV50
Richard Bellaries finished as the 1st MV60
Ladies:
Vicky Heys crossed the finish as the 2nd FV40
Linda Lord won the FV65 category
Linda Bostock achieved 1st in the FV55 category
Truth be told, there were amazing efforts all round on a very difficult course. All our Harriers did fantastically in all of the races this week. Lastly, we’d like to wish all of our runners good luck at The Ben Nevis Fell Race this weekend! Take plenty of photos and be sure to send them in here.
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