Mud, mud, glorious mud. There’s nothing quite like it… after an arctic start to Saturday with a hard frost and icy conditions to wild, wet and windy on Sunday, the common theme to many events you have been taking part in this weekend has been mud. Lots and lots and lots of it!
Lee Mills Relays – 14th December
This is a new relay event set in the Lee mill Quarry site, for teams of four runners; men, ladies or mixed. All four runners run an individual leg over a 10k flagged course. This is a hard and demanding route run in wintery conditions.
Three teams were entered by Clayton; Ladies V40, Ladies V50 and Men’s V40
Lee Mill Fell Relay Trophy for the winning Ladies Team
Ladies’ Fell Captain, Jean Brown reported; “thanks to the two teams of ladies who braved the weather to run the inaugural Lee Mill relays today and to Rossendale Harriers for organising. I think we all had a great day out, if very wet, windy and boggy. We were the first ladies team home with the second of our ladies teams third (there were five ladies teams racing). I am sure we will be back for more in 2015!”
Anna Kelly, Richard Stott, Jean Brown, Alison Dugdale
Todmorden 5k Winter Series – Race 4
The fourth and final race of the Cannonball Winter 5k series took place on Thursday 11th December. Four Clayton Harriers took part.
| Position | Name | Category | Time |
| 12 | Richard Briscoe | M | 19:31 |
| 27 | Gary Balmer | MV45 | 21:53 |
| 42 | Martin Brady | MV50 | 23:36 |
| 43 | Darren Rushton | MV40 | 23:38 |
Hurst Green Turkey Trot – 14th December
Lots of Harriers dressed up and took part in this festive trail run around the picturesque village of Hurst Green. Breton Holdsworth was the first M40, Thomas Bradley had an excellent run finishing 49th overall and first junior, Charlie Clutterbuck was the first M65, and Nichola Horsfall was the first F55.
L-R Carl Helliwell, Ian Greenwood and Dave Motley at the Hurst Green Turkey Trot
| Position | Name | Category | Time |
| 10 | Breton Holdsworth | M40 | 00:34:55 |
| 14 | Carl Helliwell | M | 00:35:37 |
| 15 | Ian Greenwood | M50 | 00:36:08 |
| 17 | Dave Motley | M | 00:37:06 |
| 18 | Ivan Whigham | M50 | 00:37:07 |
| 22 | Keiron Mitchell | M40 | 00:37:37 |
| 25 | Sean Clare | M45 | 00:38:22 |
| 29 | Chris Funnell | M45 | 00:38:30 |
| 33 | Mick Dobson | M40 | 00:40:50 |
| 49 | Thomas Bradley | MJ | 00:41:07 |
| 53 | Richard Briscoe | M | 00:41:59 |
| 58 | Andrew Dugdale | M50 | 00:43:10 |
| 60 | Stephen White | M55 | 00:43:24 |
| 67 | Peter Dugdale | M55 | 00:44:24 |
| 80 | Peter Thompson | M50 | 00:45:59 |
| 81 | Nichola Horsfall | F55 | 00:46:50 |
| 112 | John Roche | M55 | 00:50:52 |
| 115 | Irene Roche | F55 | 00:51:02 |
| 116 | Natalie Harrison | F | 00:51:03 |
| 133 | Robert Hirst | M60 | 00:53:08 |
| 144 | Charlie Clutterbuck | M65 | 00:55:32 |
| 156 | Adrienne Olszewska | F45 | 00:59:03 |
| 159 | Sophie McIntosh | F | 01:00:46 |
| 160 | Chris Holdsworth | M | 01:00:47 |
| 192 | Nicola Kay | F | 01:08:24 |
Hurst Green Turkey Trot. “slenderman” aka JOhn Roche. Photo by Andy Holden
Other club members running but not listing themselves as Clayton-le-Moors Harriers were:
| Position | Name | Category | Time |
| 107 | Tracey Mitchell (Hills and Mills) | F40 | 00:50:24 |
| 109 | Candice Heyes (Hills and Mills) | F35 | 00:50:26 |
| 113 | Vicky Heys (Julia Hartley Sporting Therapy) | F40 | 00:51:00 |
| 118 | Angela Shian (Julia Hartley Sporting Therapy) | F | 00:51:05 |
Longridge Christmas Pudding 7 – 14th December
A group of six Clayton Harriers took part in this festive run in Longridge. Taking home a christmas pudding were;
| Position | Name | Category | Time |
| 37 | Stephen Biscomb | MV60 | 00:50:42 |
| 136 | Tanya Bunkham | F | 01:01:35 |
| 137 | Peter Costello | MV55 | 01:01:49 |
| 148 | Ted Orrell | MV75 | 01:02:48 |
| 170 | Bryan Searby | MV40 | 01:06:34 |
| 229 | Susan Allen | FV50 | 01:23:45 |
Mytholmroyd Fell Race – 14th December
99 runners completed the 6.2 mile course on a day of strong winds, mist and rain showers with two of our club members putting in a couple of fine runs.
Jon Sharples at the Mytholmroyd Fell Race. Picture by the Woodentops
The Mytholmroyd Fell Race is mainly run over open moorland. In poor weather conditions runners may be required to use navigation skills in order to complete the course. The route is flagged but only has limited marshalling. Due to the nature of the race route and the time of year at which the race is run, novice or inexperienced fell runners should not attempt the race.
Alan Life at the Mytholmroyd Fell Race. Picture by the Woodentops
| Position | Name | Category | Time |
| 25 | Alan Life | MV50 | 60:24 |
| 54 | Jon Sharples | MV55 | 66:33 |
Lynne Edmondson Memorial & Christine Navan’s Brownhouse Wham Reservoir Race
Jason, George and Alice Pier ran this 5k race at Whitworth on Sunday 14th December. George was 5th male and first male junior. Alice was 3rd lady and first female junior. Also in the race were Jack McGuire, Christine Leathley and Julie Toman.
Unfortunately, no results are available at the time of publishing this report. Will update when they are out.
Parkrun roundup
It was a beautiful morning but very cold and extremely frosty. Several parkruns were cancelled but some still went ahead despite icy conditions. Well done to the Burnley parkrunners for another batch of excellent runs with 4 of our members finishing in the top ten. A new PB for Richard Stevenson as well. There was a first time appearance at the Ormskirk parkrun from George Thompson making it his 15th parkrun location.
Clayton Junior, Jordan McDonald at Burnley parkrun.
Burnley parkrun – A total of 113 runners took part.
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time |
| 2 | Jordan MCDONALD | 00:17:57 |
| 3 | Jonathan PYE | 00:18:05 |
| 5 | Jacob WATSON | 00:18:27 |
| 6 | Richard STEVENSON | 00:18:33 |
| 14 | Stephen AINSWORTH | 00:21:15 |
| 20 | Ryan Andrew CLARKE | 00:22:51 |
| 26 | Martin BRADY | 00:23:51 |
| 51 | Donna SCOTT | 00:26:19 |
| 68 | John WILCOCK | 00:27:56 |
| 70 | Annabel WILCOCK | 00:27:59 |
| 73 | Stuart BARKER | 00:28:25 |
Ormskirk parkrun – A total of 106 runners took part.
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time |
| 39 | George THOMPSON | 00:24:18 |
Pendle parkrun – A total of 52 runners took part.
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time |
| 2 | Paul HESKETH | 00:20:16 |
| 4 | John HARTLEY | 00:20:57 |
| 5 | Paul BRANNON | 00:21:05 |
| 22 | Dawn TERRY | 00:25:55 |
| 39 | Molly HESKETH | 00:33:32 |
London Marathon Places
The club had 4 places available to take part in the London Marathon. 3 members who missed out on the general ballot for places came forward and the remaining place was offered out to interested members. A draw was done on Saturday morning at the parkrun and Alan Clarkson was the lucky one.
That makes the club entrants:
- Nichola Kay
- Stephen Whittaker
- Tanya Bunkham
- Alan Clarkson
Good luck to all of you!
Cross Country Palladium Standings
In the Cross Country Palladium Competition members receive points for competing in any cross country race held in the UK in the period 1st September 2014 to 7th March 2015.
Vicky Heys and Carl Helliwell are the current leaders. The standings will next be updated after the Northern on 24th January.
Cross Country Club Championship 2013/14
The Club Cross Country Championship consists of three races, with a member’s best two races counting. The qualifying 2014 races were:
- Saturday 4th January – Lancashire Cross Country Championships, Blackburn.
- Saturday 25th October – Mid Lancs League, Hyndburn.
- Saturday 29th November – Mid Lancs League, Liverpool.
Congratulations to Ladies’ Champion Vicky Heys and Men’s Champion Christopher Holdsworth.
Club Road Club Championship 2014
The Club Road Championship consists of five races, with a member’s best three races counting. The qualifying 2014 races were:
- Sunday 23rd February 11:00 am – Great North West Half Marathon, Blackpool.
- Friday 23rd May 7:00 pm – Burnley Lions 10k, Colne.
- Sunday 27th July 11:00 am – Towneley Park 10k, Burnley.
- Thursday 25th September 6:45 pm – Ron Hill 5k, Whitworth.
- Sunday 7th December 10:00 am – Guy’s 10, Garstang.
Congratulations to Ladies’ Champion Irene Roche and Men’s Champion Jonny McKenna.
Club Fell Championship 2014
The Club Fell Championship consists of five races, with a member’s best three races counting. The qualifying 2014 races were:
- Saturday 8th March 11:00 am – Stan Bradshaw Pendle Round (BM), Barley.
- Saturday 12th April 11:00am – Coledale Horseshoe (AM), Braithwaite.
- Thursday 19th June 7:15 pm – Aggie’s Staircase (AS), Darwen.
- Sunday 10th August 10:30 am – Boulsworth Fell (BM), Trawden.
- Saturday 15th November 10:30am – Tour of Pendle (AL), Barley.
Congratulations to Ladies’ Champion Jean Brown and Men’s Champion Matt Perry.
2015 Championships
The club road and fell championship are open to any club member. Each championship consists of five races. Your best three races from the list of five count towards the final scores.
The Fell Championship kicks off with the first qualifying race, the Stanbury Splash on 18th January.
The Road Championship kicks off with the first qualifying race, the Blackburn Winter Warmer 10k on 8th Feb
Remaining races to be announced in January.
And finally…
If you are a member of the FRA (Fell Runners Association), please note the following advice about renewing your subscription.
RENEWAL OF FRA MEMBERSHIP
Renewal of FRA Membership should now be done on-line. Existing standing orders are no longer valid and will not work. Anyone who renews before 10th December will receive their Handbook and Fixtures Calendar before Christmas, and if you choose to set up a direct debit payment before the end of the year you will get a £2 discount from the full membership rate.
To renew your FRA Membership please go to the link www.sientries.co.uk/fra/ and follow the instructions. This link can also be found on the FRA web-site at fellrunner.org.uk.
It is also possible to renew by cheque if you don’t have access to the internet – please call Martin Stone or Debbie Thompson on 01931 714106.
For any queries please call Martin or Debbie, or get in touch with FRA Treasurer Andy Watts (details in the 2014 Handbook).
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