It’s oh so quiet, it oh so still. You’re all alone, and so peaceful until… you dig a bit deeper and find that, as always, our members are out and about! This weekend may have been short on events but you still managed to take part in some fell racing, some orienteering, some parkrunning, learning navigational skills, and quite a bit of reccying and training for upcoming events, such as the Winter Warmer 10K, the Fellsman and the Haworth Hobble. You are a busy bunch!
Pendle Forest Orienteers – Spring Series
Billington Woods and Sunnybank – Saturday 31st January
The weather turned out to be far better than predicted, with no fresh snow, no icy roads and temperatures above forecast, which rendered all areas very wet and boggy. This is quite a small area (on average 500m x 1.5k), though steep in places, so legs were short with much doubling back to achieve length. By all accounts everyone enjoyed the challenge, especially competitors on the Technical course (brown, blue and selected black features) who lamented the lack of paths and green features. Some interesting mistakes were reported.
One leg 12 to 13 on Technical was a stinker! Competitors were confronted with a steep uphill leg through a tightly packed gorse thicket of unknown extent.
Three of our club members took part. Junior member Christopher Brown took part in the Orange course finishing in 7th place overall in a mix of junior and senior orienteers. Colin Woolford came second in the light green course in a time of 62:28. Mark Nutter was 7th in the technical course. Well done to everyone that took part.
Birkrigg Common Fell Races – Sunday 1st February
Birkrigg Common, nr Ulverston. This race is one for the speed merchants. It’s short, firm under foot and relatively flat. The race starts with a stampede across the common and a brief, runnable climb up to the prehistoric stone circle on top of the hill. A gradual descent gives you the chance to increase your stride length and feel the wind in your hair. Then it’s the long haul back up to the top and back down again, around, over the top, and the finish is in sight. Watch out for some epic battles on the descent. A real treat for spectators here with spectacular views across Morecambe Bay.
We are awaiting results for this race but I understand that junior members Briony and Curtis Holt both took part in the junior races. Curtis finished in 6th or 7th place in the U-17s and Briony came 2nd in the U-14s race. They report good weather conditions, if a bit chilly at times.
Wendy Dodds and Jean Brown took part in the seniors race.
Results to follow
Club competitions
Cross Country Palladium
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 is currently leading the ladies competition. Will she retain the lead? It’s all still to run for with Angela Shian and Sarah Helliwell not too far behind!
Carl Helliwell has a comfortable lead in the mens competition after putting in great performances at 9 events. Will he keep this advantage ahead over the remaining fixtures?
Senior Runner of the Month
Congratulations to John Hartley for his great category win at the Ribble Valley 10K.
John wins a free treatment at Physiofusion.
Parkrun roundup
Well done to all of our parkrunners. One or two PBs and some top ten finishes for our members this week.
Bolton parkrun – A total of 268 runners took part.
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time |
| 71 | Julia RUSHTON | 00:24:50 |
Burnley parkrun – A total of 172 runners took part.
Spanning the generations, Emily Johnson (age 5) helping the older Clayton Harrier get the miles in for the 10k Winter Warmer at Burnley parkrun
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time |
| 3 | Jonathan PYE | 00:18:17 |
| 4 | Jacob WATSON | 00:18:33 |
| 9 | Sean CLARE | 00:20:07 |
| 17 | Stephen AINSWORTH | 00:21:27 |
| 19 | John WILCOCK | 00:21:39 |
| 43 | Angela SHIAN | 00:24:11 |
| 46 | Dawn TERRY | 00:24:24 |
| 67 | Donna SCOTT | 00:26:01 |
| 72 | Robert HIRST | 00:26:30 |
| 88 | Elouise Sylkie PEMBERTON | 00:27:27 |
| 93 | Ron CHAPPELL | 00:27:58 |
| 101 | Keira STEVENSON | 00:28:22 |
| 102 | Julie TOMAN | 00:28:26 |
| 114 | Lucy STEVENSON | 00:29:31 |
| 126 | Stuart BARKER | 00:31:19 |
| 134 | Rachel STEVENSON | 00:32:34 |
| 148 | Adam STEVENSON | 00:36:09 |
Pendle parkrun – A total of 63 runners took part.
| Position | Parkrunner | Run Time |
| 2 | John HARTLEY | 00:22:04 |
| 7 | Susan BURNS | 00:22:50 |
| 19 | Barry MITCHELL | 00:25:28 |
| 23 | Martin BRADY | 00:26:23 |
| 56 | Christine LEATHLEY | 00:36:33 |
Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – A total of 135 runners took part.
| Position | parkrunner | Run Time |
| 93 | Eileen JONES | 00:31:35 |
Your Club Needs You!
Mid Lancs Cross Country
Calling all Ladies and Men! To secure promotion from Division 2 for both our Senior Ladies and Senior Men’s teams we need you at Blackpool Mid Lancs XC on Saturday 14th February!!
The Senior Ladies are currently 2nd with 3rd placed Lytham just one point behind. In the Senior Men’s Division 2 Blackburn are likely to achieve 1st overall, so we need to make sure of 2nd.
Only the top two teams in each division get promoted. The best four fixtures count, and as the last Mid Lancs on 7th March is on the same day as Flower Scar we need to get our promotions in the bag at Blackpool!
Volunteering
Do you know that Clayton Harriers will organise at least 10 running events this year, including the British Hill and Fell Relay Championships? Our Race Promotions Coordinator, Mike Eddleston, is appealling for all Clayton members to ease the pressure on our race organisers by committing to help at a minimum of one club event per year.
If you are interested, take a look at this months Newsletter for details of how to go about volunteering.
DOnt’t Forget
To get your tckets for the event of the year, our club Presentation Night, on 21st March
Tickets are available now from Marie Greenwood 01254 237485 or email mgreenwood1969@outlook.com
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