You’ve been trogging in Yorkshire, ripping along in Licolnshire, orienteering, cross country running and foggy winter road racing.  Vets, seniors, juniors and lots of new faces all getting stuck in and representing their club with gusto. Just another busy weekend for Team Clayton.

The Rauceby Ripper – Saturday 7 February

The  Rauceby Ripper is an 8½ ~ 9 mile (approximately) multi-terrain course, over trail, edges of fields and some road sections. Starting within the grounds of Rauceby Hall, Lincolnshire and finishing in South Rauceby near to the Village Hall. The route takes competitors over public and private land and through one of the most beautiful estates in the County.

Breton Holdsworth leading the way at the Rauceby Ripper

Breton Holdsworth was our sole representative at this event which he won. Again!  He said; “1st place at the Rauceby Ripper and kept my title. It was a slightly longer course this year.  Unbelievable mud in places very sticky and heavy. Brilliant, loved it, led from the start.”

Full Results

The Wadsworth Trog – Saturday 7 February

A classic,long route to start the season. 19.25 miles (31km) with a climb of 3650ft (1110m).  9 Harriers took part; 8 men and 1 lady.

Nick Roscoe and John Wilcock at the Wadsworth Trog

Paul Hesketh was the first of our men, finishing in 21st position just over the 3 hour mark with a time of 3:03:10. Not far behind him were Andrew Armstrong and Martin Terry. Nicholas Olszewski came in at the 3:30 mark and the rest (Nigel Hodson, John Wilcock and Nicholas Roscoe) trogged in together a short while after. Our sole lady, Vicky Heys finished just over the 4 hour mark having valiantly helped coax her injured race buddy around the course.

Full Results

Lancashire Schools Cross Country Championships, Witton Park – Saturday 7 February

Our juniors continue to perform outstandingly, with many of our junior members representing Blackburn, Burnley, Hyndburn and Pendle School teams at the Lancashire Schools Cross Country Championships. It was near perfect conditions; sunny, no frost and not a sniff of wind.

Boys Events

Tom Bradley finished in 18th place in the Junior Boys race and was first counter in the 7th place Burnley team. Curtis Holt, Ryan Clark, and Alexander Townrow all ran in the Inter Boys race for Pendle, Burnley and Blackburn respectively. Curtis and Ryan both counters for their team places.

Girls Events

Our excellent U-13 girls team were out in force representing a cross section of East Lancashire teams in the Year 7, Junior and Inter Girls races.

In the Year 7 girls race, Millie Stubbs had a great run finishing in 10th place, Liberty Thompson finished 19th and Natasha Olszewska finished in 65th place.  Millie was second counter in the 2nd place Hyndburn team, and Liberty was first counter in the Burnley Team.  Well done girls!

Liberty Thompson representing Burnley Schools but still sporting her tangerine bow.

Fellow U-13 teammate, Briony Holt, was running in the Junior Girls race. She ran really well in a tough field finishing in 3rd place and first counter for the 7th place Pendle Team. Another fine performance from Briony.

Alice Pier finished in 14th place in the Senior Girls race but no team placing as there were not enough counters.

Results not yet available online.

PFO Spring Intro Series – Witton Park

Witton Park was the 3rd in the Pendle Forest Orienteers’ Intro Series. The wide open spaces of Witton made much of the navigation easy, except when delving into the surrounding woodland.  There were a range of courses on offer to suit everyone from complete beginners to experienced orienteers.

Three club members and one junior took part in this event.  Colin Woolford was 5th in the Green course.  In the Orange course, Junior member Christopher Brown was second and Adrienne Olszewska was third. Mark Nutter was first on the  tough Green Technical course.

Full Results

Next event is at Nick O’Pendle on 28th February.

King Henry VIII Cross Country – 4 February

Ellie Root ran in the King Henry VIII’s XC in Coventry which is a national event where schools enter a team of four girls or six boys to complete a 2.3-mile relay course. 504 girls and boys took part. In her team of 4 Ellie, who was one of the youngest competitors in the field, ran the 1st leg and secured the fastest team time of 16.06 over 3.6k. It was a muddy, undulating course-spikes not allowed but Ellie enjoyed the experience and put all her Clayton training to good use.

Well done Ellie

Winter Warmer 10K – Sunday 8 February

The Winter Warmer 10K is a scenic course which starts and finishes on the athletics track at Witton Park and takes in the stunning scenery over Pleasington. However, the stunning scenery wasn’t much in evidence on the day due to thick fog throughout the morning making it more of a February Fogger!  This was no deterrent to our hardy club members of course, and there was a fabulous turnout of 46 members at this event ranging in ages from 5 years old to over 70!  31 members took part in the 10K and 15 juniors took part in the 2k.

This race is the first race in our annual club road championship so it was great to see so many faces new and old getting stuck in.

Junior Race

We had a good turnout of juniors for this race with some of them having taken part in the Lancashire Schools Cross Country the day before. There were 239 runners overall. We had 5 top twenty finishers and some fine performances.

Jackson McKay first Clayton Junior and first in his age group

Jackson McKay had a great race finishing in 8th place and first in his age category. Liberty Thompson was first finisher in her age group closely followed by Natasha Olszewska.

L-R Natasha Olszewska, Keira Stevenson, Liberty Thompson and Lucy Stevenson

Team Stevenson were out in force and all four of them beat their times from last year’s race.  “Fast” Alice Pier was our first girl home, third girl finisher in the race and thirteenth finisher overall in the race. Sophie Ashcroft put in a fantastic run finishing sixth girl and nineteenth overall.  Imogen Ferguson ran her first race for the club and had a great time. Let’s hope it’s the first of many.

New Junior Member Imogen Ferguson in her first club race.

There were solid performances from Dexta Thompson, Joshua McKay, Kady Thompson and Millie MacCabe. Another well done to our youngest member in the race, Emily Johnson, for an excellent first race – she put in a very assured performance for her age.

Youngest Clayton Junior, Emily Johnson, encouraged by junior coach (and grandma) Marion Wilkinson

Full Junior Results 

Senior 10K Race 

Youngest Harrier Ryan Clarke alongside oldest Harrier David Scott. Martin Brady and Andy Quinn also visible

Four of our junior members were able to take part in the senior race; Jordan McDonald, George Pier, Ryan Clarke and Bethany Quinn. All four of them put in fantastic performances; a top twenty finish for Jordan and good times for George and Ryan. Bethany said, “Really enjoyed the course and a great atmosphere all the way around. Surprised myself and ran better than anticipated for my first 10k. I’m sure there will be more to come!”

There were also some good results for our vet runners.1st F55 for Irene Roche, 1st M70 for David Scott , 2nd M55 for John Hartley, 2nd M60 for Stephen Biscomb, 3rd F45 for Nerina Gill, 3rd F50 for Julia Rushton.

Road Captain, Tom Brewster, had a great race finishing in fifth place and Jacob Watson wasn’t far behind him finishing in 9th place.

Road Captain Tom Brewster at the start of the Winter Warmer 10k

Tom Brewster’s Report

“With the Blackburn Winter Warmer being the first fixture in the club’s Road Championship I felt this would be a fitting “comeback” race after spending 7 months away from competitive racing due to injury – as road captain I was pleased to see a healthy number of road enthusiasts turn out despite the chilly conditions; 31 Clayton Harriers in total with the Women outnumbering Men 18 to 13!

After a steady warm-up I joined the 477 other runners on the start line in the freezing fog, willing the clock to count down to the race start quicker so we could head off and attempt to generate some heat! Just after 11am we were off, starting with two laps round the Witton Park track and then out onto the road, facing the monster first climb I tried to think less about the runners I was passing and more about my pacing to make sure I had something to keep me going on the long slog after the hill.

As the terrain levelled off I was surprised to find myself battling for 5^th place, after such a long period of injury I wasn’t expecting to be anywhere near the front of the pack so dug deep and resolved not to allow the chasing pack, including Trawden AC’s “Quick Nick” Gaskell to get too close.

All the way on top of the course I had a fantastic to-and-fro battle, regularly switching places with Lee Parrington (unattached) and on the run along the river he had just managed to edge me by 10 seconds or so; with him still within reach as we came into the park itself I steeled myself, feeling strong and given some words of encouragement by Garry Wilkinson was able to pull out a sprint finish, claim back 5^th place in 35:33 which left me very happy with my result and with what hopefully is a return to form.

Making my way back to the entrance of the running track to cheer on the incoming runners I realised the freezing fog had still not abated, stood there in just a vest and shorts made me envious of those sporting the newest Club fashion item, colour co-ordinated hats!

Overall a fantastic event, brilliant to see so many Clayton Harriers out at a local race and to see so many reaping the benefits of a hard winter of training”

Nat Harrison was the first Clayton Lady, finishing in 127th place and 8th lady overall in the race. Well done Nat, great to see you recovered from injury and flying round! Here’s her report:

“So the 10k winter warmer began twice round Witton park athletics track followed by the steepest incline that seemed never ending up Buncer Lane. The fog kept a chill in the air as the country lanes seemed to level out. Runners seemed to speed up at this point and lots of descents meant it was all about speed! One more incline around mile four seemed to slow people down before a trail run back through the park. Footballers, dog walkers and cyclists cheered us on as the 400metre sign came into sight. One final spurt along a quarter of the race track saw the race to close. And thank goodness !”

Natalie Harrison sprinting towards the finish

We had a number of ladies running in the Clayton Vest for the first time today and here’s what some of them had to say:

Resplendent Clayton Ladies. L-R Sarah Angelone, Adrienne Olszewska, Natalie Harrison, Michelle Butschok, Helen Burnett, Amanda Duffy, Rachel Todd and Leanne Cottam

Sharon Wilson – “I fell over, thought I wouldn’t be able to carry on but I did it and even managed to overtake the people that overtook me –  best feeling ever. It was my first Race as a Clayton-le-Moors Harrier and it felt great being part of a team. Couldn’t be in a better team, thanks for all the support.”

Leanne Cottam – “It was a very challenging course  and I was nearly sick a couple of times on them hills. But, it was a great atmosphere and I loved everyone shouting “Come on Clayton”. I am  enjoying being part of a great team. xxx”

Nerina Gill – “Great race today! Wasn’t sure about running in freezing fog in a vest and shorts, but was glad I did, cos my buff came off as I left the track! Third time doing the Winter Warmer, but first race as a Clayton Harrier. It was my best time on this course by over three minutes, and only my second 10k under 50, so I was very happy with that. All thanks to Julia Rushton pushing me all the way”

Stephanie Hawke – ” Great atmosphere, enthusiastic race marshals,  gruelling hills, and loads of “Come on Clayton” encouragement. Finished to samba beats with frost in my hair. PB to boot!”

Parkrun roundup

Well done to all of our parkrunners this weekend. A paced event at Burnley led to a number of PBs for our club members. Congratulations to Jonathon Pye for a first place as well as a new PB. Congratulations to Richard Stevenson who also earned a first place and PB at the Pendle parkrun.

Bolton parkrun – a total of 335 runners took part.

Burnley parkrun a total of 197 runners took part.

Pendle parkrun – a total of 47 runners took part.

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – a total of 139 runners took part.

Club Road Championship

Well done to everyone who took part in the Winter Warmer 10K.  This was the first race of our Club Road Championship and the standings have been updated accordingly.

Road Championship Standings

Coming up

Mid Lancs Cross Country Fixtures

There are just two Mid Lancs XC races to go and we are hoping for an “all out” presence at both venues. Particularly for Blackpool,  as it’s the last available XC if members have chosen to support the fell champs at the time of the Lancaster race. The ladies team behind us are only one point shy to catch up so it’s vital we rally up support from club members to take part in any the remaining races and help us gain promotion to division one.

It’s not too late to join in and run for your club! You can contact Our Cross Country Captain, Irene Roche, for more information.

Information about the remaining fixtures can be found in the link below.

Mid Lancs XC Information

Tangerine Training Night – Tuesday 24th February 6.30pm

The future’s bright at Clayton Le Moors Harriers and to celebrate the plan is to turn up wearing a tangerine hoodie or something similar in bright orange. It would also be a fantastic milestone to break the attendance record set at 60 people.

Tangerine Training Night Flyer

Club Presentation Night – 21st March

Don’t forget to get yourself a ticket to the hottest awards night of the year. Our annual presentation night will definitely be THE place to be.

Tickets are available now from Marie Greenwood 01254 237485 or email  mgreenwood1969@outlook.com