It’s  been all about awards, accolades and achievements this week.  We’ve had wins and top placings in many different events and a packed house at our club presentation evening. It was great to reflect on the successes of last year and be inspired to do even better this year.

Presentation Night

Club Chairman, James Hickie

“Our Presentation of Awards Evening on Saturday filled the 1882 lounge at Turf Moor, as 130 people enjoyed our social event of the year. Our Juniors and John Roche’s training sessions are the driving force behind the success of our club – it was great to see our Juniors and their families at the event for the first time as well as a table of new members who have joined through the Beginners’ Training group. The club’s thanks for such a successful night are due to Social Secretary Marie Greenwood, Trophy Custodian Harry Manning, Pete Booth for helping with setting out the venue, Media Manager Adrienne Olszewska for the Slide Show, Coach John Roche for the Tangerine Training Video, Rossendale & Pendle MRT for attending and David Belshaw for taking the photographs. I look forward to our next social gathering on 23rd May during the Weekend of Running.”

Clayton-le-Moors Harriers Presentation Evening – Club President Dave Scott and Breton Holdsworth resplendent in orange as always!

Oh what a night! A full house for this year’s club presentation evening. Junior awards were included for the first time and a great many of them attended with their families making it a very joyous and exuberant event. It was great to see such a wide mix of members there from stalwart members of many years, to recent recruits happy to join in the celebrations. And did I mention the juniors? Lots of them were there too!

Clayton-le-Moors Juniors breathing new life into an ageing club

There were awards and accolades for our senior members across Fell, Road, and Cross Country disciplines as well as awards for outstanding achievements, outstanding performance, most improvement and most promising newcomer to the club.

Junior Coach Marion Wilkinson talked about the start of the journey for the junior section 6 years ago, and the aim  to build a group of young runners worthy of wearing the clayton vest. With the help of 2 great coaches; Andy Armstrong and Jason Pier, we are definitely on the road to success, and the grant awarded to us by Sport England will further help us to make our mark, enabling our junior section to be the best locally and ensuring that these young people remain with the club into adulthood.

The juniors received awards for outstanding achievements, overall improvement and team performance.

Photos

Full list of awards

Roll on next year!

Cartmel Trail Race 18km – 21 March

Starting and finishing at Cartmel Racecourse, the 18km Cartmel Trail Race, takes an on off-road journey through some of the most scenic and varied countryside in the Lake District, along a ‘Beauty and Beast’ of a course. The trails are mainly along waymarked and marshalled footpaths and bridleways, giving panoramic views of both Morecambe Bay and the surrounding peaks. Underfoot conditions are variable with a bit of everything. Good fast sections, but it can be very sticky in places, especially if wet!

Team Holdsworth at the Cartmel Lakeland Trails Race

Our three Clayton men put in three amazing performances. Christopher Holdsworth was the winner of the race, with Breton Holdsworth following in fourth position (1^st V40), and Ian Greenwood finishing in a very respectable 16^th place (2^nd V50). 185 runners took part in the event.

Report from race winner, Christopher Holdsworth

“After a few frustrating months spending time on the side lines nursing injuries and missing races, I was very relieved to get back to racing – and a big one too in Lakeland Trail’s Cartmel! I began the race pulling out a minute or so lead on the Inov-8 athlete Ben Abdelnoor, only for him to cut it back around the 5-6 mile mark due to a navigation mishap and him fairing better at the tougher terrain. Once we got back out onto the road, I was able to regain a comfortable lead which I fought very hard to maintain. There was a sting in the tail right at the end which allowed me to gain sight of Ben in the distance. Not wanting to let my lead slip at the end, I put in one last effort to push through with a 1:10:15 finish, with 2nd a minute behind in 1:11:15. Breton, who had me worried prior to the race having put in great efforts at Flower Scar and Dentdale, put in a brilliant effort finishing in 4th and over 2 minutes faster than his previous Cartmel best. Was a fantastic race and top event – very looking forward to Hawkshead!”

Excellent results guys!

Full Results

Trimpell 20 Mile Race – 22 March

Described by the organisers as 99% traffic free through the historic City of Lancaster and the stunning Lancashire Lune Valley countryside. It is an ideal race before your chosen Marathon.

Sarah Angelone at the Trimpell20

Some great performances from the 7 club members that took part in this event. Paul Thompson had an excellent run, finishing in 10^th place overall with a time of 02:04:45. Congratulation to Stephen Biscomb for his 1^st Vet 60 position and Alan Clarkson for his 2^nd Vet 50. Sole lady representative was Sarah Angelone who finished in an excellent time of 02:53:27

Steve Biscomb said, ” Amazed I won my age category; it’s the longest race I have completed so far. Thanks to Nick Roscoe and Alan Clarkson for their words of encouragement.”

Sarah Angelone ran a blistering race and said; ” This was a fantastic event in some lovely sunshine for once. The Clayton blokes were amazing and as they were all headin past me it made me motivated to keep ‘looking like and athlete’.I was really chuffed with my time and based on today’s performance I could actually get under my 4 hour target for the marathon. I would be over the moon if I got a time like this!”

Well done guys and gal and the very best of luck for those of you going on to the London marathon in a few weeks time.

Full Results

Coniston 14 – Saturday 21 March

The organisers of the Coniston 14 claim that it is probably the most beautiful road race in Britain. Each year it attracts some 1600 runners and has a reputation for being one of the best organised small races in the country. The Race is organised by an enthusiastic committee of volunteers from Coniston village.

Two of our members took part in this year’s race, Tanya Bunkham ad Graham Kissack. Tanya Bunkham reported; “Someone ordered Summer for this today – the sun was cracking the flags!! The scenery was beautiful, but the hills kept appearing from nowhere – especially in the 2nd half.”

Well done to both of you!

 Full Results

Goal-den-Girls Women’s Only 10K – Sunday 22 March

Clayton Ladies L-R Eloise Pemberton, Elizabeth Mullen, Bianca Bennett, Amanda Duffy.

Bianca Bennett reported; “The race was fantastic. All the Clayton ladies today stuck together, supported one another and went out with an attitude to achieve and work hard. The results showed with 5th and 6th places achieved and fantastic PB’s too. Was great that some of the gents turned up to support too.”

Eloise commented; “Today’s race was really enjoyable and a proud race for the Clayton ladies! Like Bianca said we set off together to achieve and show Blackpool what we are made of. Someone pointed out that most participants were wearing long sleeves and jackets and us clayton ladies went boldly and proudly in our vests!!! I enjoyed running in stride alongside Bianca throughout the race and found strength in numbers really worked for us today. Fantastic results from the ladies today, beautiful weather and support from family, friends and our fellow Clayton gents made today the perfect 10k race.”

Eloise Pemberton sprinting to the finish at the Goal-Den-Girls 10k

Elizabeth Mullen added; “Well Bianca hit the nail on the head, great teamwork and support all around and hopefully we did Team Clayton proud. Definitely proud of ourselves. Like Bianca said, we are still waiting on the official results but as far as we know we all got PBs and for some of us it was our first race as a Clayton-le-Moors Harrier. Personally, John’s speed seasons have payed off for me especially on the final 2 miles where there were a couple of slight inclines where I managed to overtake. Really impressive ladies. Well done!”

Amanda Duffy said; ” A great day as the sun was shining, very friendly people, we’ll run by all clayton ladies, a nice easy run down towards bispham and slightly undulating on the way back.”

Well done ladies!

Full Results

Heptonstall Fell Race – Sunday 22 March

Heptonstall is a modern classic of a fell race covering 15 miles of rough moorland, pasture and bridleways above Hebden Bridge. Originally conceived by the Heptonstall Hurriers it combines traditional features (entry on the day, home made soup & flapjack in the beer garden) with the added twist of an optional pre race runners service and a blessing by the local vicar. Five Clayton members made the start on a gorgeous sunny day.

Andy Armstrong at the Heptonstall Fell Race. Photo by Woodentops

The following club members took part; Andy Armstrong, Ivan Whigham, Martin Terry, Chris Funnell and Gary Balmer.

Chris Funnell at the Heptonstall Fell Race. Photo by the Woodentops

Full Results

Rivock Edge Fell Race – Sunday 22 March

Three of our club members took part in this 6.8 mile race in Silsden.

Robert Hirst at the Rivock Edge Fell Race. Photo by Julie Narey

Full Results

Canalathon – 22 March

Congratulations to Clayton Harrier, Fabienne Richmond, who was flying the flag for us in a  31-mile Ultra-marathon across the famous Route 66 Rochdale Canal organised by Cannonball Events.  She was the first lady finisher  with an impressive time of 04:23:47 and was 9th overall in the race in a field of over 90 runners.

Well done Fabienne!

Full Results

Wilmslow Half Marathon – 22 March

Marion Dixon was our sole representative in this popular half marathon in Cheshire.  Over 4000 runners lined up to take part in this event.  Marion finished with a time of 01:47:11. Well done Marion

Full Results

Garstang Gallop – 22 March

Another Clayton Lady, Julie Toman, was our sole representative at this 7 mile event organised by the Garstang running club.  She finished in 88th place with a time of  64:05. Well done Julie

Full Results

Two Crosses Circuit – Sunday 22 March

Each year the East Lancs Branch of the LDWA organise this 17 and 25 mile challenge event. Both routes visit the Roman Cross at Affetside and the Pilgrim’s cross on Holcombe Moor above the Rossendale valley.

Clayton Ladies Katy Thompson and Adrienne Olszewska took part.

Adrienne had this to say; “The weather was glorious on the day, a bit unexpected as the last of these events just a couple of weeks ago was beset by a blizzard on the moors at Holcombe.  I must say, it was a bit of a novelty being able to see where I was going for once.  Sadly, not much faster. Supervet Katy dashed off and completed the 25 mile circuit in 5 hours 10 minutes, and I plodded in after 6 hours and 33 mins. Well organised event with a great route.”

Parkrun roundup

A big showing from our club members at the Burnley parkrun this week. With 4 top ten finishers in a field of 252 runners. Sparkly new PBs for George Pier, Dexta Thompson, Lennon Jackson, Natasha Olszewska, Yvonne Wickham and Annabel Wilcock. Well done everyone!

Clayton Junior, Lennon Jackson at Burnley parkrun

There were a couple of first time visits at the Pendle parkrun from Pete Booth and Susan Allen. Pete Booth finishing in the top ten along with Richard Briscoe and John Hartley.

Our club members were also to be seen further afield at the Preston, Bolton, Dewsbury, Fell Foot and the newly up and running Evesham parkruns.

Burnley parkrun – A total of 252 runners took part.

 Pendle parkrun – A total of 57 runners took part

 Preston parkrun – A total of 254 runners took part.

 Bolton parkrun – A total of 329 runners took part.

 Dewsbury parkrun – A total of 69 runners took part.

 Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – A total of 129 runners took part.

 Evesham parkrun – A total of 239 runners took part.

Navigation training – call for leaders!

We would really like to put on some navigation training for club members – ideally sessions of a couple of hours each weekend over the course of a few weeks. Since there are a number of people in the club who are already qualified as mountain leaders etc., we thought we would see if any of them were keen to support club members by leading some training. We would expect most sessions will also require a number of helpers who are competent navigators.

So, if you are qualified to train people in navigation skills, or a competent navigator potentially able to help out, please do let Jean Brown or Dave Motley know (contact info here). We will pay expenses for the leaders as some resources would be needed.

Once we know who may be able to help we will work out how and when we can deliver and publicise to club members… so if you are keen to learn please do watch this space.

Calderdale Way Relay – Team Lineups

Men’s Teams
Team 1
Leg 1 – Christopher Holdsworth & Jacob Boyle
Leg 2 – Russell Clarke & Lee Smith
Leg 3 – Jordan McDonald & Danny Collinge
Leg 4 – Dave Motley & Paul Thompson
Leg 5 – David Bagot & Jacob Watson
Leg 6 – Tom Brewster & Breton Holdsworth

Team 2
Leg 1 – Jason Pier & Richard Briscoe
Leg 2 – Nick Olszewski & John Wilcock
Leg 3 – George Pier & Jonathon Pye
Leg 4 – Chris Whiteoak & Ryan Wilkinson
Leg 5 – Paul Wale & Adam Shaw
Leg 6 – Jon Hanson & Matthew Duckworth

Vet’s Team
Leg 1 – Michael O’Donnell & Kieron Mitchell
Leg 2 – Garry Wilkinson & Paul Shackleton
Leg 3 – Dominic Carr & Sean Clare
Leg 4 – Neil Hardiman & Tim Edward
Leg 5 – John Roche & Neil Aspinall
Leg 6 – Kevin Davies & Andy Armstrong

Ladies Team to be announced very shortly, but if you have not been in contact with Jean and may be interested in running please do let her know ASAP, (ideally by text to 07712 003064) along with some information about recent race performance – the team will be finalised on Tuesday!

And Finally…

Very best of luck to our ladies and gents running in the Northern Road Relays this Saturday.  There are 12 legs for the men and 6 for the women.  We have a one men’s team and two ladies’ teams.  Go get ’em!

Mens Team
Leg  1 – Chris Holdsworth
Leg  2 – Jason Pier
Leg  3 – Tom Brewster
Leg  4 – Jacob Watson
Leg  5 – Breton Holdsworth
Leg  6 – George Pier
Leg  7 – Lee Smith
Leg  8 – Richard Briscoe
Leg  9 – Ryan Wilkinson
Leg 10 – Jon Hanson
Leg 11 – John Wilcock
Leg 12 – Adam Shaw

Ladies Team A
Leg  1 – Fabienne Richmond
Leg  2 – Helena Leathley
Leg  3 – Natalie Harrison
Leg  4 – Irene Roche
Leg  5 – Vicky Heys
Leg  6 – Angela Shian

Ladies Team B
Leg  1 – Sarah Angelone
Leg  2 – Jean Knightley
Leg  3 – Sarah Whittaker
Leg  4 – Nerina Gill
Leg  5 – Julia Rushton
Leg  6 – Helan Burnett