The summer solstice marks the longest day and some of you were running your longest races at the Trailblaster Event. But, as usual, that’s not all; there have been fell races, road races, trail races and muddy races.  Making the most of the long summer nights while we can.

Bridestone Fell Race – Tuesday 16 June

Bridestone Fell Race goes past the famous Bridestone and takes in some of the lesser used paths in the upper Calder Valley. It is described as a short fast race with steep climbs, fast tracks and demon descents, something for everyone.

Colin Woolford at the Bridestones Fell Race. Photo by Adam Shaw

Full Results

Horwich Jubilee Road Races – Wednesday 17 June

Senior Race
291 Runners took part in this competitive five mile undulating course through picturesque Rivington. This race was the second in the series organised by Horwich RMI Harriers and forms part of the Central Lancs Grand Prix. Two of our members took park.

Fabienne Richmond was the first Clayton Harrier home in a time of 37:54 and super vet Ted Orrell was first in his age category with a time of 41:43. Well done to both of you.

Full Results

Junior Race
Well done to our four junior members who took part in the 1 mile junior race at Rivington. 79 youngsters took part, with Horwich RMI Harriers very much in dominance. Undeterred, Dexta Thompson was our first boy home in 11^th place overall and Liberty Thompson was our first girl in 24^th place. Jenson Bentham ran well placing first in his age category and Kady Thompson put in a strong run as always.

Our junior members at the Horwich Jubilee Street Race. Photo by Nicola Thompson

Full Results

Pendle Forest Orienteers – Brun Valley – Wednesday 17 June

Dave and Joanne Motley, as well as Joshua Boyle, took part in this orienteering event organised by the Pendle Forest Orienteers. These events are great fun and an excellent way to improve your navigation skills in a range of different locations in the area.

Full Results

Aggies Staircase – Thursday 18 June

Starting at the top of Punstock Road, the route climbs a footpath, turns right onto the track past Robin Hoods cottage, then left to follow an enclosed footpath to the main track, and left up to Darwen Tower.It then descends through the small quarry onto the main track towards the top of Bold Venture Park, before turning right to climb steeply up a rough path known as Jacobs Ladder, then across the moor top, and on down to the foot of Aggies Staircase.

Clayton Harriers at the Aggies Staircase Fell Race. Photo by Adam Shaw

Aggies Staircase is the shortest but steepest of the three climbs, and from the top you will return just below the Tower, and then descend the way you first came up towards Sunnyhurst. At the gate at the bottom turn right, retracing your steps; continue past Robin Hoods cottage, then turn left down the path to the finish at the top of Punstock Road

Alan Life at the Aggies Staircase Fell Race. Photo by Adam Shaw

Fourteen Clayton Harriers took part in this fast and furious race. Alan Life was our first man home finishing in 3^rd place overall and 1^st V50. Carol Life was our first lady finisher.

Full Results

Padiham Greenway 5k – Friday 19 June

Padiham Greenway 5k. Photo by Nick Olszewski

Described as a flat and very fast race there were a few grumbles when it turned out there was a whole 170-ish feet of ascent to contend with after all. The first half was all up and the second all downhill again. However, racing on a great smooth, albeit a little bit slanted surface didn’t stop lots of runners finishing with a PB and a big smile on their faces.

Some of the 60 Clayton-le-Moors Harriers taking part in the Padiham Greenway 5k. Photo by Deborah Gasse

This was the 7^th race of the Pendle and Burnley Grand Prix series and as competition for placings is really hotting up, this was a well attended event with 152 runners lining up at the start. Clayton-le-Moors Harriers had an impressive turnout of 60 runner for this race. The race was won by Barlick’s Marc Hartley with Clayton Harrier Danny Collinge in second place just pipping another Barlick runner, Thomas Corrigan, to the second spot. Jordan McDonald continues his streak of great runs finishing in fourth place overall and first junior finisher. All of the junior men finished in the top 40. Andrew Stubbs was first V45, and David Scott was first V70.

Clayton Ladies at the Padiham Greenway 5k race. Photo by Sarah Angelone

First lady in the race was Clayton Harrier Laura Hesketh, with fellow Clayton Harrier, Claire Vincent, finishing as second lady.  Dawn Terry was first FV50, Irene Roche was first FV55, and Marion Wilkinson was first FV70.

Full Results

Wicken Hill Race – Friday 19 June

The Wicken Hill Whizz is the first in a series of three races over three days held as part of Calder Valley Fell Runners Midsummer Madness Weekend. This race is described as the short and steep one.

Briony Holt at the Wicken Hill Whizz. Photo by the Woodentops

Our sole representative was our talented junior runner, Briony Holt, who ran in the senior race and finished as second lady. She finished in sixteenth place with a time of 25:51 in a field of 69 runners.

Full Results

Buckden Pike Fell Race – Saturday 20 June

This race was first run in 1981 and the course was designed by Peter Jebb, who together with his wife Anne, organised the Buckden Fell Race for 20 years. Peter was asked to organise a race by the Buckden Gala committee after winning the Fellsman Hike in 1981. In 1987, Peter altered the route to make the race more interesting and tougher. The course has remained the same ever since and this was the course on which the records were set.

Sean Clare at the Buckden Pike Fell Race. Photo by Debi Nicholson

Seven Clayton Harriers took part in this race. Sean Clare was our first male finisher and Nicola Horsfall was our first (and only) lady.

Nicola Horsfall at the Buckden Pike Fell Race. Photo by Debi Nicholson

Full Results

Clougha Pike – Saturday 20 June

Doug Monroe and John Francis represented Clayton-le-Moors Harriers at this race organised by Bowland Fell Runners. Doug finished in 30^th place with a time of 1:14:08 and John Francis was 34^th with a time of 1:32:40.

Full Results

Great Hill Fell Race – Saturday 20 June

The Great Hill Fell Race is held annually as part of the Brinscall Festival Festival.
Traversing along road, stony track and open moorland to the top of Great Hill this is a 5.8 mile race with 1575ft of ascent. Katy Thompson was our sole representative in this race. She finished in 69^th place (1^st LV60) in a time of 55:14

Katy Thompson at the Great Hill Fell Race. Photo by Stephen Fish

Full Results

Great Lakes Run – Saturday 20 June

Report from Ivan Wigham

Andrew Firth and myself raced the great lakes on Saturday. Weather conditions at the start were heavy cloud so as we climbed the Band visibility went to pot. Luckily, I was running with Andy who likes and knows the route. It rained in the middle of the race near Scafell but still not cold enough for our cags. We managed the slight side navigation to get us on the river crossing and on to the long drag towards

Blisco. At the Blisco summit the weather cleared ready for the steep and fast descent to the finish. Andy Firth just finished ahead of me due to faster descending to finish 44 and 45 just under 5 hours for a race 13 miles long but 7000 ft. Of climbing my legs are trashed!

Awaiting Full Results

Pilling 10k Race Series – Saturday 20 June

This was the first race in a five race series organised by Lancaster Race Series and is run on a flat & quiet roads in the pretty village of Pilling

Graham Kissack was flying the Clayton flag in this event and finished in 48th place with a time of 01:07:41

Full Results

Podium 5K – Saturday 20 June

Jonathan Pye and Laura Hesketh took part in Race B of the latest in this super-fast 5k series. Jonathan finished in 5^th place with a time of 18:32 and Laura was 7^th (2^nd lady) with a time of 19:14.

Full Results

Pretty Muddy 5k – Saturday 20 June

Yvonne Wickham ran this event in Tatton Park to raise money for Cancer Research with her daughter Rhiannon.

Yvonne Wickham (R) at the Pretty Muddy 5k at Tatton Park

Reservoir Bogs – Saturday 20 June

Senior Race
This is the second race in the Calder Valley Fell Runners’ Midsummer Madness Weekend and is described as the medium one with an incentive for navigators. The route of this race changes every year and runners are only issued with a map on the morning of the race itself. This year’s race was confined to footpaths only to meet with obligations from the local landowners. You would think this would make for a considerably faster race than in previous years but on the day the weather gods decided to throw in a bit of a challenge. Extremely foggy conditions ensured a trickier than expected race as visibility was exceptionally poor at times.

Neil Hardiman leading the way in the fog at the Reservoir Bogs Fell Race. Photo by Woodentops

Neil Hardiman and Alan Dorrington were undaunted by a bit of fog and headed out for the race. Neil finished in 4th place in a time of 58:22 and Alan Dorrington was 18th with a time of 1:06:08

Alan Dorrington hoping for a view at the Reservoir Bogs Fell Race. Photo by Woodentops

Alan Dorrington reports;

‘Misty and murky conditions were the order of the day for this race ‘with extra navigation’, held just up the hill from Hebden Bridge. Runners were issued with a map showing checkpoints for the annually changing route and giving a route choice of preference, the misty conditions meaning that navigational skills, or at least being around someone who knew their way around, would be an advantage.

Clayton runners, Neil Hardiman and Alan Dorrington, were entered and at the start Neil set off in pursuit of the leading runners with Alan shortly behind. A reasonable size group behind formed behind the leaders including some local Calder Valley runners, whom most of us seemed to be eyeing up for a bit of local knowledge.

 However, some individual navigational errors began to emerge amongst the front runners and positions yo-yo’d accordingly. Neil had a clean and accurate run and came in a strong 4^th in what must have been a tight fight between between the top 10 over the closing stages. Alan dropped from 12^th to 27^th after a navigational error, recovering to 18^th by the finish.’

Still managed to find his way back to the pub though!

Alan Dorrington enjoying a post race pint having successfully navigated to the pub!

Full Results

Reservoir Bogs – Junior Races

This race was one of the races selected for our juniors’ summer series. Unfortunately, the extreme weather conditions in the morning meant that the junior races were cancelled for safety reasons.

Three Lakes Classic – Saturday 20 June

Breton Holdsworth at the 3 Lakes Classic 15 mile trail race

Breton Holdsworth took part in this event in Rother Valley Park, Sheffield. This is a 15 mile race with around 80% on trails. Breton Finished 4^th overall and took the 1^st vet prize despite not being in a happy place for the last 3 or 4 miles.

Full Results

Freckleton Half Marathon – Sunday 21 June

Over 600 runners took part in the Freckleton Half Marathaon, the oldest half marathon in the country which was  first staged on Saturday evening 19th June 1965. The event was inspired by Ron Hill’s entry in the marathon in the 1964 Olympics; it was suggested that Ron be invited to run in the first race. The race was a success, not least because Ron Hill had accepted the invitation to run and indeed won the race in a time of 65.44. Four years later, he set an event record of 64.45 which stands to this day!

Just two of our club members took part in this historic event.

Full Results

Helm Hill Races – Sunday 21 June

Six Clayton Harrier junior members took part in the BOFRA championship races at Helm Hill.

Jackson McKay and Dexta Thompson on the start line at Helm Hill Races. Photo by Chris Thompson

Kady Thompson, Felix Thompson and Josh McKay competed in the U-9s race with Josh finishing in 4^th place. Dexta Thompson and Jackson McKay took part in the U-12s race with Jackson finishing in 6^th place, held back by the loss of a shoe after the first 10 yards, and Dexta finished in 11^th place. Liberty Thompson ran in the U-14s race finishing in 18^th place. A great day’s racing from our junior members.

Full Results

SSAFA Saunter 10K – Sunday 21 June

The SSAFA 10 is a 10Km run on good ground through the Holker Hall Estate Cark-in- Cartmel, Cumbria, LA11 7PL. A scenic Multi terrain 85% road Held by kind permission of the Cavendish family. All monies raised areused to support SSAFA – Solders Sailors & Airmans families association.

93 runners took part in this charitable 10k. Kevin O’Brien was our sole representative, finishing in 60th place with a time of 59:28

Full Results

Tom Tittiman – Sunday 21 June

The third, and final, race of the Calder Valley Fell Runners Midsummer Madness Series, the Tom Tittiman race is described as the short fast one.  This year’s race skirted around rather than going over the top to meet obligations set out by the landowners.

Robert Hirst at the Tom Tittiman Fell Race. Photo by Woodentops

Robert Hirst was our only entrant this year.

Full Results

Trailblaster 12 – Sunday 21 June

Report by Dave Motley

One drunk evening on Facebook Messenger some 6 months ago, a few of us decided to enter this 12hr team relay endurance event comprising of teams of 5 running 5k laps around Towneley Park constantly for 12hrs. Why did we enter??? Because we were drunk. 7 days before the race and the team of 10 runners had depleted due to injury and other commitments and now we only had 5 runners. A last minute Facebook appeal on Thursday and we were back on.

Sunday morning came and 10 bleary eyed runners came to the Clayton tent ready to run. We had the Clayton A team, Motley’s Angels, (and no, I didn’t pick the name) comprising of Chris Holdsworth, Dave Bagot, Jonathon Pye, Dan Balshaw & Danny Collinge and we had the Clayton mixed team (The Swingers) comprising of myself, the wife, Jacob Watson Elouise Pemberton & Michael O’Donnell (Forrest).

Angels and swingers at the Trailblaster12. Photo by Garry Wilkinson

8 am and the race started with Chris Holdsworth taking a commanding lead and setting a course record lap for the A team and Jacob Watson coming back with the baton in the lead in the mixed team. That’s how the day continued with both team leading from the front all day and finishing 1st overall (A team) and 1st mixed team (4th overall).

The Swingers making it look way too easy.

A fantastic effort by all runners and a really good day with Clayton support throughout. Also in the Trailblaster we had a number of members competing as part of multi club, multi family and friends teams and I think they’d agree although a long day, although very tiring, the event was a success.

Giving it all for glory on the last lap!

Jacob Watson reports; ” Brilliant event, completely unlike anything I’ve done before! The course was challenging but enjoyable, with the hill getting seemingly steeper on every 5k lap. Spirits were high throughout the day, despite the last few hours proving a true test of endurance. My legs really started seizing up for the last couple of laps and I was starting to worry about the dreaded cramp. Booking the next day off work proved essential as I could barely walk first thing! “

Both teams (Motley’s Angels and The Swingers) managed to scoop first in their respective categories. A tremendous effort from the tangerine army!

Unfortunately. individual team members aren’t listed on the results but I know that a number of our members took part in other teams; Donna Airey, Tanya Bunkham and Bryan Searby were there.  Sorry if I have missed anyone.

Donna Airey at the Trailblaster 12

Donna ran five 5k laps and had a great day.  She praised the organisation and spectators and enjoyed the atmosphere. Tanya Bunkham also had a great day and ran 7 laps – she says she will be avoiding Towneley Park for a while.

Bryan Searby at the Trailblaster12

Bryan said; “Gave it 100%. 6 laps for me 30k. Even threw a 10k in!”

Full Results

Parkrun Roundup

It was a fairly quiet parkrun weekend for our members. Not many juniors running as they all trooped off to the Reservoir Bogs race only to find it was cancelled and so missing their usual parkrun. A huge turnout of 60 Harriers at the Padiham Greenway and a plethora of weekend races left parkrun looking a bit sparse.

Burnley parkrun – A total of 280 runners took part.

Pendle parkrun – A total of 53 runners took part.

 Dewsbury parkrun – A total of 75 runners took part.

Heaton parkrun – A total of 554 runners took part

Sheringham parkrun – A total of 150 runners took part.