No tricks, just treats!

As we draw near the scary and spooky shenanigans associated with Halloween, one thing is clear; this has been a week of treats with no tricks in sight. You’ve been parkrunning in fancy dress, cross country running at a couple of venues, and storming along in 10Ks with wins, category triumphs and PBs galore.

SATURDAY 29 OCTOBER

RACE YOU TO THE SUMMIT

No results as yet but Robert Hirst, Jack Maguire and John Francis spotted on the photos by Woodentops.

John Francis who ran this race for the first time in 1967. Photo by Woodentops

In fact, John Francis ran the 1^st Gale Fell Race in 1967 to the White House and back, which has been reinvented as Final Race You to the Summit Race where he is pictured racing. Amazing stuff!

MID LANCS CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE – CUERDEN VALLEY

This was the second fixture of the Mid Lancs League cross country. It’s the first time a fixture has been held at Cuerden Valley, as the proposed event last year was cancelled in the aftermath of the terrible winter floods. Cuerden Valley Country Park had a whole lot of terrain to offer the cross country runners with a mix of flat muddy sections, woodland paths and a tussocky hill.

Danny Collinge at the Cuerden fixture. Photo by David Wood

Unfortunately, there was a clash with the Red Rose League event at Witton Park but with the Mid Lancs taking precedence for the club just a group of junior runners and a couple of seniors took part in the Red Rose event with the rest of the juniors and the senior runners taking on the challenge of a new course at Cuerden.

U11 Girls

Helana White and Rachel Stevenson ran in this race and tackled this tough and hilly course with gusto. Helana had a great run earing a top ten finish. She was 8^th overall with an excellent time of 7:04 in a field of 58 runners. Rachel was 52^nd and despite the course being blocked by absent-minded spectators managed an excellent final spring to hold off a Barlick rival.

U13 Girls

We had a full team of U13 girls comprising Keira Stevenson, Roanna Holdsworth and Bronia Olszewska. They finished 9^th in the team competition. With a couple of climbs this was a challenging course for the team who put in a sterling effort to gain team points in the competition.

U15 Girls

After success in the last Mid Lancs fixture our U15 girls were out for a good result at this race. Briony Holt was our first finisher in 1^st place, Millie Stubbs was 6^th and Natasha Olszewska was 15^th. These excellent performances gave them the win they were looking for and for the second time they took the 1^st team position.

U15 Boys

It was great to see a full team in this age category. Stanley Grewel was our first finisher in 10^th place, Adam Stevenson was 23^rd and Jay Bowman was 25^th. They were 4^th team overall.

Ladies’ Race

A dozen ladies turned out to tackle this tough course. Elizabeth Mullan was our first finisher in 30^th place with Donna Airey following in 45^th despite carrying an injury. Michelle Abbott made a mad dash over from the Witton Park fixture to get there just in time to count in the A team.

Michelle Abbot racing hard at Cuerden after racing over from Witton. Photo by David Wood

Ladies A (E Mullan | D Airey | M Abbott) finished in 13^th place.

Ladies B (J Bennett | S Helliwell | J Knightley ) were 21^st.

Ladies Over 35 (D Airey | M Abbot | J Bennett) were 8^th.

Ladies Over 45 (J Bennett | J Knightley | J Pollard) were 7^th.

Ladies Over 55 (J Knightley | S Allen | C Leathley) were 5^th.

Men’s Race

29 men ran in the race. Danny Collinge was our first Clayton Man in 9^th place overall. Our senior men finished strongly in 3^rd place overall and our vet men were first in both the Over 40 and Over 50 teams. An excellent result for the men.

Kevin aka Tiger Davies at Cuerden. Photo by David Wood

Our senior men’s team (D Collinge | M Perry| J Watson | P Coates | C Helliwell | R Stevenson) finished in 3^rd place.

Men’s Team B (R Aspinall | D Motley | C Snell | A Laycock | G Wilkinson | M Duckworth) finished 9^th

Men Over 40 (P Coates | C Helliwell | R Stevenson | R Aspinall) were 1^st.

Men Over 50 (R Aspinall | G Wilkinson | K Davies) were 1^st.

Full Results

OMM – Original Mountain Marathon

Congratulations to Jean Brown who  was running with double Bob Graham record holder, Nicky Spinks, in the OMM Elite race. They finished in 16^th place overall, 2^nd ladies team and 1^st Vet ladies team.

Full Results

RED ROSE CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE – WITTON PARK

An unfortunate clash of fixtures left numbers somewhat depleted in this race with the club prioritising the Mid Lancs League

U17 Men. L-R Reece Lawrence, Curtis Holt, Thomas Bradley.

U11 Boys

With our first three finishers in the top ten it was no surprise to see the U11 Boy’s team take 1^st place.

U11 Girls

Four U11 girls took part in the race and their team finished in 11^th place.

U13 Boys

Three boys took part in the 13 race. Jackson McKay’s first place chopped the points and took them to 6^th place overall.

U13 Girls

Some stiff competition in the U13 girls’ team who finished in 9^th place.

U15 Girls

We had two girls in this race.

U17 Men

It was great to see the club fielding a team in this age category. Our U17 men’s team were 3^rd.

Senior Men

Just two senior runners at Witton Park.

Full Results

SUNDAY 30 OCTOBER

ACCRINGTON 10K

Sixteen Clayton Harriers took part in the Accrington 10K race. Matthew Duckworth was our first Clayton man and 9^th overall in the race. Elizabeth Mullan was our first lady finisher.

Report from Matthew Duckworth

After running a difficult and hilly cross country race on Saturday,  I was not expecting a great race. As I was warming up I was determined as usual but expecting a slower time than last year so I was pleasantly surprised when I achieved a new PB! When running to the finish line I saw the clock ’37:29′ and thought holy ****! How? A great overall race with an out of the ordinary participant leading us through Huncoat on his horse and trap. It was a fantastic road race; a great course with a few difficult and steep end miles. There was an excellent atmosphere, fantastic and motivating marshals and the race was well managed as usual. An overall great race and a brilliant result!

Matthew Duckworth running well at the Accrington 10K. Photo by David Belshaw

BRONTE WAY FELL RACE

Half a dozen Clayton Harriers took part in this 7.5 mile fell race with 1152ft of ascent.

Paul Hesketh at the Bronte Way Fell Race. Photo by Woodentops

Paul Hesketh was our first man in 24th place overall. Sarah Helliwell was our sole lady runner.

Sarah Helliwell at the Bronte Way Fell Race. Photo by Woodentops

Full Results

SHEFFIELD 10K

Over 3000 runners took on a city centre route, starting in Arundel Gate, and on a journey along Charter Row and along Ecclesall Road, before skirting the edges of pretty Endcliffe Park. The route then continues along Riverdale Road, along Endcliffe Vale Road, close to the Botanical Gardens, then travels down Brocco Bank and back to an exhilarating city centre finish.

L-R Reece Lawrence, Danny Collinge and Chris Lawrence

Danny Collinge had a great run and won the race with a time of 32:38. He was very happy with the result having battled hard with two other runners in the final 2K to take the victory. David Bagot was our next finisher who also had an excellent run to finish in 6^th place with a time of 35:20. They were joined by clubmates Reece and Chris Lawrence who finished in 154^th and 716^th place respectively.

Full Results

Parkrun roundup

Burnley parkrun – A total of 267 runners took part.

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – A total of 189 runners took part.

Fulham Palace parkrun – A total of 378 runners took part.

Gorleston Cliffs parkrun – A total of 250 runners took part.

Lytham Hall parkrun – A total of 203 runners took part.

Medina I.O.W. parkrun – A total of 289 runners took part.

Pendle parkrun – A total of 77 runners took part.

Sewerby parkrun – A total of 175 runners took part.

Stamford Park parkrun – A total of 77 runners took part.

Warrington parkrun –  total of 316 runners took part.