Glorious Mud

It’s that time of year again and early December means only one thing; cross country at the notoriously and gloriously muddy Marl Pits. This fixture brought the Red Rose League to a close with some great results for the club. You’ve also been tearing up the tarmac at Guys 10 and Todmorden Park as well as additional cross country and the Shropshire Fells

A warm welcome to our newest members; James Dunderdale, Lucy Scott, Julie Newton, Michael Toms, Teresa de Curtis and Jessica McBride.

THURSDAY 1 DECEMBER

TODMORDEN PARK 5K WINTER SERIES – RACE 4

Martin Brady and Ron Chappell took part in the fourth race of the Todmorden Park 5K Winter Series organised by Cannonball Events. Martin was 23^rd in 23:25 and Ron was 37^th and 1^st MV65 in 29:22.

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
23	Martin Brady	MV50	23:25
37	Ron Chappell	MV65	29:22

Full Results

SATURDAY 3 DECEMBER

BLACKBURN WITH DARWEN SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY

Natasha and Bronia Olszewska both ran in the Yr 8/9 girls race. Bronia finished 19^th and Natasha was 5^th and goes on to compete for Blackburn Schools at the Lancashire fixture.

CARDINGTON CRACKER FELL RACE

Andy Firth and Pete Browning travelled down to Shropshire to take part in the Cardington Cracker Fell Race organised by Telford AC. It a 9 mile race with 2602ft of ascent. 252 runners completed the race.

Report from Andrew Firth

This is the third year running that I’ve made the trip down to Shropshire for this festive race, having been told how good it was by Jon Sharples. It’s a fair trek, but a good excuse for a weekend away, but it could be done in a day trip with an early start from Lancashire.

For the first time I wasn’t the only Clayton Harrier in the race, Peter Browning also came down for a weekend away in his camper van. The race always attracts a good field, although the club vests in this part of the world are unfamiliar, although yellow vests appear to be prevalent (Shrewsbury, Mercia etc).

As the 250+ runners set off my objective was simply to try and keep Pete in sight. The run out to the first main hill, The Lawley, is over gently rising farmland. Although the stiff frost had firmed up the mud there is a section where we are routed up a very muddy and unpleasant bridle way to avoid a kissing gate at the top of the very nice path which runs parallel on the other side of the hedge!

After about 10 mins of gradual climbing we plunge down a steep descent which is quite treacherous since it is still in the shade and frozen. After a short marshy section I look ahead only to see The Lawley rearing up in front of us for a good 10 mins of hands on knees climbing, and the first of three tough climbs. I’m getting quite warm at this point, in the sun and sheltered from the wind – as expected Pete is pulling away and disappearing over the top.

As always I enjoyed the descent, but the run across to the next and biggest climb Caradoc is quite tough, muddy fields, a bit of uphill road and a bridle way. Once on the climb I look up to see Pete quite a way ahead. As he climbs out of bracken I time myself to the same point – approx 3 mins, I’ll do well to peg him to that. When we get to the top and start the ridge run he is nowhere in sight. It’s amazing how 3 mins looks like a small gap on a climb but on flatter ground he isn’t in sight!

Another steep and technical descent sees me reel in a few runners, but the link to the next hill is uphill reducing most people including me to a fast walk again.

After the checkpoint at Gaerstones farm we start the last steep climb (although there’s still more climbing to come) and I spot Pete up ahead – again on the climb it doesn’t look too far so I pick a spot and time myself to the same place. Only 2 mins, and whilst I’m thinking I have made up some time I’m not kidding myself that I can catch him. The remainder of the race is exactly the sort Pete thrives on – after the initial climb it eases off with a gradual climb to the final summit. Again on the ridge Pete almost out of sight and I don’t see him again till the finish.

Once at the final hill checkpoint a steep descent to the valley again in the shade is tricky on the frozen path, but I got good grip by tramping down on the dying bracken gaining a few more places. All that is left now is a gradual climb up to The Wilderness and a ridge run before the gradual descent to the finish through the fields we started on. It’s all I can do to keep the legs running, but now I’m aiming at a sub 2 hr finish it gives me the motivation to just about grind it out.

At the finish I just dip in under the 2 hrs with about 20 secs to spare – some 4 mins quicker than last year. Pete as expected picked up the pace and took a couple of mins out of me on the run in – finishing in about 1.56.

In summary this is an excellent race, made better by the perfect sunshine and finished off with Sunday lunch in the historic Royal Oak pub with Pete and Sandy. A grand day out.

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
157	Peter Browning	MV55	1:55:50
174	Andrew Firth	MV55	1:59:40

Full Results

MANCHESTER AREA CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE – HEATON PARK, MANCHESTER

The Manchester area cross country league was established following the merger of the Manchester & district, the Cheshire and the North West Women’s Cross Country leagues in 2006. The league provides competitive cross country running across all age groups.

Laura Hesketh was our sole competitor in this event and she finished 8^th overall in and 4^th senior woman.

Full Results

NWNL HAMELDON HILL

Jean Brown took part in the second event of the North West Night League orienteering event which took place on and around Hameldon Hill & Woods.

Blue Course

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
15	Jean Brown	W45	1:32:42

Full Results

RED ROSE CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE – MARL PITS

This was the fourth and final fixture of the Red Rose series at the infamous Marl Pits site. Despite the driest conditions for many years, there was still plenty of mud on the course.

U11 Boys

Our U11 boys continued their winning streak with first and second places for Dexta Thompson and Robbie Smedley. Together with Jenson Bentham in 12^th they took the lead in the team results finishing in 1^st position.

Pos	Name	Time
1	Dexta Thompson	6:27
2	Robbie Smedley	6:36
12	Jenson Bentham	7:05
16	Matthew Jackson	7:13
45	Joshua McKay	8:00
58	Toby Birtwistle	8:29

U11 Girls

Helana White was our first U11 girl finishing in 3^rd place overall. The U11 Girls’ team finished in 6^th place (H White | S Hargreaves | K Thompson).

Pos	Name	Time
3	Helana White	7:23
23	Summer Hargreaves	8:05
37	Kady Thompson	8:24
55	Rachel Stevenson	9:23
56	Emily Nicholls	9:26
57	Ellisia Smedley	9:40

U13 Boys

The second win of the day came from Jackson McKay as he battled a group of fast Horwich Harriers to take first place. The U13 boys’ team finished in 4^th place (J McKay | C Brown | L Jackson)

Pos	Name	Time
1	Jackson McKay	8:45
26	Christopher Brown	10:10
27	Lennon Jackson	10:14
34	William Nicholls	11:19

U13 Girls

Ella Dorrington was our first U13 girl in 11^th place overall. Together with Keira Stevenson and Bronia Olszewska, the team finished in 9^th place overall.

Pos	Name	Time
11	Ella Dorrington-Levy	10:26
54	Keira Stevenson	12:26
59	Bronia Olszewska	13:21

U15 Boys

Stanley Grewal was our first U15 boy in 19^th place. The U15 boys’ team finished in 5^th place ( S Grewal | J Bowman | A Stevenson)

Pos	Name	Time
19	Stanley Grewal	16:08
26	Jay Bowman	17:52
28	Adam Stevenson	17:57
33	Aaron Lundie	20:06

U15 Girls

Second place for Briony Holt in this race. Millie Stubbs followed in 9^th place with a battle for third Clayton finisher between Liberty Thompson and Natasha Olszewska. The U15 girls’ team finished in 2^nd place.

Pos	Name	Time
2	Briony Holt	16:13
9	Millie Stubbs	18:02
23	Liberty Thompson	19:37
24	Natasha Olszewska	19:42

U17 Men

Curtis Holt was our first U17 finisher in 7^th place, followed by Simon Wilshaw in 8^th. The team was completed by Reece Lawrence in 12^th giving the U17 men’s team 2^nd place.

Pos	Name	Time
7	Curtis Holt	20:37
8	Simon Wilshaw	20:48
12	Reece Lawrence	22:55

U17 Women

Lucy Stevenson was our sole competitor in this age category. She finished in 10^th place.

Pos	Name	Time
10	Lucy Stevenson	33:28

Men U20

George Pier was our sole U20 representative and he finished in 7^th place.

Pos	Name	Time
7	George Pier	38:37

Ladies Race

Louisa Powell-Smith had a great run to finish in 2^nd place and 1^st L35. Katy Thompson was 1^st L60. Our ladies team finished in 8^th place (L Powell-Smith | M Abbot | C Darling-Smedley). The same ladies made up the ladies’ vets team and finished in 3^rd place.

Report from Louisa Powell-Smith

Marl Pitts – I loved it! Great course, super atmosphere and great team support. Brilliant running from everyone on a testing course. Good battle between myself and Laura Riches of Leigh for first place. After gaining the lead and pulling away on the last lap I fell victim to the bog on the hill and as a result lost the lead. Despite fighting back, I had nothing left in the tank and had to settle for second place.

Despite it reportedly being the driest the course has been in recent years, the bogs were still there and still claiming shoes, feet and legs. Michelle Abbot had the misfortune to misjudge the mud and ended up waist deep and having to be rescued by another runner. Undeterred, she worked hard to catch up and pip team mate Cassandra Darling-Smedley to the finish.

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
2	Louisa Powell-Smith	L35	19:51
46	Michelle Abbott	L35	26:25
47	Cassandra Darling-Smedley	L35	26:26
64	Joanne Perry	L	27:52
66	Katy Thompson	L60	28:44
69	Julia Rushton	L50	29:05
73	Helen Burnett	L45	29:41
81	Adrienne Olszewska	L45	32:11
87	Susan Allen	L55	33:19
90	Jane Hylands	L45	33:42
94	Judith Carey	L35	36:17
97	Christine Leathley	L65	42:05

Men’s Race

Danny Collinge was the first Clayton man and finished in 5^th place overall.

Jeffrey Pickup was 1^st V65. The Men’s team finished 6^th (D Collinge | M Perry | M Duckworth | A Cran | G Pier | N Roscoe). The Vet men’s team (A Cran | N Roscoe | J Pickup | J Wilcock) finished in 10^th place.

Report from Matthew Duckworth

Marl Pitts, what can I say! One of my favourite fixtures. if you ever think its an easy XC fixture because it’s shorter than usual, think again! With the steep, muddy climbs and the bog you have to run through at the top, it becomes one of the toughest. The conditions this year were pretty good really but after most of the cross country so far being quite warm and good underfoot, it was a completely different race in Rossendale on Saturday.

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
5	Danny Collinge	M	29:41
11	Matthew Perry	M	30:47
50	Matthew Duckworth	M	34:56
84	Alex Cran	V45	37:33
99	George Pier	U20	38:37
103	Nicholas Roscoe	V45	38:50
106	Jeffrey Pickup	V65	38:54
126	John Wilcock	V50	40:04
137	Richard Briscoe	M	41:05
140	Andy Quinn	V45	41:23
142	Mick Hughes	V40	41:40
155	Craig Nicholls	V40	43:44
156	Christopher Lawrence	V50	43:35
164	Carl Carey	V45	44:59

Full Results

RED ROSE CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE SERIES RESULTS

This has been a great cross country season for our juniors in particular with some excellent performances and results from the U11 boys and U 17 men. Individual wins for Dexta Thompson and Jackson McKay and excellent results for many others. Our senior result reflect the fact that no seniors managed to compete in more than 3 of the fixtures due to a clash with Mid Lancs this year and most choosing the Mid Lancs Fixture.

U11 Boys – Our U11 boys have taken the team prize with Dexta Thompson and Robbie Smedley taking 1^st and 2^nd place in the individual rankings.

Pos	Name	Races	Points
1	Dexta Thompson	4	3
2	Robbie Smedley	4	9
10	Finley Stubbs	3	25
14	Jenson Bentham	4	36
18=	Matthew Jackson	4	57
50	Joshua McKay	4	159
62	Toby Birtwistle	3	198

U11 Girls – Our U11 girls’ team has finished in 5^th place. Helana White finished in joint 4^th place overall despite missing a fixture and a bout of appendicitis; a superb result for her.

Pos	Name	Races	Points
4=	Helana White	3	13
23	Summer Hargreaves	3	75
29=	Kady Thompson	4	89
52	Emily Nicholls	4	182
53	Ellisia Smedley	4	188

U13 Boys – Our U13 Boys’ team finished in 5^th place. Jackson McKay has finished in 1^st place in the individual rankings.

Pos	Name	Races	Points
1	Jackson McKay	4	4
24	Lennon Jackson	4	73
33	William Nicholls	4	103

U13 Girls – 9^th place for the U13 girls.

Pos	Name	Races	Points
10	Ella Dorrington-Levy	4	29
54	Bethany Wheatcroft	3	164
57	Keira Stevenson	3	171

U15 Boys – 4^th place for the U15 boys

Pos	Name	Races	Points
22	Stanley Grewal	3	64
30	Adam Stevenson	3	95
34	Aaron Lundie	3	112

U15 Girls – 4^th place for the U15 girls

Pos	Name	Races	Points
4	Briony Holt	3	10
9=	Millie Stubbs	3	27
22	Liberty Thompson	3	66
25	Natasha Olszewska	3	72

U17 Men – 2^nd place for the U17 men’s team

Pos	Name	Races	Points
7	Curtis Holt	4	20
10	Simon Wilshaw	3	33
12	Reece Lawrence	3	36

Ladies – with a clash of fixtures between the Red Rose and Mid Lancs cross country leagues none of our ladies ran all four fixtures as they opted for the Mid Lancs option. In fact, only Michelle Abbot and Christine Leathley qualified for the rankings having both competed in 3 fixtures. Michelle was 6^th L35 overall and Christine was 2^nd L65.

Our ladies team finished in 13^th place. And our vet ladies were 8^th.

Pos	Name	Cat	Races	Points
43	Michelle Abbot	L35	3	162
77	Christine Leathley	L65	3	341

Men – A similar story for the men. The men’s’ team finished in 6^th place with the vet men in 8^th place.

Pos	Name	Cat	Races	Points
36	Matthew Duckworth	M	3	156
50	Andrew Orr	V45	3	218
65	Alex Cran	V45	3	296
81	John Wilcock	V50	3	369
98	Andy Quinn	V45	3	431
130=	Craig Nicholls	V40	3	551
141	Carl Carey	V45	3	607

Full Series Results

SUNDAY 4 DECEMBER

GUYS 10

332 runners finished the rescheduled Guys 10 road race. Jacob Watson was our first Clayton man in 10^th place overall and with a time of 00:58:50. Richard Stevenson made the top 20 in 01:01:14. Super vet runners John Hartley and David Scott were 1^st MV60 and 1^st MV70.

Elizabeth Mullan was our first Clayton lady in 88^th place and 01:12:46 and we saw the welcome return from injury of Donna Airey in 124^th.

Report from Irene Roche

A lovely, bright December morning saw members of Clayton-le-Moors Harriers running in the Guys 10 mile road race. Many of us had entries brought forward from last year’s cancellation due to flooding. What a contrast in weather! It was good to see runners return from injury – Michael Hogan and Donna Airey – with superb performances. Andy Quinn was spotted at the finish and pulled into the photo snap before he got away.

Michelle Butschok and Liz Mullan were extremely pleased with a PB each and Angela, Vicky and me came into the finish as one job lot. Our own club president David Scott and Ian Hargreaves kept with us for the first three miles, then both left us behind to gain around three minutes on us. Well done both of you – perhaps our conversation spurred you both on. Totally enjoyed the morning and I’m entering again next year.

Report from Donna Airey

Having only run twice in 5 weeks due to injury, the 9pm Saturday night decision to do the race was definitely a gamble. The ankle held up, unlike the rest of me. Struggling with the distance from mile 5, I was glad to see the finish line. Course, organisation and marshals and even the weather were all great! This race is definitely on my list next year. Ankle hasn’t doubled in size today and I managed to knock 5 minutes off my current 10 mile race time. Thankfully, the gamble paid off this time.

Report from Adam Stephenson

A good turnout of Clayton Harriers rolled up in Garstang on a lovely Winter’s morning for the Guys 10 miler. It was a mostly flat course, and it was a good job as well because I think a few found it tough. By the seventh or eighth mile I felt like I was running through treacle with boots on! It’s a nice and scenic route, and very well organised and marshalled throughout. I’d definitely recommend it to anybody wanting to have a go at that distance.

There were a few PBs from our group which is always great, and some cheese at the end! Oh…and a well-earned pint.

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
10	Jacob Watson	M	00:58:50
18	Richard Stevenson	MV40	01:01:14
23	Jonathan Cleaver	MV35	01:02:20
30	Matthew Duckworth	M	01:03:40
32	Chris Snell	MV35	01:04:09
41	John Hartley	MV60	01:05:27
55	Dan Plant	M	01:07:26
68	Michael Hogan	MV45	01:10:41
88	Elizabeth Mullan	F	01:12:46
92	Andy Quinn	MV45	01:13:22
124	Donna Airey	FV35	01:16:36
133	Adam Stephenson	M	01:17:40
153	David Scott	MV70	01:20:34
155	Ian Hargreaves	MV50	01:20:48
169	Irene Roche	FV55	01:23:51
170	Vicky Heys	FV45	01:23:52
171	Angela Shian	FV35	01:23:52
215	Michelle Butschok	FV40	01:30:56

Full Results

PFO HAMELDON HILL

The competition area is Hameldon Hill, with its extensive quarries and crags on the northern flank, and below them areas of woodland and the remnants of a WWII firing range

Report from the PFO website (abridged)

93 competitors at a PFO Level C event was a good turnout for this time of year, competing, as it did, with Christmas shopping. Thanks to the weather gods who smiled on us this year, remembering that our Pendle Night event exactly a year ago was cancelled due to Storm Desmond and our Pendle Day event involved some deep wading through Ogden Clough flood water.

All went well on the day with many comments and curses about the tricky nature of the quarries. Reeds on the open moor are inevitable in this part of Lancashire, so we cannot in all conscience offer apologies for this. Often the longer path route choice is quicker.

As they say in these parts, it was a grand day out.

Brown Course

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
19	Mark Nutter	M55	2:27:29

Blue Course

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
2	Mike Wallis	M55	1:07:40
9	Jean Brown	W45	01:21:29
17	Katy Thompson	W60	2:09:38

Green Course

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
19	Kath Wallis	W60	1:25:54

Orange Course

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
1	Christopher Brown	M12	33:53

Full Results

parkrun Roundup

Burnley parkrun – A total of 218 runners took part

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
5	Nicholas HENNESSEY	19:05	JM11-14
6	Kevin DAVIES	19:08	VM55-59
8	Jonathan PYE	20:01	SM25-29
10	Stephen AINSWORTH	20:45	VM60-64
15	Paul WALE	21:43	VM45-49
26	James BOULT	22:37	SM20-24
39	Michelle ABBOTT	23:10	VW35-39
47	Nina KEWIN	23:42	VW35-39
61	Andrew WEBSTER	24:28	VM45-49
66	Andy QUINN	24:49	VM45-49
67	Adam QUINN	24:51	JM11-14
78	Donna SCOTT	25:29	VW50-54
83	Annabel WILCOCK	25:42	JW15-17
84	John WILCOCK	25:42	VM50-54
87	Lisa JOHNSON	25:53	VW40-44
96	Sophie ASHWORTH	26:23	JW11-14
133	Stuart BARKER	28:32	VM50-54
134	Ron CHAPPELL	28:41	VM65-69
154	Robert HIRST	29:56	VM65-69
158	Helen HARRISON	30:03	VW45-49
165	Marion WILKINSON	30:44	VW75-79
172	Alan DORRINGTON	31:17	VM45-49
183	Richard LAWSON	31:50	VM75-79

Burnley junior parkrun – A total of 34 runners took part

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
1	Nicholas HENNESSEY	6:57	JM11-14	New PB!
2	Matthew JACKSON	8:07	JM10
3	Aaron LUNDIE	8:21	JM11-14
4	Nathan KEWIN	8:38	JM11-14
10	Heidi KEWIN	9:29	JW11-14
13	Felix THOMPSON	10:35	JM10
20	Charlie PLANT	11:52	JW10
22	Emily JOHNSON	12:18	JW10	New PB!
34	Liberty THOMPSON	15:17	JW11-14

Chester parkrun – A total of 170 runners took part.

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
77	Bethany WHEATCROFT	27:09	JW11-14	First Timer!

Concord parkrun, Sheffield – A total of 83 runners took part.

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
78	Robin PRICE	33:38	VM70-74	First Timer!

Cuerden Valley parkrun – A total of 136 runners took part.

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
53	Martin BRADY	28:15	VM50-54

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – A total of 123 runners took part.

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
35	Wendy DODDS	24:45	VW65-69

 Pendle parkrun – A total of 61 runners took part.

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
5	John HARTLEY	20:34	VM60-64
26	Dawn TERRY	26:14	VW50-54

 Preston parkrun – A total of 275 runners took part.

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
84	Katy THOMPSON	24:46	VW60-64