Run to the Hills

It’s been a chilly and hilly kind of week with some harsh weather adding plenty of challenge for our hardy fell runners. There’s also been some coastal cross country, rugged recces, fast 5Ks and a touch of romance as well. There is definitely a fire burning in the hearts of our runners that no amount of arctic blast can extinguish.

SATURDAY 11 FEBRUARY

CARNETHY 5 HILL RACE

There were some extremely testing conditions for this Scottish fell race with strong winds, sleet and snow to contend with. 472 runners finished the race with two Clayton Vet runners amongst them. Jack Holt was our first finisher in 190^th place overall and 3^rd M60,  and Wendy Dodds was 281^st overall and 1^st F60.

Runners at the Carnethy 5 Hill Race. Photo by Katrina Johnstone

Full Results

MID LANCS CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE – ROSSALL SCHOOL, FLEETWOOD

It was a cold and blustery day on the coast as the Mid Lancs Cross Country League moved to the fixture at Rossall School near Fleetwood with the impressive school buildings as a backdrop to a much drier course than many so far this season.

Our Juniors put in a strong showing with some great results for the U11 Boys who continue to dominate their category this season. Helana White had a great run in the U11 girls, Jackson McKay was 4^th in the U13 boys and our U15 girls’ team finished in 3^rd position.  We are still very much in contention for a win in both the U11 Boys and U15 girls category. Sadly we didn’t have enough numbers for teams in all the age groups but well done to all of our junior runners for some strong performances.

U11 GIRLS

Team Position 11^th

U11 BOYS

Team position 1^st

U13 GIRLS

Ella Dorrington missing from the results

U13 BOYS

Team Position 5^th

U15 GIRLS

Team position 3^rd

U15 BOYS

U17 MEN

LADIES U20

LADIES RACE

Eighteen ladies made the trip over to Fleetwood to run in the penultimate fixture of the Mid Lancs League. On a cold and blustery days our ladies got down to some great running despite the chill and the wind.  Donna Airey was our first lady and 29^th overall followed in by double act Michelle Abbott and Cassie Smedley.  Beth Quinn was our sole U20 lady.

Cassie Smedley chasing Michelle Abbot at the Mid Lancs XC. Photo by David Wood

Team Positions

A Team – 8^th (D Airey | M Abbot | C Darling-Smedley)

B Team – 14^th (I Roche | J Bennett | B Quinn)

Over 35 – 4^th ( D Airey | M Abbott | C Darling-SMedley)

Over 45 – 4^th (I Roche | J Bennett | J Rushton)

Over 55 – 2^nd ( I Roche| J Taylor | C Egerton)

VET 70 MEN

Richard Lawson was our only V70 in the race and he finished in 3^rd place.

V70 runner, Richard Lawson. Photo by David Wood

MENS RACE

Nineteen Clayton men raced at this fixture. Danny Collinge was our first man in 13^th place overall. Jacob Watson was next in 28^th place well out of his comfort zone but possibly beginning to enjoy cross country running. Dave Motley, Matt Duckworth, Alan Life and Andrew Orr made up our A Team who finished in 7^th place overall. Our V50 mens team finished in 2^nd place.

Jacob Watson swapping the road for XC. Photo by David Wood

Team Positions

A Team – 7^th (D Collinge | J Watson | D Motley | M Duckworth |A Life | A Orr)

B Team – 18^th (J Roche | G Berry | J Wilcock | A Quinn | M Hughes | C Nicholls)

Over 40 – 7^th (A Life | A Orr | J Roche | G Berry)

Over 50 – 2^nd (A Life | J Roche | J Wilcock)

Full Results

SUNDAY 12 FEBRUARY

FASTRAX 5K RACES – RACE 2

On a cold and blustery morning, the second race of this fast 5K race saw a quartet of Clayton Harriers racing in a field of 68 runners.

Nick Hennessey at the Fastrax 5K. Photo by David Belshaw

Nick Hennessey was our first finisher in 21^st place overall and Michelle Abbot was our first lady in 47^th place.

Julia Rushton at the Fastrax 5K. Photo by David Belshaw

Julia Rushton was 1^st F50 and Jack McGuire was 1^st M60.

Full Results

JUNIOR 2K

There were twenty-one runners in the 2K race and nine of our juniors, including some of our youngest members, took part.  All of them ran superbly in tough conditions with many of them finishing faster than last time despite the weather.

And they are off! The juniors at the start of the Fastrax 2K race. Photo by David Belshaw

Full Results

VALENTINES 10K

Who said that romance was dead; it certainly isn’t at Clayton-le-Moors Harriers with a valentine race for Lucy and James.

Report from Lucy Scott

The weather forecast wasn’t great as we set off to run the Valentines 10k which is part of the Lancaster Race Series. Wind aside, we knew we were in for a fast and flat 10k and the route certainly lived up to its reputation, which was a welcome relief after the Blackburn Winter Warmer last week!

Romantic racers Lucy Scott and James Dunderdale.

120 runners gathered at the start and set off very quickly over the bridge and heading down a cycle path. We were pretty sheltered from the wind on the way down for the first 5k but encountered some gales on the way back up. The cycle path was great for running on with very little turns, a simple out and back run not too dissimilar to the Windmill 10k.

Overall, a great little run if you are after a new personal best as me and James were! Along with our new PB’s, a medal, a flower and some chocolate were awarded on the finish line!

Full Results

STAN BRADSHAW PENDLE ROUND RECCE

Sunday saw the second of two race recces lead by race organiser, Colin Woolford. Conditions were a bit testing to say the least but we are a hard bunch and a bit of wind and snow wasn’t going to put us off!

Stan Bradshaw recce

Report from race organiser, Colin Woolford

Thank you to the 26 or so runners who came out to play over the last two recces of the Stan Bradshaw Race Route, both in decidedly poor weather conditions – you brave souls! Sunday’s 40-50 mph winds, snow and ice on the top and toward the end of the run, horizontal snow certainly kept us moving!

Heading down just ahead of the snow storm.

I hope this has given you a refresher of the route or if having never done it, inspired you to come and have a go on March 4th.

It’s been a pleasure meeting club members, and friends of the club, I’d not crossed paths with as well as extra time on the hill with those more familiar.

See you on the hill.

WINDY HILL FELL RACE

Four Clayton men braved the weather to race at the Windy Hill Fell Race. Andrew Laycock was our first finisher in 8^th place overall. He was joined in the race by Garry Wilkinson, James Boult and Wayne McIntosh and between them there was a 3^rd place finish as a men’s team.

Men’s team – 3^rd (A Laycock| G Wilkinson | J Boult)

Report From James Boult

After a sunny and bright 2016 race, I hoped for more of the same if I wanted to beat my time in what was my first Fell Race 12 months ago. What greeted me, and the 200 other competitors at Littleborough Rugby Club instead was the beginnings of snow and an icy chill which made conditions slightly treacherous and harsh underfoot.

James Boult at the Windy Hill Fell Race. Photo by Steve Bateson

With a couple of Fell races already under my belt for 2017 in what has been a slow return to racing, I felt good going into what was my toughest challenge, and furthest distance, of the year so far. Having never raced under such wild conditions I knew it would be an experience, however I underestimated just how much of an experience it would be. With sideways snow and hail pelting us as we set off, and then increasing as we made the steady climb up to the kissing gate, most of the race was spent with heads down and eyes stinging. Strong winds were thrown in as we navigated the treacherous open tops, with already slippy rocks even slippier with ice and small drops in the stones covered by patches of snow which only made themselves known when you fell though them. With no visibility the usually stunning views were masked behind a wall of white, and I had to rely on the fluorescent vest of the runner in front of me to keep on the right path at times.

Conditions improved for the final mile, but the snow and rain from the night before made the ground slippery and the XC style finish became a mudbath. I finished frozen to the bone but achieved what I set out to do; a top 100 finish and a couple of minutes faster than my time from than last year in what is one of my favourite races to kick off the year.

Report from Wayne McIntosh

A quartet of Claytoners headed over to Littleborough in wintery conditions for this year’s Windy Hill fell race. Largely described as a very runnable 9 miles with one memorable climb thrown in. I had done this race twice before and after a poor run last year I was hoping for some improvement. I felt good in the early part of the race, holding position well around mid-pack. Then came the long climb up to the gods, well Blackstone Edge but with visibility down to around 50m and the wind driving a horizontal blizzard it wasn’t the most pleasant part of the race. I got to the top of the climb without dropping any places and knew from here on in the course played to my strengths with some rough running over Blackstone Edge and windy Hill and a cracking descent to the finish.

I think I managed to pick up a few places to finish 133/200 and 1:32 – 4 minutes up on last year, on a day when most of my usual rivals were a good 15 minutes back. Good runs from the rest of the Clayton lot with Andrew Laycock first back in 8th place.

Andrew Laycock at the Windy Hill Fell Race. Photo by Paul Taylor

Full Results

PARKRUN ROUNDUP

Burnley parkrun – A total of 318 runners took part.

Heaton parkrun – A total of 611 runners took part.

Pendle parkrun – A total of 78 runners took part.

Yamba parkrun – A total of 43 runners took part