Baby it’s cold outside

Winter has come and it’s been a bit parky over the weekend. There were near Arctic conditions on Pendle for the Tour, and it was a bit nippy for runners at the Chorley 10k. Didn’t slow us down though. We’ve had race wins from Jacob Watson and Danny Collinge at 10K distance, age category wins for our vet men and ladies, and team wins at Pendle. Throw in a sack of PBs and it’s all looking rather hot.

WEDNESDAY 16 NOVEMBER

Manchester Run in the Dark 10k

Congratulations to Jacob Watson who won this night time 10k in a time of 35:12. The route follows a course around Salford Quays and BBC Media City.

Report from Jacob Watson

I missed out on this event last year due to injury and, as it’s one which my work colleagues do yearly (raising money for the Bolton Bulls wheelchair basketball team). I was looking forward to finally taking part this year! The race is a 2 lap event, with runners able to choose whether they would like to run 5k or the full distance. The race organisers had clearly put a lot of effort into the event as the atmosphere at Media City was fantastic.

Jacob Watson  ( 3rd from left on the front row) at the Manchester Run in the Dark 10k

The route takes part at night and is flat as a pancake, although it does feature a lot of switchback loops which nearly had the better of me! On the first lap I managed to fall while trying to turn back as quick as possible, however I managed to right myself in no time, after telling the marshal I was still fine to run. On the second lap the lead cyclist had left me and given me a few pointers on how to navigate the second lap. I wasn’t paying much attention on the first lap as I was just concentrating on following him round! Unfortunately I got a bit lost half way round the second lap on another switchback, but was shouted back by some of the lapped runners who kindly pointed me in the right direction! Only I could go the wrong way at a road race!

Great event and myself and all my work colleagues managed to grab personal bests. Same again next year then!

Full Results

SATURDAY 19 NOVEMBER

Conwy Half Marathon

Ian Hargreaves was our sole runner in this half marathon which starts on Conwy quayside next to the river Conwy and in front of the 700 year old castle. From here it proceeds along the road to Deganwy and on to the West Shore in the Victorian town of Llandudno then along Church Walks and past the pier. A tough bit follows as runner go around the Great Orme which is undulating with a couple of steep sections before a 2 mile downhill section returning to the West shore and retracing the route to the finish on Conwy quayside.

Ian finished in 1036^th place with a chip time of 01:56:34 and bagged a new PB for the distance as well. There were 2408 finishers.

Ian Hargreaves at the Conwy Half Marathon

Full Results

Kendal Mountain Festival – Trail 10K

Wendy Dodds was our sole runner in this 10K trail race around Kendal and part of the weekend mountain festival in the town. She was 62^nd lady and 1^st LV60.

Full Results

Tour of Pendle

The Tour of Pendle is a late season, category AL fell race over and around Pendle Hill and its adjoining moors. It is 16.8 miles with 4833ft of ascent. With the race taking place in November the weather is unpredictable and no two years are ever quite the same. This year despite harsh conditions and plenty of snow, hail, wind and rain there was no move to the bad weather course like last year.

Tour of Pendle CP9 or is it Base Camp Pendle? Photo by Jamie McIlvenny

23 Clayton Harriers finished the race with Peter Coates being the first Clayton man and Sarah Helliwell the first Clayton lady. There were lots of club members dotted around the course either marshalling or simply spectating.

A Day in the Snow – Report from Dave Motley

I woke up Saturday morning hoping for bad weather on Pendle, as knowing the hill really well I figured navigationally it could give me an advantage over some of the competitors, and when I arrived in Barley I wasn’t disappointed. The only problem was that I just wanted lots of low cloud and clag, not snow, hail and freezing cold temperatures! I set off without my jacket thinking, “How cold could it actually be, surely it’ll warm up when I get going?”. How wrong I was. I got to the summit of Pendle and instantly regretted my decision stopping for a minute to grab my jacket from my bumbag. How other competitors managed to run in just a vest I have no idea! (editor’s note: I’m told that John Thompson of Newburgh Nomads is a freak of nature according to one of his fellow clubmates!)

Dave Motley and Andy Laycock at the Tour of Pendle. Photo by Phil Donlan

Although we had bad weather, I couldn’t get any advantage on the navigation as the leaders had effectively carved a path in the snow for the entire field to follow. I had a great tussle with fellow Clayton lads Andy Laycock, Dave Bagot and Pete Coates with the four of us coming together at the bottom of the big end for the final ascent; Mr Coates smashed the climb and left the 3 of us to fight it out on the tarmac to the finish. Luckily I managed to find some energy to take a little out of Dave and Andy and managed to come back second Clayton finishing in 20th place.

First finishers and winning mens team. L-R Andy Laycock, Dave Bagot, Dave Motley, Peter Coates. Photo by Adrienne Olszewska

I think I’ve completed this race 5 or 6 times now and that was definitely the worst conditions I have raced in. The soup, the coffee and cake were certainly welcome in Barley Village Hall at the end and it was great to be part of the winning ream with Clayton taking first prize. In the battle to become fell champion the win puts Mr Coates in a very good position with Dave Bagot. I think me and Carl Helliwell are just behind with one race remaining in Mytholmroyd.

Ivan Whigham having far too much of a good time at the Tour of Pendle. Photo by Nigel Hodgson

Report from Sarah Helliwell

I had never intended to do the “Tour” until about 2 months ago. Firstly I had never run more than 11 miles and secondly not on that kind of terrain for so long! After Carl’s persuasive optimism and a few of his words of wisdom (not that he is an expert at this kind of race) what a treat I was in for! As everyone met before the race there was talk of thick snow on top, tough conditions and more snow to come in, also do not expect to do a fast time! Fast, me and fast are not in the same sentence! I had 2 goals. Get to the cut off before the 2 hours were up and then try to finish the race.

Sarah Helliwell at the start of the Tour of Pendle. Photo by Phil Donlan

We were counted through before we set of past the reservoirs and out up onto Pendle for the first time as the runners made a pretty line through the snow. People were taking photos and admiring the view of the white landscape (remember I am at the back!) We got to the top and the first snow shower came in as visibility became poor as we made our over the tussocks towards the Nick. I ended up in a group of 5 runners as we encouraged each other back towards CP4. When we got to “Geronimo” I realised it was easier to slide downhill on my backside rather than run and was lucky to miss the rocks, it was good fun. As we passed CP4 I got a shout of encouragement from Kath Brady (thanks Kath) and was happy to get through the cut off with a good 12 minutes to spare.

Now the big climbs were to come as we headed over the backbone of Pendle again and another snow shower. It was here that the advice from the ‘mature experienced’ Clayton members paid off, as I slowly began to leave some of the runners I had been running with and started to catch runners who had gone too fast in the first half. I was so glad I had kept eating and drinking as I went up the climbs. I felt relatively good up Ashendean and the Big Dipper before the weather deteriorated again and I headed to the Big End. Thankfully I had caught up 2 girls and we ran as a 3. Just as we started to descend down to CP9 the clouds cleared as we slipped, skidded and sledge our way down, I have never laughed as much running in my life, and thankfully this was distracting me from having freezing feet. We were now down to a group of 2 as we grabbed handfuls of Jelly Babies and Jaffa cakes from Dave Tait before heading back up to see Andy Firth and Di at CP10. I had drunk and eaten everything by this time and was glad to see Andy with drinks, flapjacks and more jelly babies. A massive thank you to you both for hanging out in your tent in horrendous conditions up on Pendle for over 5 hours, a bet the pint tasted good when you got back to the Pendle Inn.

Andrew Firth and Dinah at checkpoint on the trig. Photo by Nigel Hodgson

It was now time for the run back to Barley, I will never honestly say that I have ever experienced cramp in both of my inner thigh…this was literally in the last 10 meters of descending before hitting the flat stuff. My new Portuguese running friend offered my support as she cheered me on and it thankfully subsided and we made our way to the finish line. I was hoping for roughly 4 hours 15 minutes in my head; however I crossed the finish line in 4 hour 24 minutes. I was happy to finish in 1 piece as Carl, Andy Armstrong, the legend that is Pete Browning and Paul Healey were at the finish line. In the debriefing in the Pendle Inn from the “experienced” Clayton men I was told I could take a good 20-25 minutes of my time which would have put around 4 hours mark. I was well chuffed with that for my first ever long distance fell race. It is one I would recommend, especially with it being on our doorstep.

It would be great to see more Clayton ladies running it next year. The support, advice and fun I had on the day has been brilliant. A massive well done to everyone who ran, to Peter Coates with a cracking run and 1st Clayton home and the men for a great result with the men’s team. Well done.

Full Results

SUNDAY 20 NOVEMBER

10K Valencia Trinidad Alfonso

Dave Burnett jetted off to Spain to take part in this popular 10K race. He was accompanied by club member Garry Wilkinson who was there in a coaching/support role for a group of Running CF competitors.

Ever the shrinking violet! Dave Burnett at the Valencia 10K. Photo by Garry Wilkinson

Full Results

Arnside Knott Fell Race

Stephen Fish and Wendy Dodds took part in this 6 mile race with 1083ft of ascent.

Report from Stephen Fish

Two Clayton runners, Wendy Dodds and myself, made the trip up to Cumbria to compete in the excellent Arnside Knott race. This race is held in an unspoilt, beautiful area of limestone crags and woods with stunning views across Morecambe Bay to Grange Over Sands, fully justifying the A.O.N.B. status. This was made all the better with the lovely sunny conditions. The route this year had an extra half mile loop added to the previous time I did it in 2014, this increase in distance now moves it up to a category BM. The only downside was I’d forgotten to pack my Clayton vest, which felt strange attaching my race number.

From the off, Wendy slowly disappeared into the distance, as I settled into my rhythm to enjoy the great route through the woods up the Arnside Knott trig point. The additional loop took us out towards the village of Arnside, where the views of the sun reflecting across the bay was breath-taking. I was quite pleased with my run, so treated myself to one of the excellent cakes on sale…..it would’ve been rude not to.

A good race, well worth the short trip up the M6. It’s ‘pre-entry’, so look out for the details around late summertime, if you look to do this one.

Clayton Results:

Wendy Dodds – FW60 57:21

Stephen Fish – M60 – 1.02.47

Full Results

Chorley Fire 10K

The race starts from the Lancashire Fire & Rescue Centre in Chorley and takes an undulating route around the local villages of Euxton and Astley Village on quiet roads.

L-R Michelle Abbott, Reece Lawrence, Chris lawrence, Helen Harrison and Danny Collinge

A half dozen Clayton Harriers braved the chill to take part in this local 10K. Danny Collinge in superb form took first place in a time of 32:57. Team mate Stephen Biscomb was our next finisher in 34^th place and 1^st MV60 in 43:06. Reece Lawrence was hot on Stephen’s heels in 35^th place just 2 seconds behind and 1^st junior male. Michelle Abbot was our first lady finisher in 64^th place overall and 1^st LV35 in 46:42. Christopher Lawrence and Helen Harrison completed the Clayton team finishing in 71^st and 156^th place respectively and with new 10K PBs

Chris Lawrence reports

Well done Team Clayton today at Chorley, especially with the icy conditions. A PB for Helen Harrison and Michelle Abbot who was also a winner in her age category. Well done ladies! Steve Biscombe was a winner in his age category, Reece was 1^st junior male and Danny Collinge was the overall winner of the race. I bagged a PB for myself for 10k which just goes to show that winter training is paying off.

Full Results

Peak Raid 3 – Grindleford

This was the 3rd in a series of 3 hour mountain marathon events and this event took place in Derbyshire. They take a score format so competitors can set their own pace and do as much as they like as a solo competitor or as part of a pair.

Jean Brown was our only competitor and she finished in 37th place overall with a score of 285 and a time of 2:55:58. A total of 117 competitors finished the event.

Full Results

Preston 10 Mile Road Race

Two Clayton Harriers took part in this 10 Mile road race organised by Preston Harriers with a route that starts at Hutton Grammar School.

Report from John Hartley

Just Kevin Davies and I made the short trip for this two lap, flat 10 mile course. I finished in 45^th place and 2^nd Vet55 in 1:02:53 and Kevin was 77^th and 6^th Vet55 in 01:06:13. There were 413 finishers.

John Hartley at the Preston 10 Mile Road Race. Photo by David Wood

 Full Results

parkrun roundup

Burnley parkrun – A total of 212 runners took part.

Burnley Junior parkrun – A total of 43 runners took part.

Cheltenham parkrun – A total of 379 runners took part.

Dewsbury parkrun – A total of 146 runners took part.

Keswick parkrun – A total of 114 runners took part.

Pendle parkrun – A total of 64 runners took part.

Stretford parkrun – A total of 369 runners took part.

Witton parkrun – A total of 60 runners took part.