A hazy shade of winter

All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey. You went for a run on a winter’s day! It’s been pretty chilly this week and getting colder. It’s a good job you are a hardy bunch. There’s been plenty of great racing on show including cross country, road racing and fell relays. There have been returns to racing, challenges undertaken, PBs, wins and plenty of smiling faces.

THURSDAY 24 NOVEMBER

Todmorden Park 5K Winter Series – Race 3

44 runners put on their head torches to race in the third race of this winter 5K series organised by Cannonball Events. Garry Wilkinson was 6th in 19:12 and Ron Chappell was 40th in 29:07.

Full Results

SATURDAY 26 NOVEMBER

Kirkby Moor Fell Race

This 6.5 mile fell race with 1608ft of ascent is organised by Black Combe Runners and is a fast race over rolling moorland: a mixture of heather, sheep tracks and sometimes the access tracks for the windmills. It’s not that high or steep, so a good race for beginners and road runners, but some parts are still quite hard going and navigation on the moor can be very interesting in the November fog.

Wendy Dodds was our sole representative in a field of 58 runners. She was 46^th and 1^st FV60 in a time of 01:22:38

Full Results

Mid Lancs Cross Country League – Sefton Park

It was a cold and misty morning as the Sefton Park fixture kicked off. Visibility was minimal giving an otherworldly feel to things as the juniors set off and disappeared from view. There were some great performances for all who ran.

Junior racing at the Mid Lancs’ Sefton park fixture. Photo by Alan Dorrington

U11 Girls

Helana White was our first U11 girl in 11th place overall and completing the team were Summer Hargreaves in 35th place and Kady Thompson in 38th.

Team Position 6^th (H White |S Hargreaves | K Thompson)

U11 Boys

Our U11 boys continue to have a storming season with a win for Dexta Thompson and 7th place for Jenson Bentham. Matthew Jackson had a great run to complete the team and finish in 17th place.

Team Position 1^st (D Thompson | J Bentham | M Jackson)

U13 Girls

Just a dynamic duo of girls in the U13 category at this race. Ella Dorrington was our first finisher in 25th place and Heidi Kewin was 75th.

U13 Boys

Jackson McKay was our first finisher in the U13 boys race. Team mates Lennon Jackson and William Nicholls were 28th and 37th respectively.

Team position 7^th ( J McKay | L Jackson | W Nicholls)

U15 Girls

The U15 girls continue their good form with Briony Holt finishing in 5th place. Eleanor Root was 22nd with Liberty Thompson chasing her in 23rd place.

Team position 5^th ( B Holt | E Root | L Thompson)

Briony Holt in the U15 Girls race. Photo by Alan Dorrington

U17 Men

Curtis Holt and Simon Wilshaw ran in this competitive category with Curtis in 24th place and Simon in 30th.

Senior Ladies

Report from Irene Roche

Out of the sunshine and into the fog our cross-country runners turned up to run round the challenging course at Sefton Park.

Michelle Abbot and Irene Roche.

The Mid Lancs fixture here at Liverpool is a much bigger event to experience compared to our usual cross-country venues in this League. More than the Mid Lancs takes place within the day which adds to the excitement over the PA system and what you see around you. Clayton Harriers ladies had two teams all together who ran … with lots of support around the course from the ladies who didn’t quite make the start. A good turnout also for the men. The results show some excellent runs achieved by all abilities from our members. Thank you to all who made it to Sefton on Saturday – runners and spectators. Well done to all who ran

Jean Knightley in the Ladies race. photo by David Wood

Ladies team position 15^th ( M Abbot | I Roche | J Knightley)

Ladies B Team 32^nd ( H Burnett | J Carey | S Allen)

Ladies Over 35 7^th (M Abbot | I Roche | J Knightley)

Ladies Over 45 5^th (I Roche |J Knightley | H Burnett)

Ladies Over 55 1^st ( I Roche | J Knightley| S Allen)

Senior Men

Report from Christopher Holdsworth

After spending 80% of the year injured, in particular, the last three months suffering niggles the stuff nightmares are made of , it’s safe to say I’m chuffed to be back racing. I’ve genuinely hated every second of  not being able to compete and boy do my close family and friends know it!

Chris Holdsworth with a welcome return to racing at Sefton Park. Photo by David Wood

A word of warning to all Clayton Harriers; look after your body and enjoy every second of running – you never know when a lengthy spell on the sidelines is on the cards.

As for the race, hamstrings screamed, lungs burned, but the hip held firm and I loved every second of it. Felt a little rusty but it’s great to be  back racing with Clayton again.

Robert Aspinall in the senior men’s race. Photo by David Wood

Mens team position 13^th ( C Holdsworth | R Aspinall | M Duckworth | A Holt | A Cran | K Davies)

Mens B Team 33^rd (A Dorrington | B Horrocks | J Wilcock | J Hickie | C Lawrence | A Quinn)

Men Over 40 6^th (R Aspinall | A Holt | A Cran | K Davies)

Men Over 50 3^rd (R Aspinall | K Davies | B Horrocks)

Full Results 

WESHAM 10K

Report from John Hartley

On a very cold Saturday morning, several of us made the journey over to the Wesham 10K race. Conditions were tricky in places on the course after a very hard overnight frost. Danny Collinge pushed eventual winner Rob Danson to claim second place overall.

Danny Collinge (Lancashire Vest) at the Wesham 10K. Photo by David Wood

Laura Hesketh was our second finisher and claimed 1st lady position in the race. This was my first race in the V60 and I won my category; hope there is more to come

John Hartley at the Wesham 10K. Photo by David Wood

 Full Results

SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER

DAVID STAFF MEMORIAL FELL RACE

101 runners took part in this fell race organised by Darwen Dashers. Richard Briscoe was the first Clayton finisher in 54th place and Julia Rushton was our first lady finisher.

Julia Rushton at the David Staff Memorial Fell Race. Photo by Woodentops

Full Results

LEE MILL FELL RELAY

 Report from Angela Shian

Paul Wale at the Lee Mills Fell Relay

Ladies Lee Mill fell relays – we had 2 teams competing in the 10k (survival fell race) the route never fails to have a terrain that assures you cross the finishing line covered, head to toe in some cases, in mud! Ladies A team finished 72nd , Ladies B finished 81st position. Laura Hesketh on leg 1 gave us a great start, Elizabeth Mullan had a fantastic first ever fell race (many more to come Liz!!!). Ever strong Alison Dugdale on third leg, then Barbara Savage braved the cold after waiting all day for leg 4. Team B was started off by myself, there wasn’t one bog that I didn’t get acquainted with….!! Vicky Heys was our second legger, she set off smiling and came back still smiling, just a bit muddier..! A special thanks goes to Linda Lord on stepping in only the day before to run leg 3, who ran in well before mass start, and finally Katy Thompson showed her true fell running experience to finish us on leg 4. We all had a great day, excellent event, and a lot of laughs…!! Mainly at Paul Wales expense!!

Full Results

RAB mini Mountain Marathon, Peak District.

Report from Alan Dorrington

I hadn’t done a score type navigation event since the mid-1980s when I was a keen teenage orienteer in London, but when a friend suggested we enter the pairs for the last of the season long Rab Mini Mountain Marathon series, I jumped at the chance to get back to brushing up old nav skills. Surely, it’s like riding a bike – once you know how to do it, you never forget? Maybe.

Rab Mini Mountain Marathon. Photo by Greg May

With the previous 3 rounds of the Rab series taking place in the Peaks and then the Lakes, the final round saw a return to the Peaks, being held on Tintwistle Moor, not far from Glossop. The events have a lovely relaxed feel to them, though the late calendar date and exposed nature of the terrain meant that full FRA kit plus food and survival bag were mandatory to pass the kit check. The events are 4 hour score events with the usual variety of higher and lower value controls and penalties for being over the time limit.

Myself and running partner Greg formed a plan for our 4 hours to head north to some of the edges near Dovestones Reservoir and the highest value controls, before sweeping back through Laddow Rocks and Lads Leap to hoover up the final controls near the finish. We didn’t start well, drifting slightly to the west of where we should have been for the first control, running as we were on featureless ground and finding ourselves just off the edge of the map. We got back on track fairly quickly, noticing that a few others behind us had made the same mistake. It was then that we had to alter the plan to head north as the ground was extremely boggy, brutally tussocky in places and even the paths hard to run on in the wet conditions. We got back into a rhythm and picked off some high value controls before deciding to swing back over East to Laddow. Good route choice and trod finding from Greg saw us cover some really rough ground in quick time and we hit all the planned controls without difficulty to begin the homeward leg and pick off all available controls on the way in to the finish.

We finished with 6 mins to spare so no penalties and a score of 370 which was good enough to place us as 2nd MV40 pair. Courgette and coconut soup, unlimited coffee and great cake were the perfect end to an ace run out on the Peak District moors. As we didn’t fall out or get horribly lost, we’re now hatching plans for a proper attempt on the Saunders and other 2 day mountain marathons next year…

Full Results

parkrun roundup

Bolton parkrun – A total of 235 runners took part.

Burnley parkrun – A total of 244 runners took part.

Burnley junior parkrun – A total of 46 runners took part.

 Dewsbury parkrun – A total of 108 runners took part.

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – A total of 156 runners took part.

Pendle parkrun – A total of 55 runners took part.

Witton parkrun – A total of 61 runners took part.