Eggstra Good!

It’s been an ‘eggs’cellent week of racing over the Easter Break. You have been out racing and indulging in a lot of parkrun tourism to burn off all those Easter Eggs no doubt. There’s been some particularly good performances from our junior runners this week making the future look very bright for this club. The club is also delighted to hear that super vet John Harley has been asked to represent England in the Master’s Marathon in October.

MARATHON MAN JOHN HARTLEY CALLED UP FOR ENGLAND TEAM

The club are immensely proud of the news that John Hartley has qualified to represent England in the Master’s Marathon in October. John reports, “44 years I have been running and this is the icing on the cake. All the hard work this winter running 10 miles a day before work in the dark and cold has all been worthwhile. Massive thanks to my family who have been so supportive without that this would not be possible. I just need to keep training hard now and do myself proud in October”.

John Hartley – marathon man

TUESDAY 11 APRIL

BUNNY RUN 2

Half a dozen Clayton Harriers took a trip across the border into Yorkshire for this fast and furious mid-week fell race; the second in the popular Bunny Run series organised by the Woodentops.

Team Clayton at the Bunny Run. Photo by Woodentops

Full Results

WEDNESDAY 12 APRIL

MIKE MCGEE MEMORIAL COWM 5K

Four Clayton Harriers ran in this midweek 5K race. John Roche was our first finisher in 16th place overall, a welcome return to injury free racing for him. Julia Rushton was our sole lady runner and she finish in 44th place. Bryn Barnes was back in the vest and finished in 58th place and the team was completed by Ron Chappell in 78th place.  A total of 87 runners took part.

Full Results

FRIDAY 14 APRIL

CALDER

VALE COUNTRY 10 MILER

Two Clayton men took part in the Calder Vale 10 mile race. Richard Stevenson was our first finisher in 5^th place overall and with a time of 01:02:06, and Brian Wildman was 74^th in 01:22:53. The organisers describe the race as one undulating lap with some challenging hills using quiet country roads.

Richard Stevenson and Brian Wildman at the Calder Vale Country 10 Miler. Photo by Deborah Stevenson

Full Results

CALDER VALE FUN RUN

Adam and Lucy Stevenson, and Helana and Alfie White took part in this 4-mile race. Adam was 4^th   overall and 1^st junior, with Helana not far behind as 1^st girl. There were great runs from Alfie and Lucy on a hilly course. Most importantly, according to a reliable source, there was a rather excellent selection of homemade cakes. The four junior runners were joined by vet legend Jack McGuire.

L-R Lucy Stevenson, Helana White, Alfie White and Adam Stevenson at the Calder Vale fun run. Photo by Deborah Stevenson

Full Results

SALFORD 10K ROAD RACE

A trio of Clayton Harriers headed over to Salford for this fast 10K race. Laura Hesketh was our first finisher in 98^th place with a time of 37:17. Stephen Biscomb was 205^th in 42:16 and Donna Airey was 256^th in 44:07. There were 600 runners in this race.

Full Results

SATURDAY 15 APRIL

HELM HILL FELL RACE

Andrew McFarlane took part in this 14.3 mile race with 6791ft of ascent organised by Helm Hill.  He finished in 03:25:18.

Andrew McFarlane at the Howgills Fell Race

AWAITING OFFICIAL RESULTS

LANCASHIRE COMBINED EVENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Congratulations to all of our junior runners who took part in the events held over 2 days at Wilsons Playing Fields in Clayton-le-Moors.  Robbie and  Ellisia Smedley came 2nd and 3rd in their respective events and Helana White also earned a bronze medal.

RIVINGTON PIKE FELL RACE

Great to see a real spread of ages in this race with three of our MU18 runners chasing down the more experienced vet runners. Danny Collinge was our first finisher in 24^th place overall with Nick Hennessey our first U18 runner in 54^th place.  Our men took 3^rd place in the team results as well as 3^rd place in the Vets.

Nick Hennessey at the Rivington Pike Fell Race. Photo by Woodentops

Report from Mark Nutter

Rivington Pike Fell Race BS 3.25m / 700ft

On Saturday I had the choice of some LSD training (Long Slow Distance – not the drug!) with the Clayton X-Team at Clough Head or F&F (Fast & Furious) at Rivington Pike Fell Race. Well, I decided on the latter option as I last ran at Rivington in 1999 so thought I’d see how my fitness level compared to 18 years ago when I finished in 20.55.

After registering at the Crown Pub in the centre of town I pinned my number to my chest and set off for a warm up. I soon realised why I hadn’t done this race more often. Tarmac! I’m not a big fan of the black stuff and would much prefer the steep craggy fells. Anyway, here I was so thought I’d make the best of it. I was soon spotted by clubmates Andy Dugdale and Steve Fish, who were surprised to see me. ‘Did you know this is a road race, Mark?’  Enough said ~ my initial realisation was confirmed!

Still warming up I bumped into club mate John Francis who I haven’t seen for ages. I’m sure he told me this was his 38^th Rivington Pike race. That’s an amazing accomplishment.

So, at 3pm the race started and all 371 runners sprinted off on the flat tarmac section for half a mile before starting the gradual climb to the tower. After leaving the road there was an option of ‘right of the tree’ or ‘left of the tree’. I took the slightly shorter but muddier option to the right because a) I gained a few places and b) I got my mudclaws dirty which made me feel in ‘race mode’.

Mark Nutter getting the mudclaws dirty on the Rivington Fell Race. Photo by Woodentops

Already ahead of me were Clayton’s Danny Collinge, Nicholas Hennessy, Alan Life, Geoff Gough, Stan Grewal and Reece Lawrence. I knew the climb, which is about a mile long, was going to hurt so it was a case of head down and dig in. The entire route was lined with spectators and it felt like a stage in le Tour de France with spectators cheering and giving mild ‘encouragement’. ‘Come on Mark’ I heard. It was Clayton stalwart Harry Walker who won the race in 1972 in 17.02. That spurred me on further so I dug in a bit deeper and soon reached the tower. Now it was all down hill for the return, so it was time for brain off / brakes off as I hurtled passed many runners including a couple of Clayton scalps before taking the muddy section by the tree. The final half mile was torture, my calves screaming and my quads burning on that flat tarmac, but I kept the pressure on and passed about another dozen runners before crossing the line with a lung bursting finish.

So, how did my fitness level compare to 18 years ago? Well, my time of 24.28 was just a minute per mile slower than 18 years ago, so pretty happy with that. Maybe I should have tried some of that LSD stuff before the race ~ it might have helped me get a bit closer………..!!

The race was won by Chris Farrell of Horwich RMI in 17:27 which is still not as quick as Harry Walkers time of 17:02 back in 1972!

Full Results

RIVINGTON PIKE JUNIOR FELL RACES

Unfortunately, there are no results as yet for the junior races but there was a great turnout of junior runners despite the race falling in the middle of the school holidays.

Clayton Juniors at the Rivington Pike Fell Races. Photo by Rachael White

Helana White and Sophie Ashworth both had great runs in the U13/U15 race and Helana was 1^st U13 girl and Sophie was 3^rd U15 girls. Our U13 boys were out in force and all did very well. Lennon Jackson was injured on the course earning himself a free lift from the Mountain Rescue but thankfully no serious damage done.

PARKRUN ROUNDUP

Bolton parkrun – A total of 377 runners took part.

Burnley parkrun – a total of 396 runners took part

Cleethorpes parkrun – A total of 259 runners took part

Dewsbury parkrun – A total of 142 runners took part.

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – A total of 398 runners took part.

Fountains Abbey parkrun – A total of 514 runners took part.

Keswick parkrun – A total of 280 runners took part.

Lytham Hall parkrun – A total of 259 runners took part

Pendle parkrun – A total of 96 runners took part.

Penrith parkrun – A total of 235 runners took part.

Wimpole Estate parkrun – A total of 447 runners took part

Witton parkrun – A total of 66 runners took part.