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ByAlan Dorrington

Up hills, down dales and round the streets

It’s nearly the Easter holidays but there is no let up to your racing action. The fell season is in full swing now with County Championship medals among the successes this week, as well as a batch of PBs for our road devotees reaping the rewards of their winter training in the warmer weather. With some mountain orienteering and aquathloning (is that a word?) thrown in for good measure, it’s the usual diverse roundup of racing, results and rumbustious fun that you lot always seem to have.

Tuesday

Pete Hartley Memorial fell race – Liver Hill

This popular mid week fell race escaped the wintry conditions of last year that saw marshalls struggling with hypothermia and was run off in reasonable, if boggy conditions this time.

Karl Steinegger of Ambleside AC was first home in 34:47 and first of the twelve Clayton runners back was Peter Coates.

Pos Name Cat Time
5 Peter Coates V40 36:38
14 Chris Snell SEN 38:47
20 Ryan Wilkinson Sen 41:04
21 Neil Hardiman V45 41:12
44 Ivan Whigham V55 44:15
47 Mark Nutter V55 45:13
60 Richard Briscoe SEN 49:12
67 Andrew Howarth V55 49:45
76 Darren Rushton V45 51:04
79 Colin Woolford V40 51:29
85 Barbara Savage LV50 52:20
110 Stephen Fish V60 58:39

Sole Clayton Junior in the Junior races was Ella Dorrington who was 1st U13G and 7th overall in the U13s race.

Full results

Wednesday

The Colin & Brenda Robinson Cowm 5k, Whitworth

The Club Road Championships continued midweek in Whitworth for the Cowm 5k in less than ideal conditions. A large contingent of Clayton runners braved the weather, with 15th placed James Boult leading them home.

Race report from James Boult:

A wet and blustery night set the scene for the second race in the 2017 Road Championships, with two laps of the scenic Cowm reservoir in Rochdale making it a fast, furious course. With a good Clayton turnout assembled on the start line and the absence of the big guns in play we quickly realised that 50 points were up for grabs and 5 of us stood a good chance of taking them home. Setting off bang on 7 a small incline leads onto the first of two laps, with me, Dan Plant and Recce Lawrence leading the way. Moving to the top of the pack I made sure I stuck at a comfortable pace for the first lap, keeping steady as not to blow up and ruin the race.

By the second lap it was a two horse race between me and Dan, and I could feel him on my heels the whole way. I upped the pace again while maintaining a comfortable speed and by the gate leading onto the reservoir I found myself to be a couple of places ahead. Putting in another kick I managed to put a few places between myself and Dan and kicked on. Keeping a comfortable pace I knew I could up the tempo if needed, but with Darwen half on Sunday I kept it easy and didnt push as not to risk injury. Feeling strong coming into the final half a KM I upped the pace again, taking four more places on my way to a 15th place finish and just 20 seconds shy of a PB set last July. Dan took 2nd Clayton counter with Mick Hughes in 3rd. Some fantastic results and PBs galore made for a successful championship race.

James Boult at the Cowm 5k. Photo: David Belshaw

James Boult at the Cowm 5k.
Photo: David Belshaw

Pos Name Cat Time
15 J. Bould MS 19.12
20 D. Plant MS 19.36
25 M. Hughes MV40 20.05
26 L. Jackson MJ 20.09
27 J. Wilcock MV50 20.12
30 D. McMullan MV50 20.18
32 S. Green MV60 20.29
36 R. Morrison MV40 21.05
38 A. Quinn MV45 21.1
39 A. Airey MS 21.12
42 R. Lawrence MJ 21.25
44 Cassandra Smedley FV35 21.36
46 C. Lawrence MV50 21.44
52 Donna Airey FV35 21.58
53 M. Brady MV55 22.04
57 M. Kewin MJ 22.36
61 Michelle Abbott FV35 22.56
68 Nina Kewin FV35 23.5
71 W. McIntosh MS 24.18
72 Lisa Ellis FS 24.2
73 Lisa Johnson Fv45 24.48
74 Beth Quinn FJ 24.52
77 Heidi Kewin FJ 25.2
80 Julia Rushton FV50 25.4
82 I. Hargreaves MV50 25.48
87 B. Barnes MV65 26.34
88 Jane Hylands FV45 26.46
94 R. Lawson MV75 27.33
103 Karen Clarkin FV40 29.14
106 Marion Wilkinson FV75 30.16
107 R. Hirst MV65 30.22
108 Anita Jones FV60 30.46
109 Christine Leathley FV65 33.13
110 R. Chappell MV65 30.39

Full results

Saturday

Pendle Hill Fell Races

It’s been a few years since the Pendle Hill fell races had some nice Spring weather and the rain and clag was back again for this year’s edition, particularly for our hardy Juniors who raced before the adults. This year, extra spice was added to the races as they doubled up as the Lancashire Fell Championships in all age groups. Plenty of recent rain made the fellside fairly soggy, especially on the climb up from Buttock.

Senior Race

Chris Arthur of Bowland Fell Runners was a clear winner this year, with our own Chris Holdsworth leading the club charge in 5th place. Danny Collinge was 2nd U23 in 9th place, after setting off at a blistering pace.

Linda Lord at Pendle. Photo: David Belshaw

Linda Lord at Pendle.
Photo: David Belshaw

Pos Name Cat Cat Pos Time
5 Chris. Holdsworth MS (004/042) 00:34:41
8 Matt Perry MS (005/042) 00:36:26
9 Danny Collinge M23 (002/005) 00:36:36
15 Peter Coates M40 (002/036) 00:38:39
37 Chris Snell MS (017/042) 00:40:50
48 Geoff Gough M50 (006/037) 00:42:52
60 Neil Hardiman M40 (011/036) 00:44:17
105 Craig Nicholls M40 (024/036) 00:49:52
112 Claire Vincent FS (006/016) 00:50:34
121 Teresa de Curtis F40 (006/010) 00:52:24
125 Mark Taylor MS (038/042) 00:52:38
130 Rick Moore M50 (026/037) 00:52:56
134 Barbara Savage F50 (003/007) 00:53:46
141 Andrew M Dugdale M50 (029/037) 00:55:16
150 Linda Lord F60 (001/003) 00:56:26
154 Wayne McIntosh MS (039/042) 00:57:02
155 Katy Thompson F60 (002/003) 00:57:03
182 Michelle Butschok F40 (010/010) 01:07:06
183 Karin Goss F60 (003/003) 01:07:57
Chris Holdsworth at Pendle. Photo: David Belshaw

Chris Holdsworth at Pendle.
Photo: David Belshaw

Senior Results

Junior Races

The rain came down and the clag came in shortly before the start of the Junior races, leading to some of the wettest and boggiest conditions seen in a long while over Barley Green and up to Buttock. This didn’t deter our Juniors, with Emily Nicholls putting in a spirited performance in the U11G for 9th girl, despite being a distinct height disadvantage over the stone stile in her race. Robbie Smedley chased the leaders hard up to the turn in the U13B race, and was rewarded for his efforts with a well deserved Bronze medal. He was followed up in that race by Luke Guest in 16th.

Jackson McKay finished well clear to take the Lancashire title in the U15B, with Adam Stevenson and Lennon Jackson not far behind in 6th and 7th with Will Nicholls in 11th and Jake O’Dowd in 13th. Ella Dorrington was closing in at the finish on the winner of the U15G but had to settle for Silver, 2 seconds down in her first year in this age group. Bethany Wheatcroft and Heidi Kewin also both stepped up to the U15 distance and climbing really well, finishing 9th and 11th.

Finally, Nick Hennessy away from his more familiar tarmac surfaces, put in a great performance to keep some experienced and older U17 boys in sight on the climb high onto the fell and secure 4th place.

U11s race

Pos Name Cat Cat Pos Time
20 Emily Nicholls F11 (009/012) 08:33:00

U13s race

Robbie Smedley working hard before the turn on his way to 2nd place. Photo: Alan Dorrington

Robbie Smedley working hard before the turn on his way to 2nd place.
Photo: Alan Dorrington

Pos Name Cat Cat Pos Time
3 Robbie Smedley M13 (003/021) 00:16:32
21 Luke Guest M13 (016/021) 00:20:11

U15s race

Pos Name Cat Cat Pos Time
1 Jackson McKay M15 (001/016) 00:18:47
6 Adam Stevenson M15 (006/016) 00:22:21
7 Lennon Jackson M15 (007/016) 00:22:24
9 E Dorrington-Levy F15 (002/010) 00:22:42
11 William Nicholls M15 (009/016) 00:22:55
21 Bethany Wheatcroft F15 (008/010) 00:29:00
22 Jake O’Dowd M15 (014/016) 00:29:45
24 Heidi Kewin F15 (010/010) 00:30:05
 
Ella Dorrington descends to the finish. Photo: Deborah Stevenson

Ella Dorrington descends to the finish.
Photo: Deborah Stevenson

U17s race

Pos Name Cat Cat Pos Time
4 Nicholas Hennessey M17 (003/005) 00:26:46
Happy muddy Juniors. Photo: Deborah Stevenson

Happy muddy Juniors.
Photo: Deborah Stevenson

Junior Results

Junior FRA Championship West Nab

Four of our Juniors, Helena White, Briony Holt, Christopher Brown and Jenson Bentham travelled over to Holmfirth for the 2nd round of the Junior FRA Championships and were rewarded with better weather than in Lancashire…

Briony Holt running in the U17G for her first year took an excellent 3rd place against older opposition. It’s shaping up to be a great year again on the fells for Briony. Helena White was 7th in U13G with Jenson Bentham 12th in U13B and Christopher Brown 20th.

Full results

Jenson Bentham pushing on up the first climb. Photo: Geoff Thompson

Jenson Bentham pushing on up the first climb.
Photo: Geoff Thompson

Helena White with her own distinctive style. Photo: Geoff Thompson

Helena White with her own distinctive style.
Photo: Geoff Thompson

Briony on her way to 3rd place U17G. Photo: Geoff Thompson

Briony on her way to 3rd place U17G.
Photo: Geoff Thompson

Calderdale Hike

This longstanding event offers both marathon distance and ultra distance (37.2miles) routes round the Calderdale hills, with checkpoints at great sounding places like Coolam, Slatepit Hill and Lumbutts. Andrew Armstrong and Nick Olszweski (among others) ran, preparing for the Fellsman Hike in late April. Nick ran round in 7:40 with full results to follow.

New Dungeon Ghyll fell race

Wendy Dodds was the Clayton representative here, coming in 1st WV60 in 42nd place and a time of 56:31.

Full results

 

Sunday

Lads Leap fell race

This AS race unsurprisingly packs in a fair bit of climb in it’s 5.9m route around the popular Crowdon area of the Peak District, steeped in rock climbing history, and randomly, populated by large white hares. Stephen Fish MV60 was the sole Clayton runner, finishing in 1.24.54

Report from Stephen Fish:

Always keen to try a race I’ve not previously done and being unavailable for Saturday’s Pendle race, I picked out the Lad’s Leap on the Sunday to do.

On a pleasant, early, spring morning I set off to the Crowden Campsite, situated on the Woodhead Pass in the Peak District National Park, for the start, only taking 50 minutes of travelling to reach.

124 runners lined up on the start line to tackle the demanding route that takes in Lad’s Leap twice. Once a short road section was out of the way, a long lung-busting climb ensued and lead onto Robinson’s Moss. This portion of the race was very boggy underfoot, with more than one competitor having to extract their shoes from said bogs.  After about a mile over the tops, through deep heather, the route then had a long descent into a disused stone quarry. All this lost height had to recouped, as we re-joined the outward route over Lad’s Leap again. The earlier lung-buster climb now became an exhilarating descent down the welcome finish line.

A pretty good race in my book, which had a bit of everything. One I would recommend, certainly justifying its category ‘A’ status.

Full results to follow

Baildon Boundary Way (Runners)

Martin Terry was running here, on a shorter race distance than of late…

Pos Name Cat Time
108 Martin TERRY M55 01:50:10

Full results

Kong Mini Mountain Marathon – Coniston

A beautiful Spring day in the Lakes saw Alan Dorrington teaming up with friend Greg May for this 4hr score event held around the Old Man of Coniston range. A strong collection of high scoring controls over the back half combined with a headlong descent off Wetherlam via Hen Tor to Tilberthwaite saw them pick up 4th Vet pair.

Goat's Water from Goat's Hause. Photo: Alan Dorrington

Goat’s Water from Goat’s Hause.
Photo: Alan Dorrington

 

ASICS Greater Manchester Marathon

A rare (and evidently painful) foray onto the roads for some, and a sharpner for London for others, Manchester’s rainy streets (bathed in sunshine) were the backdrop for this weekend’s 26.2 miles. ‘Team Sub 3’ were led in by a charging Lee Smith in 2:50:13, followed by Jon Cleaver in 2:56:17 and a presumably lost and disoriented Dave Motley in 2:56:58 wondering where the fells were. With John Hartley winning the V60 category in 3:06:38 and Danny Pilkington also running round in 6:34:53, that made for some solid Clayton miles over the weekend. A fantastic effort by all!

Report from Jon Cleaver:

I had booked this for training on my route to London for a PB, however after a couple of solid 20 mile races at Spen and Trimpell I felt ready to give a PB a go especially considering the forecast was as good as it was ever going to get. After meeting Dave & Lee at the Lowry we went over to the start on the Chester road near Old Trafford. The route takes you towards the city centre before turning back and heading out to Sale and Altrincham at the half way point then back to Emirates cricket ground for the finish.

I hatched a plan to run a moderate first half learning from my Trimpell experience and went through just under 88 minutes where I saw Gary Wilkinson filming the race. I was feeling confident at that point so pushed a bit harder and took my pace down 5/10 seconds a mile all the way to mile 23 where I caught up with Dave and then through to what feels like the longest finish in history. Really pleased with 02:56:17 finish and the other Clayton lads Lee Smith, Dave Motley and John Hartley did incredibly with Lee getting the bragging rights on the day running an incredible 02:50. 3 weeks to London!!

Jon Cleaver cruising to his sub 3hr marathon. Photo: Lynsey Birtwhistle

Jon Cleaver cruising to his sub 3hr marathon.
Photo: Lynsey Birtwhistle

Pos Name Time Cat Cat Pos
121 Lee SMITH 02:50:13 V35 32
249 Jon CLEAVER 02:56:17 V35 66
273 Dave MOTLEY 02:56:58 V35 69
583 John HARTLEY 03:06:38 V60 1
8652 Danny PILKINGTON 06:34:53 V40 1058

Full results

Darwen Heritage Half Marathon

Described as undulating, and definitely scenic and with great views, this Darwen Dashers organised half is in its second year now. Jacob Watson stormed round to 9th place overall in 1:20:01 with a solid group of Clayton Seniors, Vets and Ladies behind. The Ladies picked up the team prize with Cassie Smedley, Michelle Abbot and Vicky Heys all scoring.

Report from James Boult:

Having absolutely shattered my half marathon PB last year, taking 45 minutes off in total with 38 of them coming off at Darwen I returned this year excited for what is one of my favourite races of the year. Conditions were perfect as we set off and knowing a comfortable pace consistently would mean I’d break the 1.42 I ran here last year, I started with a good game plan. In what is one of the nicest and most scenic 10ks I’ve done the views alone make for a good distraction and it wasn’t long before I reached 6k. Telling Rob on the drive over that I felt good and was going to go for it I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist the allure of a good race.

Having raced my last 2 half marathons with him we’ve become a great team and mange to bring out the best in each other, evidenced in our performance at Manchester in October. He joined me at 6km and we naturally took the pace up, reaching 10km in 45 minutes; bang on time and two minutes faster than last year. The race at Darwen doesn’t start until 9 miles in and as I drove on with water stations a good relief in the heat, the hills started. Steep and gradual and short and even steeper, they come thick and fast after mile 8. At 14km I was bang on track for a sub 1.40 but pain in my glutes restricted speed on the flats and I struggled to get momentum.

Forcing myself through i reached the final 2 and a half miles of pure downhill, finding myself another 3 minutes up on last year. Managing to pick up enough speed to get back to comfortable 6 minute miles I raced onto the finish to knock 5 minutes off last year’s time and to take 3rd Clayton counter in 55th place. Rob came in a couple of minites after to shatter his time from last year too, in what was a great turnout for team Clayton. Ben Fish took the overall win, crushing the course record on the way to a 69 minute finish. Roll on next year.

Team Clayton at the Darwen Heritage Half Marathon Photo:

Team Clayton at the Darwen Heritage Half Marathon
Photo:

Mich Hughes enjoying the sun at the Darwen Heritage Half. Photo:

Mick Hughes enjoying the sun at the Darwen Heritage Half.
Photo:

Pos Name Cat Cat Pos  Time
9 Jacob Watson M S (006/072) 01:20:01
35 Andrew Orr M45 (007/029) 01:30:51
55 James Boult M S (026/072) 01:37:29
57 David Moynihan M50 (004/029) 01:37:58
64 Robert Morrison M40 (017/039) 01:39:31
96 Mick Hughes M40 (022/039) 01:44:35
110 Christopher Lawrence M50 (012/029) 01:47:07
127 Cassandra Smedley F S (004/040) 01:49:22
128 Michelle Abbott F S (005/040) 01:49:22
144 Geoff Smith M40 (027/039) 01:53:10
146 Vicky Heys F45 (006/030) 01:53:28
147 Irene Roche F55 (002/006) 01:53:28
148 Nerina Gill F45 (007/030) 01:53:28
231 Angela Shian F S (022/040) 02:08:10
260 Andrew Webster M45 (027/029) 02:15:03

Full results

Padiham Aquathlon

Alfie and Helena White donned their swimming costumes and club vests for the Aquathlon this Sunday. Mum Rachael reports:

Flying the Clayton Flag at Padiham Aquathlon, Helana came 1st Girl and 3rd overall in her age cat and Alfie (age 14) had to do the adults distance 600m swim & 5k run. Very proud of them both

Alfie and Helena White at the Padiham Aquathlon. Photo: Rachael White

Alfie and Helena White at the Padiham Aquathlon.
Photo: Rachael White

Awaiting results

Garstang Gallop 7

Five Clayton Harriers took part in this 7 mile race that raises money for UK Prostate Cancer.  Stephen Biscomb was our first finisher and also 1st MV60.  Christine Egerton was our sole lady runner and also 1st LV65.

Pos Name Cat Time
33 Stephen Biscomb MV60 00:49:06
40 Richard Briscoe MV35 00:50:36
58 Brian Wildman MV50 00:55:16
117 Christine Egerton FV65 01:08:10
120 Ron Chappell MV65 01:09:45

Full results

Parkrun results

Burnley Junior Parkrun

A total of 58 runners took part

Pos Parkrunner Time Cat Note
3 Nathan KEWIN 08:16 JM11-14
9 Bethany WHEATCROFT 09:22 JW11-14
12 Heidi KEWIN 09:32 JW11-14
13 Brayden CLARKSON 09:37 JM10 New PB!
15 Kady THOMPSON 10:13 JW10
18 Darcey HIRST 10:22 JW10 New PB!
25 Charlie PLANT 10:51 JW10
40 Joni HIGGINS 12:19 JW10
53 Olly PLANT 14:57 JM10

Burnley Parkrun – a total of 210 runners took part

Pos Parkrunner Time Cat Note
5 Laura HESKETH 18:14 SW30-34
13 Terry O’LEARY 20:01 VM35-39
17 Sean CLARE 20:43 VM50-54
31 Stephen AINSWORTH 21:48 VM60-64
32 David MOYNIHAN 21:51 VM50-54
40 Donna RILEY 22:16 VW50-54
42 Gordon BARRETT 22:18 VM55-59
44 Kevin DAVIES 22:22 VM55-59
50 Reece Adam LAWRENCE 22:32 JM15-17
55 Charlie BARNES 22:46 JM10
60 Michelle ABBOTT 22:59 VW35-39
64 Charlie BIRTWISTLE 23:08 JM11-14
75 David Ian SCOTT 23:53 VM70-74
80 Nick ROSCOE 24:08:00 VM45-49
84 Aaron LUNDIE 24:14:00 JM15-17
85 Nina KEWIN 24:16:00 VW35-39
94 Jake ANFORTH 24:36:00 JM10
101 Julie DAWES 24:56:00 VW45-49
108 Keira STEVENSON 25:12:00 JW11-14 New PB!
109 Lisa JOHNSON 25:12:00 VW45-49
110 Donna SCOTT 25:13:00 VW50-54
111 Toby BIRTWISTLE 25:16:00 JM10
116 Andrew TAYLOR 25:23:00 VM55-59
133 John WILCOCK 25:57:00 VM50-54
142 Annabel WILCOCK 26:05:00 JW15-17
157 Justin BIRTWISTLE 26:39:00 VM40-44
181 Carl CAREY 27:41:00 VM45-49
220 Helen HARRISON 29:53:00 VW45-49
230 Robert HIRST 30:23:00 VM65-69
249 Darcey HIRST 32:11:00 JW10
258 Judith CAREY 32:40:00 VW35-39
288 Ron CHAPPELL 34:09:00 VM65-69

Dewsbury parkrun

A total of 114 runners took part

Pos Parkrunner Time Cat Note
110 Robin PRICE 25:13 VM70-74

Southwark parkrun

A total of 292 runners took part

Pos Parkrunner Time Cat Note
208 Eileen JONES 29:03 VW60-64

Skipton parkrun

A total of 177 runners took part

Pos Parkrunner Time Cat Note
3 Tom BREWSTER 18:17 SM30-34

Pendle parkrun

A total of 76 runners took part

Pos Parkrunner Time Cat Note
12 Martin BRADY 24:11 VM55-59
35 Yvonne WICKHAM 30:48 VW50-54

Witton parkrun

A total of 64 runners took part

Pos Parkrunner Time Cat Note
25 Paul THOMPSON 26:58 VM45-49  New PB!
26 Katy THOMPSON 27:12 VW60-64

Blackpool parkrun

A total of 172 runners took part

Pos Parkrunner Time Cat Note
28 Alan LIFE 22:18 VM50-54
75 Carol LIFE 26:26 VW50-54
ByAlan Dorrington

Mud’s up!

From stately homes to legs in a state, on road, trail, fell and the country, you’ve kept it going this week and heading toward… well that big event at the end of the year. Not too early to mention it, is it? Either way, some PBs from hard working seniors and some really good performances by Juniors who have also stepped up after putting the work in, all rounded off a sobering week.

Saturday 12 November

Cheshire 10k

Danny Collinge and John Hartley packed their flatland legs and made the trip to the stunning Elizabethan hall at Arley to run this very fast 10k. Undeterred by the rain, both of them posted very fast times in a quality field. Danny set a new PB in 7th place and is edging ever closer to that 32 min mark whilst John blazed round to finish first V60 and 83rd.

Pos Name Cat CatPos Time
8 Danny COLLINGE SEN 7 32:14
83 John HARTLEY V60 1 38:16

Full results

Harriers vs Cyclists

Louisa Powell-Smith spurned two wheels and opted for Harrier mode in this longstanding and unusual race over at Bingley. Probably a wise move as it looked pretty boggy and hard going, even more so on a bike. The Harriers won again, Tom Adams from Ilkley coming in first with Rob Jebb leading the cyclists home. Anna Lupton and Viccy Wilkinson were first runner and rider home respectively, for the women and Louisa was 5th and only 20 seconds of 2nd in a strong international ladies field, the first 4 having been top fell runners with GB vests.

37th Louisa Powell-Smith 42:15s

44th Gary Wilkinson 43:59 (2nd Vet 50)

111th (cycling) Paul Hesketh 48:15.

Full results

Louisa Powell in Harrier mode at Harriers vs Cyclists. Photo: Woodentops

Louisa Powell-Smith in Harrier mode at Harriers vs Cyclists. Photo: Woodentops

Dunnerdale Fell Race

Peter Browning sent this report about this tough late season fell race:

Just two Clayton Harriers made the journey up to south west Lakeland for the mini classic that is the Dunnerdale Fell Race.

After a wild, wet and windy Friday night, race day dawned dry but breezy and surprisingly mild. Conditions on the 8km course were very wet underfoot, with the descents requiring proper respect, but no navigation problems were encountered.
186 runners completed the course, and safely in midfield were our two runners

111. Peter Browning.   60.15
116. Wendy Dodds.     61.18. (1st LV60)

On collecting her race prize, Wendy jumped into the car and headed off to Yorkshire for that evenings FRA Presentation do, to collect her latest national trophy. Clayton’s most competitive runner ever? No question.

Warrington Way

Martin Terry continued his quest to retain his RunFurther V50 title from last year, with a strong finish at this 40 miles trail ultra base around the eponymous route of the same name and starting and finishing in Lymm, Cheshire. Martin was a fantastic 6th overall out of 123 competitors, completing the route in 5 hours 59 minutes. The RunFurther leader board hasn’t been updated yet but hopefully this was enough for Martin to retain his title this year.

Full results

Schools Cross Country Cup, Middlesborough

Ellie Root put her cross -country skills to good use when she competed in this event – Mum Sam reports back:

Ellie has run this week in the regional finals of the Schools Cross Country Cup. She ran in the inter-girls team. Ellie had a decent run and was 32nd. Although she wasn’t a counter her team won their event and have managed to secure a place in the final in December in Formby.

Red Rose Cross Country Round 3 – Leverhulme Park

Leverhulme Park. Photo: Alan Dorrington

Leverhulme Park. Photo: Alan Dorrington

It’s been a little reticent in coming but the mud is now finally here. Leverhulme delivered its usual wet conditions and the ever hardworking Jason Pier tried valiantly to find a dri(er) patch to pitch the Orange Tent of Comfort(TM) but it still ended up being at the centre of a squelchy bog. All of which is grist to the mill for the Junior and Senior cross-country teams who lapped it all up, as usual. Not literally.

Juniors

U11 Boys

Robbie Smedley on his way to 2nd. Phot: Alan Dorrington

Robbie Smedley on his way to 2nd. Photo: Alan Dorrington

Once again the U11 Boys produced strength in depth to cover many of the top placings, and take the team prize with ease. Dexta Thompson took his usual place at the head of affairs but a stand out performance from Robbie Smedley saw him take second not far behind with Finley Stubbs coming in as third counter. They were backed up by Jenson Bentham, Matthew Jackson, Joshua McKay and Toby Birtwhistle.

Pos Name Time
1 Dexta Thompson 6:52
2 Robbie Smedley 7:05
10 Finley Stubbs 7:20
12 Jenson Bentham 7:22
26 Matthew Jackson 7:44
57 Joshua Mckay 8:40
75 Toby Birtwhistle 9:07
Dexta THompson on his way to 1st U11 B. Photo: Alan Dorrington

Dexta Thompson on his way to 1st U11 B. Photo: Alan Dorrington

U11 Girls

Helena White in 5th led the U11 Girls team home to a 6th place overall backed up by Kady Thompson who is improving with every race at the moment, and Summer Hargreaves. The girls were supported by Emily Nichols, Holly Reilly and Ellisia Smedley.

Pos Name Time
5 Helena White 7:50
33 Kady Thompson 8:44
37 Summer Hargreaves 8:52
65 Emily Nichols 10:03
66 Holly Reilly 10:05
72 Ellisia Smedley 10:49

U13 Boys

Jackson McKay pushed hard for an excellent 2nd place, along with Christopher Brown, Lennon Jackson and William Nicholls and the boys took 4th place overall in the team event.

Pos Name Time
2 Jackson McKay 11:55
22 Christopher Brown 13:32
23 Lennon Jackson 13:33
34 William Nichols 14:37

U13 Girls

Ella Dorrington led Bethany Wheatcroft  and Keira Stevenson to 10th place in the team results.

Pos Name Time
12 Ella Dorrington 13:40
50 Bethany Wheatcroft 16:10
56 Keira Stevenson 16:36

U15 Boys

Just 3 U15 Boys ran – Stanley Grewel, Adam Stevenson and Aaron Lundie taking the club to 5th place in the team event.

Pos Name Time
26 Stanley Grewel 17:31
35 Adam Stevenson 19:30
40 Aaron Lundie 22:23

U15 Girls

The U15 Girls narrowly missed out on 2nd team after great runs from Briony Holt and Millie Stubbs, with Natasha Olzsweska continuing to improve in her races after some hard work in training, with 21st place. Liberty Thompson supported the girls in 26th.

Natasha Olszweska working hard. Photo: Alan Dorrington

Natasha Olszweska working hard. Photo: Alan Dorrington

Pos Name Time
5 Briony Holt 17:53
9 Millie Stubbs 18:55
21 Natasha Olszweska 20:57
26 Liberty Thompson 22:09

 

Under 17 Boys and Girls

Curtis Holt was 7th and Simon Wilshaw 10th in the Boys race with Lucy Stevenson flying the flag as sole Clayton Girl in 20th in the Girls race.

 

Senior Ladies

Pos Name Cat Time
54 Michelle Abbot L35 27:16
57 Irene Roche L55 27:31
58 Cassie Darling-Smedley L35 27:37
80 Julia Rushton L50 29:52
87 Rachel Todd L40 31:19
90 Helen Burnett L45 45:24
92 Adrienne Olszweska L45 32:35
109 Susan Allen L55 36:38
110 Judith Carey L35 36:49
114 Christine Leathley L65 40:23

Irene Roche reports:

There was a good turn out on Saturday for the third meeting of this league. We had plenty of senior ladies and men to make up teams for the club. With the tent ready nice and early (as always) by Jason Pier and helpers, the experience of cross country always has a comfortable and well organised start for us. The course naturally offered plenty of mud and on this particular event much of it vertical as we scrambled out of the woods. However, a rest from the mud was offered from the winding trails through the woods where a bit more speed could be had – if space allowed for passing the runner in front. A challenging course! Well done all who ran.

Senior Men

Pos Name Cat Time
32 Robert Aspinall V55 40:49
37 Peter Coates V40 41:09
39 Jonathan Cleaver Sen 41:29
44 Dave Motley Sen 41:58
46 Andrew Laycock Sen 42:06
50 Chris Snell Sen 42:23
51 Richard Stevenson V40 42:24
56 Matthew Duckworth Sen 42:42
66 Andrew Orr V45 43:43
80 Andrew Holt V40 44:30
97 Kevin Davies V50 46:01
98 Gareth Berry V40 46:02
102 Alex Cran V45 46:19
116 John Wilcock V50 47:42
138 Andy Quinn V45 49:09
166 James Hickie V55 51:02
184 Andrew Howarth V55 52:49
194 Craig Nicholls V40 53:41
215 Carl Carey V45 56:36

The Senior team was 5th overall and the Vets team 3rd. Well done to all that braved the mud.

Full Results

BOFRA Presentation evening

A rather glamorous location at the Stirk House Hotel, Gisburn saw the BOFRA fraternity reunited for one last time this season with 3 young (and one not so young) Clayton athletes all there to enjoy the final prize presentation.

Briony Holt (1st U17 Girl overall, Ella Dorrington (2nd U12 Girl overall) and Dexta Thompson (1st U12 Boy overall) all picked up their trophies whilst the ever enthusiastic Richard Briscoe picked up his series t shirt for completing the required 8 championship races. Richard was camera shy so here are Briony, Dexta and Ella instead.

U17 G winner Briony, 2nd U12B Dexta and 2nd U12G Ella get their trophies.

U17 G winner Briony, 2nd U12B Dexta and 2nd U12G Ella get their trophies.

 

Sunday 13 November

Windmill 10k

Clayton at the Windmill 10k

Clayton at the Windmill 10k

The big race of Sunday, from a Clayton point of view was the Windmill 10k, at Lytham. With a fast and flat course along the coastal fron past Lytham and Fairhaven Lake, the event first ran in 2011 and is growing in popularity. Among the athletes to get a PB was Mick Hughes…15078904_10211573321035462_2209104053296040252_n

 

Pos Name Category Time
18 Daniel Plant Men 40:20
26 James Boult Men 41:38
28 Stephen Ainsworth Male Vet Over 60 41:42
46 Stephen Biscomb Male Vet Over 60 43:19
53 Elizabeth Mullan Ladies 43:49
55 Mick Hughes Male Vet Over 40 44:02
67 Colin White Male Vet Over 40 44:52
88 Robert Morrison Male Vet Over 40 45:56
101 Adam Stephenson Men 46:36
104 Michelle Abbott Lady Vet Over 35 46:43
162 Ian Hargreaves Male Vet Over 50 49:17
220 Julie Dawes Lady Vet Over 45 51:00
285 Danny Pilkington Male Vet Over 40 52:56
292 Tony Pilling Male Vet Over 50 53:05
308 Jane Hylands Lady Vet Over 45 53:27
363 Helen Harrison Lady Vet Over 45 55:05
484 Deborah Greenwood Lady Vet Over 45 58:29
552 Karen Clarkin Lady Vet Over 40 1:00:22
601 Anita Jones Lady Vet Over 60 1:01:45

Full Results

Wadsworth Half Trog

Even Half a Trog is enough bog to strike fear into a fell runners heart but Jeffrey Pickup braved the diluvian conditions of the moors around Wadsworth for this semi-classic race, taking in the ‘best’ bits of the full Bog, sorry Trog race in February. No results yet, but hopefully he has dried out by now.

Parkrun

Burnley Parkrun – a total of 210 runners took part

Pos Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
2 Jonathan PYE 18:58 SM25-29
8 Daniel PLANT 20:52 SM30-34
10 Nicholas HENNESSEY 21:18 JM11-14
30 Colin WHITE 23:24 VM40-44
36 Michelle ABBOTT 23:53 VW35-39
44 Nina KEWIN 24:27:00 VW35-39
54 Andy QUINN 25:16:00 VM45-49
55 Sophie ASHWORTH 25:17:00 JW11-14
65 Julie DAWES 25:52:00 VW45-49
72 Donna SCOTT 26:24:00 VW50-54
74 Annabel WILCOCK 26:33:00 JW15-17
75 John WILCOCK 26:34:00 VM50-54
80 Jake ANFORTH 26:53:00 JM10
109 Richard LAWSON 28:35:00 VM75-79
113 Helen HARRISON 28:54:00 VW45-49
122 Stuart BARKER 29:47:00 VM50-54

Bolton parkrun

A total of 191 runners took part.

Pos Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
54 Katy THOMPSON 27:45 VW60-64

Dewsbury parkrun

A total of 109 runners took part.

Pos Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
99 Robin PRICE 35:41 VM70-74

Pendle parkrun

A total of 51 runners took part.

Pos Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
1 Christopher HOLDSWORTH 17:34 SM25-29
17 Martin BRADY 25:49 VM50-54

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge

A total of 137 runners took part.

Pos Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
74 Eileen JONES 29:14 VW60-64

Witton parkrun

A total of 54 runners took part.

Pos Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
53 Julie RUSHTON 47:08 VW50-54

 

ByAlan Dorrington

It’s orange to the fore as the Autumn colours race in.

This week the Autumn action comes a variety of sources, from Lakeland mountains, Scottish Hills, the flatlands of Manchester and West Lancashire, and some Northern milltown hills thrown in the mix for good measure. You’ve all been out bagging podium positions, fast PBs or simply getting stuck in and having a right good time. Here’s how it went…

Saturday

British Fell and Hill Running Relays – Luss, Scotland

Pic: Kath Brady

Pic: Some of the Clayton runners, post Fell and Hill Running Relays. Not sure what Carl Helliwell is thinking but it looks mischevious…

Held in the Luss Hills, on the Western shores of Loch Lomond, this traditional late season event always attracts a big entry and with its Scottish setting this year, also offered a post race ceilidh to entice runners. Clayton sent four teams, an A and B team, a Ladies Vets team and a Mens V50 team.

Leg 1 was a solo leg of 5.9 km with an ascent of 427m (navigational experience and skills  required). Leg 2 was a pairs’ leg of 13 km with 1096m of ascent (and a nice sting in the tail) (navigational experience and skills required). Leg 3 was the pairs’ navigation leg and  provided a stiff challenge as to expected from a competition championship nav leg, and Leg 4 was a solo leg of 8.3 km with 653 m of ascent.The event was won by a flying Dark Peak Grindslow team in 03:38:58, beating off stiff opposition from Shettleston Harriers.

First Clayton team back in 32nd overall and 2nd MV50 Team, was the team of Phil Hall, Gary Wilkinson, Paul Hesketh, Mike Wallis, Tim Edward and Mark Aspinall. They finished in a time of 04:49:44. Hot on their heels in 36th overall came the B Team of Kirt Livesey, Dave Walker, Carl Helliwell, Neil Hardiman, Chris Snell and Lee Smith in a time of 04:55:38. Just behind in 04:58:18 came the A Team of Danny Collinge, Dave Bagot, Andy Laycock, Dave Motley, Ryan Wilkinson and Matt Perry.

The Ladies Vets team came in in 07:02:49 to claim 1st LV50 Team and 3rd Ladies Vets overall  – the team comprised Kath Brady, Katy Thompson, Barbara Savage, Wendy Dodds, Kath Wallis and Anna Kelly.

Kath Brady reports for the Ladies team:

‘Fortunately Katy had been in Luss for 3 days and managed to recce the area along with Wendy and provide useful advice for the rest of the team. As forecast, the morning started wet and misty on the tops. Runners were encouraged to enter the holding pen to have kit checked and prepare to be lead to the start by a traditional Scottish piper.

Leg 1 – solo (4.2km 341m climb). I was on this leg, we were off across a couple of fields then up the steep climb into the mist. A good trog off the top down to a stream to a checkpoint, a traverse round the hill before getting a wonderful glimpse of Loch Lomond and decent to the finish. 43.49 4th Vets

Leg 2 – pairs(13km 1096 climb). Katy Thompson & Barbara Savage starting with long gradual climb to checkpoint 1 and returning very steeply as checkpoint 5. Both ladies battled wind and rain on the tops moving us up to 3rd in 2.06

Leg 3 Nav leg. With a wealth of experience between them, Wendy Dodds & Kath Wallis set out. Described by locals as long and difficult, the fast men were taking 1hr 20mins! Wendy & Kath were still out on leg 3 a time after the mass start on leg 4, so I walked down the course with Katy to watch for them coming in hoping they may finish together with Anna, but she came flying by us and we continued watching the hillside for our navigation ladies. The rain stopped and midges came out. They finished the navigation leg 2nd Vets in 3.06

Leg 4 solo (8.3km 653m climb) – A mass start was scheduled for 2.30 but at 2.15 they called runners to the line. Anna, (with a slight ankle injury she sustained whilst reccing Hodgson Relay) had to rush to kit check. This was an out and back route to Beinn Dubh, the first checkpoint on leg 2. Anna finishing 3rd Vets team in 1.06.

The rules for this event requires experience and completion of an A category Fell race. With the distance to travel and a 10 am Saturday start gave a smaller pool of ladies to select from. We need more ladies racing on the fells to get the experience to compete at this level.’

A great day of racing and great results for the Mens and Ladies Vets alike! No reports back from the Ceilidh but that’s probably a good thing…

Full Results

Wendy Dodds and Kath Wallis setting off on the testing navigation leg. Pic: Kath Brady

Wendy Dodds and Kath Wallis setting off on the testing navigation leg. Pic: Kath Brady

 

Red Rose Cross Country League Round 1

A lovely warm and dry autumnal day greeted the runners at the first Red Rose Cross Country fixture at Leigh Sports Village. An already flat and fast course was made even faster by the hard, dry conditions, leading many to use trail or fell shoes and producing some close racing, particularly in the Juniors, right up to the finish.

The Tent! Pic: Jason Pier.

The Tent! Pic: Jason Pier.

Juniors

U11 Boys

There were 6 Clayton boys in the U11 race with Dexta Thompson continuing in his winning ways with a clear run at the head of field. Finley Stubbs put in a great sprint finish to come in 9th, with Robbie Smedley backing them up to help the Boys take 1st place in the Team event. Matthew Jackson was close behind with Jenson Bentham and Joshua McKay rounding out a great team effort overall. The Boys are now leading both the Mid Lancs and Red Rose team events – a cracking start to the season.

Pos Name Time
1 Dexta Thompson 7:26
9 Finley Stubbs 8:04
12 Robbie Smedley 8:08
15 Matthew Jackson 8:10
26 Jenson Bentham 8:26
59 Joshua Mckay 9:20

 

Dexta Thompson flying into the finish in 1st place at Leigh Sports Centre. Pic: George S Davies

Dexta Thompson flying into the finish in 1st place at Leigh Sports Village. Pic: George S Davies

U11 Girls

Pos Name Time
5 Helena White 8:38
15 Summer Hargreaves 8:59
38 Kady Thompson 9:39
60 Rachel Stevenson 10:26
71 Ellisia Smedley 11:17
77 Emily Nicholls 12:17

Helena White continued her great form after time out with 5th place, whilst Summer Hargreaves also had a great run in 15th. Kady Thompson in 38th helped the girls to 5th Team overall. Well done to Rachel Stevenson, Ellisia Smedley and Emily Nicholls working hard in backing up the rest of the girls in the team.

U13 Boys

Pos Name Time
4 Jackson McKay 9:16
24 Lennon Jackson 10:31
35 William Nicholls 11:34

Jackson McKay put in his usual gritty effort for a great 4th place with Lennon Jackson and William Nicholls the other counters to take the Boys to 6th Team.

U13 Girls looking relaxed at the start line. Pic: Alan Dorrington

U13 Girls looking relaxed at the start line. Hopefully Beth hadn’t forgotten something important…  Pic: Alan Dorrington

U13 Girls

Pos Name Time
10 Ella Dorrington 10:16
61 Keira Stevenson 12:23
65 Bethany Wheatcroft 12:38
68 Bronia Olszewska 12:57

Ella Dorrington led our U13 Girls home in 10th place overall, just behind a big group occupying 3rd to 9th place. Keira Stevenson and Bethany Wheatcroft (in only her second race) filled the team spots taking the Girls to10th Team with Bronia Olszweska completing the squad.

Ella Dorrington on her way to 10th place. Pic: Alan Dorrington

Ella Dorrington on her way to 10th place. Pic: Alan Dorrington

U15 Boys

Pos Name Time
14 Nicholas Henessey 14:51
19 Stanley Grewal 15:05
28 Jay Bowman 15:59
32 Adam Stevenson 16:25
39 Aaron Lundie 19:43

Our U15 Boys packed out the placings solidly, led home by Nicholas Hennessy in 14th and Stanley Grewal in 19th. Jay Bowman made up the 3rd counter for them to take 5th Team, coming home in 28th. Adam Stevenson and Aaron Lundie completed the squad.

Aaron, Adam and Jay before the start of the U15 Boys race. Pic: Deborah Stevenson

Aaron, Adam and Jay before the start of the U15 Boys race. Pic: Deborah Stevenson

U15 Girls

Pos Name Time
3 Briony Holt 15:26
9 Millie Stubbs 16:27
23 Eleanor Root 17:50
27 Natasha Olszewska 18:16

The all-smiling U15 Girls team had a great day, led home by Briony Holt in 3rd place, Millie Stubbs in 9th, Eleanor Root in 23rd and Natasha Olszewska in 27th. Overall they took 3rd Team to build on their 1st Team place in the recent Mid Lancs fixture.

Our flying U15 Girls team. Pic: Thomas Root

Our flying U15 Girls team. Pic: Thomas Root

U17 Men

Pos Name Time
10 Curtis Holt 21:26
13 Reece Lawrence 22:56
15 Simon Wilshaw 24:12

Just three U17 Men ran but Curtis Holt in 10th, Reece Lawrence in 13th and Simon Wilshaw in 15th still took 5th Team overall.

Men U20

Pos Name Time
4 Jordan McDonald 42:28
Clayton XC Dogs, little and large.

Clayton XC Dogs, little and large.

Senior Ladies Race

Pos Name Cat Time
32 Elizabeth Mullan L 24:12
62 Michelle Abbott L35 26:23
94 Jane Hylands L45 29:48
116 Deborah Greenwood L45 32:19
131 Christine Leathley L65 37:01

A Team – 13th  (Elizabeth Mullan | Michelle Abbot | Jane Hylands)

Vets Team –  11th (Michelle Abbott | Jane Hylands | Deborah Greenwood)

Andy Quinn and Mick Hughes. Pic: George S Davies

Andy Quinn and Mick Hughes. Pic: George S Davies

Senior Men’s Race

Pos Name Cat Time
45 Jordan McDonald U20 42:28
50 Matthew Duckworth M 42:46
73 Andrew Orr V45 44:23
80 Gareth Berry V40 44:54
81 Andrew Holt V40 44:59
85 Alan Dorrington V45 45:24
111 Alex Cran V45 47:02
121 Mark Wightman V55 47:38
128 John Wilcock V50 48:00
154 Andy Quinn V45 49:51
155 Jeffrey Pickup V65 49:52
163 Mick Hughes V40 50:41
183 James Hickie V55 52:09
193 Peter Browning V55 53:17
198 Martin Brady V50 53:42
203 Craig Nicholls V40 54:17
213 David Moynihan V45 56:02
220 Christopher Lawrence V50 56:41
229 Carl Carey V45 58:01

A Team  – 8th (Jordan MCDonald | Matthew Duckworth | Andrew Orr | Gareth Berry | Andrew Holt | Alan Dorrington)

Vets Team – 10th (Andrew Orr | Gareth Berry | Andrew Holt | Alan Dorrington)

Andrew Holt reports:

‘I arrived dreading today’s run if I’m honest, flat and fast, no mud/rain or wind. Having recce’d about an inch of the course I decided that spikes were too much but I hadn’t brought anything else so was kinda stuck with them. Got to the start line which I love ,the atmosphere and tension, and having watched everyone run away in a mad dash around the football field settled into a reasonable rhythm. Having passed Alan exiting the football field he sat on my shoulder(not that I realised until the start of the next lap) and we ran the pleasant route through the wood and around the golf course, slowly picking runners off along the way. (Strava later confirmed our lap splits had only 30seconds difference between them).

I felt strong after the first lap, started tiring on the second but had enough to hopefully to keep accelerating into the finish. For the second time this season I met Gareth Barry towards the end of the second lap,and he was able to run with us for some time increasing the cheers for Clayton and helping to keep my pace and intensity up. Not wanting the spectacle of a sprint finish between the three of us I opened up with maybe a mile to go,and judging from the shouts from people supporting think I was successful in creating a reasonable gap between myself and Gary and Alan. Entering the final straight,at more than full gas (Briony describes me as running like I need the toilet when I run like this) I saw Gareth screaming past me like I was treading water with Alan coming maybe 10-15 seconds later. I finished thinking what an enjoyable team run ,which was hopefully caught by someone with a camera. This bubble soon burst however when my children thanked the person who beat me and ridiculed me for a pathetic sprint!!’

As ever, a huge thanks on behalf of all the Clayton team to Jason Pier (TentMaster Extraordinaire) for getting things all set up and ship shape for racing.

Full Results

Round Rotherham 50

Martin Terry had a cracking run here to take 3rd overall in 07:43:56 in this 50 miler round, err, Rotherham on a fast flat course and with some of South Yorkshire’s ‘finest’ industrial areas on show.

Full Results

Sunday

Manchester Half Marathon

A huge field of 12000 runners took in this fast flat course through the Stretford and Trafford areas of Manchester, with plenty of entertainment and fancy dress on show. Jacob Watson and Richard Stevenson led the Clayton charge both posting superfast times. Great new PBs were also achieved for James Boult, Rob Morrison and Donna Airey. Well done all!

Richard reports:

We were greeted with typical Manchester weather this morning cold, wet and windy for a well organised race with a course that is perfect for any PB chasers, very flat and fast. Great to see so many familiar faces today at such a large race and very pleased with my time, a new PB.

Pos Name Cat CatPos Time
82 Jacob WATSON SEN 35 01:17:33
116 Richard STEVENSON V40 13 01:19:50
161 Jon CLEAVER V35 36 01:21:58
667 James BOULT SEN 295 01:33:07
669 Robert MORRISON V40 90 01:33:09
985 Donna AIREY LV35 17 01:36:49
1276 Colin WHITE V40 183 01:39:16
1305 Amanda DUFFY LV35 27 01:39:31
4768 Lisa ELLIS LSEN 653 02:01:42

Full Results

Green Drive 5 mile

Another fast, flat PB inducing course, this event incorporated the Lancashire AA 5 mile Champs. A select group of experienced Clayton athletes were to the fore in their age categories, enjoying the autumnal colours and rural lanes near Lytham and Warton.

Pos Name Cat CatPos Time
20 Paul Brannon M55 (002/015) 00:30:26
27 Kevin Davies M50 (002/029) 00:30:50
75 Stephen Biscomb M60 (004/016) 00:34:48
108 David Scott M70 (001/007) 00:38:00
110 Brian Wildman M50 (017/029) 00:38:12
223 Kevin O’Brien M70 (004/007) 00:48:55

Full Results

Oldham ‘Milltown to Moors’ Half Marathon

One of the most grueling of races, this half marathon covers a 13.1 mile run through Oldham and its many miles of countryside, pushing challengers to their limits whilst offering some of the best scenery the borough has to offer.

With a very atmospheric start that includes a lap of the Oldham town Centre runners travel a hilly route that takes them to the lovely Saddleworth area of Oldham with spectacular views of the Saddleworth villages and the imposing moorland landscape of the Peak District National Park that lies beyond.

Martin Brady decided he hadn’t had enough racing this weekend and was up for more. He reports:

I entered the Oldham “Milltown To Moors” Half Marathon on the Sunday morning after having run a Parkrun and Leigh cross country the day before. I have a 10 mile trail race in Nottingham next weekend and I have been lacking any distance runs for a few months so I thought this would be a good test. This Half Marathon is claimed to be one of the toughest in the country with lots of long climbs and descents. It is tough but I think Hendon Brook is slightly harder (Lenches wins it for me with the Hendon Brook). I think I was the only Clayton runner at the event. The commentator said at both the start and finish “Here is the Clayton runner – they come down from altitude to do this you know!”. He must think Clayton-le-Moors is in the Himalayas. I did enjoy the race this time. I have done it several times during my running career, the first being in 2001 when there was the foot and mouth outbreak so there was no fell running – this was the nearest thing to a fell race I could find that year. I took it very steady at the start as it has 4 miles of climbing before the first long descent. This paid off as I started to pass quite a few runners later on. My finishing time was 1 hour 53 minutes 20 seconds which is about 25 minutes slower than 2001 but it was much more enjoyable. I think I might pencil this one in again for next year.

Results to follow

Four Lakeland Passes

Nick Olszewski and Adrienne Olszewska were the sole Clayton reps making the trip up the M6 for this event. Adrienne explains more:

‘Four Passes was originally put on by the warden of Borrowdale Youth Hostel and was run from there for many years. It fell into disuse until the LDWA took the route on as a challenge event, but it is no longer on their calendar and Ascend Events believe it is too good a route not to be used as an event.
There’s a choice of 2 start times so Nick and I opted for the earlier 8.30 slot with the walkers as he is still recovering from a recent operation on his toe and I’m a bit of a slow plodder. We thought it would make for a more enjoyable event if the pressure was off and we could just joggle along.
The course is a spectacular 19(ish) miles route taking in four of the Lake Districts most scenic valleys and their adjoining passes. It is a circular route which starts and finishes at Rosthwaite Village Hall in Borrowdale, at the southern end of Derwent Water.
The first pass takes you to Sty Head Tarn situated between the Scafell Massif and Great Gable before dropping to the beautiful but always dramatic Wasdale with Cumbria’s deepest lake. We set off nice and steady with a motley collection of fast and slow walkers and jogglers and trotters like ourselves. The first climb up to Sty Head tarn is nice and steady and we were blessed with good weather allowing us to drink in the spectacular views on the way down to Wasdale. A fairly good path meant we could trot all the way down to the checkpoint.
We were on familiar ground for the second pass which is Black Sail Pass & the third Scarth Gap, as this is part of the route of the Lakeland 100. It was the first time I’ve done it in daylight which didn’t make the slog up Black Sail and the horrid descent any easier really. But at least we got to enjoy the gorgeous views of Haystacks, Wainwrights resting place, on the way up Scarth Gap which is the easiest climb but with another tricky descent to Buttermere straight after.
From Buttermere, The fourth and final pass is an old miners’ path up and over to Honister Mines. It’s a long steady climb on a path made up of loose slate at times which passes an old miners building on the way to the top. When you reach the mines, it’s a good track all the way back down to Rosthwaite, a welcome relief after the previous two trickier descents. This one is much more runnable as you head to the finish.
This is a really excellent, low-key and friendly event that is aimed a wide range of abilities. You can tackle it like a fast fell race or amble round with the walkers. The choice and the challenge is yours to take. There are four checkpoints, two of them groaning with snacks and drinks. There is also a very good finisher’s meal with pudding! This was the first event organised by Ascend Events and I will definitely do another. In fact, I’ll probably head back to this one next year.’

Nick does his best 'Forced Perspective' aka Hagrid impression next to a deceptively diminutive Adrienne. Or is it real?

Nick does his best ‘Forced Perspective’ aka Hagrid impression next to a deceptively diminutive Adrienne. Or is it like that in reality?

Full Results

Parkrun Roundup

Burnley parkrun – A total of 281 runners took part.

Pos parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
5 Jonathan PYE 18:21 SM25-29
6 Laura HESKETH 18:29 SW30-34
17 Richard STEVENSON 20:05 VM40-44
20 Nick ROSCOE 20:34 VM45-49
38 Gordon BARRETT 22:07 VM50-54
52 Ian HARGREAVES 23:22 VM50-54 New PB!
56 Nina KEWIN 23:29 VW35-39
58 Colin WHITE 23:34 VM40-44
61 Robert MORRISON 23:39 VM40-44
64 Martin BRADY 23:45 VM50-54
69 Julie DAWES 23:59 VW45-49
71 Toby BIRTWISTLE 24:02 JM10
72 Daniel PLANT 24:04 SM30-34
78 Sophie ASHWORTH 24:26 JW11-14
85 Lisa JOHNSON 24:36 VW40-44 New PB!
92 John WILCOCK 24:52 VM50-54
94 Annabel WILCOCK 24:54 JW15-17
98 Jake ANFORTH 25:06 JM10
102 Andrew TAYLOR 25:32 VM55-59
111 Andy QUINN 25:45 VM45-49
133 Bianca BENNETT 26:41 SW25-29
160 Robert HIRST 28:12 VM65-69
161 Jack MCGUIRE 28:18 VM60-64 New PB!
181 Ron CHAPPELL 28:49 VM65-69
233 Stuart BARKER 31:38 VM50-54

Pendle parkrun – A total of 83 runners took part.

Pos parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
3 Paul BRANNON 20:04 VM55-59
4 John HARTLEY 20:14 VM55-59
12 Richard BRISCOE 22:09 VM35-39
60 Harry WALKER 34:22 VM65-69

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – A total of 246 runners took part.

Pos parkrunner Time Age Cat
149 Eileen JONES 29:06 VW60-64

Lytham Hall parkrun – A total of 183 runners took part.

Pos parkrunner Time Age Cat
156 Philip NAYLOR 35:22 VM35-39

 

ByAlan Dorrington

Racing into the holiday season

Schools out at last and the summer holidays have started in earnest, but there doesn’t appear to be much downtime amongst the Clayton clan, younger or older, as road PBs, tough ultras, Guides racing, crazy scree slope running and general hard racing have continued unabated this week. From 1k to 100 miles, there has been a Clayton runner (or 56) in the mix somewhere this week, so give yourself all a big pat on the back after this weeks efforts.

Wednesday

Padiham Greenway

A balmy summer evening greeted a huge contingent of Clayton runners for the final road round of the Burnley and Pendle Grand Prix. Whilst the adults dominated the Senior race in terms of numbers (with Tom Bradley winning the Junior category too), the Clayton Juniors dominated their races in terms of results, with wins for Finlay Stubbs (U10B), Robbie Smedley (U12B), Ella Dorrington (U12G), Nick Hennessey (U14B), Millie Stubbs (U14G) and Aaron Lundie (U16B).

Marion Wilkinson. Photo: David Bleshaw

Marion Wilkinson. Photo: David Bleshaw

Senior Race:

Pos Name Cat CatPos Time
5 Jonathan Pye M (003/026) 00:17:39
7 Matthew Duckworth M (005/026) 00:17:52
10 Jonathan Cleaver M (006/026) 00:18:14
14 Carl Helliwell M40 (005/015) 00:18:36
17 Alan Dorrington M45 (002/015) 00:18:41
20 Thomas Bradley MJ (001/001) 00:18:48
21 Paul Hesketh M50 (002/017) 00:18:50
22 Paul Brannon M55 (002/009) 00:18:50
26 James Boult M (011/026) 00:19:25
28 John Wilcock M50 (003/017) 00:19:39
30 Stephen Ainsworth M55 (003/009) 00:19:58
33 David McMullan M45 (003/015) 00:20:03
35 Daniel Plant M (013/026) 00:20:15
37 Stephen Green M60 (001/007) 00:20:24
39 Roger Brewster M60 (002/007) 00:20:34
44 Robert Morrison M40 (010/015) 00:20:58
45 Richard Briscoe M (014/026) 00:20:58
46 Andy Quinn M45 (005/015) 00:20:59
49 Mick Hughes M40 (011/015) 00:21:01
52 Elizabeth Mullan F (005/014) 00:21:08
54 Stuart Proctor M (017/026) 00:21:17
58 Andrew Webster M45 (008/015) 00:21:31
64 Donna Airey F35 (001/005) 00:22:18
67 Paul Wale M45 (010/015) 00:22:30
69 David Moynihan M45 (011/015) 00:22:35
73 Carl Carey M45 (012/015) 00:22:46
76 Jean Knightley F55 (001/007) 00:23:09
78 Cassandra Smedley F35 (002/005) 00:23:15
81 Ian J. Hargreaves M50 (011/017) 00:23:28
82 David Scott M70 (001/003) 00:23:35
89 Martin O’Rourke M55 (007/009) 00:24:12
90 Julia Rushton F50 (002/005) 00:24:25
91 Bianca Bennett F (007/014) 00:24:29
92 Tony Pilling M50 (013/017) 00:24:30
93 Barry Mitchell M70 (002/003) 00:24:31
95 Lisa Johnson F40 (003/007) 00:24:46
98 Irene Roche F55 (002/007) 00:24:59
102 Bethany Quinn FJ (002/003) 00:25:29
108 Brian Wildman M50 (016/017) 00:25:53
110 Lisa Ellis F (010/014) 00:26:22
117 Phil Naylor M (026/026) 00:27:23
118 Karen Clarkin F40 (005/007) 00:27:44
119 Mark R. Knowles M40 (015/015) 00:27:45
120 Lucy Stevenson FJ (003/003) 00:27:45
124 Ron Chappell M65 (002/002) 00:28:11
126 Hayley Copeman F45 (005/008) 00:28:19
128 Helen Harrison F45 (006/008) 00:28:42
129 Jack McGuire M60 (006/007) 00:29:08
131 Geraldine Varley F55 (003/007) 00:29:21
138 Marion Wilkinson F70 (001/002) 00:30:45
140 Christine Egerton F65 (001/002) 00:31:44
142 Sharon Wilson F40 (006/007) 00:32:00
143 Judith Carey F35 (005/005) 00:32:09
144 Christine Leathley F65 (002/002) 00:32:29
145 Anita Jones F60 (001/001) 00:32:29
147 Val Lawson F70 (002/002) 00:34:39
Matthew Duckworth on his way to 5th and a new PB. Photo: David Belshaw

Matthew Duckworth on his way to 7th and a new PB. Photo: David Belshaw

Team time trial... Photo: David Belshaw

Team time trial… Photo: David Belshaw

Full results

Junior Races:

Under 8s

Pos Name Cat CatPos Time
3 Toby Birtwistle M8 (003/008) 00:04:21
5 Ellisia Smedley F8 (002/009) 00:04:48
7 Charlie Plant F8 (004/009) 00:04:58
8 Lottie Hesketh F8 (005/009) 00:05:08
14 Emily Johnson F8 (009/009) 00:05:45

Under 10/12s

Pos Name Cat CatPos Time
1 Robbie Smedley M12 (001/007) 00:07:36
2 Finley Stubbs M10 (001/005) 00:07:38
3 Matthew Jackson M12 (002/007) 00:07:54
5 Ella Dorrington F12 (001/008) 00:08:10
6 Charlie Birtwistle M12 (004/007) 00:08:11
9 Summer Hargreaves F12 (002/008) 00:08:18
13 Jake Anforth M10 (003/005) 00:08:38
14 Keira Stevenson F12 (005/008) 00:08:45
15 Thomas Ashworth M10 (004/005) 00:08:48
21 Rachel Stevenson F10 (002/004) 00:10:19
22 Bronia Olszewska F12 (008/008) 00:10:25

Under 14/16s

Pos Name Cat CatPos Time
1 Nick Hennessey M14 (001/004) 00:10:22
2 Lennon Jackson M14 (002/004) 00:10:55
3 Millie Stubbs F14 (001/004) 00:11:06
5 Adam Stevenson M14 (004/004) 00:11:08
7 Natasha Olszewska F14 (003/004) 00:12:12
8 Sophie Ashworth F14 (004/004) 00:12:13
9 Aaron Lundie M16 (001/001) 00:12:53
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Nick Hennessey leads out the U14/16 race. Photo: David Belshaw

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Clayton to the fore in the U10/12 race with Finlay Stubbs pusing hard. Photo: David Belshaw

Bronia Olszweski and Rachel Stevenson. Photo: David Belshaw

Bronia Olszweska and Rachel Stevenson. Photo: David Belshaw

Full results

Lee Mill Fell Race

Using the same route as the popular Lee Mill Relay race, this summer evening fell race takes in the quarried landscape and moors near Bacup, Rossendale.

Pos Name Cat Time
5 Peter Coates MV40 51:25
10 Chris Snell Sen 52:45
11 Russ Clarke Sen 53:06
14 Alan Life MV50 53:50

Full results

Thursday

Ambleside Sports

The Lakeland weather wasn’t exactly on its best behaviour for this traditional and popular summer show, drizzle alternating between bouts of heavier rain and visibility fairly minimal to the hills surrounding the showground. In between grass track cycle racing, traditional wrestling and hound trails, there were 2 sets of fell races with the Rydal Round (aka Fairfield Horseshoe) heading off first but on a shortened route round Nab Scar and back, on account of the bad weather. Then the BOFRA sanctioned Guides races kicked off on the traditional short, sharp and very steep format for this type of show.

Heart of the Lakes Rydal Round

No results as yet

BOFRA/Guides races

Pos Name Cat Time
23 Carl Helliwell MV40 17:28
75 Wendy Dodds LV50 22:07
78 Mark Nutter MV50 22:28
83 Andrew Firth MV50 23:10
97 Katy Thompson LV50 25:54
118 Eileen Jones LV50 31:19
Dexta escending at Ambleside. Photo: Geoff Thompson

Dexta descending at Ambleside. Photo: Geoff Thompson

In the Junior races, Dexta Thompson had a great run in a very big U12 field to take 3rd, followed up by Jenson Bentham in 14th, Ella Dorrington in 36th and Kady Thompson in 67th.

Jackson McKay was 10th in the U14 race and Briony Holt 15th and 1st Girl in in U17s.

Full results

Friday

Podium 5k

A Race

Pos Name Cat CatPos Time
9 Danny Collinge M (008/020) 00:15:35
20 Jacob Watson M (018/020) 00:16:52

B Race

Pos Name Cat CatPos Time
7 Laura Hesketh F (001/003) 00:17:27
15 Jonathan Cleaver M (007/018) 00:17:55
19 Dave Motley M (009/018) 00:18:14
20 Chris Snell M (010/018) 00:18:21
21 Nick Hennessey M (011/018) 00:18:26
22 Paul Brannon M55 (001/001) 00:18:28
27 Andrew Payne M (015/018) 00:19:39
28 Daniel Plant M (016/018) 00:19:48
33 Reece Lawrence M (018/018) 00:20:57

C Race

Pos Name Cat CatPos Time
3 Richard Briscoe M (002/005) 00:19:37
11 Lennon Jackson M (003/005) 00:21:14
15 Mick Hughes M40 (002/002) 00:21:53
20 Ian J. Hargreaves M50 (003/003) 00:23:14
21 Sophie Ashworth F (006/008) 00:23:18
25 Lisa Ellis F (007/008) 00:26:09
27 Hayley Copeman F45 (002/002) 00:27:40
28 Ron Chappell M65 (001/001) 00:28:13

Saturday

Lakeland 50 and 100

There’s been some epic action in the Lakes over the course of the weekend in the Montane Ultra Tour of the Lake District 50 and 100 milers. Richard John ran the 50, and Martin Terry and Adrienne Olszewska the 100 miler.

First up with a report is Richard John:

It seemed like a good idea at the time – combine my (sometime) love for running and for the Lake District and enter the Lakeland 50! That was nearly a year ago and over the past six months I have been trying to turn myself into a trail runner after only road running before. Before this year, anything steeper than the hill from Gt Harwood to Rishton was just not for me. So it was with some trepidation that I lined up at Dalemain for the lunch-time start with 50 miles and almost 10,000ft of climbing ahead of me. The weather conditions were just about perfect – dry but not hot with plenty of cloud cover. For me, the first twenty miles were somehow the hardest as I just couldn’t seem to find a rhythm and all sorts of niggles, real or imagined, were getting into my head. A peanut butter sandwich at Mardale Head, however, sorted me out and the next 20 miles were really enjoyable with the highlight being running through Ambleside at 8pm and getting massive support from the roadside. I had never run in the dark before (poor preparation!) and this was what I was most worried about – but, as it turned out, I quite enjoyed this part. I was going pretty slow by this point anyway and the darkness didn’t seem to slow me down any further for the last 10 miles as I made my way up Great Langdale and then over an endless final climb past Tilberthwaite to the finish at Coniston at just after 1am. The two things I will remember most about the day (and night) were the fantastic support at all the checkpoints, in fact the whole organisation was superb, and – most of all – the inspiration I drew from meeting and passing the Lakeland 100 runners doing twice the distance after setting off from Coniston the evening before. They are quite amazing! Oh and one final memory – being chased by a cow at Elterwater, which taught me that I still have a decent change of pace even after 30 miles of running.

Adrienne Olszweska still managed to find the energy after a slightly strenuous weekend to send this report:

The Ultra Tour of the Lake District offers a 50 mile or 105 mile course to runners. Having completed the 50 mile course in 2014, I was determined to get the 105 mile race done as well.

This event is the most amazingly well organised event I have ever taken part in. Race director Marc Laithwaite gives an inspirational runners brief which is a mix of comedy and good advice. The dropout rate on this race is quite high and around 30% of runners don’t finish.

The race starts and finishes in Coniston. There are 14 checkpoints on the 100 and 3 compulsory unmanned checkpoints as well. The runners set off at 6:00pm and the run through Coniston at the start is fabulous with everyone cheering you on as you head up the Miners Track for the long slog up the Walna Scar Road. There are some big climbs in the first 30 miles and the introduction of additional cut-off times added some pressure.  The climb out of Wasdale up and over the Black Sail pass followed by another climb to Scarth Gap was my biggest worry but was nowhere near as horrendous as I’d anticipated despite a couple of falls. Got to Buttermere checkpoint in good time where I knew some of the marshals and had the best chocolate milkshake in the world – ever!

Up and over to Braithwaite via Sail Pass, another tough climb. It was beginning to get light here so the downhill section to the checkpoint wasn’t too bad. The next section is much kinder and there’s a longish road section before contouring around the base of Blencathra and sampling the legendary chocolate cake at Checkpoint 6.

There’s an alteration to the course after this checkpoint as some of the bridges on the old railway track were washed away in the December floods so there’s an unmanned checkpoint to ensure runners stick to the route. Then another climb up to the Old Coach Road – aka the road to nowhere. It’s around 5 miles along here and, very frustratingly, you can see the plantation of trees at the end all the way and they never seem to get any nearer. After some serious jogglin’, checkpoint 7 at Dockray was almost in sight. This checkpoint is run by Newburgh Nomads so it was wonderful to see so many familiar faces and, quite frankly, be rather pampered by them!

The leg to Dalemain is the longest leg at just over 10 miles. The first half is a very enjoyable run around Aira Force and around Gowbarrow with stunning views of Ullswater. Then after a tedious road section, you reach the checkpoint at Dalemain and at 60 miles you are over halfway. It’s an important checkpoint where you can have your drop bag. I had a change of shoes and clothes here. Nick was marshalling and it was running like clockwork so a big cheer for Nick ‘Bagman’ Olszewski! It was great to see him – not much pampering though as he kicked me out and sent me on my way.

Nic O (far left) as the 'bagman'

Nic Olszweski (far left) as the ‘bagman’ at the MASH themed Dalemain checkpoint.

The next two sections were tough. The section from Howtown to Mardale Head has the highest climb up the Fusedale Valley and up to High Kop. It’s a long slog and then after a drop down to Haweswater it’s another slog right around the valley to Mardale Head. Tiredness was beginning to take hold and I knew it would be dark again before I got to Kentmere. After a slow climb up Gatesgarth pass I was really slowing down and feeling weary. At the checkpoint I was served fruit smoothies by famous ultra-runner Marcus Scotney who was dressed up as a wizard; obviously a Harry Potter theme this year.

After leaving the checkpoint and climbing up Garburn Pass, I hit a real low point. I was so tired I could barely walk in a straight line and was feeling very down. I told the person I’d spent the whole course with to go on without me and she did! So there I was on my own thinking it was all over. I spent a while pondering on whether to go back to Kentmere which was nearer or press on to Ambleside. Fortunately, what little common sense I had left prevailed and I decided to go on to Ambleside. Not long after this a few runners caught up with me. They were all pushing hard to hit the cut off time. It was just the wakeup call I needed and before I knew it, I was trotting down into Ambleside checkpoint and straight back out to Chapel Stile determined to finish.

The second dawn as I was alongside Elterwater was just stunning and I knew I would get to Chapel Stile checkpoint in time. I was going to finish this thing. There’s a climb out of the Langdale Valley up and over to Tilberthwaite checkpoint where they push you onward up the steps to the finish at Coniston. It’s about the same distance as a parkrun to the finish but probably the toughest parkrun in the world. Nick had finished his marshalling and met me on the way over which was good and bad in equal parts. Good to have the support but annoying to see him skipping along the track like a gazelle when I was trudging along!

I hit the Miner’s track and started running. I kept running right to the end with such fantastic support from all the people in Coniston and made it to the finish with just a few minutes to spare feeling completely epic.

Adrienne O - Lakeland 100 finisher!

Adrienne Olszweska – Lakeland 100 finisher!

Congratulations also to Martin Terry who had an absolutely superb run finishing in 25th place in 26:47:31. Also Richard John who ran the 50 course in 13:39:20.

Turnslack Fell Race

Pos Name Cat Time
41 Richard Bellaries MV60 1:28:53
72 Katy Thompson LV60 1:45:38
84 Michael Frost MV60 2:02:24

Full results

Cowling Gala Fell Race

Richard Briscoe went solo to this race and came away with 20th place in 24:45.

Full results

Sunday

Farleton Knott BOFRA

More Junior action again, with the usual suspects returning up the M6 to that limestone lump you always drive past on the way to the Lakes.

Josh McKay and Felix Thompson were 4th and 6th respectively in the U9 race whilst Dexta Thompson got his first BOFRA win in the U12. Jenson Bentham was 9th in that race with Ella Dorrington 10th (3rd Girl) and Kady Thompson 28th. Jackson McKay was the sole Clayton representative in the U14s, coming in 7th.

A (as always) focussed Dexta Thompson. Photo: Alan Dorrington

A (as always) focussed Dexta Thompson. Photo: Alan Dorrington

The Under 14s leave the field at the start with Jackson McKay pushing on. Photo: Alan Dorrington

The Under 14s leave the field at the start with Jackson McKay pushing on. Photo: Alan Dorrington

Special mention too for Briony Holt who hard on the heels of her 2nd place U14 Girls Junior FRA Champs result, continued her unbeaten run in BOFRA races to sow up the U17 Girls Championship in that series, winning 8 out of the 8 races she has started this season. And she’s still only 14!

Winning ways from Briony Holt. Photo: Alan Dorrington

Winning ways from Briony Holt. Photo: Alan Dorrington

Richard Briscoe once again took on sole responsibility of representing the club in the Seniors race, finishing a very tough 4.5 miles in 46th and 52:42.

James Herriot Country Trail Race

Pete Browning and Chris Paul made their way over to Famous Vet country for this one and Pete reports back from their race:

I’m usually quite hard line about the fell races I do. 3 basic rules: No fun runs, No races with silly names, No C grade races. However, after a good two days at Thirsk races where I managed to secure a creditable score draw with the bookies, I was ready for a race and the James Herriott Country race was close by. Yes it broke all my 3 rules, but it was in the FRA calendar, so it must be a reasonable race, must’nt it?
The race starts and finishes at Bolton Castle near Leyburn in the Dales, and fell running super star Carl Bell from Keswick was present. As I climbed up through the start fields thinking I was the only Clayton runner, an unknown Clayton vest surged past me. No idea who it was, a lot younger than me, tattoos on the right arm. Anyway, as we reached Lord Bolton’ s grouse moor, the course levelled out and we spent the next five or so miles running on stoney land rover tracks. The last couple of miles were more grassy, but we finished with a final mile of land rover track. Very fast going throughout and sore feet all round. At the finish I sought out the unknown Clayton vest and was pleased to meet Chris Paul for the first time. Definitely a trail race, but a good workout.

No results yet but approximate timings are
Chris Paul         1 hour 12 minutes
Peter Browning 1 hour 20 minutes

Parkrun

Burnley Parkrun –  a total of 288 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
1 Matthew DUCKWORTH 18:19 SM25-29 New PB!
6 Nicholas HENNESSEY 19:28 JM11-14
7 Richard STEVENSON 19:31 VM40-44
12 Gareth BERRY 20:13 VM40-44
13 Kevin DAVIES 20:21 VM50-54
14 Nick ROSCOE 20:22 VM45-49
15 Michael HOGAN 20:26 VM45-49
18 Adam QUINN 20:47 JM11-14 New PB!
19 Reece Adam LAWRENCE 21:04 JM15-17
24 Robert MORRISON 21:58 VM40-44
28 Finley STUBBS 22:17 JM10
29 Matthew JACKSON 22:18 JM10
30 Millie STUBBS 22:20 JW11-14
37 Donna RILEY 22:41 VW50-54
48 David Ian SCOTT 23:10 VM70-74
70 Jake ANFORTH 24:40:00 JM10
71 Nathan KEWIN 24:42:00 JM11-14
72 Dawn TERRY 24:43:00 VW50-54
87 Bethany WHEATCROFT 25:40:00 JW11-14
90 Beth QUINN 25:43:00 SW18-19
91 Sophie ASHWORTH 25:45:00 JW11-14
117 Aaron LUNDIE 27:04:00 JM11-14
129 Andy QUINN 27:49:00 VM45-49
137 Philip NAYLOR 28:14:00 VM35-39
147 Liberty THOMPSON 28:32:00 JW11-14
149 Heidi KEWIN 28:35:00 JW11-14
150 Robert HIRST 28:36:00 VM65-69
192 Helen HARRISON 30:33:00 VW45-49
215 Marion WILKINSON 31:50:00 VW70-74

Burnley Junior Parkrun

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
1 Nicholas HENNESSEY 7:18:00 JM11-14
2 Lennon JACKSON 07:47:00 JM11-14
4 Matthew JACKSON 08:16:00 JM10
5 Nathan KEWIN 08:44:00 JM11-14
7 Heidi KEWIN 09:10:00 JW11-14
10 Bethany WHEATCROFT 09:37:00 JW11-14
11 Imogen FERGUSON 09:47:00 JW11-14
36 Millie HESKETH 12:31:00 JW10
37 Erin HESKETH 12:33:00 JW10 New PB!
40 Emily JOHNSON 12:57:00 JW10
43 Milly MACCABE 13:46:00 JW10
56 Liberty THOMPSON 15:55:00 JW11-14
Junior Parkrunners. Photo: David Belshaw

Junior Parkrunners. Photo: David Belshaw

Woodbank Parkrun – a total of 135 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
89 Ron HILL 33:28 VM75-79

Preston Parkrun – a total of 312 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
97 Katy THOMPSON 25:08 VW60-64

Bolton Parkrun – a total of 322 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
41 David MOYNIHAN 23:17 VM45-49

Dewsbury Parkrun – a total of 91 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
74 Robin PRICE 33:55 VM70-74

Wimpole Estate Parkrun – a total of 314 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
75 Martin BRADY 24:23 VM50-54

Pendle Parkrun – a total of 91 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
3 Paul BRANNON 20:14 VM55-59
4 John HARTLEY 20:46 VM55-59
65 Christine LEATHLEY 34:01 VW65-69

Fell Foot Parkrun – a total of 266 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
186 Eileen JONES 30:40 VW60-64

Witton Parkrun – a total of 59 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
59 Julia RUSHTON 1:00:13 VW50-54

Lytham Hall Parkrun – a total of 198 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
7 Alan LIFE 19:36 VM50-54
71 Carol LIFE 24:27 VW50-54

Lancaster Parkrun – a total of 197 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
115 Doug MUNROE 30:23:00 VM70-74

 

 

ByAlan Dorrington

It’s a proper Summer Sizzler!

As we approach the Summer Solstice and the country wrestles with whether it should be in or out, as per usual the Clayton athletes have very definitely been out, and about, racing on the fells, roads, trails, in ultras and in sizzling form. There have been plenty of individual and age group wins along the way, but also some great performances behind the winners from our hard working Juniors and Seniors alike, showing dedication, persistence and grit in improving their own performances.

Tuesday 14 June

Worsthorne Trail Race – Clayton Summer Series

Helena White. Photo - David Belshaw.

Helena White. Photo – David Belshaw.

Round 2 of the club’s Summer Series on Tuesday evenings for CLEM and Trawden athletes, this trail race took in the Gorple Track and Pennine Bridleway from Worsthorne, giving around 5 miles of fast running but with nearly 1000ft of climb to hurt the legs. The Juniors ran a shortened version but still started with the Seniors up the track leading to some good battles from the get-go. Chris Holdsworth ran a blistering race to break his own Senior course record by over a minute (35:01) and there were some good hard battles further down the field too.

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Chris Holdsworth on his way to breaking the course record. Photo – David Belshaw

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Summer Hargreaves descends the Gorple Track. Photo – David Belshaw.

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Andrew Holt – full gas! Photo – David Belshaw

Senior Race Results:

Junior Race Results:

Wednesday 15 June

Brown Wardle (and a bit) Fell Race

42 runners for this local 3.3m fell race starting out of Whitworth.

Pos Name Category Time
4 Alan Life V50 00:33:38
29 Steve Fish V60 00:40:55
37 Carol Life WV50 00:47:10

Full Results

Horwich Jubilee Road Race

There was a big field of 248 for Round 2 of this 5 mile road race series, now in its 33rd year.

Pos Name Category CatPos
 Time
183 Ted Orrell M75 002/004 42:28

Full results

Thursday 16 June

Aggie’s Staircase Fell Race

Run over Darwen Hill and round the Jubilee Tower, Aggie’s Staircase is a sharp 4 mile fell race with 1150ft climb.

Sarah Helliwell reports:

I did Aggie’s Staircase on Thursday. First time I have ever done it and it is definitely one I will do again. A cracking up, down, up, down, up and finally down again race. 350m of climbing in 4 miles. There were a small number of Harriers who did the event. Peter Coates was the first Claytoneer in 13th place and Alison Dugdale was first Clayton lady. There was a good atmosphere, it was well marshalled and plenty of support around the course. It’s the first race I have done in a long time where I felt things were slowly clicking back into place with my running. Thank you to Katy & George Thompson who organize it. A race I recommend.

Pos Name Category Time
13 Peter Coates M40 00:33:10
37 Ivan Whigham M50 00:36:32
73 Alison Dugdale F40 00:39:49
104 Andrew Firth M50 00:43:32
109 Stephen Fish M60 00:44:58
122 Sarah Helliwell F 00:47:33
125 Michael Frost M60 00:49:01
127 Kath Brady F50 00:49:03

Full results

Friday 17 June

Barrowford Grand Prix 5k

Flat running and fast times were the order of the day at this round of the Burnley and Pendle Grand Prix. Despite the rain that affected the later races, there were PBs galore across the age groups and Clayton wins with Paul Brannon (C Race), Finlay Stubbs (U10B), Dexta Thompson (U12B), Ella Dorrington (U12G) and Millie Stubbs the overall U14 race.

For one of the Junior coaching team, Marion Wilkinson, it was also an important race:

The Barrowford 5k was my first race after seven months of very little running following an operation on my eye to release the pressure which was causing loss of vision. There was definitely a feeling of pressure (albeit a different kind) as I signed up to this race along with my daughter Lisa and granddaughter Emily and all the wonderful Clayton juniors.

My fears were the same as many of the juniors face every time they race – I didn’t want to come last! I even told podium Chris that he may have to delay the start of the B race to give me time to finish.

My granddaughter always tells her granddad that she came last  – this time she didn’t and neither did I. So, to all the juniors who are making great progress but never quite get to the front in a race, keep trying, enjoy your running and never give up.

What’s next for me – well, I will be 75 in November and if I can knock two minutes off my 5k time I will be first in the UK rankings. Hopefully this will encourage all the juniors –  you have lots of years ahead of you to realise your dreams.

Special thanks for the encouragement on my last lap (although at the time I thought I had another lap to do) from Reece Lawrence and young Toby Birtwistle.

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Three generations of Clayton – Marion with daughter Lisa and grand-daughter Emily. Photo – David Belshaw.

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Dexta Thompson on his way to winning the U12 race. Photo – David Belshaw.

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Millies Stubbs winning the U14 race overall.

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Action from the C race at Barrowford Grand Prix 5k. Photo – David Belshaw.

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Cassandra Smedley concentrates. Photo – David Belshaw.

A Race:

Pos Name Category CatPos
 Time
10 Danny Collinge M (010/028) 00:15:41
29 Jacob Watson M (024/028) 00:16:59

B race:

Pos Name Category CatPos
 Time
8 Matthew Duckworth M (006/031) 00:17:37
12 Richard Stevenson M40 (001/011) 00:17:44
19 Chris Snell M (014/031) 00:18:11
21 Carl Helliwell M40 (004/011) 00:18:13
23 Jackson McKay M (015/031) 00:18:27
29 James Boult M (018/031) 00:18:52
30 Michael Clarke M40 (006/011) 00:18:54
31 Chris Funnell M45 (003/005) 00:18:57
32 Gareth Berry M40 (007/011) 00:19:00
33 Stephen Ainsworth M55 (001/002) 00:19:00
35 Richard Briscoe M (020/031) 00:19:04
38 John Wilcock M50 (002/004) 00:19:10
43 Alan Life M50 (004/004) 00:19:24
47 Daniel Plant M (025/031) 00:19:42
54 Lennon Jackson M (028/031) 00:20:00
55 Reece Lawrence M (029/031) 00:20:02
59 Stuart Proctor M (030/031) 00:20:42
62 Andy Quinn M45 (005/005) 00:20:57

C Race:

Pos Name Category CatPos
 Time
1 Paul Brannon M55 (001/006) 00:18:26
2 Paul Hesketh M50 (001/010) 00:18:36
4 Nicholas Hennessey M (001/012) 00:18:39
5 Stanley Grewal M (002/012) 00:19:16
6 Roger Brewster M60 (001/004) 00:19:59
10 John Roche M55 (002/006) 00:20:22
14 Orlaith O’Mahoney F (002/023) 00:20:33
19 Robert Morrison M40 (001/006) 00:20:53
22 Andrew Webster M45 (004/008) 00:20:56
23 Elizabeth Mullan F (004/023) 00:20:59
24 David Moynihan M45 (005/008) 00:21:05
28 Amanda Duffy F (005/023) 00:21:38
37 Julie Dawes F45 (002/008) 00:22:07
38 Donna Airey F (007/023) 00:22:10
39 Irene Roche F55 (001/003) 00:22:11
40 Carl Carey M45 (007/008) 00:22:31
42 Barry Mitchell M70 (001/003) 00:22:39
45 Lynsey Birtwistle F35 (001/002) 00:22:48
49 Cassandra Smedley F35 (002/002) 00:23:02
51 Jean Knightley F55 (002/003) 00:23:15
53 Ian John Hargreaves M50 (007/010) 00:23:21
54 Bianca Bennett F (012/023) 00:23:23
56 Julia Rushton F50 (002/005) 00:23:27
62 David Scott M70 (002/003) 00:23:55
63 Linda Bostock F60 (001/002) 00:24:03
64 Carol Life F50 (004/005) 00:24:03
67 Helen Burnett F45 (004/008) 00:24:17
68 Lisa Johnson F40 (003/010) 00:24:19
69 Justin Birtwistle M40 (004/006) 00:24:21
70 Rachel Todd F40 (004/010) 00:24:23
72 Paul L. Walsh M60 (003/004) 00:24:38
75 Beth Quinn F (016/023) 00:25:03
76 Lisa Ellis F (017/023) 00:25:05
78 Michelle Butschok F40 (006/010) 00:25:17
82 Deborah Greenwood F45 (006/008) 00:26:12
84 Lucy Stevenson F (019/023) 00:26:48
85 Phil Naylor M (012/012) 00:26:56
86 Helen Harrison F45 (007/008) 00:26:58
88 Mark Knowles M40 (005/006) 00:27:18
91 Ron Chappell M65 (002/003) 00:27:36
94 Danny Pilkington M40 (006/006) 00:27:42
95 Robert Hirst M65 (003/003) 00:27:45
96 Karen Clarkin F40 (009/010) 00:28:14
97 Doug Munroe M70 (003/003) 00:28:29
98 Jack McGuire M60 (004/004) 00:28:43
99 Hayley Copeman F45 (008/008) 00:29:09
101 Anita Jones F60 (002/002) 00:29:44
102 Sharon Wilson F40 (010/010) 00:29:58
103 Judith Carey F (021/023) 00:29:59
104 Marian Wilkinson F70 (001/001) 00:30:37
105 Christine Leathley F65 (001/001) 00:32:10

Juniors:

Under 8 race – 1km

Pos            Name Category CatPos
 Time
2 Toby Birtwistle M (002/009) 00:03:58
7 Felix Thompson M (006/009) 00:04:29
11 Ellisia Smedley F (004/012) 00:04:51
13 Charlie Plant F (006/012) 00:05:04
19 Emily Johnson F (010/012) 00:05:40

Under 10 race – 1km

Pos Name Category CatPos
 Time
1 Finley Stubbs M (001/008) 00:03:37
2 Matthew Jackson M (002/008) 00:03:42
7 Joshua McKay M (007/008) 00:04:13
8 Jenson Bertram M (008/008) 00:04:14
12 Kady Thompson F (004/007) 00:04:22
13 Rachel Stevenson F (005/007) 00:04:35

Under 12 race – 2km

Pos Name Category CatPos
 Time
1 Dexta Thompson M (001/010) 00:07:14
4 Ella Dorrington F (001/008) 00:07:51
5 Robbie Smedley M (004/010) 00:07:54
6 Charlie Birtwistle M (005/010) 00:07:59
13 Jake Anforth M (009/010) 00:08:39
14 Keira Stevenson F (005/008) 00:08:42
18 Bronia Olszewska F (008/008) 00:10:51

Under 14 race – 2km

Pos Name Category CatPos
 Time
1 Millie Stubbs F (001/004) 00:07:23
4 Adam Stevenson M (003/003) 00:07:57
5 Claudia Bentham F (002/004) 00:07:59
6 Natasha Olszewska F (003/004) 00:08:47

Full Senior results

Full Junior results

Saturday 18 June

Buckden Pike

This Cat A race has been running since 1981 and packs a real climbing punch.

Pos Name Category Time
24 Geoffrey Gough M55 00:44:52
32 Jack Holt M65 00:46:00
38 Chris Funnell M45 00:46:53
39 Ivan Whigham M50 00:47:09
74 Peter Dugdale M55 00:52:50
81 Andrew Firth M55 00:55:19
84 Linda Lord W65 00:56:07
88 Andrew Dugdale M50 00:56:53
96 Nicola Dugdale W55 01:02:33

3 Lakes Classic

Breton Holdsworth made his (now) annual trip across to this challenging 15 mile trail race in South Yorkshire. He came home14th overall and 6th Vet.

Muckle Toon Adventure Festival (MTAF)

Dave Motley reports:

This weekend a few of us decided to travel across the border to Scotland to go to MTAF 2016 on recommendation from Team Perry. This is a low key outdoors festival with something for everybody from activities for the kids to road and MTB cycling events and a variety of trail running events from 5k to half marathon. On Saturday the lads took part in the MTAF Half which was a really tough, hilly 13mile route around the village of Langholm with pipers playing as you run through the village, a fantastic event with a little of everything. Mr Perry was first home in 2nd place, myself in 5th and Russell Clarke finishing in 25th. At the same time as the boys were running it was Mrs Perry turn to run, completing the tough 10k trail race in 59:57 (7th female). On the Sunday it was Mrs Motleys turn to do her thing on the 5k trail race, finishing the race in the mid 26mins. If anybody wants an event for the whole family this is the one for you, a definite recommendation for 2017.

Details and results

Clougha Pike FRA

Junior races

Five Clayton Juniors ran at Clougha Pike as part of the Junior FRA series. Felix Thompson was 12th in U8B and Josh McKay 30th in U10B. Dexta Thompson had his best FRA series race to date coming 3rd in U12B with Jackson McKay in 9th. Briony Holt also finished 3rd in U14G.

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Jackson McKay and Dexta Thompson at Clougha Pike Junior FRA. Photo – Woodentops.

 

Sunday 19 June

Race the Train

Report to follow

Full results

Freckleton Half Marathon

Situated in the heart of the Fylde Coast, this is the countries oldest Half Marathon. Run since 1965, the flat fast course always attracts a bumper field. Consequently, fast runs were produced by Andrew Stubbs and Jacob Watson, backed up by Daniel Plant.

Pos Name Category
Time
12 Andrew Stubbs M45 to 49 01:17:50
15 Jacob Watson M21 to 34 01:18:41
61 Daniel Plant M21 to 34 01:30:56

Full results

Helm Hill BOFRA races

The BOFRA camp moved to Cumbria for this round of the series, held on Helm Hill just outside Kendal. The summer days of the previous few rounds were replaced by overcast skies and then pouring rain, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the Thompson family, at their 4th race of the weekend. Dexta came in 4th in the U12B whilst Felix, Kady and Liberty all ran well in their age categories. Ella Dorrington led the U12G at the top of the final descent but was overtaken on the fast run to the finish ending up 2nd.

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Ella Dorrington on her way to 2nd place in the U12G race. Photo – Alan Dorrington

Settle Hills Fell Race

Carl Helliwell and Chris Whiteoak popped up to Settle for this scenic race round some of Europe’s finest Karst geomorphology (limestone bits).

13 87 Carl Helliwell Clayton-le-Moors MV40 58:19
45 66 Chris Whiteoak Clayton-le-Moors Man 1:08:10
Carl Helliwell. Photo - Sarah Helliwell.

Carl Helliwell. Photo – Sarah Helliwell.

Carl Helliwell reports:

Settle Hills is a 7 mile fell race that takes in the hills behind the back of Settle and has over 500m of climbing. It starts right in the middle of Settle from the town square with a good uphill start up Constructional Hill and then up the side of Castlebergh onto the fells.
It was a fast start as some of the front runners went for it straight away, I started steady as I could feel my legs still from Friday nights Podium 5k. My legs soon got into it and started catching a few people as it got more rugged. The race has everything grass, rocks, track and plenty of up and down. Thankfully it is one of the few races with a very small section of road, right at the start and end!
The toughest bit of the race was the long decent off High Hill and then back down the track and through the fields to Settle. My legs started to feel tired and aced from Fridays 5k as I was passed by a couple of runners and couldn’t respond. (I’ve decided my legs don’t like flat fast road running!!) I was glad to see the rugby club as I made my way across the pitch to the finish line and was greeted by Eva offering me some of her birthday chocolate cookie and fizzy water (we know how to spoil our children!)
I was happy with my 13th place and time of 58.16 and even won a running arm band in the raffle! It was then my turn to take the kids off Sarah so she could ride home.

Full results

Trailblaster

Held in the confines of Towneley Park, Burnley this compact event offers 12 or 6 hour ultra events for soloists, pairs or teams.

Julia Rushton braved the Solo Female 12 hour event and claimed 8th spot with 10 laps in 6:18:11 whilst Donna Airey smiled her way around the Solo 6 Female hour event coming in 2nd with 11 laps in 5:37:40.

Donna Airey at Trailblaster

Donna Airey at Trailblaster. Photo – David Belshaw.

 

***Final call for the Clayton Navigation Workshop – 23rd July 2016***

The club is holding a Navigation Workshop to help you increase your confidence on the hill. A few final places are left, on a first come, first served basis.

Full details here

 

Parkrun

Burnley Parkun – a total of 356 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
2 Jonathan PYE 17:33 SM25-29 New PB!
8 Richard STEVENSON 19:15 VM40-44
17 Nicholas HENNESSEY 20:01 JM11-14
18 Nick ROSCOE 20:02 VM45-49
25 Simon WILSHAW 20:49 JM15-17
26 Matthew JACKSON 20:52 JM10 New PB!
27 Helana WHITE 20:55 JW10
30 Reece Adam LAWRENCE 21:01 JM15-17
36 Charlie BIRTWISTLE 21:42 JM10
38 Gordon BARRETT 21:49 VM50-54
42 Colin WHITE 21:57 VM40-44 New PB!
59 Julie DAWES 22:50 VW45-49
64 Carl CAREY 23:04 VM45-49 New PB!
78 Jake ANFORTH 23:51 JM10 New PB!
84 David Ian SCOTT 24:03:00 VM70-74
88 Martin BRADY 24:15:00 VM50-54
99 Justin BIRTWISTLE 24:48:00 VM40-44
105 Annabel WILCOCK 25:04:00 JW15-17
106 John WILCOCK 25:06:00 VM50-54
117 Lisa JOHNSON 25:24:00 VW40-44
125 Toby BIRTWISTLE 25:36:00 JM10
131 Bethany WHEATCROFT 25:40:00 JW11-14
134 Aaron LUNDIE 25:43:00 JM11-14
184 Robert HIRST 27:45:00 VM65-69
240 Daniel PLANT 30:14:00 SM30-34
265 Judith CAREY 31:24:00 VW35-39
271 Alan DORRINGTON 32:03:00 VM45-49

Woodhouse Moor Parkrun – a total of 355 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
5 David BAGOT 17:26 SM20-24

Dewsbury Parkrun – a total of 103 runners took part

Position Parkrunner      Time Age Cat Note
94 Robin PRICE 38:10 VM70-74

Pendle Parkrun – a total of 94 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
2 John HARTLEY 20:15 VM55-59
6 Paul BRANNON 21:12 VM55-59

Witton Parkrun – a total of 103 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
33 Natasha OLSZEWSKA 26:24 JW11-14
84 Bronia OLSZEWSKA 36:35 JW11-14
85 Adrienne OLSZEWSKA 36:38 VW45-49

nn

ByAlan Dorrington

Things are hotting up for Summer

It’s been an absolute bumper week of Clayton activity, with many of you taking advantage of the improving temperatures and weather over the Bank Holiday to top up on Vitamin D, bag some PBs and generally fly the tangerine flag for the Club all over the country.

Midweek

Foe Edge Fell Race

Held on a rather murky and wet midweek evening, this short race in Rossendale takes in the summits of Cowpe Lowe and Scout Moor. Hopefully this won’t be the last running of the race as large parts of the route are affected by a proposed expansion of the existing windfarm. Six Clayton runners braved the rain, with Danny Collinge leading them in 2nd overall.

Position Name Cat Time
2 Danny Collinge MU23 31:22
10 Dave Motley M 35:04
25 Geoffrey Gough MV50 38:29
41 Richard Briscoe M 41:47
44 Mark Taylor M 42:23
74 Stephen Fish MV60 50:18

Full Results

Harrock Hill Series 1

Position Name Cat Time
215 John Francis MV70 74:57

Full Results

Burnley Lions 10k

Louisa Powell-Smith - photo David Belshaw

Louisa Powell-Smith – photo David Belshaw

As part of the Burnley and Pendle Grand Prix Series 2016, this ‘rolling’ 10k race brought out a huge contingent of Clayton runners on Friday night. Louisa Powell-Smith stormed to a Ladies victory in 17th overall and Andrew Stubbs led the way for the Men with a great run, coming in 4th overall and 1st Vet.

Report from Carl Helliwell:
“I only decided to do this a couple of hours before the race as Sarah couldn’t do it. It was a lovely warm summers evening with a large number of Clayton runners. There was a mad scramble to get through the bottle neck out of the cricket club and onto the road. The front runners started to break away taking Mr Stubbs (V45 & first Claytoner home) with them. I had my usual tussles with my fellow Claytoners and could feel Jon Cleaver breathing down my neck towards the end! Luckily I managed to pair up with Stephen Hall from Trawden and we pushed each other on the second lap. It was a tough finish, but I was happy with my time and place. I had knocked over a minute of my PB and gained my highest position in a PBGP event and it was even on the road! Not my favourite discipline. Well done to everyone who ran.”

Pos          Name                           Cat    CatPos        Time   
4 Andrew Stubbs M45 (001/018) 00:35:56
10 Carl Helliwell M40 (002/022) 00:39:08
12 Jonathan Cleaver M (008/038) 00:39:22
13 Mark Aspinall M55 (001/011) 00:39:30
17 Louisa Powell-Smith F35 (001/005) 00:40:03
19 Paul Brannon M55 (002/011) 00:40:13
25 Paul Hesketh M50 (002/020) 00:41:01
27 Michael Clarke M40 (005/022) 00:41:04
31 Chris Funnell M45 (003/018) 00:41:40
32 Thomas Bradley MJ (001/001) 00:41:45
35 Neil Garnett M50 (003/020) 00:41:58
36 John Wilcock M50 (004/020) 00:41:59
37 Sean Clare M50 (005/020) 00:42:05
39 Richard Briscoe M (019/038) 00:42:24
40 Andrew Orr M45 (004/018) 00:42:32
44 Stephen Ainsworth M55 (003/011) 00:42:45
45 Roger Brewster M60 (001/007) 00:43:16
48 James Boult M (022/038) 00:43:34
59 Andy Bradley M50 (007/020) 00:44:18
67 Matthew Duckworth M (024/038) 00:45:17
72 Elizabeth Mullan F (005/010) 00:45:22
77 Robert Morrison M40 (017/022) 00:46:14
78 Stuart Proctor M (028/038) 00:46:20
82 Andy Quinn M45 (009/018) 00:46:46
85 James Hickie M55 (007/011) 00:47:22
88 Helen O’Rourke F (006/010) 00:47:33
94 Andrew Webster M45 (011/018) 00:48:07
97 Julie Dawes F45 (002/007) 00:48:52
101 Donna Airey F35 (002/005) 00:49:04
112 David Scott M70 (001/001) 00:50:06
114 Jean Knightley F55 (001/002) 00:50:42
119 Carl Carey M45 (016/018) 00:51:20
120 Ian John Hargreaves M50 (016/020) 00:51:22
122 Andrew Taylor M55 (009/011) 00:51:39
124 Bianca Bennett F (008/010) 00:51:45
126 Jo Perry F (009/010) 00:52:22
128 Bethany Quinn FJ (001/001) 00:53:10
132 Rachel Todd F40 (005/008) 00:53:49
136 Ted Orrell M75 (001/001) 00:55:16
139 Lisa Ellis F (010/010) 00:56:18
140 Michelle Butschok F40 (006/008) 00:56:19
145 Marin O’Rourke M55 (011/011) 00:57:36
146 Stuart Barker M45 (018/018) 00:58:04
150 Phil Naylor M (038/038) 00:58:59
152 Mark Knowles M40 (022/022) 01:00:20
155 Karin Goss F65 (001/001) 01:02:55
156 Ron Chappell M65 (002/003) 01:02:58
157 Karen Clarkin F40 (008/008) 01:03:57
159 Anita Jone F60 (001/001) 01:06:05
160 Jack McGuire M60 (007/007) 01:06:33
161 Judith Carey F35 (005/005) 01:07:22
Andrew Stubbs - photo David Belshaw

Andrew Stubbs – photo David Belshaw

Carl Helliwell - photo David Belshaw

Carl Helliwell – photo David Belshaw

Sean Clare - photo David Belshaw

Sean Clare – photo David Belshaw

Beth Quinn - photo David Belshaw

Beth Quinn – photo David Belshaw

Full Results

Saturday 28

Edinburgh Marathon

Jane Hylands, Danny Pilkington and Chris Holdsworth travelled North of the border for this very popular event with its fast PB chasing course. Jane was running in her first marathon and despite some knee problems, hopped in in 5:33 whilst Danny ran 4:27. Chris was 14th in a superspeedy 2:37:11 –  a fantastic effort.

Danny reports:

“This was my second time in Edinburgh (and my 2nd Marathon).  I was there to get the time I wanted last year 4:30:00.  On arrival into Edinburgh on Sunday morning, it was absolutely freezing and I was regretting not wearing a running jacket.

I got myself up to Regent road and there was a buzz of excitement in the air.  As the race started the sun came out and it became a beautiful sunny day (Not ideal for running).  Once again, the residents were amazing.  Plenty of jelly babies on offer as well as brass bands, fantastic support from the various charities and some great music coming from the houses to keep you going.  I had had enough around mile 19, My feet were sore, the heat was too much and it looked like I wasn’t going to get my time.  The crowd gave a good reminder of what this marathon is all about and I managed to struggle through to the end.  My time was 4:27:24 which, considering I didn’t think I would finish is an amazing time, but a big mention to Jane Hylands who battled through pain to finish and Chris Houldsworth who finished 14th overall – amazing result.
 
I think I will hang my marathon shoes up for now but, if I was to run a marathon again, this would be the one.  THANK YOU EDINBURGH!”

Full results

Blackool Prom 10 miler

Position Name Cat Time
17 Stephen Biscombe V60 1:13:48.0

Hutton Roof Fell Race

Pos          Name                           Cat    CatPos        Time   
122 Andrew Howarth V55           14 1:13:53
168 Peter Dugdale V55           22 1:18:21
190 Andrew Dugdale V50           31 1:20:21
230 Michael Frost V60             8 1:28:25
236 Nicola Dugdale L55           10 1:29:19
270 Robert Hirst V65             7 1:42:00
293 John Francis V70             6 2:14:38

Full Results

LDWA Dorset 100

Photo Nicholas Olszewski

Photo Nicholas Olszewski

One hundred miles through Dorset’s finest countryside was on the menu for Adrienne Olszewska and Nick Olszewski this weekend, running in the LDWA Dorset 100.

Adrienne reports back:

“DNF.  Did Not Finish. Not always the thing you want to shout about but sometimes it’s the best decision you can make.  Suffering with a recurring ankle problem, Nick decided to take it down a notch and do the route with slowcoach me.  This would not normally be a recipe for an enjoyable time due to irreconcilable differences in ability! However, as he has been out a lot this year training with the juniors and is about to do some training to become a coach, I suggested he view it as an extended coaching practice (this being completely for my benefit of course!).

We had a plan. We were going to joggle around the course which would entail walking the uphills and trotting along wherever possible. Not blisteringly fast but slow and steady. Also we were determined not to be sucked into staying too long at the checkpoints even though they are veritable havens with lovely people determined to make you sit down and let them spoil you with all kinds of lovely food and drinks.

Everything went really well. We were making good progress. With no prior knowledge of the route, navigation was trouble free and all was well. The only issue that was beginning to cause problems was the heat. We were completely unprepared for the conditions. Saturday was extremely humid and even when it went dark didn’t really ease off. This means that you sweat a lot and all of your gear becomes wet. All of it. Everywhere.  This causes chafing in places you never knew it was possible to chafe. Not nice. And then there’s the overnight dew and the saturated feet. It’s a common problem on these events.

But we got to the ‘breakfast’ stop at Beaminster, picked up our drop bags and set to work fixing feet, changing shoes, clothes and enjoying the all-important full English before heading off into the dawn for day 2. A beautiful sunny day that just got hotter and hotter and hotter. The route began to cross lots of fields. Big, open fields with no shelter or respite from the sun. Stupidly we had not brought sunscreen and even if we had it would have sweated off in no time.  By the time we got to the checkpoint at the 90 mile point, we were struggling. Painful chafing for me and Nick was a little bit wibbly wobbly on the way down the road to the checkpoint. After a quick top up of bottles, Nick felt a bit queasy and went outside to wait for me. The checkpoint guy didn’t like the look of him and followed him outside which was a good job because he was swaying around like a baby giraffe! They steered him back inside and set to with lots of wet tea towels to cool him down.

At this point, even though there was only 10 miles to go, it just didn’t seem worth the risk to continue. Nick was not in a good condition and if he had overheated again in the middle of nowhere we would have been in trouble. I’d soldiered on for quite a while as I was too embarrassed to quit because of the chafing! We handed in our tally cards and waited for the body wagon to come and get us. We had arrived at the checkpoint in 65th and 66th place, a little over 90 miles in 30 hours. Pretty pleased with that.

So no regrets. The course was mostly beautiful. We went through delightful thatched villages, beautiful woodland, trotted around a few roman hill forts, and quite enjoyed the hundreds of gates; large metal ones, small metal ones, so many gates! Didn’t really enjoy the scorching fields – they were torturous in the heat. Strangely enough, the checkpoint where we retired was run by the North Yorkshire LDWA group. And guess where next year’s 100 mile event is? That’s right North Yorkshire. We’ll be there (with sunscreen, just in case)!”

Photo Nicholas Olszewski

Photo Nicholas Olszewski

Results to follow

Sunday 29

BOFRA Coniston Gullies Fell Race

The Clayton Juniors have been busy too this weekend, competing in the BOFRA fell series. Briony Holt sent this report:

“On Sunday, a few of our Clayton Juniors ran at Coniston Gullies for the second of the BOFRA series. The race course was short and steep with some tricky parts in some places. It was a very hot day – if not a bit too warm when at the foot of the fell. The u9’s – u14’s ran straight up the middle of the fell and the u17’s and seniors ran up more technical routes to the top of the gullies. Despite all of this, it is still my favourite race!
When all of the younger juniors had ran their race, it was time for the u17’s to go. There was only 12 runners in the whole race so this relieved some of the pre race nerves! I ended up coming 1st u17 girl and 9th overall. Well done to all of the Clayton juniors who raced it, and everyone else who took part!”

Felix Thompson was 6th in U9B, Dexta Thompson 4th and Jenson Bentham 8th in U12B, Kady Thompson 9th in U12G, Jackson McKay 5th in U14B, Claudia Bentham 8th in U14G with Briony Holt 1st in U17G.

Briony Holt at Coniston Gullies

Briony Holt at Coniston Gullies – photo Geoff Thompson

Full results

Helvellyn and the Dodds Fell Race

Apparently one of Kenny Stuart’s old training runs, this is a predictably solid Lakeland race of 15 miles with 4500ft plus of ascent, coincidently following much of the standard Bob Graham route of Leg 2/4. Andrew Firth and Pete Browning ran and Andrew sent this report:

“My final day of a brilliant week long stay at Thelkeld in the caravan culminated in a fell race starting less than 300 metres from our caravan site. Well it would have been rude not to!
The only other Claytoner was Pete Browning who came up to join us on the site on Saturday night with other half Sandy. The sunshine seemed to have brought a good representation from East Lancs other clubs, Trawden and Barlick in particular.
The race starts and finishes at Thelkeld Sports club, and sets off with the massive climb of Clough Head, which BG’ers will know very well. It then traverses the Dodds, with checkpoints at Great Dodd and Raise, before the final destination of Helvellyn summit and then the reverse of the route back to the Sports Club.
On the initial tarmac over 190 starters set off as though it was a hundred metres sprint. I was soon towards the rear of the field, although with the hot sunny weather I knew it was going to be important to pace myself. Once on the steep climb up Clough Head I was able to start clawing places back, and steadily I was catching runners all the way to Helvellyn. Reality struck when the lead runner Carl Bell of Keswick AC came into view whilst I hadn’t even started climbing Raise. There are 3 further climbs to the turn, and in setting a new record time of 2hrs 6mins 55 secs, it seems he had finished before I reached the turn.
I think the hardest part of the race was turning and re climbing all the peaks traversed on the way out. Even though there were only checkpoints on three of them, it is necessary to go nearly to the top of the others just to get back. I was certainly weary as I made the return journey some 15 mins or so behind Peter who as usual seemed to speed up as the race went on. He at least had the decency at the finish to admit it was the hardest race he had done for some time.
The last climb up Clough Head is nowhere near as steep as the other way, but was difficult at that stage. However the sight of a Trawden vest ahead kept me going. On the final descent I managed to pass around 10 more runners some of whom were actually walking having maybe not paced themselves in the hot weather. Three Trawden vests were caught here to uphold the honour of the premier East Lancs club. The final run in was pergotory with feet hot and blistered, but the relief of the finishing line was brilliant. Final finishing positions Peter Browning 125th in 3 hrs 32 mins 01 sec and myself 152 in 3 hrs 46 min 52 secs. I now have a Clayton vest shaped sunburn and very sore feet, but on reflection it was a great day and great end to a brilliant holiday.”

Results to follow

Liverpool Rock and Roll Marathon and Half Marathon

Clayton at the RnR Liverpool Half and Marathon - photo Lynsey Birtwistle

Clayton at the RnR Liverpool Half and Marathon – photo Lynsey Birtwistle

Another big Clayton turn out for this musical themed Half. Runners included Lynsey Birtwistle, Leanne Cottam, Justin Birtwistle, Joanne Bennett, Janine Pollard, Judith Carey, Carl Carey, Karen Clarkin, Deborah Greenwood, Jon Cleaver and Jacob Watson. Apologies if anyone has been missed out. Three reports are below, the first from Judith Carey:

“This was my first ever half marathon, I loved the atmosphere and experience. From looking at the photo’s I was surprised to see I was smiling a lot of the way round so I must have enjoyed it lol!

I enjoyed the route, bands and views as I ran and I just took my time, hoping to come in around 2:30:00. As I got to the docks I had a mental battle as it was a long long long straight but I upped my pace for the final mile and sprinted with tired legs to the finish line coming in under my target at 2:22:13!!

Overall a great day, great Clayton crew and lots of support and cheers on the way round ?”

Judith Carey - photo Jamie McIllvenny

Judith Carey – photo Jamie McIllvenny

And this from Jacob Watson:

“This was my second year running the Liverpool Half and it was certainly an experience! The course is best described as undulating with no major hills and a flat final 3 miles. Although there are numerous twists and turns dotted about the course (including a cheeky run up and down Penny Lane), it’s still possible to grab a Personal Best which was my aim for the day. The only thing which might have stopped me from claiming my PB on Saturday morning was the weather, they were certainly the hottest conditions I can remember running in! I’m usually one to skip the water stations and concentrate on crossing the lane, however I believe I used all but the first at 3 miles and even took a gel and water from the 9 mile station. It was tough out there! Support all the way round the route was fantastic, with a number of bands playing for the runners as well as the crowds of people cheering us on. This was a necessity in the final 2 miles where I was suffering from bad stitch (possibly from all the water I’d taken on!) but managed to power through to claim my PB!

The race ended with a mini music festival, of which the headliners Cast were fantastic and the atmosphere was brilliant. Even paying £6 for a pint from one of the bars didn’t sour the experience. Same again next year then!”

Jon Cleaver writes:

“We couldn’t have asked for a better day the sun was shining & the wind was still.  There was a great atmosphere at the docks for the start where I met fellow Clayton Jacob Watson.  The route takes you through the centre of Liverpool and then up a few small hills through some parks and then back along the front for the last few miles.  Personally I felt a bit leggy from the Grand Prix in Colne and the heat did get a bit much as there was very little shelter outside of the parks. The bands playing along the course as great along with the support.  It was a sweet relief hitting the quayside and I could try and gain some consistent pace to the finish. Overall a very enjoyable experience and I think I will be back next year.”

3 Amigos including Jon Cleaver and Jacob Watson.

3 Amigos including Jon Cleaver and Jacob Watson.

Apologies that there are no Clayton-specific results – the results weren’t searchable by Club.

And let’s not forget Dan Plant was also there and went the whole hog and ran the full Marathon.

Full results

Rossendale Triathlon

Mark Taylor packed enough kit for 3 disciplines and visited this popular Triathlon based around the Rossendale Valley. He came in 91st overall in a time of 1:29:36.

Full results

Bank Holiday Monday

Bowley Trail Race

Run as part of the Great Harwood Show, this is a great event for families who can stay in the showground to enjoy the festivities whilst waiting for their more energetic members to return from the hills.

Andy Bradley ran and provided this report:

“Ran the Bowley hill race today along with a number of other Clayton runners. Cracking race 5.8 hilly miles with free entry to the Gt Harwood show included. Quick pre race coffee from Joyce who runs the cafe at Towneley for luck and off we went lap around the show field like a bunch of show ponies and into the race proper. Lots of winding climbs later to a nice down hill finish to be handed a beer as I crossed the line. Plenty of  Clayton runners and the quicker lads secured the mens team prize. Quick wander round the show ice cream in hand, left just as the “Lamb National” race started, my have been better place if I had entered that race! Great day in the sun well organised, friendly will run this one again  well worth considering for everyone next year.”

Carl Helliwell also ran:

“Bowley is a top event right on my doorstep, which is attached to the Great Harwood Agricultural Show which is organised by Trawden. Team Helliwell walked down and met Team Motley and Team Coates who were also at the show. It’s a tough little course covering just less than 6 miles with plenty of up hills, down hills and stiles. The winner led from the start and had a comfortable win. However it was a tussle for the next 5 places. Unfortunately Captain Motley broke a finger nail (sprained ankle) after a mile and a half, having to rest it for a time and losing a lot of places. Up to that point he was one of the strongest people in Hyndburn, if not Great Harwood! The second strongest in Hyndburn was Peter Coates who was in second place for large sections of the race. Peter did a cracking race (his first as a Vet 40) and came in 3rd. I couldn’t match Peter today, but was happy with my 4th place after Friday’s race and knocking over 4 minutes of my previous time. The first 5 runners were all Vet 40’s or Vet 50 with Captain Motley eventually recovering from his broken finger nail and coming in 6th. On a serious note Dave did really well as he did have a nasty injury. Clayton won the team respectively, with Stephen Breckell as first Vet 65 and Julie Dawes as first female Vet 45. Another Brucie Bonus of the race is that every runner gets a bottle of Copper Dragon. Harry Heasley one of the original organisers of the race said it was great to see many runners from a good local club (Clayton) supporting the race. Well done to everyone who ran.”

Bowley Trail runners

Bowley Trail runners – photo Sarah Helliwell

Pos          Name                           Cat    CatPos        Time   
3 Peter Coates M40 (002/016) 00:43:14
4 Carl Helliwell M40 (003/016) 00:43:32
6 Dave Motley M (001/014) 00:46:37
10 Daniel Isherwood M (002/014) 00:47:43
16 Andy Bradley F50 (002/006) 00:51:08
32 Stephen Breckell M65 (001/003) 00:55:32
34 Martin Brady M50 (004/006) 00:56:45
44 Julie Dawes F45 (001/001) 00:58:53
45 Peter Dugdale M55 (005/006) 00:59:09
63 Ron Chappell M65 (003/003) 01:15:54

Full Results

Park Run Roundup

Burnley Parkrun – a total of 382 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
8 Chris SNELL 18:44 VM35-39 New PB!
12 Nicholas HENNESSEY 20:00 JM11-14
14 Simon WILSHAW 20:06 JM15-17
16 Gareth BERRY 20:16 VM35-39
26 Lennon JACKSON 20:52 JM11-14
27 Nick ROSCOE 20:53 VM45-49
29 Reece Adam LAWRENCE 21:02 JM15-17
34 Matthew JACKSON 21:29 JM10
35 Stephen AINSWORTH 21:39 VM55-59
38 Donna RILEY 22:01 VW50-54
41 John WILCOCK 22:11 VM50-54
44 Colin WHITE 22:20 VM40-44 New PB!
48 Sophie ASHWORTH 22:35 JW11-14
49 Charlie BIRTWISTLE 22:36 JM10
63 Julie DAWES 23:13 VW45-49
68 Nathan KEWIN 23:26 JM11-14
84 Toby BIRTWISTLE 24:02:00 JM10
86 Martin GRIFFIN 24:08:00 VM55-59
110 Lisa JOHNSON 25:16:00 VW40-44
121 Stuart HARTLEY 25:47:00 VM55-59
130 Aaron LUNDIE 25:58:00 JM11-14
159 Keira STEVENSON 27:23:00 JW10
164 Heidi KEWIN 27:30:00 JW11-14
189 Philip NAYLOR 28:14:00 VM35-39
196 Ian HARGREAVES 28:26:00 VM50-54
201 Helen HARRISON 28:49:00 VW45-49
243 Nicola KAY 31:07:00 SW30-34
279 Millie HESKETH 33:19:00 JW10 First Timer!

Richmond Parkrun – a total of 396 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
318 Eileen JONES 31:30 VW60-64 New PB!

Woodhouse Moor Parkrun –  a total of 403 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
3 David BAGOT 17:38 SM20-24
14 Colin SHUTTLEWORTH 18:52 VM50-59  New PB!

Heaton Parkrun – a total of 603 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
356 Julie TOMAN 30:12 VW45-49

Harrogate Parkrun – a total of 345 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
200 Yvonne WICKHAM 27:25 VW50-54

Marple Parkrun – a total of 247 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
212 Ron HILL 32:06 VM75-79

Dewsbury Parkrun – a total of 104 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
95 Robin PRICE 37:04 VM70-74
Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
10 John HARTLEY 22:03 VM55-59  
19 Eleanor Betty ROOT 23:57 JW11-14  
20 Martin BRADY 00:10 VM50-54  
21 Barry MITCHELL 00:11 VM70-74  
45 Paul Laurence WALSH 03:34 VM60-64  
52 Grace Georgina ROOT 04:22 JW11-14  
75 Christine Jennifer EGERTON 07:45 VW65-69  
87 Christine LEATHLEY 09:14 VW65-69  

Witton Parkrun – a total of 78 runners took part

Position Parkrunner Time Age Cat Note
1 Jacob BOYLE 18:13 SM18-19 New PB!

 

ByAlan Dorrington

Go steep, go long, go orange

There might have been unseasonal snow this weekend, but that wasn’t enough to stop our hardy Clayton runners getting out and about to dust off their racing shoes over the weekend as well as during the week. With top level fell performances from the Juniors, gritty ultra efforts, classic road racing, Parkruns all over the country as well as the Annual Club Awards, there has been plenty to celebrate this weekend.

Wednesday 13th April

Mike McGee Memorial Cowm Reservoir 5k

Mid-week action from this 5K race around the scenic Cowm Reservoir, in memory of Mike McGee who passed away in 2012. A fast, flat course (and sweets at the finish) attracted two Clayton runners to test their legs.

Pos Name   Cat CatPos Time
40 Stephen Green M60  002/007 21:23

92

 Julie Toman F45  006/006 27:29

Full results

Saturday 16th April

Anniversary Waltz Fell Race

Representing the third counter in the Club 2016 Fell Championships, this tough Lakeland AM race of 11.5m covers the Newlands Valley Horseshoe and can be prone to bad weather. No such issues this year, with a dry and sunny, if cool day.

Results were not out at the time of writing but David Bagot was first of the Clayton runners home followed by Dave Motley, Andy Orr, Neil Hardiman, Ryan Wilkinson, Paul Wale and Richard Briscoe. By all accounts it was a hard route but an ‘absolute belter’ as described by Fell Captain, Dave Motley.

Partial results

English Junior Fell Championship Series – Todd Crag races

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Briony Holt, full gas down to the finish during a dominant performance in the U14 Girls. Pic Alan Dorrington

A strong contingent of Clayton Juniors were in action at the first round of the FRA English Fell Championship Series at Todd Crag, Ambleside. Unfazed by an initial and brutal tarmac climb onto an equally steep and rocky fell section onto Loughrigg Fell, all our Juniors gave it everything with great performances from the U8s through to the U14s.

Jenson Bentham was flying in the U10 Boys, leading for much of the race eventually coming in 2nd, with Jackson McKay and Ella Dorrington both 4th in the U12 Boys and Girls races respectively, and a flawless race from Briony Holt to dominate the U14 Girls race.

There were great runs too from Felix Thompson in the U8 Boys (9th), Helena White (4th) and Kady Thompson (19th) in the U10 Girls, and Josh McKay (32nd) in the U10 Boys.

Also in the U12 Boys, Dexta Thompson (8th), Christopher Brown (17th) and Robbie Smedley (24th) all ran strongly, whilst Liberty Thompson was 23rd in the U14 Girls. Special mention to Claudia Bentham, 18th in U14 Girls and running in her first fell race – a tough introduction to fell racing but with more to come from her in the future no doubt.

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Jenson Bentham concentrating hard on the descent. Pic Alan Dorrington

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Dexta Thompson climbing well on his way to 8th U12 Boy. Pic Alan Dorrington

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Jackson McKay with the Fairfield Horsehoe as backdrop, on his way to 4th U12 Boy. Pic Alan Dorrington

With these results, the Juniors have got Clayton off to a strong start in the FRA Junior Club Championships too, sitting in equal 4th place, only a point or two behind the leading Lakeland fell running clubs. Well done to all of them for a collection of stellar performances on the fell this weekend.

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Ella Dorrington holding off the chasers on her way to 4th U12 Girl. Pic Alan Dorrington

Full results here

Fellsman Hike

The iconic Fellsman Hike covers over 60 miles of very rugged Dales moorland, climbing over 11,000 feet along its route from Ingleton to Threshfield. Despite (or perhaps because of!) this, it attracts a large field of regulars and newcomers keen to test themselves to the limit, complete with their mandatory kit issue mug.

Martin Terry, Simon Halliday, Ralph Baines, Nick Olszewski and Adrienne Olszewska all toed the line in Ingleton to begin their long efforts through into the night and the following day. Finishing this gruelling event is a huge achievement, and definitely one for an ultra runner’s ticklist. All made it round in very boggy conditions and deserve huge congratulations on their achievements.

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Nick Olszewski heading out of the Stone House checkpoint. Photo by Jane Woodburn.

Adrienne Olszewska sends us this report:

The Fellsman is a high level traverse covering more than 60 miles over very hard rugged moorland. The event climbs over 11,000 feet in its path from Ingleton to Threshfield in the Yorkshire Dales. Most of the route is over privately owned land, the use of which is secured by the organisers for the weekend only. This being the case, the route does not follow well defined footpaths, so the entrants’ navigational skills with a map and compass are tested as well as their physical fitness. Because of this, only fit and experienced walkers or runners should enter.

The organisers’ pre-race briefing warned entrants of cold temperatures and the importance of sufficiently warm kit since blizzard conditions had been seen on some of the hill tops on the course. Fortunately this calmed down and there was only the odd flurry of snow from time to time. We were off on the long slog up Ingleborough, visible this year and snowy on top. Going the opposite way to the classic 3 Peaks Race, it was a slippery descent down towards the Hill Inn and plenty of people came a cropper on the way down, me included. Then the slog up Whernside follows before you turn and head back the way you came. A drop down into Kingsdale and the almost vertical clamber up Gragareth.

At this point I had pretty much dropped behind most of the runners so was on my own until grouping time. It’s a bit of a mental challenge when you are a back of the pack slowie. You can’t rely on following the people in front because they have all disappeared over the horizon and the next person is still quite a long way behind. You have to push yourself to keep going and have confidence in your ability to find your way. A lot of the time you seriously question your sanity and wonder why you are putting yourself through such misery; particularly when you are dragging yourself out of yet another bog and it’s cold, wet and there’s something sludgy and deeply unpleasant swishing around in your shoes. But, you carry on. Maybe because you don’t have a choice since you can only retire at a roadside checkpoint and so you have to at least make it to the next one. Also you don’t want to voluntarily retire without a good enough reason so you think all kinds of daft nonsense such as; “maybe a mild concussion would do it”.

Then you arrive at one of the hill top checkpoints. These are usually a couple of people in a tiny tent wearing so many layers of clothing that they can barely move. They cheerfully clip your tally card and ensure that you are crossed off their checklist. They are often there overnight in harsh conditions, probably feeling the cold much more than you because at least you are moving. It’s a good kick up the bum and their unrelenting cheerfulness is infectious so you head off to the next checkpoint with a much more positive mindset. In this event you have to be grouped at the overnight section. Competitors have to be in groups of at least 4 for safety reasons. It always amuses me when I speak to Nick, who is much faster than me, that I’m so far behind him that he gets grouped at the checkpoint that I get disbanded at the following day! If you are running with other people then you get to stay with them when you are grouped.

On your own though it’s a bit more of a lucky dip. I got grouped with 3 chaps who were fast hiking; Mick, Dick and Cliff (sounded like a sixties pop combo – should have changed my name to Sandy or Cilla to fit in really!). We made good progress through the night despite losing Cliff for a while on the moors heading to Hell Gap. Fortunately, we found him before we got to the next checkpoint otherwise we would have been disqualified. Strangely, a prospect that now horrified me despite kind of hoping for it when I’d been on my own earlier on! We were disbanded at dawn and Mick and I ran down from the top of Great Whernside. He took a better line than me towards the bottom where I got stranded in the peat hags and was floundering around hopelessly for a while until a kind fellow competitor dragged me out and kept me company until the end.

So two finishes on the Fellsman under my belt. I will be back next year and fingers crossed just maybe I will make it under 24 hours. This is a fantastic event organised and run by an amazing army of volunteers that make it a very addictive experience proved year in and year out by the number of people that just keep coming back.

Adrienne Olszewska descending to the Hill Inn from Ingleborough.

Adrienne Olszewska descending to the Hill Inn from Ingleborough.

Results to follow

Great Langdale Christmas Pudding 10k Take 2

A seasonal hangover from last Christmas, this beautiful, undulating run along England’s most beautiful valley replaced the abandoned Christmas Pud 10k from a flood affected December 2015. Martin Brady and Graham Kissack made the trip to the Lakes to sample its delights.

Pos Name   Cat CatPos Time
81 Martin Brady M50 46:56

270

 Graham Kissack M65 1:08:58

Full Results

Club Awards Evening – Turf Moor

There was a big turnout of Juniors and Seniors alike for the club’s Annual Presentation of Awards. The event was held at the 1882 Lounge at Burnley Football Club, and those present enjoyed a great evening celebrating the achievement and effort of members and coaches, combined with a little bit of partying. Trophies for Club competitions, as well as for wider series were awarded along with some special awards for individual achievement and support for club activities. Many thanks to all those who helped organise and facilitate this celebration of all things Clayton.

Photo David Belshaw

Photo David Belshaw

 

Sunday 17 April

Radcliffe 10k

Radcliffe’s popular, scenic 10K race, covering parts of the trail, roads and paths of Ringley, with a sting in the tail, takes you through some of the route of the Manchester, Bury and Rossendale Railway line as well as the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal. Peter Butterworth and Kevin O’Brien ran whilst Julie Toman fitted in her second race of the week.

Pos Name   Cat CatPos Time
79 Peter Butterworth M60 (0032/014) 00:44:29
255 Julie Toman F45 (015/024) 00:57:43
326 Kevin O’Brien M70 (003/003) 01:06:20

3 Bridges 10k, Lancaster

This scenic route is almost entirely traffic free, and crosses three bridges spanning the historic River Lune. The course is mainly flat and fast, giving rise to fast times. Martin Brady (V50) completed the race in 46:08 and Daniel Isherwood also ran, completing around the 40 minute mark.

Results to follow

Arant Haw fell race

Taking competitors right into the wilds of the Howgills, this short but steep race has been a popular fixture and represents the final of this years Kendal Winter League. Wendy Dodds was there to represent Clayton.

Results to follow

Parkrun Roundup

Woodbank Parkrun – A total of 182 runners took part.

Pos   parkrunner   Time   Age Cat   Note  
140 Ron HILL 31:52 VM75-79

Bolton Parkrun – A total of 353 runners took part.

Pos   parkrunner   Time   Age Cat   Note  
75 Katy THOMPSON 25:39 VW60-64

Burnley Parkrun – A total of 289 runners took part.

Pos   parkrunner   Time   Age Cat   Note  
3 Jonathan PYE 18:00 SM25-29
4 Jacob WATSON 18:06 SM30-34
5 Richard STEVENSON 18:36 VM40-44
11 James BOULT 19:50 SM20-24 New PB!
12 Nicholas HENNESSEY 20:07 JM11-14
33 Donna RILEY 21:58 VW50-54
37 Lennon JACKSON 22:24 JM11-14
45 Robert MORRISON 22:51 VM40-44
50 Colin WHITE 23:13 VM40-44
51 Charlie BIRTWISTLE 23:14 JM10
58 Matthew JACKSON 23:29 JM10
66 Reece Adam LAWRENCE 23:48 JM15-17
69 Nathan KEWIN 24:04 JM11-14
75 Ian HARGREAVES 24:20 VM50-54
78 Julie DAWES 24:32 VW45-49
91 Cassandra Darling SMEDLEY 25:01 VW35-39
99 John WILCOCK 25:14 VM50-54
100 Annabel WILCOCK 25:18 JW15-17 New PB!
107 Toby BIRTWISTLE 25:33 JM10
109 Justin BIRTWISTLE 25:38 VM40-44
117 Jake ANFORTH 25:58 JM10
121 Lisa JOHNSON 26:13 VW40-44
145 Lisa ELLIS 27:52 SW30-34
182 Robert HIRST 29:08 VM65-69
186 Donna SCOTT 29:16 VW50-54
192 Aaron LUNDIE 29:41 JM11-14
220 Nicola KAY 31:33 SW30-34
234 Philip NAYLOR 32:18 VM35-39
242 Christine LEATHLEY 33:02 VW65-69

Penrith Lakes Parkrun – A total of 185 runners took part.

Pos   parkrunner   Time   Age Cat   Note  
113 Robin PRICE
 36:41 VM70-74  New PB!

Pendle Parkrun – A total of 83 runners took part.

Pos   parkrunner   Time   Age Cat   Note  
1 Paul BROWN 20:26 VM55-59
2 John HARTLEY 20:43 VM55-59

Fell Foot Parkrun – A total of 121 runners took part.

Pos   parkrunner   Time   Age Cat   Note  
19 Martin BRADY
 23:34 VM50-54

Tooting Common Parkrun – A total of 413 runners took part.

Pos   parkrunner   Time   Age Cat   Note  
318 Eileen JONES
 29:52 VW60-64  New PB!

 

ByAlan Dorrington

March Hare-iers

As we head into March, it’s been a bumper weekend for our Harriers who have been out and about in large numbers all over the country this weekend, on the fells, the country,  the roads and the trails. And in the pool. With the bulk of the fell action coming on Saturday, it was onto the road and trail for Sunday on what must have been the busiest weekend of the year so far with some great performances from Juniors and Seniors alike.

Saturday 12th March

Black Combe Fell Race

Heading up into the clag at Black Combe. Pic: Rupert Bonington

Heading up into the clag at Black Combe. Pic: Rupert Bonington

It was an eventful day up on the South Western Lakeland fells for the first big fell race of the year, the English Championships round at Black Combe (AM). A large contingent of Clayton runners made the trip over to Silecroft to be greeted by drizzle and low cloud obscuring the fell.

With visibility down to 20m in places, getting lost featured heavily for a large number of competitors, from the race leaders back through the field. Danny Collinge seemed to have a clean run and led the Clayton runners home in 48th place. Chris Holdsworth, Sean Clare and Alan Dorrington were among others who added (significant) extra optional loops and climbs onto what was already a tough 8 miles.

Position Name Cat Time
48 Danny Collinge MU23 01:20:38
83 Matt Perry M 01:23:55
107 Carl Helliwell MV40 01:25:29
117 Garry Wilkinson MV50 01:28:37
132 Dave Motley M 01:29:53
141 Christopher Holdsworth M 01:30:48
149 Ryan Wilkinson M 01:31:45
151 Jordan Mcdonald MU23 01:32:07
163 Alan Life MV50 01:33:12
177 Jacob Boyle MU23 01:33:58
204 Matthew Duckworth M 01:35:10
210 Andrew McFarlane MV45 01:35:29
212 David Bagot M 01:35:35
218 Chris Snell M 01:36:38
230 Paul Hesketh MV50 01:38:33
248 Brian Horrocks MV55 01:40:32
250 Jack Holt MV65 01:40:43
261 Jon Sharples MV60 01:42:33
287 Richard Briscoe M 01:45:25
321 George Pier MU23 01:50:04
353 Richard Bellaries MV60 01:55:18
359 Chris Paul M 01:55:42
386 Paul Wale MV45 02:00:37
389 David Horrocks MV50 02:00:52
402 Andrew Firth MV55 02:03:45
411 Kieran Carr MV70 02:05:10
415 Katy Thompson FV60 02:06:15
422 Linda Lord FV65 02:08:39
438 Alan Dorrington MV45 02:13:57
457 Chris Whiteoak MU23 02:20:52
458 Sean Clare MV50 02:21:09
464 Michael Frost MV60 02:25:19

 

Chris Holdsworth up with the leaders at the start of the first climb.

Full results

Haworth Hobble

The Haworth Hobble is a popular event with its very runnable route covering many of the best bits of the hills and moors of Bronte Country.

Nicholas Olszewska at the Hobble. Pic: Sport Sunday

Nicholas Olszewski at the Hobble. Pic: Sport Sunday

Martin Brady sends this report from the Hobble:

“It is quite a few years since I last ran the 32 mile Haworth Hobble and I thought I might have a go this year to see if I can still run that far after recent changes. The route covers about 32 miles from Haworth, Top Withins, Widdop, Gorple, Long Causeway, Makinholes, Stoodley Pike, Hebden Bridge, Hardcasle Crags, Top Of Stairs, Penistone Hill and then back to Haworth.
The weather was good and I even set off in a tee shirt and vest (8am start). I decided to run at a very steady pace and felt good up to Stoodley Pike. The descent into Hebden Bridge is a steep tarmac road which for some reason I found very difficult to relax on. It was then I began to feel the miles (about 24 miles). The next few miles to Top Of Stairs were a bit slow and painful but I got a second wind knowing there was only a few miles left. It may have been my slowest run on the course by a long way but it was probably the most rewarding. It is a great atmosphere running in these races.”

Martin Brady at the Howarth Hobble. Photo by Scott Leach

Martin Brady at the Howarth Hobble. Photo by Scott Leach

Having way too much fun at the Haworth Hobble. Photo by Scott Leach

Having way too much fun at the Haworth Hobble. Photo by Scott Leach

Position Name Cat Time
11 Simon Halliday/Martin Terry MV50 04:59:09
38 Nicholas Olszewski MV55 05:23:28
164 Martin Brady MV50 06:26:30
260 Adrienne Olszewska FV45 07:48:15

Full results

Dentdale 14.2

Breton Holdsworth made a return to this 14.2 mile road race around the lanes surrounding the village of Dent in the Yorkshire Dales. One of the most scenic races of the year, it attracts a strong field of over 500 runners. Breton came in 5th overall and 3rd Vet40 in 1:27:33.

Full results

Junior Summer Series

The Clayton Juniors were in action at the Colne Parkrun as part of their Summer (!) Series with Jackson McKay 2nd overall and 1st Clayton Boy, and Ella Dorrington, 2nd Female overall and 1st Clayton Girl. Full Parkrun results further below.

Inter Counties XC

Continuing her excellent series of results, Briony Holt represented Lancashire in the Inter Counties Cross-Country (U15 Girls) at Cofton Park Birmingham, finishing 95th out of 302 runners as well as 3rd Lancashire runner.

Louisa Powell-Smith was 54th and 2nd Lancashire counter in the Ladies race.

Briony Holt

Briony Holt

 

Sunday 13th March

Roddlesworth Roller 9km / Daffodil Doddle 2.2km

With the adults running the Roller and the Juniors running the Doddle, a beautiful Spring day had finally arrived for these popular trail events starting from Abbey Village. In the Roller, Lee Smith led the Clayton men home in 4th place and Julie Toman was 30th woman.

In the Doddle, Dexta Thompson was back on form with 4th place and a win in his M10 age category, only just behind some much older runners.  Overall, it was a Thompson family affair with Liberty 3rd in F13, Kady 6th in F9 and Felix 3rd in M6. Well done the Thompsons!

Pos Name   Cat CatPos Time
4 Lee Smith M (003/047) 00:35:31
12 Peter Coates M (007/047) 00:37:35
97 Daniel Isherwood M (029/047) 00:45:37
171 Julie Toman F40 (011/029) 00:55:17
186 Ron Chappell M65 (004/005) 00:58:07
207 Kevin O’Brien M70 (002/004) 01:02:17

Full results Roller

Full results Doddle

Salt Ayre Aquathon

Two Clayton Juniors, Ellie Root and Helena White were in action at the Salt Ayre Aquathlon, part of the NW Junior Triathlon Series. Sam Root reports:

‘Ellie had a good swim over the 500m distance and had an especially strong last 50m. She continued to look strong in the 3400m run and finished in 3rd place in the Girls Youth category. Ellie enjoyed the race and is looking forward to the rest of the NW Junior Series’.

Helena also had a strong run (registering fastest split after an age category record in Pendle Park Run the day before) and came 3rd overall in the T1 age group. Well done to our Junior triathletes!

Helena White flat out at Salt Ayre.

Helena White flat out at Salt Ayre.

Sweatshop 10 Mile

Clayton had good representation at the Bispham based Sweatshop 10, back after it’s first running last year. The flat Fylde coast course promises fast running (wind permitting) and Danny Collinge swapped his fell shoes for road shoes to get 2nd place in 55:26, a very impressive effort given the tough racing the day before at Black Combe. Amanda Duffy was first Clayton woman home in 124th overall and 3rd in her age category.

Amanda Duffy at the Sweatshop 10 mile race at Bispham

Amanda Duffy at the Sweatshop 10 mile race at Bispham

Danny Pilkington at the Sweatshop 10 mile race in Bispham

Danny Pilkington at the Sweatshop 10 mile race in Bispham

Pos Name   Cat CatPos Time
2 Danny Collinge M (002/025) 00:55:26
11 Jacob Watson M (005/025) 00:59:31
29 Kevin Davies M50 (003/027) 01:03:32
83 Stephen Biscomb M60 (003/017) 01:12:46
93 Robert Morrison M40 (017/019) 01:13:41
94 Andy Quinn M40 (018/019) 01:13:44
124 Amanda Duffy F35 (003/007) 01:19:31
125 Colin White M40 (019/019) 01:19:33
136 Angela Shian F35 (005/007) 01:21:25
142 Vicky Heys F45 (006/018) 01:21:59
143 Irene Roche F55 (005/010) 01:22:00
200 Danny Pilkington M35 (011/011) 01:35:22

Full Results

Jackals Run 10km and Half Marathon Trail Races

Julia Rushton ran in this brand new trail event, completing the half marathon race. Based at Sunnyhurst Woods, Darwen these races take in the woods and moors around Darwen Tower. Julia was 5th Woman home in the trail Half Marathon in 2:31:59.

Full Results

Trafford 10K

Another popular and fast early season event, the Trafford 10k saw Laura Hesketh and Ian Hargreaves joined by the ever-green Ron Hill MBE in representing the club.

Ian Hargreaves and Ron Hill at the Trafford 10K

Ian Hargreaves and Ron Hill at the Trafford 10K

Pos Name   Cat CatPos Time
256 Laura Hesketh F20-34 17 37:41
573 Ian Hargreaves M50-54 30 50:06
745 Ron Hill M75-79 1 01:00:56

Full results

Vitality Liverpool Half Marathon

Over 6500 runners started this popular city half marathon in positively Spring-like conditions. Running from the waterfront up to Sefton Park and back again, Jane Hylands and new member Andrew Tunney were the sole Clayton representatives finishing in 1:53:27 and 1:56:00 respectively.

Full results

Parkrun Roundup

Burnley parkrun – A total of 285 runners took part.

Pos   parkrunner   Time   Age Cat   Note  
3 Richard STEVENSON 18:00 VM40-44
4 Jonathan CLEAVER 18:22 VM35-39 New PB!
7 Gareth BERRY 19:32 VM35-39
15 Nicholas HENNESSEY 20:59 JM11-14
16 Reece Adam LAWRENCE 21:03 JM15-17 New PB!
22 Donna RILEY 21:33 VW50-54
37 Sophie ASHWORTH 22:49 JW11-14
38 Jonathan PYE 22:49 SM25-29
40 Adam STEVENSON 22:56 JM11-14
41 James HICKIE 22:56 VM55-59 New PB!
52 David Ian SCOTT 23:23 VM70-74
61 Charlie BIRTWISTLE 23:41 JM10 New PB!
63 Lee MOORE 23:56 VM35-39
66 Julie DAWES 24:11 VW45-49
67 Ian HARGREAVES 24:11 VM50-54
88 Donna SCOTT 24:59 VW50-54
90 Toby BIRTWISTLE 25:01 JM10 New PB!
91 Justin BIRTWISTLE 25:01 VM40-44 New PB!
101 Lisa JOHNSON 25:23 VW40-44
111 Andrew WEBSTER 25:38 VM45-49
115 Annabel WILCOCK 25:44 JW15-17
116 John WILCOCK 25:44 VM50-54
135 Deborah GREENWOOD 26:27 VW45-49 New PB!
147 Ron CHAPPELL 26:57 VM65-69
153 Richard LAWSON 27:24 VM75-79
176 Jack MCGUIRE 29:06 VM60-64 New PB!
180 Robert HIRST 29:30 VM65-69
187 Christine Jennifer EGERTON 29:58 VW65-69
196 Carl CAREY 30:14 VM45-49
199 Karen CLARKIN 30:31 VW40-44

Dewsbury parkrun – A total of 91 runners took part.

Pos   parkrunner   Time   Age Cat   Note  
90 Robin PRICE 37:52 VM70-74

Gorleston Cliffs parkrun – A total of 228 runners took part.

Pos   parkrunner   Time   Age Cat   Note  
13 John HARTLEY 19:35 VM55-59

Pendle parkrun – A total of 90 runners took part.

Pos   parkrunner   Time   Age Cat   Note  
2 Jackson MCKAY 20:29 JM11-14 New PB!
5 Lennon JACKSON 22:21 JM11-14 New PB!
8 Robbie SMEDLEY 22:39 JM10 First Timer!
10 Matthew JACKSON 22:52 JM10 First Timer!
12 Finley STUBBS 23:03 JM10 New PB!
13 Jenson BENTHAM 23:08 JM10 First Timer!
18 Ella DORRINGTON-LEVY 23:34 JW11-14 New PB!
19 Helana WHITE 23:47 JW10 First Timer!
20 Robert MORRISON 23:48 VM40-44 New PB!
26 Summer HARGREAVES 24:15 JW10 First Timer!
31 Colin WHITE 24:56 VM40-44 First Timer!
33 Millie STUBBS 25:14 JW11-14
34 Liberty THOMPSON 25:14 JW11-14
38 Cassandra Darling SMEDLEY 26:12 VW35-39 First Timer!
46 Joshua MCKAY 27:29 JM10 New PB!
52 Kady THOMPSON 28:35 JW10 New PB!
58 Imogen FERGUSON 29:20 JW10 New PB!
60 Felix THOMPSON 29:30 JM10 First Timer!
72 Lucy STEVENSON 32:09 JW11-14 New PB!
78 Milly MACCABE 33:56 JW10 New PB!

Witton parkrun – A total of 84 runners took part.

Pos   parkrunner   Time   Age Cat   Note  
4 Michael CLARKE 20:27 VM40-44
84 Julia RUSHTON 1:04:22 VW50-54