Welcome to the new decade and the January 2020 Roundup.

We had sad news this month of the death of Michael O’Donnell. His running friend Alex Cran has paid tribute to Michael shared some wonderful memories of him below.

We have a new regular feature penned by a representative of the Committee explaining what they do. We look forward to hearing more from them in the following months.

The Roundup is nothing without the many contributions from our members. Please consider writing a report for your next race – maybe you could review the entire Cross Country season? All contributions, including photos where possible, should be sent to roundup@claytonlemoors.org.uk

As usual any omissions/errors, please let me know on the above email address.

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Contents

• Committee News
• Other News
• Race Reports
• Parkrun Roundup

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Michael O’Donnell – A Tribute

No matter what happens some memories can never be replaced

by Alex Cran

It feels like I’ve known him for a life time but it was back in 2002/03 when I first met Michael O’Donnell, who would soon become known as Forrest.

Believe it or not Forrest was a quiet lad when he first started at Clayton. We both joined within a couple of weeks of each other and were like rabbits in the spotlights of some of the clubs best runners, and Neil Worswick!

We quickly formed a friendship as we were very evenly matched, until it came to a descent. Forrest had the motto ‘in order to descend well you had to disengage your brain, and that was easy for him as he didn’t have a brain’. His words not mine.

I have many fond memories of Forrest, and thought it would be good to share a few.

The first, I assume is how he got the nickname Forrest. No one can really remember but I like to think it came from one of John’s training groups. John has a habit of holding back on a run going in a different direction to the person at the front. Most people only fall for this once and quickly get back in the group. Not our Forrest, he fell for this time and time again and always disappeared off into the distance before anyone called him back. Of course the shouts of ‘Run Forrest Run’ came and stuck. This is when we started to see the true Forrest and some of his colourful language as he got himself back in the group.

Training was always fun with Forrest around. His language was determined by how fit he was feeling. If he was feeling a bit over weight and slow, you would always hear him cursing behind you, but if he was feeling fit and he was ahead of you, he made sure you knew about it.

It wasn’t long before we got into racing, whether it be road or fell racing. I had to be very lucky to catch him on a fell but on the flat I had a chance. Overall we were fairly evenly matched though and ended up running a lot of the relays together. One that particularly comes to mind was running the first leg of the Mary Towneley relay as a pair. We were both feeling fairly fit at the time and as luck would have it we were running against Sean and Heskey, who were running for the vets team. I have never been in such an evenly matched race. All the way round we were neck and neck until the final climb. Forrest offered his words of encouragement to Sean and Heskey then promptly shot off up the hill. Whether he got to the pair of them I don’t know but it worked and we just pipped them to take the Clayton honours.

Forrest was always a grafter and always wanted to get better. He even had a bet with me that he would do a road marathon if I would run Ben Nevis. Needlessly to say he faired far better in the road marathon than I did on the Ben.

Whilst training for the road marathon, we both entered the 12 stage road relays as part of the Clayton team. Those of you who have done these relays know the course is well flagged and marshalled, so how Forrest managed to get lost on a road relay is beyond me! He said he thought the course was a bit quiet and it wasn’t until he met some runners cooling down that he realised the error of his ways.

Forrest was a great lad with a huge heart and would do anything for anyone. He brightened up everyone’s day with his friendly banter, his smile and laugh. His passing came way too early and as a huge shock to everyone. I think, like me everyone was lost for words. It just goes to show that you don’t really know what is going on in someone’s mind. We have got to look out for each other and ask ourselves the question how can we help people who are struggling.

Forrest had a great send off, both and the funeral and the training session in his memory. He will never be forgotten. I hope as many of you as possible will make it to the Run Forrest Run trail race.

RIP Fast Lad.

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Committee News

The first in what is intended to be a regular listing in the Round Up concerning what the committee have discussed in the latest meeting. This was a regular column in the old printed newsletter and its hoped reviving it here will help inform our membership what it is we as a committee do and perhaps offer a view on the different facets of our fine club!

The committee is made up of volunteers from within the clubs membership and they agree to sign up for a year (usually 12 meetings and an AGM) Most of us make 10+ meetings over the course of the year and our primary aim is to oversee the running of the club to promote and facilitate our members actual running.

This first contribution to the round up is intended to show what a regular meeting looks like. Each month we discuss the following agenda as well as other matters which arise:

• Apologies – who isn’t there!
• Minutes of the Previous meeting – is what has been discussed accurately recorded. These minutes can be circulated for those that want them and will likely form the basis as to what appears here each month
• Matters arising – as it says! Usually referring back to the minutes and the actions which were required, who has done what etc.
• Secretaries correspondence – received from club members and various third parties or members of the public such as other clubs, governing bodies etc.
• Treasurer – Any money matters.
• Membership – We are a club and as such have the right to approve (or otherwise!) applications to join. Any other membership matters are discussed here.
• Team Managers and Juniors reports – Information from the relevant people is discussed here.
• Training and Coaching – Any updates, new sessions etc. We have some news to release here imminently!
• Media and Branding – as it suggests, kit also falls under this heading.
• Race Promotions – anything race related.
• Any Other Business

These meetings typically last between 60 and 90 minutes. This Agenda can be described as “usual business”. Any member can submit an item to the agenda for discussion, it will fit in to one of these headings or carry its own title and point on the agenda.

Our focus is on discussing items which promote running and/or facilitate the memberships running.

You can email the Secretary (Judith Carey) directly or indeed message or talk to a committee member as you see them at training and races:
https://www.claytonlemoors.org.uk/president-and-committee/secretary/ or secretary@claytonlemoors.org.uk

The Committee and their roles are listed here: http://www.claytonlemoors.org.uk/contact/

thank you

The 2020 Committee

Additionally:

The first Clayton race of the year is fast approaching – the Moorhouses Stan Bradshaw Pendle Round, run from Barley Village Hall on March 7th. The race starts at 11.00am, registration is open from 9.00. It is a 10 mile jaunt around Pendle, where some navigation experience can be handy!  It is also a good race for those stepping up in terms of fell racing and running.  It would be great to see a big orange turn out of both runners and those willing to help out on the marshalling side. With jobs needing doing from about 8.45 am both in the hall and on the hill please contact Colin Woolford (race organiser) to advise what you could be available for in terms of helping out either through Facebook, the website or on stanbradshawrace@yahoo.com

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Other News

Wendy Dodds – the End of an Era

by Kathy Thompson

After 37 years representing Clayton-le-Moors Harriers, Wendy Dodds has
changed her allegiance to Dallam Running Club, based near her home in
Cumbria.

Wendy has been a stalwart of Clayton ladies fell teams in relays and
championships and her navigational skills will be greatly missed. Many of us
will have partnered her in Calderdale, Ian Hodgson and FRA relays, or tried to
keep up with her in fell races.

Over the years she has won numerous medals in the English and British Fell
Championships. Her enthusiasm is endless and we have all been in awe of her
determination, especially in the face of injury and broken bones. I remember
her running Blackstone Edge with a broken collarbone and last year she ran the
Grisedale Horseshoe with sore ribs and a broken arm, both to keep her in the
running for Fell Championships. She just seems to come back stronger than
ever.

So we say goodbye to Wendy and wish her all the best in her new red and blue
vest.

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Race Reports

Marmot Dark Mountains Report

by Alan Dorrington

Clank, clank, clank, clank…..rattle, clankclankclank. Expletive.

So developed the regular soundtrack to our night as I, laden with 5+kg of mandatory kit, attempted to run on ground barely suited to walking before yet again falling noisily yet down another hidden hole. At least Greg my partner for the night knew I that I was still in contact with him. He was also falling over too but did so more silently as he wasn’t carrying a Ti mug containing a gas cannister, stupidly not wrapped in something soft to prevent clanking. And rattling. Lesson learned.

Welcome to Marmot Dark Mountains, the eponymously and slightly breathlessly self-styled ‘overnight winter mountain marathon with a dark twist’. It’s a simple format really – start running (in pairs) when you might be thinking about a nice Saturday beer followed by bed, and keep running and navigating all night and into the morning, cramming what might be considered sensible for a normal 2 day mountain marathon into one big night’s running. Except without the usual over-night camp but nonetheless still carrying all the gear for that eventuality in case you get caught out by weather or tiredness and decide to go to bed after all. Simples.

Given that the event was to take place at the end of January, and the location was somewhere in Snowdonia, I was glad my normal mountain marathon partner Greg provided the added security of him being a Mountain Rescue Team member and Mountain Leader student. It’s good to hang out in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere with someone sensible. The potential mandatory kit items of ice axe and crampons did bring a certain focus to the task in hand.

The event location ‘somewhere in Snowdonia’ turned out to be the far eastern corner of the National Park, the Arenigs, and an area I had never been to before. Thoughts of wandering around the classic big mountains of the Glyders or Carneddau were banished and replaced by slightly dark warnings of lower but remote and very difficult, rough terrain, with sections of particular gnarliness marked on the custom event map by ‘Here be Dragons’ which also had amongst other things, contour heights and power lines removed from view. A somewhat de-tuned map then to make things a little harder. The warnings of the rough terrain proved prophetic, and in the end largely ruled the whole experience for better or worse. We had opted adventurously for the full-fat 12 hour score course, where we had a whole glorious 12 hours to accurately find around 50 small control kites hidden in the dark and clag of the slopes of the area dominated by the 2250ft summits of Carnedd y Elliast and Arenig Fach. Off we went into the night at 6:34pm armed with loads of warm  kit including clanking cookware, spare headtorch batteries and a little trepidation. Potentially very high winds and some heavy rain later on were forecast to keep us on our toes.

Did I mention rough terrain? Neither of us, and I gather most of the other competitors too, had been over ground which in places was as rough and un-runnable as this. No, make that un-joggable. Even walking was difficult at times – the strangest tussocky and  bouncy/spongy ground absorbed any energy from your foot strike that could be used to push off, and was littered with hidden holes that meant you either sank a couple of inches with each step or a full 12 inches or more. Hence the regular stumbling and falling. Both our hip flexors were battered after a few hours of this. Where there wasn’t tussocky hell there was heather, which even outside of the ‘Here be Dragons’ area from which we were discouraged, was still pretty aggressive. Luckily the anticlockwise loop that we opted for to hoover up controls on the highest points before the weather turned, eased in terms of the ground conditions and we were able to make better progress after the first few hours of stumbledom, though by then we were more tired and less able to run anyway.

Despite all of the terrain challenges, it was all still hugely enjoyable. Navigating on open fell at night is a very singular and immersive experience and given that in the dark and clag higher up, the visibility was down to a few metres at times, made for an absorbing and fascinating run out. When conditions were clear, usually lower down on the course, we were treated to stunning starscapes, in keeping with the Dark Sky Reserve status of the area. Throw in little spots of light from the other teams scattered all over the competition area and it made for a great spectacle. Our navigation for the most part was accurate and we only missed a couple of low value controls early on. However, the terrain was taking it’s toll, along with our body clocks which seemed to want a more sensible bedtime than was on offer, and we took a decision after around 6 hours that we wouldn’t venture into the western half of the competition area and risk an even more prolonged  battle with the very physical terrain, get caught in probably worsening weather and end up chasing the clock to get back. It was a conscious decision to go for more Type 1 fun (yay!) than Type 2 (s’alright after) and avoid the distinct possibility of plenty of Type 3 fun (never again) which neither of us really had the stomach for at the time.

And so after 9 ½ hours of deep icy bog, flail-inducing bouncy heather (weird), some nice open fell and reassuringly proper mud we rolled into Event HQ at around 4am. As one of the first back, we enjoyed nicking the hot water in the showers and had first crack at the big breakfast on offer as the other teams on the linear and shorter score courses began returning. We were satisfied that we had navigated accurately and strategically in some pretty challenging conditions, only getting properly lost on one occasion in almost zero visibility on a featureless hill top, and had ended with a reasonable score for the time we had out. As all of the other teams on our 12 hour score opted to stay out for most of the time allotted and potentially picked up more points, we ended up toward the bottom of the results, though we noted with irony that if we had been less ambitious and opted for the 10 hour score our 470 points would have placed us 7^th overall. Nothing like hubris eh? However, by opting for a more comfortable and less ‘driven’ plan, we had had a great night out in an amazing and challenging area. Sadly, this is likely to be the last Dark Mountain event unless a new owner/organiser for the event can be found. It would be a shame if a true mountain test like this disappeared for good.

Northern Athletics Cross Country Championships

Report by Helana White

This is the Northerns XC at Bedale. Representing the Juniors were Imogen Ferguson and Helana White from U15 girls (4.6km), Robbie Smedley from U15 boys (4.6km), Peter Stevens, Michael Stevens, Theo Edmonson and Jack Villiers from U17 boys (6.2km), Bethany Wheatcroft from U17 girls (4.7km), Nicola Moynihan from U20 women and Charlie Parkinson from U20 men.

The weather was almost perfect conditions with no rain, and very light wind. The course was majority flat with hardly any MUD! The starts to all the races were very fast as expected. Every junior performed to their best standard coming in excellent positions.

A quote from Robbie Smedley “The start was faster than I expected which left me in a difficult position, I pulled it back though throughout the long race of three laps.”

A quote from Michael Stevens “ The course was very boring as it was flat and long as it was continuous laps”

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Results Roundup

1st January – New Year’s Day Awakener, Whitworth – Results

3rd M50 – David McMullan; 1st M65 – Stephen Green; 1st F70 – Christine Leathley; 1st M70 – Ron Chappell.

4th January – Lancashire Cross Country Championships – Results

5th January – Scout Scar Fell Race – Results

3rd U17B – Jack Villiers.

11th January – Towneley XC (Mid Lancs XC League) – Results

3rd U15G – Helana White; 2nd U15G Team – Helana White, Ella Dorrington-Levy, Sianna Smith; 2nd U15B Team – William Nicholls, Connor Jones, William Woodruff; 2nd U17M Team – Jack Villiers, Jackson Mackay, Michael Stevens; 3rd Ladies’ Over 35 Team – Rebecca Rimmington, Michelle Abbott, Cassandra Darling-Smedley; 1st Ladies’ Over 55 Team – Irene Roche, Julia Rushton, Dawn Terry; 1st V70 Men’s Team – David Scott, Richard Lawson; 3rd Senior Men’s Team – Adrian Cheetham, Mark Magee, Ryan Bradshaw, James Dunderdale, Daniel Fleming, Carl Helliwell; 2nd V40M Team – Adrian Cheetham, Carl Helliwell, Chris Funnell, Scott Cunliffe.

12th January – Giggleswick School Fell Race – Results

1st U17G – Ella Dorrington; 2nd LU21 – Briony Holt; 1st LV70 – Linda Lord.

18th January – Heaton Park Cross Country (South East Lancashire Cross Country League) – Results

19th January – East Lancashire Hospice 10k – Results

3rd M45 – Craig Nicholls

19th January – East Lancashire Hospice 2K Fun Run – Results

1st – Helana White

19th January – Lamb’s Longer Leg Fell Race

25th January – Northern Athletics Cross Country Championships (Bedale) – Results

25th January – Marmot Dark Mountains – Results

25th January – Hoofstones Fell Race – Results

26th January – St Anne’s 10 Mile Road Race – Results

26th January – Birkrigg Fell Race – Results

2nd U17B – Jack Villiers

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Parkrun Roundup

All the latest PBs from our club members in the local Parkruns.

DATE	VENUE	NAME	AGE	TIME
1st January 2020	Hyndburn	Andrew Orr	VM45-49	21:59
4th January 2020	Burnley	Neil Whalley	VM45-49	20:16
		Francis Woodruff	JM10	26:22
11th January	Hyndburn	Kevin Davies	VM55-59	19:51
	Pendle	Jeffrey Pickup	VM65-69	25:36
18th January	Hyndburn	Charlie Barnes	JM11-14	21:54
25th January	Burnley	Francis Woodruff	JM10	25:02
	Hyndburn	Jonny Hall	SM25-29	19:40
	Pendle	Jeffrey Pickup	VM65-69	25:05

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December was a very quiet month for racing , with no cross country fixtures and just a handful of fell, road and trail races.

Read the Race Reports section to hear about our fellow team members’ race experiences.

As many of you will know, Clayton Harrier Simon Halliday tragically died earlier in the month in a caving accident. We’ve included a short article in the Roundup, but have also created a separate page with more memories, including a couple of articles written by Simon himself.

Please send any Race Reports or other articles to roundup@claytonlemoors.org.uk

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Simon Halliday 1970-2020

by Jon Sharples, added to by Colin Woolford

Simon Halliday brought his infectious enthusiasm to Clayton le Moors Harriers in January 2004. He was already an established and highly competent caver but was keen to improve his fitness and endurance. Referring to himself as “a fat caver often found at the bar”, he took to fell running like a duck to water and was always keen to seek out and conquer the next challenge. He transformed his fitness and completed some of the toughest, hardest races in the fell running calendar, including the Yorkshire Three Peaks, Langdale, Borrowdale, Wasdale, the Bens of Jura and Old County Tops with
relative ease. A willing group of Clayton runners joined Simon’s Lake District training regime which became focused on tackling the famous Bob Graham Round, BGR, (72 miles, 42 summits, 29,000 feet of climbing and descending in less than 24 hours). This was a challenge that Clayton le Moors Harriers has a long and proud tradition in.

On 12th May 2007 Simon supported by his team duly completed a summer round in weather and circumstances that were quite challenging on the day. Not content with that Simon announced that he was going to attempt another BGR in the cold and darkness of winter, hoping to be only the 10th person to do so. So on 22nd December 2007 (The shortest day of the year!) the team was mustered again and an epic run began. The weather was challenging from the outset with ice, snow, and mist making progress difficult. At halfway Simon was some way behind schedule and the consensus was
that a successful round could not be achieved. However, Simon thought otherwise. So over the next dozen hours the schedule was gradually clawed back and Simon sprinted to the finish at the Moot Hall in Keswick with 3 minutes to spare! Simon wrote proudly and passionately of his BG experiences with the “Clayton BG Machine”.

Afterwards Simon continued to be an active fell runner with Clayton for several years, always seeking out and completing new challenges such as the Three Peaks Yacht race and the Scottish Islands Race. Then gradually other challenges appeared on the horizon and Simon moved on to be a successful Triathlete, Ironman, long distance cyclist and finally a caver again. In his day job he was a Master Builder and worked in the family business. He always kept in touch with Clayton Harriers and as recently as November 2019 had a run with Barley Badgers, Clayton’s Tuesday training night
group of headtorch fell runners, of which he was a founder member.

Whatever Simon turned his attention to he did so 100% and he did it well. He leaves a wife Toni, a son Connor and a daughter Isabella. Our thoughts are with them.

Simon will be very fondly remembered and is very sadly missed.

Tributes to Simon Halliday

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The English Fell Championships

A few of us are keen to get more people involved with the English Fell Championships, especially but not exclusively male V50. It’s a good chance to see some new places, pitch yourself against the best around and run for your club. The more you can do the better, especially in the far flung races and later races where enthusiasm drops and you can scoop up some points. To score individually you should try to do 4 races and each of the 3 distances.

The races are spread through Cleveland, The Peak District, The Lake District and Shropshire

Date	Category	Race
04-04-20	M	Guisborough 3 Tops
16-05-20	S	Alderman’s Ascent
13-06-20	L	Ennerdale Horseshoe
04-07-20	M	Blencathra
29-08-20	S	Arnison Crag Horseshoe
20-09-20	L	South Mynd Tour

For Women’s team Chamionships the first 3 in the club count. In the Mens open category the first 5 of the club count, 4 in the V40 and 3 in all other categories.

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Race Reports

Kong Series Race 2 – SOB

by David Edmondson

This is a Kong Fell Race that visits: Stile End, Outerside and Barrow. I made it just over 4.5 miles with just over 2000 foot of climb. There were a few Clayton runners present although I was the youngest at a sprightly 52, maybe something fun was happening elsewhere? So I lined up with Jon Sharples, Andy Firth and Wendy Dodds.

Interesting weather for this race with the first accent up Stile End straight into a stiff wind and a few ice pellets thrown in. I started nice and easy and gently wound it up. My descending is gradually getting better after some time away from fell racing but wearing x talons didn’t help on the steep muddy slopes of Barrow, I slid a good 20 yards on my backside towards the finish. My feet are too wide for mud claws these days: feet generally get wider as you age!

I managed a respectable second V50 and 36 overall out of 181. Ambleside dominated the results with Scout Adkin and Matthew Elkington winning and they were easily first in both team competitions.

A link to the Results is in the Results Roundup.

Ribble Valley 10K

by Carl Carey

I decided to book this race back in July (and again in October when I’d forgotten I’d booked it!) because I’d been running a lot and wanted to see how I’d do compared to the last time I did it in 2016.

Up until that point, I’d been running pretty well, having broke some of my personal records, 5k and half marathon times, as well as all my Grand Prix races, but had yet to enter a fast time for a 10k race. Flat and fast Ribble Valley was my decision, hoping to finish the years running with a flourish, and hopefully a time of 44 or 45 minutes, 2 minutes faster than my previous. Seems reasonable I thought as I was now fitter and a bit quicker since then! The only problem with that was the Christmas period, really loving my food so having to be really strict (ish!). The month leading to the race was a busy one at work for me, so had to miss John’s excellent Tuesday and Thursday training sessions, resulting in me having to run on my own from home! The last few weeks before the race, it seemed my legs were made from lead every time I ran, and I began to doubt I would make even 45 minutes, let alone 44! It didn’t help that I was analysing times from previous races. Judith told me off and told me to just get on with it 😁

The week before the race, I received my number and chip through the post. This was getting serious, and didn’t help my nerves! I’d put some weight back on that I’d worked so hard to shift, my legs were heavy every time I ran, and I just wanted to get it out of the way now!

The day of the race came, got up early, had my peanut butter and banana bagel then went back to bed, but couldn’t get back to sleep so got up and got ready. Leaving reasonably early, we got a good parking spot and decided to go look and then I could get ready. Was pleased to see quite a few Clayton faces there, some with niggles and ailments but determined nevertheless!

We lined up, at the time asked, but it seemed like forever before we set off. Then, we were off! I started my watch as I passed the timing mat, then tried to settle into my race. People were passing me left and right, but experience told me to ignore them and not get dragged along at this stage. I must admit at about 2k in, I panicked a bit when certain runners caught and passed me, and I felt it was difficult at that point, but decided to press on and see how it goes. Resisting the temptation to look at my watch ( I found it doesn’t help) I suddenly came alive at the 4K marker and started to pick people off I knew were similar to me.

Surprisingly I started to see people I never usually see in races and started to worry if I’d been going too fast. 6 and 7k saw me pass quite a few people and I started to wonder if I’d be able to maintain the speed, especially when my watch buzzed to tell me I’d done the last kilometre in 4 minutes! With 2k to go, I’d passed a few of my team mates, all of us encouraging one another, until I’d caught a team mate who’d struggled a bit, but nevertheless was still quick. He told me to press on, but my lace had come untied so was conscious of tripping over that! I wasn’t going to stop though, so close to the finish, and after numerous warnings off other runners about my lace, rounded the corner to go uphill towards the finish, with no idea of my time. Judith and my girls were on the hill shouting “you can do it daddy!” and I managed a smile (which Judith later said she thought I must be ok as it’s usually a frown). As I’m getting closer, I hear the commentator call my name and shouting put it in and you’ll get sub 43! What!! Tears streaming, guts busting, I make it over the line, 42:33 chip time, not believing I’d smashed it, by nearly 5 minutes! It was Christmas again for me, I could scarcely believe it, and had tears in my eyes when I told Judith the result. She laughed and told me that she knew I’d do it, but I think she was also pleased that I wouldn’t be moping around the house disappointed!

As always, a well organised race which was sold out, and had 1500 runners, but difficult because of the Christmas period! I think Judith is now glad that I’ve stopped talking about it, as I was getting on her nerves!

Ribble Valley 10K

by Jason Pier

This was the race I’d been building up to for the last few months. My final attempt at running a sub 40 minute 10k in 2019. The year had started with me never having completed a 10k in under 44.34

My training for the last few months has consisted of regular 6 – 8 mile runs, speed work at the track along with my usual treadmill sessions. In all honesty I’ve found the track sessions hard going, but looking back its helped me to maintain a regular pace for each kilometre.

The last couple of weeks leading up to the race have been a real struggle. Being a night shift worker for some reason I’ve struggled to sleep for longer than 4 hours a day. This has lead to me feeling so drained and lacking energy, so you can imagine I wasn’t expecting to run well at all.

Race day arrived and I’d finally managed to have by my standards a decent sleep of 6 hours. Up at 6.00am, breakfast and a walk with the dog, i set off to pick up Michelle Abbott and Calum en route to Clitheroe. We arrived in plenty of time to get parked up close to the start area, where we gathered with Judith and Carl Carey. After a good 2k warm up to test out the slight niggle I’ve felt recently in my hip I was ready to race.

The race started and away we went along the road before heading down over the river at Edisford Bridge, then passing the campsite and out into the countryside. To achieve a sub 40 I needed to be under 4 minutes per kilometre. The first kilometre went well 3.46 so in my head I had a few seconds in the bank. I was so focused on maintaining a regular pace I honestly don’t remember much about the route. I reached the 5k marker in under 20 minutes so knew I had to match that for the second half of the race. Doubt starts to creep in and that you’re going to tire. Each kilometre marker passed and I was just under 4 minutes each time. Before long the 9k marker arrived, time for one last push down the hill fast as I could to give me the momentum to climb up the other side.

That done and it was just a matter of sprinting the final 300m to the finish. “Come on you can do it, just imagine you’re at the track” I kept saying to myself. The finish line seemed to take an age to arrive, over I went to finish in a time of 39.41 minutes. Absolutely buzzing, couldn’t believe it. Never ever thought at the start of 2019 I’d end the year running sub 40 for a 10k. More improvement to come yet, so new year, new goals to set. Well done to all my fellow club members on your performances at the Ribble Valley 10k.

Finally I feel it only right to end this report by thanking a few people who have helped me along the way in 2019 to achieve my goals. Thank you to Gary Moore who got me out of a rut at the start of the year and helped me to enjoy running again. Kev Davies for your support and words of encouragement at the track even though I only ever see the back of you. My wife Jane, who’s had to put up with me being out most weekends training or racing. Marion Wilkinson, who has always believed in me to achieve my goals even when I have doubted myself. You’ve given up so much time to coach and advise me on all aspects of my running, whilst dealing with personal issues of your own. For this I’m eternally grateful.

Happy New Year to everyone at Clayton. Let’s work together and make 2020 a great year for our club.

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Results Roundup

1st December – Myerscough 10 – Results

8th December – Mytholmroyd Fell Race – Results

3rd Team – Andy Laycock, Ryan Bradshaw, Craig Stansfield.

14th December – Hurst Green Turkey Trot – Results

1st MJ – Charlie Parkinson; 2nd MJ – Robbie Smedley; 3rd MJ – William Nicholls; 3rd M50 – Craig Stansfield; 1st M55 – Ivan Whigham; 2nd F35 – Michelle Abbott; 1st team – Charlie Parkinson, Robbie Smedley, Craig Stansfield.

14th December  – Kong Winter Series R2 SOB – Results

22nd December – Ian Holloway Cowm 5k – Results

27th December – Wansfell Pike Fell Race – Results (Word Document)

1st FV70 – Linda Lord.

29th December – Ribble Valley 10K – Results

3rd MV55 – Kevin Davies; 3rd FV60 – Nicola Dugdale; 2nd FV70 – Karin Goss; 3rd M75 – David Scott; 3rd FV35 – Rebecca Rimmington.

31st December – Bowstones Fell Race – Results

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Parkrun Roundup

DATE	VENUE	NAME	AGE	TIME
14th December 2019	Burnley	Adrian Cheetham	VM40-44	17:17
21st December 2019	Burnley	Adrian Cheetham	VM40-44	17:05
	Centre Vale	Neil Whalley	VM45-49	20:43
	Hyndburn	Martin Brady	VM55-59	23:58
		Kath Wallis	VW60-64	24:05
28th December 2019	Pendle	Jeffrey Pickup	VM65-69	26:24

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Junior Parkrun Roundup

DATE	VENUE	NAME	AGE	TIME
22nd December 2019	Burnley	Francis Woodruff	JM10	08:39