Category Archive Roundup

No sign of the January blues here at Clayton-le-Moors Harriers! There’s been plenty of great results in cross country, fell racing and on the trails to well and truly blow away the cobwebs. We’ve had new members racing for the first time, returners racing for us again, not to mentions all the regulars and irregulars, out racing and reccying.

SATURDAY 14 JANUARY

ASHURST BEACON RACE

John Francis was our sole representative at this race finishing in 154^th place

Full Results

MID LANCS XC LEAGUE – TOWNELEY

It was a bumper turnout for Team Clayton with well over 70 members of all ages racing on the familiar ground of Towneley Park. It was another great race for the U11 boys and U15 girls who had some great individual placings and 1^st place teams. Our Vet 55 ladies are looking strong and there was a team win for them.

U11 Girls

Helana White was our first U11 girl and 7^th overall in the U11 Girls’ race.

Team position 9^th (H White | K Thompson | R Stevenson)

Pos	Name	Time
7	Helana White	8:01
41	Kady Thompson	9:09
62	Rachel Stevenson	9:58
66	Emily Nicholls	10:18
73	Ellisia Smedley	11:03

U11 Boys

With 3 boys in the top five finishers, it was another great performance from our U11 boys. Dexta finished in 1^st place with Robbie Smedley in 3^rd and Finley Stubbs in 5^th (4^th in team placings when non-counters removed)

Team position 1^st ( D Thompson | R Smedley | F Stubbs)

Pos	Name	Time
1	Dexta Thompson	7:12
3	Robbie Smedley	7:25
5	Finley Stubbs	7:57
17	Matthew Jackson	7:57
24	Jenson Bentham	8:06
55	Jake Anforth	9:03

U13 Girls            

Ella Dorrington was our first finisher in 28^th place.

Team position 8^th (E Dorrington | H Kewin | B WHeatcroft)

Pos	Name	Time
28	Ella Dorrington-Levy	11:20
47	Heidi Kewin	12:17
53	Bethany Wheatcroft	12:44
60	Bronia Olszewska	14:02

U13 Boys

Jackson McKay was our first finisher in 4^th place overall.

Team Position 5^th ( J McKay | L Jackson | W Nicholls)

Pos	Name	Time
4	Jackson McKay	10:35
28	Lennon Jackson	11:59
44	William Nicholls	13:07

U15 Girls

A third place finish for Briony Holt with some strong performances from her team mates keeping the U15 Girls’ Team in 1^st place.

Team Position 1^st (B Holt | M Stubbs | N Olszewska)

Pos	Name	Time
3	Briony Holt	11:17
12	Millie Stubbs	12:22
18	Natasha Olszewska	13:22
21	Liberty Thompson	13:51

U15 Boys

Nick Hennessey had a strong run and finished in 4^th place overall.

Team Position 5^th ( N Hennessey | S Grewal | A Stevenson)

Pos	Name	Time
4	Nick Hennessey	14:11
21	Stanley Grewal	15:28
24	Adam Stevenson	16:34

U17 Men

Simon Wilshaw was our first finisher in 16^th place closely followed by team mates Curtis Holt in 17^th and Reece Lawrence in 19^th.

Team Position 5^th (S Wilshaw | C Holt | R Lawrence)

Pos	Name	Time
16	Simon Wilshaw	21:54
17	Curtis Holt	21:58
19	Reece Lawrence	23:23

U20 Ladies

Bethany Quinn was our sole U20 lady and she finished in 4^th place.

Pos	Name	Time
4	Bethany Quinn	29:10

Ladies Race

Report from Ladies’ Captain Irene Roche

It must have been close to a record turnout for the ladies at Towneley Park Cross Country this weekend. With lots of regulars, some returners and a few new ladies.

First timers, Karen Clarkin, Geraldine Varley and Julia Taylor had positive comments at the finish. I think they said they will do another. Very well done girls.

A special mention goes to Donna Airey who sacrificed her BFC season ticket for event. An excellent run from Donna too, so glad you joined us to help with team points.

The course itself offered some mud to tussle with but I have certainly seen it worse. With the temperature being quite mild also, I think we had the luck to have a good day to take part.

Many thanks to all who ran.

Team Positions:

‘A’ Team 9^th (D Airey | E Mullan | C Darling-Smedley)

‘B’ Team 14^th (M Abbott | I Roche | T DeCurtis)

Over 35 Team 5^th (D Airey | C Darling-Smedley | M Abbott)

Over 45 Team 4^th (I Roche | J Bennett | J Knightley)

Over 55 Team 1^st ( I Roche | J Knightley | J Taylor)

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
33	Donna Airey	L35	25:27
35	Elizabeth Mullan	L35	25:30
37	Cassandra Darling-Smedley	L35	25:33
43	Michelle Abbott	L35	26:20
44	Irene Roche	L55	26:20
56	Teresa de Curtis	L45	27:08
60	Joanne Bennett	L45	27:17
62	Jean Knightley	L55	27:32
77	Bethany Quinn	L20	29:10
83	Lucy Scott	L	29:45
86	Janine Pollard	L45	29:51
88	Helen Burnett	L45	30:02
97	Sarah Helliwell	L	30:54
101	Jane Hylands	L45	31:13
113	Adrienne Olszewska	L45	32:24
119	Deborah Greenwood	L45	32:55
123	Julia Taylor	L55	33:28
129	Judith Carey	L35	34:11
130	Geraldine Varley	L55	34:57
132	Karen Clarkin	L45	35:13
137	Susan Allen	L55	37:32
142	Christine Leathley	L65	39:39
144	Sharon Wilson	L35	40:21

 Vet 70 Men

Richard Lawson was our only runner in the Vet 70 race.

Pos	Name	Time
3	Richard Lawson	31:57

Senior Men’s Race

Another great turn out for the Clayton men at this local fixture. Despite losing fast lad Danny Collinge during the race our men pushed on to earn a fourth place finish for the team. Jacob Watson was our first man in 39^th and 37:51.

Team Positions

‘A’ Team 4^th ( J Watson | D Motley | P Coates | C Snell | C Helliwell | M Duckworth)

‘B’ Team 18^th (A Holt | A Orr | A Cran | A Payne | J Wilcock | N Roscoe)

Over 40 Team 6^th (P Coates | C Helliwell | A Holt | A Orr)

Over 50 team 6^th (J Wilcock | A Life | A Howarth)

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
39	Jacob Watson	M	37:51
44	Dave Motley	M	38:37
53	Peter Coates	V40	39:05
55	Chris Snell	M	39:07
59	Carl Helliwell	V40	39:14
69	Matthew Duckworth	M	39:46
95	Andrew Holt	V40	41:15
105	Andrew Orr	V40	41:40
114	Alex Cran	V40	42:03
143	Andrew Payne	M	43:38
147	John Wilcock	V50	44:00
156	Nick Roscoe	V40	44:23
164	Andy Quinn	V40	44:52
174	Mick Hughes	V40	45:26
183	Alan Life	V50	46:22
194	Andrew Howarth	V50	47:35
197	James Hickie	V50	47:35
200	Sean Clare	V50	47:43
203	Craig Nicholls	V40	48:02
206	Colin White	V40	48:43
209	Christopher Lawrence	V50	48:56
210	Gary Moore	V40	49:10
212	Carl Carey	V40	49:16
213	David Scott	V70	49:20
225	David Moynihan	V40	51:14
230	Geoff Smith	V40	52:03
232	Peter Browning	V50	52:16
251	Stuart Barker	V50	61:13

Full Results

PETZL NIGHTRUNNER – RIVINGTON

The snow passed over Rivington a couple of days before race day and left Rivington NightRunner with a lovely, clear night and a little bit of the white stuff on the moor for added grip. With a huge moon lighting the way, Saturday night saw an impressive turnout of crazy runners celebrating the last NightRunner of this series and amongst them two Clayton Ladies. Photos of the event were provided by Sport Sunday.

Report from Julia Rushton

The Petzl Rivington night runner was listed as a trail race; this gave the impression that we would be running on relatively tame footpaths. Wrong! I’ve done easier fell races.

We started the race with a steep mile and a half climb on a rocky cobbled path that was tough on the legs as well as the lungs. We continued on rocky paths that needed total concentration to avoid falls. Running in the dark with a couple of hundred people wearing head torches looked fantastic over the hills and against the rising moon. The downward route took in a boggy field, a marshal warned us to watch out for the big hole before the bridge. I didn’t see the bridge until I’d fallen thigh deep into the hole, a cheery chorus of “she’s found the hole” went up around me as I was pulled out.

Back on the rocky paths to the finish Neri and I had decided to be sensible and came down at what John Roche would describe as tea and biscuits pace. 1300 feet of climb over 6miles on rough ground, back on tarmac and I tripped over a speed hump on the finish straight. Lovely tee shirt though and I will be tempted to be back again next year.

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
249	Nerina Gill	FV40	01:28:46.15
250	Julia Rushton	FV50	01:28:58.05

Full Results

SUNDAY 15 JANUARY

EAST LANCS HOSPICE 10K

Sixteen club members tramped the trails around Great Harwood and Rishton in this popular, fund raiser for the East Lancs Hospice. Danny Collinge won the race with Jon Cleaver taking 1^st M35, John Hartley 1^st M60 and Reece Lawrence 1^st MU18.

The men also took 1^st place in the team results with Danny Collinge, Jon Cleaver and John Hartley making up the team.

Five Clayton Ladies took part. Helen O’Rourke was our first finisher in 71st place.

Report from Jon Cleaver

Great turn out with over 400 runners on a wet and windy morning! This race is predominantly traffic free along the bridleways & canal with a bit of tarmac along the way.  It was never going to be a PB course with the conditions underfoot being more like an XC rather than road, but after a racing layoff due to injury after the Ribble Valley I wanted to give it a good go.

On the way out it was really boggy and full of puddles, but once your feet are soaked it doesn’t really matter anymore, about 2.5 miles in you have a slog up hill and around the recreation area before a fast descent back down and along the canal bank towards the finish. I had a couple of runners breathing down my neck for the last 2 miles and quite frustratingly got jumped 50 yards from the end which stopped me getting in the top 10.

Overall I ran a minute faster than last year and came 11th, considering the injury I have been carrying and lack of training in recent weeks I am pretty pleased with that. Well done Danny for taking the win!

Pos	Name	Cat	Cat Pos	Time
1	Danny Collinge	MU23	1	00:34:31
11	Jon Cleaver	M35	1	00:37:58
27	John Hartley	M60	1	00:41:03
36	Reece Lawrence	MU18	1	00:42:41
71	Helen O’Rourke	F	5	00:45:48
75	Robert Morrison	M40	11	00:45:51
86	Paul Wale	M45	17	00:47:01
87	Mick Hughes	M40	15	00:46:55
100	Donna Airey	W35	3	00:47:48
101	Colin White	M40	17	00:47:52
104	Christopher Lawrence	M50	9	00:48:13
120	Nina Kewin	W35	4	00:49:32
130	David Moynihan	M50	14	00:50:14
136	Ian Hargreaves	M50	15	00:51:04
251	Helen Harrison	W45	17	00:58:07
273	Clare Wilson	W35	13	00:59:34

Full Results

EAST LANCS HOSPICE JUNIOR RACE

A dozen junior runners lined up in a field of 44 to race at Great Harwood. Dexta won the race in 7:35 and there were age category wins for Lennon Jackson (MU16), Helana White (FU12), Amelia Halstead (FU10) and Charlie Plant (FU8). The girls took 2^nd place in the teams with the boys taking 1^st and 3^rd place in the teams.

Pos	Name	Cat	Cat Pos	Time
1	Dexta Thompson	MU12	1	07:35.0
5	Lennon Jackson	MU16	1	08:00.0
6	Matthew Jackson	MU12	2	08:11.0
7	Jenson Bentham	MU12	3	08:25.0
10	Aaron Lundie	MU16	2	08:31.0
11	Helana White	FU12	1	08:31.0
16	Liberty Thompson	FU16	5	09:16.0
18	Amelia Halstead	FU10	1	09:27.0
23	Claudia Bentham	FU16	6	09:39.0
24	Felix Thompson	MU8	2	10:34.0
25	Charlie Plant	FU8	1	10:53.0
34	Olly Plant	MU8	4	13:07.0

Full Results

LAMB’S LONGER LEG

Race Report from Andrew Firth

It’s a bit of a funny name, and I’m not sure why the Longer Leg, but since the race is based at the Lamb Inn, on the Chinley Road just out of Hayfield in the Peak District clearly that’s where the name comes from. It’s surprisingly quick to get to Hayfield from East Lancs, just under the hour on a Sunday morning when the notorious traffic through Mottram is quiet. It’s only a short race, just over 3 miles, but worth the effort with two climbs and two slippery descents, which in today’s weather was exceptionally wet and difficult underfoot.

It’s a low key race, doesn’t appear in FRA calendar and is also strictly pre entry so it’s tends to attract low numbers. If anyone fancies doing it in future years the entry details appear on Hayfield races website. The organiser only made an appearance at 10 o’clock, cutting it a bit fine for a 10.30 start. However the 70 or so runners lined up at the start only a few minutes late, most wearing waterproof tops.

I had a bit of a watch malfunction at the start, and by the time I sorted it out I was dead last as we trudged up the track. I buckled down to the task and slowly gained a few places, dodging really boggy patches as well as a surprising amount of remaining snowdrifts. At the top of the track you turn onto the track that eventually leads to Rushup Edge for a short period followed by a sharp left and quick slippery descent losing all the height we had gained. Traverse around the bottom of Dimpus Clough before a steep haul up to South Head, then the route virtually retraces the outward leg, except we go right to finish in the field next to the pub.

I was happy with performance having been last at the start. The only other Claytoner was Ivan Whigham who finished 32^nd. After the race myself Dinah, Ivan and Kirsty retired to the pub for a well-earned Sunday roast – both myself and Ivan felt compelled to have the lamb, but I’m not sure who got the long leg!

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
32	Ivan Whigham	M55	38:40
50	Andrew Firth	M55	42:28

Full Results

SOREEN STANBURY SPLASH

Seven Clayton Harriers splashed their way around this popular Woodentops’ fell race. Dave Bagot was our first finisher in 15^th place, followed only seconds later by Louisa Powell-Smith who won the ladies race and was 16^th overall.

It was also the first race for Wayne McIntosh since he returned to the club so a big welcome back to him.

Report from James Boult

From Penistone Hill Country Park, the start of many of Woodentops’ well-established fell races, began the 34^th Soreen Stanbury Splash fell race in typical January conditions. With a quarry already made boggy by a Junior Race beforehand, a couple of hundred fell runners assembled for the usual pre-run briefing from Dave Woodhead. Rain and wind, two weather conditions that seem to permanently occupy the surrounding areas over Penistone Hill, came in force making an already boggy course saturated in mud.

With many of the Clayton contingent racing the East Lancs Hospice 10K over in Great Harwood, I elected for a trip over the boarder to kick start my racing schedule for 2017. After enduring a torrid winter plagued by injury, the Woodentops’ races have helped get my motivation back after a frustrating few months of inconsistency. From a 2016 which saw forty minutes knocked off my half marathon times to end up at 1:33, ten minutes knocked off my 10K time to go down to 41 minutes and five minutes knocked off my 5K time to see an 18 minute personal best, the only discipline I was yet to see improvement in was fell; and the last two Woodentops’ races have helped me get confidence on an area which had been my downfall.

Starting from the quarry the course heads off along a steady and muddy towpath to one of the courses many descents and climbs. Heading along the footpath towards Bronte Bridge the course heads down right through a soft and muddy descent which ends at the Sladen Beck, an ice cold river which is crossed before a hands and knees job on the other side. Hitting the bridleway you head on up to what becomes the Pennine Way. This gradual climb ends in another sharp descent into Ponden Beck, another water crossing with another even steeper climb at the end of it. Ascending gradually and with burning quads, the lead runners could be spotted through the rain and mist as they flew across the tops back towards the Quarry. The route then heads on what would be a scenic loop around Ponden Clough and Kirk had it not been for a thick mist which limited visibility.

The footpath around the Clough is sharp and small, and with rain and mud it made it quite treacherous. What was visible through the fog was the daunting drop that one wrong movement could see you falling straight down into the unknown. The course then heads back to the quarry across a fast, muddy footpath before re-joining the Pennine Way and taking the course in reverse.

This muddy, wet course is the perfect start to a 2017 fell running season and is one which comes highly recommended for next year. A clearly popular race, the Stanbury Splash is a must for seasoned fell runners and a must for fell runners just starting out or wanting to boost confidence. Tough climbs, fun descents and plenty of mud, it is the perfect fell race for a cold January morning.

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
15	Dave Bagot	M	52:32
16	Louisa Powell-Smith	L	52:40
96	Alan Life	V50	61:51
140	Jeffrey Pickup	V60	65:42
183	Chris Whiteoak	M	70:14
186	James Boult	M	70:39
267	Wayne McIntosh	M	81:01

SOREEN STANBURY JUNIORS

Christopher Brown was our sole junior runner in the junior races and he finished in 13^th place. There were 104 runners in the main junior race so well done Christopher!

Pos	Name	Time
13	Christopher Brown	7:49

STAN BRADSHAW PENDLE ROUND RECCE DAYS

As reported in last week’s roundup, Colin Woolford who is the race organiser of the Stan Bradshaw Pendle Round is organising some recce days for club members and friends of the club. The first one was on Sunday so read on to find out what it entailed. If you are interested in the next recce it will take place on Sunday 12 February at 10:00am. Meet on Barley Car Park ( look for the Red VW Transporter) and bring running kit appropriate for the weather.

Recce Day Review by Ladies Fell Captain, Sarah Helliwell

After not running properly for over 6 weeks I decided that I needed a goal to get me back on track and miles back into my legs. I decided that the Stan Bradshaw would be the first aim of the year, so I decided to take up Colin’s kind offer of a recce. It was raining, the mist was down, you couldn’t see Pendle, however that didn’t stop 15 of us turning up at Barley. As we set off a number of us knew that the XC fixture the day before was going to make the run a little bit tougher for our legs.

The weather around the trig was blustery, very wet and visibility was poor. Perfect to practice the route in. As we made our way around the route, Colin pointed out bits of advice on how and where not to go wrong. He also gave us advice on how to use our map efficiently and what to do if we end up on our own and are unsure of where to go. If members are wanting a spring challenge of a slightly longer fell race in our local area then this is the one. It will certainly get you going for the summer fell season, where there are plenty of local races to take advantage of. You may even find yourself as a contender for the club championship, which are all local races this year using some classic courses.

Colin is doing another recce on the 12th February so look out for details on the Team Clayton Facebook page. Even if you are not planning on doing the Stan Bradshaw it is great experience with solid advice from a qualified mountain leader and fellow fell runner. A massive thank you to Colin for giving up his time and well done to all who ran; there was an excellent turn out on the female front. The encouragement to get people out on the fells this year is really apparent, with a good 20 plus regularly turning up at Barley Badgers on a Tuesday (6.30pm Pendle Inn, Barley).

PARKRUN ROUNDUP

Burnley parkrun – A total of 305 runners took part.

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
2	Jonathan PYE	18:31	SM25-29
10	Gareth BERRY	20:59	VM40-44
35	Daniel PLANT	23:09	SM30-34
45	Michelle ABBOTT	23:48	VW35-39
50	Robert MORRISON	24:05	VM40-44
52	Colin WHITE	24:09	VM40-44
64	Nina KEWIN	24:28	VW35-39
75	Julie DAWES	25:09	VW45-49
81	Wayne MCINTOSH	25:26	SM30-34
96	Lisa JOHNSON	26:08	VW40-44
98	Ian HARGREAVES	26:10	VM50-54
109	Annabel WILCOCK	26:39	JW15-17
110	John WILCOCK	26:43	VM50-54
123	Donna SCOTT	27:00	VW50-54

Burnley Junior parkrun – A total of 31 runners took part.

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
1	Nathan KEWIN	8:29	JM11-14
3	Heidi KEWIN	9:15	JW11-14
4	Bethany WHEATCROFT	9:23	JW11-14
21	Emily JOHNSON	13:19	JW10

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – A total of 167 runners took part.

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
39	Wendy DODDS	24:35	VW65-69

Highbury Fields parkrun – A total of 283 runners took part.

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
244	Eileen JONES	29:51	VW60-64	First Timer!

Lytham Hall parkrun – A total of 210 runners took part.

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
185	Philip NAYLOR	34:57	VM35-39

Pendle parkrun – A total of 75 runners took part.

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
3	Paul HESKETH	21:33	VM50-54
17	Martin BRADY	25:21	VM50-54
26	Barry MITCHELL	26:12	VM70-74
31	Dawn TERRY	27:33	VW50-54

Witton parkrun – A total of 75 runners took part.

Pos	parkrunner	Time	Age Cat	Note
73	Julia RUSHTON	48:13	VW50-54