Category Archive Seniors Fell

ByAdrienne Olszewska

Wadsworth Trog, Winter Warmer 10k and the rest of the week’s action

You’ve been trogging in Yorkshire, ripping along in Licolnshire, orienteering, cross country running and foggy winter road racing.  Vets, seniors, juniors and lots of new faces all getting stuck in and representing their club with gusto. Just another busy weekend for Team Clayton.

The Rauceby Ripper – Saturday 7 February

The  Rauceby Ripper is an 8½ ~ 9 mile (approximately) multi-terrain course, over trail, edges of fields and some road sections. Starting within the grounds of Rauceby Hall, Lincolnshire and finishing in South Rauceby near to the Village Hall. The route takes competitors over public and private land and through one of the most beautiful estates in the County.

Breton Holdsworth

Breton Holdsworth leading the way at the Rauceby Ripper

Breton Holdsworth was our sole representative at this event which he won. Again!  He said; “1st place at the Rauceby Ripper and kept my title. It was a slightly longer course this year.  Unbelievable mud in places very sticky and heavy. Brilliant, loved it, led from the start.”

Full Results

The Wadsworth Trog – Saturday 7 February

A classic,long route to start the season. 19.25 miles (31km) with a climb of 3650ft (1110m).  9 Harriers took part; 8 men and 1 lady.

Wadsworth Troggers

Nick Roscoe and John Wilcock at the Wadsworth Trog

Paul Hesketh was the first of our men, finishing in 21st position just over the 3 hour mark with a time of 3:03:10. Not far behind him were Andrew Armstrong and Martin Terry. Nicholas Olszewski came in at the 3:30 mark and the rest (Nigel Hodson, John Wilcock and Nicholas Roscoe) trogged in together a short while after. Our sole lady, Vicky Heys finished just over the 4 hour mark having valiantly helped coax her injured race buddy around the course.

Full Results

Lancashire Schools Cross Country Championships, Witton Park – Saturday 7 February

Our juniors continue to perform outstandingly, with many of our junior members representing Blackburn, Burnley, Hyndburn and Pendle School teams at the Lancashire Schools Cross Country Championships. It was near perfect conditions; sunny, no frost and not a sniff of wind.

Boys Events

Tom Bradley finished in 18th place in the Junior Boys race and was first counter in the 7th place Burnley team. Curtis Holt, Ryan Clark, and Alexander Townrow all ran in the Inter Boys race for Pendle, Burnley and Blackburn respectively. Curtis and Ryan both counters for their team places.

Girls Events

Our excellent U-13 girls team were out in force representing a cross section of East Lancashire teams in the Year 7, Junior and Inter Girls races.

In the Year 7 girls race, Millie Stubbs had a great run finishing in 10th place, Liberty Thompson finished 19th and Natasha Olszewska finished in 65th place.  Millie was second counter in the 2nd place Hyndburn team, and Liberty was first counter in the Burnley Team.  Well done girls!

Junior XC

Liberty Thompson representing Burnley Schools but still sporting her tangerine bow.

Fellow U-13 teammate, Briony Holt, was running in the Junior Girls race. She ran really well in a tough field finishing in 3rd place and first counter for the 7th place Pendle Team. Another fine performance from Briony.

Alice Pier finished in 14th place in the Senior Girls race but no team placing as there were not enough counters.

Results not yet available online.

PFO Spring Intro Series – Witton Park

Witton Park was the 3rd in the Pendle Forest Orienteers’ Intro Series. The wide open spaces of Witton made much of the navigation easy, except when delving into the surrounding woodland.  There were a range of courses on offer to suit everyone from complete beginners to experienced orienteers.

Three club members and one junior took part in this event.  Colin Woolford was 5th in the Green course.  In the Orange course, Junior member Christopher Brown was second and Adrienne Olszewska was third. Mark Nutter was first on the  tough Green Technical course.

Full Results

Next event is at Nick O’Pendle on 28th February.

King Henry VIII Cross Country – 4 February

Ellie Root ran in the King Henry VIII’s XC in Coventry which is a national event where schools enter a team of four girls or six boys to complete a 2.3-mile relay course. 504 girls and boys took part. In her team of 4 Ellie, who was one of the youngest competitors in the field, ran the 1st leg and secured the fastest team time of 16.06 over 3.6k. It was a muddy, undulating course-spikes not allowed but Ellie enjoyed the experience and put all her Clayton training to good use.

Well done Ellie

Winter Warmer 10K – Sunday 8 February

The Winter Warmer 10K is a scenic course which starts and finishes on the athletics track at Witton Park and takes in the stunning scenery over Pleasington. However, the stunning scenery wasn’t much in evidence on the day due to thick fog throughout the morning making it more of a February Fogger!  This was no deterrent to our hardy club members of course, and there was a fabulous turnout of 46 members at this event ranging in ages from 5 years old to over 70!  31 members took part in the 10K and 15 juniors took part in the 2k.

This race is the first race in our annual club road championship so it was great to see so many faces new and old getting stuck in.

Junior Race

We had a good turnout of juniors for this race with some of them having taken part in the Lancashire Schools Cross Country the day before. There were 239 runners overall. We had 5 top twenty finishers and some fine performances.

Clayton Juniors

Jackson McKay first Clayton Junior and first in his age group

Jackson McKay had a great race finishing in 8th place and first in his age category. Liberty Thompson was first finisher in her age group closely followed by Natasha Olszewska.

Clayton Juniors

L-R Natasha Olszewska, Keira Stevenson, Liberty Thompson and Lucy Stevenson

Team Stevenson were out in force and all four of them beat their times from last year’s race.  “Fast” Alice Pier was our first girl home, third girl finisher in the race and thirteenth finisher overall in the race. Sophie Ashcroft put in a fantastic run finishing sixth girl and nineteenth overall.  Imogen Ferguson ran her first race for the club and had a great time. Let’s hope it’s the first of many.

Clayton Juniors

New Junior Member Imogen Ferguson in her first club race.

There were solid performances from Dexta Thompson, Joshua McKay, Kady Thompson and Millie MacCabe. Another well done to our youngest member in the race, Emily Johnson, for an excellent first race – she put in a very assured performance for her age.

Clayton Juniors

Youngest Clayton Junior, Emily Johnson, encouraged by junior coach (and grandma) Marion Wilkinson

Pos Name Cat Time
8 Jackson McKay M10 07:36
13 Alice Pier F14 08:06
16 Dexta Thompson M9 08:15
19 Sophie Ashworth F11 08:33
20 Adam Stevenson M12 08:34
29 Liberty Tompson F12 09:09
35 Natasha Olszewska F12 09:31
46 Imogen Ferguson F9 10:02
48 Joshua McKay M7 10:07
54 Keira Stevenson F10 10:18
63 Lucy Stevenson F13 10:48
98 Rachel Stephenson F8 11:52
145 Kady Thompson F8 13:05
158 Millie MacCabe F8 13:35
222 Emily Johnson F5 16:01

Full Junior Results 

Senior 10K Race 

Winter Warmer

Youngest Harrier Ryan Clarke alongside oldest Harrier David Scott. Martin Brady and Andy Quinn also visible

Four of our junior members were able to take part in the senior race; Jordan McDonald, George Pier, Ryan Clarke and Bethany Quinn. All four of them put in fantastic performances; a top twenty finish for Jordan and good times for George and Ryan. Bethany said, “Really enjoyed the course and a great atmosphere all the way around. Surprised myself and ran better than anticipated for my first 10k. I’m sure there will be more to come!”

There were also some good results for our vet runners.1st F55 for Irene Roche, 1st M70 for David Scott , 2nd M55 for John Hartley, 2nd M60 for Stephen Biscomb, 3rd F45 for Nerina Gill, 3rd F50 for Julia Rushton.

Road Captain, Tom Brewster, had a great race finishing in fifth place and Jacob Watson wasn’t far behind him finishing in 9th place.

Tom Brewster

Road Captain Tom Brewster at the start of the Winter Warmer 10k

Tom Brewster’s Report

“With the Blackburn Winter Warmer being the first fixture in the club’s Road Championship I felt this would be a fitting “comeback” race after spending 7 months away from competitive racing due to injury – as road captain I was pleased to see a healthy number of road enthusiasts turn out despite the chilly conditions; 31 Clayton Harriers in total with the Women outnumbering Men 18 to 13!

After a steady warm-up I joined the 477 other runners on the start line in the freezing fog, willing the clock to count down to the race start quicker so we could head off and attempt to generate some heat! Just after 11am we were off, starting with two laps round the Witton Park track and then out onto the road, facing the monster first climb I tried to think less about the runners I was passing and more about my pacing to make sure I had something to keep me going on the long slog after the hill.

As the terrain levelled off I was surprised to find myself battling for 5th place, after such a long period of injury I wasn’t expecting to be anywhere near the front of the pack so dug deep and resolved not to allow the chasing pack, including Trawden AC’s “Quick Nick” Gaskell to get too close.

All the way on top of the course I had a fantastic to-and-fro battle, regularly switching places with Lee Parrington (unattached) and on the run along the river he had just managed to edge me by 10 seconds or so; with him still within reach as we came into the park itself I steeled myself, feeling strong and given some words of encouragement by Garry Wilkinson was able to pull out a sprint finish, claim back 5th place in 35:33 which left me very happy with my result and with what hopefully is a return to form.

Making my way back to the entrance of the running track to cheer on the incoming runners I realised the freezing fog had still not abated, stood there in just a vest and shorts made me envious of those sporting the newest Club fashion item, colour co-ordinated hats!

Overall a fantastic event, brilliant to see so many Clayton Harriers out at a local race and to see so many reaping the benefits of a hard winter of training

Nat Harrison was the first Clayton Lady, finishing in 127th place and 8th lady overall in the race. Well done Nat, great to see you recovered from injury and flying round! Here’s her report:

“So the 10k winter warmer began twice round Witton park athletics track followed by the steepest incline that seemed never ending up Buncer Lane. The fog kept a chill in the air as the country lanes seemed to level out. Runners seemed to speed up at this point and lots of descents meant it was all about speed! One more incline around mile four seemed to slow people down before a trail run back through the park. Footballers, dog walkers and cyclists cheered us on as the 400metre sign came into sight. One final spurt along a quarter of the race track saw the race to close. And thank goodness !”

Nat Harrison

Natalie Harrison sprinting towards the finish

We had a number of ladies running in the Clayton Vest for the first time today and here’s what some of them had to say:

Clayton Ladies

Resplendent Clayton Ladies. L-R Sarah Angelone, Adrienne Olszewska, Natalie Harrison, Michelle Butschok, Helen Burnett, Amanda Duffy, Rachel Todd and Leanne Cottam

Sharon Wilson – “I fell over, thought I wouldn’t be able to carry on but I did it and even managed to overtake the people that overtook me –  best feeling ever. It was my first Race as a Clayton-le-Moors Harrier and it felt great being part of a team. Couldn’t be in a better team, thanks for all the support.”

Leanne Cottam – “It was a very challenging course  and I was nearly sick a couple of times on them hills. But, it was a great atmosphere and I loved everyone shouting “Come on Clayton”. I am  enjoying being part of a great team. xxx”

Nerina Gill – “Great race today! Wasn’t sure about running in freezing fog in a vest and shorts, but was glad I did, cos my buff came off as I left the track! Third time doing the Winter Warmer, but first race as a Clayton Harrier. It was my best time on this course by over three minutes, and only my second 10k under 50, so I was very happy with that. All thanks to Julia Rushton pushing me all the way”

Stephanie Hawke – ” Great atmosphere, enthusiastic race marshals,  gruelling hills, and loads of “Come on Clayton” encouragement. Finished to samba beats with frost in my hair. PB to boot!”

Pos    Forename    Surname    Cat    ChipTime   
5 Thomas Brewster MS 00:35:32
9 Jake Watson MS 00:36:53
16 Jordan McDonald MJ 00:38:33
30 George Pier MJ 00:40:16
31 John Hartley M55 00:40:20
53 Ryan Clarke MJ 00:42:18
64 Chris Funnell M45 00:43:06
68 Andy Bradley M45 00:43:10
78 Stephen Biscomb M60 00:43:51
97 Andy Quinn M40 00:45:07
127 Natalie Harrison FS 00:46:40
146 Martin Brady M50 00:47:45
149 Irene Roche F55 00:47:47
166 David Scott M70 00:48:43
175 Sarah Angelone FS 00:48:47
196 Julia Rushton F50 00:49:47
197 Nerina Gill F45 00:49:49
206 Amanda Duffy F35 00:50:48
225 Bryan Searby M40 00:51:59
226 Tanya Bunkham FS 00:51:40
235 Stephanie Hawke F35 00:52:34
247 Bethany Quinn FJ 00:53:23
251 Helen Burnett F40 00:53:30
255 Jackie Kershaw F40 00:53:34
261 Leanne Cottam FS 00:54:08
270 Rachel Todd F40 00:54:46
275 Elouise Sylkie Pemberton FS 00:54:52
294 Adrienne Olszewska F45 00:56:09
310 Michelle Butschok F40 00:56:52
375 Nicola Kay FS 01:01:48
455 Sharon Wilson F35 01:13:20

Parkrun roundup

Well done to all of our parkrunners this weekend. A paced event at Burnley led to a number of PBs for our club members. Congratulations to Jonathon Pye for a first place as well as a new PB. Congratulations to Richard Stevenson who also earned a first place and PB at the Pendle parkrun.

Bolton parkrun – a total of 335 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
335 Julia RUSHTON 00:47:50 Sweeper

Burnley parkrun a total of 197 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
1 Jonathan PYE 00:17:45 New   PB!
12 Susan BURNS 00:20:06 New PB!
14 Stephen AINSWORTH 00:20:28 New PB!
26 Alan CLARKSON 00:21:42
31 Kieron MITCHELL 00:22:01
33 Andy QUINN 00:22:15
47 Martin BRADY 00:22:59
60 Simon WILSHAW 00:23:48
69 Andrew TAYLOR 00:24:39 New PB!
71 Richard LAWSON 00:24:42
91 Lennon JACKSON 00:26:06 First Timer!
94 Sophie ASHWORTH 00:26:16
97 Ron CHAPPELL 00:26:38
100 Robert HIRST 00:26:44
114 Julie TOMAN 00:27:42
124 Stuart BARKER 00:28:51
145 Elouise Sylkie PEMBERTON 00:30:47
185 Valerie LAWSON 00:39:34

Pendle parkrun – a total of 47 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
1 Richard STEVENSON 00:20:06 New PB!
2 John HARTLEY 00:20:48
29 Christine Jennifer EGERTON 00:30:35
37 Christine LEATHLEY 00:33:42

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – a total of 139 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
91 Eileen JONES 00:30:43

Club Road Championship

Well done to everyone who took part in the Winter Warmer 10K.  This was the first race of our Club Road Championship and the standings have been updated accordingly.

Road Championship Standings

Coming up

Mid Lancs Cross Country Fixtures

There are just two Mid Lancs XC races to go and we are hoping for an “all out” presence at both venues. Particularly for Blackpool,  as it’s the last available XC if members have chosen to support the fell champs at the time of the Lancaster race. The ladies team behind us are only one point shy to catch up so it’s vital we rally up support from club members to take part in any the remaining races and help us gain promotion to division one.

It’s not too late to join in and run for your club! You can contact Our Cross Country Captain, Irene Roche, for more information.

Information about the remaining fixtures can be found in the link below.

Mid Lancs XC Information

Tangerine Training Night – Tuesday 24th February 6.30pm

The future’s bright at Clayton Le Moors Harriers and to celebrate the plan is to turn up wearing a tangerine hoodie or something similar in bright orange. It would also be a fantastic milestone to break the attendance record set at 60 people.

Training Event

Tangerine Training Night Flyer

Club Presentation Night – 21st March

Don’t forget to get yourself a ticket to the hottest awards night of the year. Our annual presentation night will definitely be THE place to be.

Tickets are available now from Marie Greenwood 01254 237485 or email  mgreenwood1969@outlook.com

Clayton-Do-2015

ByAdrienne Olszewska

It’s oh so quiet

It’s oh so quiet, it oh so still. You’re all alone, and so peaceful until… you dig a bit deeper and find that, as always, our members are out and about! This weekend may have been short on events but you still managed to take part in some fell racing, some orienteering, some parkrunning, learning navigational skills, and quite a bit of reccying and training for upcoming events, such as the Winter Warmer 10K, the Fellsman and the Haworth Hobble. You are a busy bunch!

Pendle Forest Orienteers – Spring Series

Billington Woods and Sunnybank – Saturday 31st January

The weather turned out to be far better than predicted, with no fresh snow, no icy roads and temperatures above forecast, which rendered all areas very wet and boggy. This is quite a small area (on average 500m x 1.5k), though steep in places, so legs were short with much doubling back to achieve length. By all accounts everyone enjoyed the challenge, especially competitors on the Technical course (brown, blue and selected black features) who lamented the lack of paths and green features.  Some interesting mistakes were reported.

One leg 12 to 13 on Technical was a stinker!  Competitors were confronted with a steep uphill leg through a tightly packed gorse thicket of unknown extent.

Three of our club members took part. Junior member Christopher Brown took part in the Orange course finishing in 7th place overall in a mix of junior and senior orienteers. Colin Woolford came second in the light green course in a time of 62:28. Mark Nutter was 7th in the technical course. Well done to everyone that took part.

Full Results

Birkrigg Common Fell Races – Sunday 1st February

Birkrigg Common, nr Ulverston.  This race is one for the speed merchants. It’s short, firm under foot and relatively flat. The race starts with a stampede across the common and a brief, runnable climb up to the prehistoric stone circle on top of the hill. A gradual descent gives you the chance to increase your stride length and feel the wind in your hair. Then it’s the long haul back up to the top and back down again, around, over the top, and the finish is in sight. Watch out for some epic battles on the descent. A real treat for spectators here with spectacular views across Morecambe Bay.

We are awaiting results for this race but I understand that junior members Briony and Curtis Holt both took part in the junior races. Curtis finished in 6th or 7th place in the U-17s and Briony came 2nd in the U-14s race. They report good weather conditions, if a bit chilly at times.

Wendy Dodds and Jean Brown took part in the seniors race.

Results to follow

Club competitions

Cross Country Palladium

In the Cross Country Palladium Competition members receive points for competing in any cross country race held in the UK in the period 1st September 2014 to 7th March 2015.

Vicky Heys is currently leading the ladies competition.  Will she retain the lead? It’s all still to run for with Angela Shian and Sarah Helliwell not too far behind!

Carl Helliwell has a comfortable lead in the mens competition after putting in great performances at 9 events. Will he keep this advantage ahead over the remaining fixtures?

Current Standings are Here

Senior Runner of the Month

Congratulations to John Hartley for his great category win at the Ribble Valley 10K.
John wins a free treatment at Physiofusion.

Parkrun roundup

Well done to all of our parkrunners. One or two PBs and some top ten finishes for our members this week.

Bolton parkrun – A total of 268 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
71 Julia RUSHTON 00:24:50

Burnley parkrun – A total of 172 runners took part.

Spanning the generations, Emily Johnson (age 5) helping the older Clayton Harrier  get the miles in for the 10k Winter Warmer at Burnley parkrun

Spanning the generations, Emily Johnson (age 5) helping the older Clayton Harrier get the miles in for the 10k Winter Warmer at Burnley parkrun

Position parkrunner Run Time
3 Jonathan PYE 00:18:17
4 Jacob WATSON 00:18:33
9 Sean CLARE 00:20:07
17 Stephen AINSWORTH 00:21:27
19 John WILCOCK 00:21:39
43 Angela SHIAN 00:24:11
46 Dawn TERRY 00:24:24
67 Donna SCOTT 00:26:01
72 Robert HIRST 00:26:30
88 Elouise Sylkie PEMBERTON 00:27:27
93 Ron CHAPPELL 00:27:58
101 Keira STEVENSON 00:28:22
102 Julie TOMAN 00:28:26
114 Lucy STEVENSON 00:29:31
126 Stuart BARKER 00:31:19
134 Rachel STEVENSON 00:32:34
148 Adam STEVENSON 00:36:09

Pendle parkrun – A total of 63 runners took part.

Position Parkrunner Run Time
2 John HARTLEY 00:22:04
7 Susan BURNS 00:22:50
19 Barry MITCHELL 00:25:28
23 Martin BRADY 00:26:23
56 Christine LEATHLEY 00:36:33

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – A total of 135 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
93 Eileen JONES 00:31:35

Your Club Needs You!

Mid Lancs Cross Country

Calling all Ladies and Men! To secure promotion from Division 2 for both our Senior Ladies and Senior Men’s teams we need you at Blackpool Mid Lancs XC on Saturday 14th February!!

The Senior Ladies are currently 2nd with 3rd placed Lytham just one point behind. In the Senior Men’s Division 2 Blackburn are likely to achieve 1st overall, so we need to make sure of 2nd.

Only the top two teams in each division get promoted. The best four fixtures count, and as the last Mid Lancs on 7th March is on the same day as Flower Scar we need to get our promotions in the bag at Blackpool!

Volunteering

Do you know that Clayton Harriers will organise at least 10 running events this year, including the British Hill and Fell Relay Championships? Our Race Promotions Coordinator, Mike Eddleston, is appealling for all Clayton members to ease the pressure on our race organisers by committing to help at a minimum of one club event per year.

If you are interested, take a look at this months Newsletter for details of how to go about volunteering.

DOnt’t Forget 

To get your tckets for the event of the year, our club Presentation Night, on 21st March

Tickets are available now from Marie Greenwood 01254 237485 or email  mgreenwood1969@outlook.com

ByPeter Booth

February Newsletter

Do you know that Clayton Harriers will organise at least 10 running events this year, including the UK Hill and Fell Relays? The major feature of this month’s edition is an appeal from our Race Promotions Coordinator, Mike Eddleston for all Clayton members to ease the pressure on our race organisers by committing to help at a minimum of one club event per year. In addition to all the usual features, there is an account of a ‘wrinkly’ outing and a picture quiz. Download your copy here. February Newsletter 2015

Clayton Juniors

Our unstoppable U-13 girls. L-R Ellie Root, Liberty Thompson, Millie Stubbs, Briony Holt

ByAdrienne Olszewska

Blake’s Heaven, That’s Lyth and the East Lancs Hospice 10k

Sad News

Sadly, two long-standing club members have passed away recently.

John Amos
Richard Lawson writes;  our members will be sad to hear of the death of John Amos in Pendleside Hospice. Born in Gt Baddow in Essex in 1938, John saw the light and came north working as an administrator in DHSS centres in Lancashire and Yorkshire. John joined Clayton-le-Moors Harriers in 1978 in time for the cross country season. He competed regularly in all disciplines to a high standard until 2007 and was a member of the M60 team competing at Tredegar House nr Newport in the national vets’ relays. He came with us to the Guernsey Easter Runs in 2007 completing the four races in four days.

John Amos 1

John Amos 1938 – 2015

You couldn’t get a nicer guy. John faced his illness with the utmost bravery and cheerfulness and still attended club events both athletic and social He was a valued member of our Wrinkly group and will be missed by us all. He has had the loving support of his wife, Sonya, and two children, Joanne and Melvyn and their families, and our thoughts are with them.

John’s funeral is at 11am on Thursday 29th January at Skipton Crematorium

Tom Targett
Members will also be saddened to hear that another of our members, Tom Targett, has also passed away.

Tom’s funeral is at 10.30am on Tuesday 27th January at St Joseph’s Church, Accrington

Blake’s Heaven – Saturday 24th January

Fell Captain, Dave Motley, took part in the Blake’s Heaven fell race. The race distance is 7.05Km (4.4m) with 446m (1,463ft) of ascent.

He reported;

This race starts in the little village of Lamplugh which is situated in the Northern Lake District. With the 2.5hr drive in mind we decided to make a weekend of it and visited relatives in Cockermouth. I arrived in Lamplugh with 30mins to register and warm up, and then we were off. A quick start over a field then straight onto forestry tracks and the start of a long gradual climb to checkpoint 1. If I’m honest I found the climb tough with the recent Coach Roche speed sessions still in my legs and I got to checkpoint 1 just outside the top 10.

Dave Motley

Fell Captain Dave Motley at the Blake’s Heaven Fell Race. Picture by www.granddayoutphotography.co.uk

As soon as the climb had finished, we were straight onto a steep grassy climb to the summit of Blake Fell which was concealed in the mist, quickly around the marshalled pile of stones and then off the summit. This is where things changed for me as I had lost the group of runners in front and found myself alone and not knowing the route. I made the decision to jump straight over the nearest stile and I headed down the fell only to find I’d taken the wrong route and taken another 2 runners with me. We quickly realised the error of our ways when we noticed a line of runners 300-400m to the left of us. Back on track and onto the long run off Blake Fell back to the finish. I think I managed Top 20 but I am waiting for full results. I thought this was a cracking little race and I’ll be returning for more in 2016, next time checking the map and making sure I go the right way.

Awaiting full results

East Lancashire Hospice 10k – Sunday 25th January

Junior Race

The formidable “Team Stevenson” aka Keira, Adam, Rachel and Lucy, took part in the 1K event and made the pages of the local press to boot. Well done to all of them.

Clayton Juniors

The Formidable “Team Stevenson” at the East Lancs Hospice 1K race

Senior Race

Postponed after a weekend of extreme weather, the East Lancs Hospice 10k was blessed with much better conditions. Dry, cool and no wind; a recipe for success and PBs if ever there was one.

15 members including new members Elouise Pemberton, Clare Whittaker, Deborah Greenwood and Stephanie Hawke got stuck in and all came in under the hour. Well done in particular to Elouise and Clare for achieving new personal best times.

Elouise Pemberton

First timer Elouise Pemberton at the East Lancashire Hospice 10k

Jacob Watson ran in the front pack throughout the race, finishing in 3rd place overall and 1st Clayton counter. Well done Jacob. There were top twenty finishes for Carl Helliwell, John Hartley and David Naughton and not far behind were John Roche and Richard Briscoe. David Scott was first V70.

Jacob Watson

Jacob Watson who finished 3rd at the East Lancs Hospice 10k

Irene Roche was the first Clayton lady home finishing in 71st place with a time of 46:31 and was also the first F55. Our new ladies all ran well and look likely to continue improving. Well done to all of you.

Irene Roche

Irene Roche, 1st Clayton Lady and 1st F55 at the East Lancs Hospice 10K

Pos    Name    Cat    CatPos    Time 
3 Jacob Watson M (002/070) 00:36:54
12 Carl Helliwell M (006/070) 00:39:17
13 John Hartley M55 (002/018) 00:39:25
19 David Naughton M50 (002/017) 00:40:54
22 John Roche M55 (003/018) 00:40:59
26 Richard Briscoe M (012/070) 00:41:35
71 Irene Roche F55 (001/005) 00:46:31
81 David Scott M70 (001/001) 00:47:31
106 Clare Wilson F35 (005/032) 00:49:36
123 Amanda Duffy F35 (011/032) 00:51:35
136 Stephanie Hawke F35 (012/032) 00:52:43
141 Sarah Helliwell F (008/034) 00:53:05
165 Elouise S Pemberton F (009/034) 00:55:03
215 Deborah Greenwood F45 (016/032) 00:59:18
221 Nicola Kay F (017/034) 00:59:50

Full Results

Northern Cross Country Championships – 25th January

Four club members travelled to Pontefract to take part in the Northern Athletics Cross Country Championships

 Mens Results

Pos Time Forename Surname
430 00:52:45 Richard Briscoe
605 01:00:20 Peter Browning

 Ladies Results

Pos Time Forename Surname
338 0:56:03 Susan Allen
339 0:56:21 Christine Leathley

Full Results 

Ashurst Beacon Fell Race – Saturday 24th January

This is a 6 mile race with 950 feet of ascent. Four of our members took part: David Scott, George Thompson, Robert Hirst & John Francis. Well done gents!

Pos Name Category Time
111 David Scott M70 00:53:37
134 George Thompson M60 00:57:40
153 Robert Hirst M60 01:01:22
170 John Francis M70 01:14:23

Full Results

That’s Lyth – Saturday 24th January

That’s Lyth is a challenge event organised by the Lakeland Long Distance Walkers Group. Many LDWA challenge events are popular with runners. This event is described as is a superb winter event, encircling the Lyth Valley and visiting Scout Scar, Cunswick Scar and Whitbarrow Scar. The route is 23 Miles with an ascent of 3200 feet.

A select group of our members took part, including; Martin Terry, Nigel Hodson, Wendy Dodds, Katy Thompson.

The weather took a turn for the worse towards the end, so well done to all who took part.

Results yet to be published

Welcome Tavern 10k – Sunday 25th January 

Awaiting results

Tempo 10k Series – Sunday 25th January

Martin Brady was our sole representative at this Stratford-upon-Avon event and he reports;

I did this race today thinking it would be an easy jog. It ended up being quite a tough slog. The winner normally does between 36 and 37 minutes. This shows it is not flat. It is a series of races called the Tempo Winter 10k in Ilmington Warwickshire. If you are ever in the area when one of these races is being staged have a go – it’s a good tester smile emoticon I measured it as closer to 6.5 miles than 10k.

Full Results

parkrun roundup

Well done to all of our parkrunners. This week saw top ten finishes for our members at the Burnley and Pendle parkruns. There were also 3 New PBs; well done to Wendy Dodds, Stephen Ainsworth and Adam Stevenson.

Leamington parkrun – A total of 407 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
128 Martin BRADY 00:24:03

Bolton parkrun – A total of 333 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
80 Julia RUSHTON 00:24:32
95 Katy THOMPSON 00:25:08

Burnley parkrun – A total of 183 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
2 Tom BREWSTER 00:17:44
3 Jonathan PYE 00:18:15
10 Stephen AINSWORTH 00:20:45
21 Alan CLARKSON 00:22:28
24 Adam STEVENSON 00:22:41
44 Jacob WATSON 00:24:01
66 Richard LAWSON 00:25:17
83 Yvonne WICKHAM 00:26:41
90 Annabel WILCOCK 00:27:23
91 John WILCOCK 00:27:25
100 Ron CHAPPELL 00:28:11
103 Elouise Sylkie PEMBERTON 00:28:33
104 Julie TOMAN 00:28:37
108 Lucy STEVENSON 00:28:49
145 Keira STEVENSON 00:33:31
146 Rachel STEVENSON 00:33:34

Pendle parkrun – A total of 37 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
2 John HARTLEY 00:21:55
19 Dawn TERRY 00:28:57
29 Molly HESKETH 00:32:32

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – A total of 114 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
41 Wendy DODDS 00:24:19
114 Eileen JONES 00:46:06

Coming up

Entries for the Winter Warmer 10k in Blackburn are filling up fast.  This is the first race  in the club road championships so let’s have a good turn out.  There are also prizes for the 1st Men & Ladies team (4 counters). Lets go get them guys n gals! Don’t miss out if you want to race

Full Details and Online Booking

And finally…

It’s coming soon, the glitziest, most entertaining awards ceremony of the year. I am, of course, talking about the Clayton-le-Moors Harriers Presentation Evening. It will be held in the 1882 Lounge, at Burnley Football Club on Saturday 21st March. For the first time, there will be junior awards so it would be great to have a full house. Tickets are £13.00 for adults and £5.00 for under 18’s. This includes a hot buffet supper and live music from the Space Bats.

Clayton-Do-2015

Tickets are available now from Marie Greenwood 01254 237485 or email mgreenwood1969@outlook.com

Alternatively, keep an eye out for chairman, James Hickie at the Tuesday Training session. Tickets are also available at the juniors’ Thursday session. Please ensure you have either a cheque or the exact amount to hand.

ByDave Motley

I’m dreaming of a white………….

Christmas passed with not a sight of the white stuff and then the skies opened this weekend, which in the end caused a little disruption to the racing.

A number of races were cancelled or postponed this weekend including the Podium 5k which attracts a super quick field at its monthly event in Barrowford and the East Lancs Hospice 10k from Great Harwood, this race has been re-arranged for Sunday 25th January.

But there were races that defied the weather with Clayton Harriers as usual out in force. The first race of the weekend the Hebden 22 had a number of our members competing, although technically not a race the popular LDWA event attracts runners from all over the local area with promises of a fantastic route, great organisation and I think your weight in cake, sandwiches and other goodies. In total 156 runners took part in this event with the following members finishing:

30. Paul Hesketh 3:57

34. Neil Hardiman 3:58

94. Wendy Dodds 5:11

141. Adrienne Olszewska 6:32

H22

(L-R – Neil Hardiman & Paul Hesketh)

Sunday Morning came and the prospect of Stanbury Splash, the first Fell club championship race of the year. With the adverse weather conditions and the race organiser making the decision to both shorten the course and announcing that the approach roads to Penistone Quarry were in a poor condition a late announcement was made by club captains myself and Jean Brown to cancel this as a club championship race. This decision was not taken lightly, however we felt the safety of our members was paramount and we did not want anybody to feel they had to drive in those conditions just to get a club championship counter. My apologies again for such a late announcement as I know a number of individuals had already set off to the race and talking of those individuals John Hanson sends this report.

Stanbury Splash…………..

Race day again and my 2nd fell race since I’ve joined the club. Build up to this race was a little different and everyone’s eyes were on the weather. Personally I’d googled the race ( as every proper geek would) and was so impressed by the look of it that I was doing the race whatever the weather, once my mind is set on something I’m doing it.

The morning of the race came and it had been changed to a shorter 5 mile course, it didn’t matter as I was looking forward to it, so off we go.

On the way over I saw a few club members making their way over and I was glad that I’m not the only one. Sanity check not needed for today.

On arrival the land is covered in snow and the views are amazing, really gave me the buzz for being there and wanting to race. Time to register and have a quick warm up before its time to get to the line. Just before 11:30 we all gather at the bottom of the quarry and get ready to start, I’m stood with Dave Bagot and John Roche. I’m enjoying the atmosphere and also looking forward to getting going just to warm up a little.

Race starts and we are off to a 1 mile climb, fairly boggy but a steady easy climb. I was unfortunate to get stuck behind people on the climb but I kept managing to find a place to overtake as we got further up the hill.

JH1

(John Hanson above in the red jacket)

Race continues to get even boggier and one minute you’re on your legs, the next your down to your knees in mud and just about staying upright. Tough going but great fun and let’s face it we all love getting muddy on a fell run. About 2 and half miles in Dave Bagot is still in sight and I feel strong, I just keep pushing through, tapping up the hills and overtaking as often as I can. Then the downhill comes. We all start flying down and people are hitting the deck left right and centre, including myself. We make it to the bottom and then a slight climb up and I manage to overtake a few more on a good section where I could pick some speed up down to the road crossing, we make it past the road but I can’t just get in front of the next guy and before I know it we are at the finish line.

A fantastic race which had me smiling all day.

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(Still smiling……..L-R Natalie Harrison, Vicky Heyes, Angela Shian)

31. Dave Bagot 40:34

59. Jon Hanson 42:43

97. John Roche 44:54

99. Chris Funnell 44:57

110.John Wilcock 45:27

140. Richard Briscoe 47:16

144. Vicky Heys 47:24

171. Angela Shian 49:26

176. Natalie Harrison 49:42

251. Katie Thompson 55:02

277.Kath Brady 57:05

Full results here

 

At Giggleswick in the Kendal Winter League series we had another fantastic junior performance from Briony Holt who battled in tough conditions to win the girls race.

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(Briony Holt)

In the senior race we had great performances from…….

22. Alan Life 28:01 (1st V50)

112. Carol Life 36:42

118. Wendy Dodds 37:13 (1st LV60)

132. Stephen Fish 38:34

 

At the Inskip 1/2 Marathon Michael Hogan said “I think I was the only clayton vest at the Inskip 1/2 marathon this morning, chuffing chilly and icy in places but a really good morning out. Here comes Marathon Training – Happy Days”

Full results are not out yet but I will update asap.

and finally Parkrun – I’m not going to do the usual World Update because I don’t know (Adrienne will be back next week) 🙂 but as usual we had members out in force at both Burnley & Pendle (and im sure uk wide).

and the only other thing is a reminder about the ‘Club do’ or Annual Presentation evening.

Clayton-Do-2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ByAdrienne Olszewska

There’s no place like home, XC at Towneley and the rest of the week’s action

And the wind did howl, and the wind did moan… but it still doesn’t deter Clayton-le-Moors Harriers.  We are a hardy bunch and a bit of a breeze and a nip in the air isn’t going to get our way! Out in force at the cross country in Towneley park, up on the fells, pounding the roads, and parkrunning in nasty conditions. You just can’t keep a Harrier down.

Mid-Lancs Cross Country – Towneley

This was home turf for many of our members especially the juniors who run here most Saturdays so it was an excellent turnout and event for them. There were a few first-timers for the seniors running in this event so well done to them and we hope it is the first of many!

Junior Race Report – from Andy Armstrong

A blustery cold day greeted our junior runners on Saturday for the latest round of the Mid Lancs XC Series. Despite the weather we had an excellent turnout with 27 young athletes braving the conditions.

Our under 13 girls secured first team place and our under 15 boys grabbed the second team position. We don’t really like to single runners out as they all did superbly just to turn out & run in the conditions but a special mention has to go to Jackson who, having finished his race, continued running through the finish funnel and back onto the field to run in with his younger brother Josh (in his first XC competition).

I also have to mention a gutsy performance from Lucy Stevenson in the under 15 girls race. It’s not easy for an adult to finish at the back of the field, it’s even harder for a teenager; Lucy continues to turn up & train hard and the results will come.

Clayton Juniors

Gutsy runner Lucy Stephenson

U-11 Girls
Our under 11 girls turned out in force and there were top ten finishes for both Ella Dorrington and Sophie Ashworth who was running her first cross country race. Well done to our youngest girls who put in some solid performances in tough conditions.

Positon Name Time
6 Ella Dorrington 8:13
7 Sophie Ashworth 8:14
30 Keira Stevenson 9:03
31 Roanna Holdsworth 9:04
37 Grace Root 9:26
43 Kady Thompson 10:02
53 Rachel Stevenson 10:57
54 Millie Mccabe 11:51

U-11 Boys
Another win for Jackson McKay and some great performances all round in difficult conditions. It was great to see Jackson heading back onto the course to support his brother Joshua; do we have the Brownlee brothers of the future? Let’s hope so! Well done boys.

Clayton Juniors

Jackson running back to support his brother Joshua after finishing in first place.

Positon Name Time
1 Jackson McKay 6:54
13 Dexta Thompson 7:28
23 Finley Stubbs 8:08
46 Jack Skelly 9:16
51 Joshua McKay 9:48
56 Finan Holdsworth 10:04

U-13 Girls
Our exceptional under 13 girls continue to enjoy success with superb runs from all four of them earning a well deserved first team result. There’s just no stopping Briony, Ellie, Liberty and Millie.

Positon Name Time
2 Briony Holt 9:56
5 Eleanor Root 10:38
10 Liberty Thompson 11:02
13 Millie Stubbs 11:10
Clayton Juniors

Our unstoppable U-13 girls. L-R Ellie Root, Liberty Thompson, Millie Stubbs, Briony Holt

Team Position – 1st place!

U-13 Boys
Two of our U-13 boys took part. Well done Adam and Harry.

Clayton Juniors

Adam Quinn in the U-13 boys race

Positon Name Time
11 Adam Quinn 11:59
29 Harry Mason 13:43

U-15 Girls
Alice Pier and Lucy Stevenson represented the club in this age group. Well done girls!

Positon Name Time
10 Alice Pier 12:21
14 Lucy Stevenson 17:01

U-15 Boys
Our under 15 boys ran well and earned themselves 2nd place team. Great effort from Curtis, Thomas and Ryan.

Positon Name Time
9 Curtis Holt 14:28
13 Thomas Bradley 15:32
17 Ryan Clarke 15:57

U-17 Women
Bethany Quinn was our sole representative in this goup and finished in 9th place with a time of 18:23 Well done Bethany!

U-17 Men
Jordan McDonald had a great run finishing in 6th place with a time of 19:58. Well done Jordan!

Ladies Race Report by Ladies’ Captain, Irene Roche

Clayton Harriers

Ladies XC Captain, Irene Roche, in action at Towneley

I arrived at Towneley Park today via wind power and extremely cold one at that! Should have put more layers on over the usual hoody and jacket! However, spirits were not iced or crushed amongst the good turnout we had today. Although we complained about the cold, the start line was awash with tangerine and with the passing of best wishes to “have a good run”, we were off.

It’s safe to say the wind both pushed us on and pushed us back, depending where you were on the field. Having battled the elements, Clayton ladies all finished in excellent style. From the front Angela overtook Vicky, Natalie (relatively new to XC) following close behind. A particular well done to our first three counters! The results show excellent efforts also, from the rest of our ladies.

The Vet 55s gained first place for their group while other categories came in with good positions. Particular congratulations to Nikki Kay for completing her first XC and to Jacqueline Kershaw for giving it a go “instead of the road”. Much appreciated girls!

And so, for the magnificent turn out by Clayton members today, a big thanks as always to all.

Cheers everyone, Irene

Position Name Cat Time
49 Angela Shian L35 25:10
50 Vicky Heys L35 25:11
51 Natalie Harrison L 25:13
54 Irene Roche L55 25:30
70 Jean Knightley L55 26:15
79 Dawn Richardson L45 26:34
85 Julia Rushton L45 27:16
93 Sarah Helliwell L 27:52
95 Tanya Ashworth L 27:58
96 Kath Brady L45 27:59
105 Katy Thompson L55 28:57
110 Helen Burnett L35 29:23
113 Michelle Butschok L35 29:46
118 Yvonne Wickham L45 30:05
133 Jackie Kershaw L35 31:14
149 Nicola Kay L 33:18
157 Susan Allen L45 34:02
160 Christine Leathley L65 35:24

Ladies Team Results

Team A – (A Shian, V Heys, N Harrison) 13th place
Team B – (I Roche, J Knightley, D Richardson) 20th place

Over 35 Team Results
Team A (A Shian, V Heys, I Roche) 8th place
Team B (J Knightley, D Richardson, J Rushton) 10th place

Over 45 Team Results
Team A (I Roche, J Knightley, D Richardson) 4th place
Team B (J Rushton, K Brady, K Thompson) 8th place

Over 55 Team Results
1st place (I Roche, J Knightley, K Thompson)

Mens Race Report by Men’s Captain, Ian Greenwood

Clayton showed their true colours at the Mid Lancs Cross Country at Towneley Park, Burnley. I would just like to say a big thank you to all Team Clayton that turned out at Burnley on Saturday. It was great to see the young talent in the club putting in some outstanding performances. Senior men’s team on the day finished second to Blackburn Harriers. Let’s have the same performance at the next fixture at Blackpool in February, and that will see us gain promotion to division one where Clayton Harriers belong.

On a personal note sorry I had to drop out on the day, all down to a Christmas virus and a niggling injury. Let’s see Team Clayton out in force at Blackpool.

Ian Greenwood, Senior Mens Cross Country Captain

Clayton Harriers

George Pier (far left) giving Dave Motley and the other senior men a run for their money!

Well done to George Pier who ran in the senior men’s race, finishing 62nd overall and 9th U20. He was the 5th Harrier to finish making him a counter in our 5th team place. George is definitely giving the senior men a run for their money. One to watch!

Position Name Cat Time
16 Chris Holdsworth M 34:07
21 Jonny McKenna M 34:27
39 Breton Holdsworth V40 35:53
51 Lee Smith M 35:50
62 George Pier U20 37:41
63 Dave Motley M 37:43
85 Ryan Belshaw M 38:43
89 Carl Helliwell M 38:49
92 Garry Wilkinson V50 38:58
98 Andrew Orr V40 39:18
99 Jon Hanson M 39:20
112 Alex Cran V40 39:55
117 Michael O’Donnell V40 40:04
121 Michael Hogan V40 40:09
122 Richard Briscoe M 40:10
150 David Naughton V50 41:51
160 John Wilcock V50 42:27
175 Peter Booth V60 43:13
198 Andy Quinn V40 44:31
210 Stephen White V50 45:25
211 Andrew Howarth V50 45:31
216 Dugald McCallum V60 45:50
229 David Scott V70 46:41
235 Darren Rushton V40 47:00
246 Martin Brady V50 48:20
272 Robert Hirst V60 52:11
273 Ted Orrell V70 52:16
Clayton Harriers

Garry Wilkinson – member of the senior, V40 and V50 teams.

Senior Men Team Results

Team A (C Holdsworth, J McKenna, B Holdsworth, L Smith, G Pier, D Motley) 5th Place
Team B – (R Belshaw, C Helliwell, G Wilkinson, A Orr, J Hanson, A Cran) 11th Place

Vet 40 Team Results
Team A – (B Holdsworth, G Wilkinson, A Orr, A Cran) 3rd Place
Team B – (M O’Donnell, M Hogan, D Naughton, J Wilcock) 12th Place

 Vet 50 Team Results
Team A – (G Wilkinson, D Naughton, J Wilcock) 3rd Place
Team B – (P Booth, Stephen White, A Howarth) 13th Place

 Vet 60 Team Results
(P Booth, D McCallum, D Scott) 1st place

Full Results

Garstang 10K – 11th January

Well done Stephen Biscomb who came 90th in a field of 475 runners with a time of 00:42:36.

Full Results

Fell Race Results

Firbank Fell – Sunday, 11th January

Ladies fell captain, Jean Brown, Carol and Alan Life and Stephen Fish all took part in the senior KWL Firbank Fell race   It is described as a fast cross-country/fell course that contains a surprising amount of climbing and as the seniors have 2 laps there are 6 streams to cross.  The course can be quite exposed in poor weather. “The weather was very cold wet and windy and we had our cags on most of the time”, said Jean.  Her son, Christopher Brown took part in the junior race.

Position Name Cat Time
27 Alan Life MV50 25:20
73 Jean Brown LV40 29:15
97 Carol Life LV40 32:03
122 Stephen Fish MV60 33:38

Christopher Brown finished in 34th place with a time of 7:14 in the under 12s race in a field of 73 runners. Well done!

Full results

The Trigger Race – Sunday 11th January

Also over the weekend was the Trigger race organised by Nicky Spinks. In the Trigger Race entrants navigate their way from Marsden over Black Hill, Bleaklow and Kinder to Edale visiting three trigs points on route. The linear route is measured at 20 miles with 4500 feet climb.

198 runners that took part. It was a very successful race despite dire weather forecasts in the week leading up to the race. The altered course and the weather conditions – wet underfoot and a howling wind made for slower times overall.

Wendy Dodds took part finishing in 151st place in a time of 5:51:47

Full Results

Parkrun Roundup

Burnley parkrun – A total of 139 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
2 Jonathan PYE 00:19:06
3 Jacob WATSON 00:19:13
8 Stephen AINSWORTH 00:21:44
25 Martin BRADY 00:24:27
49 Donna SCOTT 00:26:46
71 Annabel WILCOCK 00:27:33
73 John WILCOCK 00:27:39

 Keswick parkrun – total of 77 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
56 Eileen JONES 00:31:04

Pendle parkrun – A total of 30 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
3 John HARTLEY 00:22:52
26 Christine Jennifer EGERTON 00:32:26

Coming up

Northern Athletics 12 & 6 Stage Road Relays Championships

The date and location of the Mens 12 stage and Womens 6 stage Northern Relays have been released, 28th March at Sefton Park in Liverpool – Clayton Harriers are looking to enter teams into this event and improve on last years position.

If ANY able bodied male or female runners would like the opportunity to represent their club please contact Tom Brewster (mens) or Angela Shian (womens) to register your interest.

Club Membership Renewals

Subscriptions for 2015 became due on January 1st 2015 and renewal forms have been sent to members during December. Please take some time to check your personal details and advise any changes to the Membership Secretary.

If you do not currently pay your subscription by standing order please consider joining the many members who already do. A standing order form is attached to the renewal form.

More details and payment information

President’s Social Run – Saturday 17th January

After running from Blacko Chapel for 23 years, sadly it is now up for sale, so
this year I will try a run from our house. We can probably cope with the usual
number.  Usually very muddy with lots of stiles!

2.00pm – 47 Stone Edge Road, Higherford, BB9 6BB.

PFO Orienteering- 17th January

Need to improve your navigation skills? Why not have a go on one of the orienteering courses organised by Pendle Forest Orienteers at Gawthorpe Hall this Saturday

Details

And finally…

Good luck to all of our club members who are taking part in the Hebden, the Stanbury Splash, the East Lancs Hospice 10k, or KWL Giggleswick fell race.  Have a great run and don’t forget to tell us how it went.

Fell captain, Dave Motley will be guest editing the next weekly roundup.

ByAdrienne Olszewska

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Here’s to the new year ahead of us and all the challenges that it may bring.  Our club members will no doubt have a huge range of events lined up, fast as lightning road running, technical fell running, cross country or ultras.  We are looking forward to seeing what you all get up to this year. In fact, you have already started with a decent turnout at the Pendle New Year parkrun, the Billy Knox New Year’s Day Awakener, and the Lancashire County Cross Country Championships to name but a few!

Club New Year Social Run

Report from Mick Green

I, with the help of friends, have been putting on a New Year run / walk /bike ride for a few years. Each year we try to find a footpath that most of the people who come may not have been on before. That bit is getting harder each year. The format is the same each year, set off at 1pm for a social 2 hour run / walk or bike ride. 

Social Run

Club Members at the annual New Year social run in Great Harwood

Then it is down to the Pub Royale, formally the Royal Hotel, for food and drink. The present and previous owners of the pub have never charged us for the food they put on for us. I ask the people who have the food to make a small contribution and the money collected is offered to the pub owners who always refuse it and ask for it to go to a charity.

Over the years we have donated money to various charities including, The Lifeboats, The British Heart Foundation, a school in Botswana, Asthma UK and so on.Thanks to everyone who has donated

I will start looking at this year’s route soon and look forward to seeing everybody in December.

Club Road Palladium 2014

The 2014 Ladies’ Road Palladium Champion is Jackie Kershaw.  The 2014 Men’s Road Palladium Champion is Steve Biscomb. Congratulations to both of you.

Full Results

Lancashire Cross Country Championships – Saturday 3rd January

It was a cold and rainy start to proceedings but despite the mud and the miserable weather it was a great start to 2015.  The Vet 40 men took Bronze Team (Breton Holdsworth, Garry Wilkinson, Andy Orr, John John Wilcock. Dave Scott  was 1st V70. Clayton ladies took 4th team position, Jean Knightley won the silver medal for LV55 category, Katy Thompson won the silver medal for V60 category and Christine Leathley won bronze for the V65. It was also a great start to 2015 for the juniors; 2nd U11boy for Jackson McKay, 2nd U13 girl for Briony Holt, plus 3rd team place U13 girls, and 2nd team place U15 boys.

U-11 Boys

Pos Name Time
2 Jackson McKay 6:16
11 Dexta Thompson 6:45

U-11 Girls

Pos Name Time
35 Grace Root 9:02
42 Milly Mccabe 10:45

U-13 Boys

Pos Name Time
23 Adam Quinn 14:49
31 Daniel Bradley 16:56

U-13 Girls

Pos Name Time
2 Briony Holt 13:05
12 Eleanor Root 14:23
17 Millie Stubbs 14:49
22 Liberty Thompson 15:11

Team Result – 3rd place

Clayton U13 Girls Team

L-R  U13 Girls Team – Ellie Root, Liberty Thompson, Millie Stubbs, Briony Holt

U-15 Boys

Pos Name Time
14 Curtis Holt 14:53
18 Thomas Bradley 15:58
22 Ryan Clarke 16:23
24 Alexander Townrow 16:33

Team Result – 2nd place

U-17 Men

Pos Name Time
15 Jordan McDonald 22:19

U-17 Women

Pos Name Time
14 Beth Quinn 30:09

Senior Women

Pos Name Cat Time
45 Vicky Heys L40 33:56
46 Angela Shian L35 34:16
57 Julia Rushton L50 35:59
60 Jean Knightley L55 36:19
67 Katy Thompson L60 37:58
69 Sarah Helliwell L 38:14
83 Susan Allen L50 47:15
84 Christine Leathley L65 48:30

Team Result – 9th place

Vets team – 4th place

Senior Men

Lancashire Cross Country

Breton Holdsworth swapping the road for the mud at the Lancashire XC Champs. Photo by Autumn Howard

Pos Name Cat Time
18 Christopher Holdsworth M 36:58
39 Breton Holdsworth V40 39:01
61 Garry Wilkinson V50 41:20
76 Carl Helliwell M 42:59
78 Andrew Orr V40 43:38
89 George Pier U20 44:56
93 Richard Briscoe M 45:16
102 John Wilcock V50 47:00
107 Peter Booth V60 47:27
121 Andrew Howarth V55 49:24
122 Andy Quinn V40 49:26
124 Peter Browning V55 49:34
125 David Scott V70 49:48
137 Robin Nicolson V45 53:23

Team Result – 6th place

Vets team – 3rd place

Full Results

KWL Scout Scar Fell Race – 4th January

A classic 5 mile blend of fast hilly cross-country on rough limestone tracks with stupendous 360 degree views. The  race starts with a fast charge across the flat field before heading out onto the rough Scar area where the pace settles.

Katy Thompson reported that Clayton Ladies Jean Brown, Wendy Dodds, Carol Life and Katy Thompson took part. Also Jack Holt, Alan Life and one other. A good, fast course and a record field, she said.

Awaiting full results.

Central Lancashire New Year Half Marathon – 4th January

Well done to Tanya Bunkham who was the sole Clayton-le-Moors Harrier at this half-marathon event.  She finished in 208th place with a time of 1:49:45 in a field of 449 runners.

Full Results

Belle Vue Racers Hit the Trail  – 4th January

Peter Butterworth came 40th in this 5-mile race through  Reddish Vale Country Park with a time of 33:14. 269 runners took part

Full Results

Billy Knox NYD Awakener – 1st January

7 club members kicked off the New Year with this 5k trail race in Whitworth. Great performances from the ladies in this event. 87 runners took part.

Billy Knox race

Angela Shian and Vicky Heys at the Billy Knox Awakener. Photo by Steve Bateston

Pos    Num        Name    Cat    CatPos        Time   
37 59 Vicky Heys F40 (001/004) 00:25:20
41 61 Angela Shian F35 (002/003) 00:25:46
54 60 Jean Knightley F55 (002/008) 00:27:18
61 58 Robert Hirst M60 (003/004) 00:28:46
70 66 Yvonne Wickham F50 (003/003) 00:30:03
78 457 Ron Chappell M65 (006/008) 00:31:34
80 448 Jack McGuire M55 (007/007) 00:33:12

Full Results
Photos by Runningpix.co.uk

Auld Lang Syne Fell Race – 31st December

“The costumes and enthusiasm were better than ever and it was fantastic to see so many folk having a grand, if rather chilly, day out. The prize giving was legendary as you would expect. Hopefully see everyone there next year.” said 4 times ALS champion Alistair Brownlee.

Auld Lang Syne Fell Race

Clayton vest visible at the start of the Auld Lang Syne Fell Race. Photo by woodentops.org.uk

To quote the Yorkshire Post ‘This event attracts both elite runners and those taking part in fancy dress meaning the field had everything from Olympians to Ostriches and for everyone there was a bottle of Daleside beer. Alistair has been competing in the race for more than 10 years, brother Jonny won the race back in 2012 finishing 3rd this time. British triathlete champion Mark Buckingham came in 2nd, while Ian Holmes who dominated the race for a decade finished in 4th and first V40’.

Chris Holdworth

Chris Holdsworth chasing the Brownlees at the Auld Lang Syne Fell Race. Photo by woodentops.org.uk

First Clayton Harrier was Christopher Holdsworth, finishing in 11th place with a time of 41:35. First Clayton Lady was Vicky Heys, finishing in 59:09.

395 runners finished the course and there were 2 retirements.

Pos Name Cat Time
11 Christopher Holdsworth M 41:35
44 Neil Hardiman MV40 46:06
57 Garry Wilkinson MV50 47:03
58 Lee Smith M 47:04
68 Dave Motley M 48:01
70 Dave Bagot M 48:06
91 Ryan Belshaw M 49:48
116 Nick Roscoe MV40 51:44
133 Richard Briscoe M 53:24
152 John Wilcock MV50 54:14
201 David Black MV40 58:08
211 Vicky Heys FV40 59:06
226 Colin Woolford M 59:43
267 Angela Shian F 62:63
275 Wendy Dodds FV60 63:32
290 Stephen Fish MV60 64:27
322 Robert Hirst MV60 67:47
390 John T Francis MV70 89:22
Team Clayton

L-R Lee Smith, Neil Hardiman, Garry Wilkinson, Dave Motley, Dave Bagot

 Full Results and Race Reports

Ward Green Six – 28th December

Missed this one on last weeks roundup.  This race is described as a 2 lap course with a testing climb. Sole Clayton-le-Moors Harriers representative was Breton Holdsworth who had an excellent run finishing in second place in a time of 33:29. “Not bad for being nearly half a stone heavier”, he said. Not bad indeed!

Full Results

Late Results from Whinberry Naze Fell Race

Results from the Whinberry Naze fell race on Boxing Day

Pos Name Cat Time
12 Lee Smith M 27:27
34 Alan Life MV50 29:11
35 Andrew Orr MV40 29:18
52 David Naughton MV50 30:58
63 Sean Clarke MV50 31:36
94 Andrew Dugdale MV50 34:11
102 Andrew Howarth MV55 35:07
115 Andrew Firth MV55 36:07
118 Martin Brady MV50 36:19
125 Colin Woolford M 36:38
126 Vicky Heys LV50 37:05
141 Andrew Walmsley MV60 38:46
145 Robert Hirst MV60 39:18
149 Carol Life LV45 39:45
152 Nicola Horsfall LV55 39:57
184 Irene Roche LV55 43:39
185 Sarah Helliwell L 43:40
186 Jean Knightley LV55 43:41
187 Julia Rushton LV50 43:42
196 Julie Toman LV45 44:36
203 Geoff Smith MV40 46:46

Full Results

New Year’s Day parkrun at Pendle

Well done to the 10 Clayton-le-Moors Harriers who managed to get up and out to the New Year’s Day parkrun at Pendle. We had 3 top ten finishers and a new PB as well. What a great start to the year!

Pos parkrunner Time
2 Jacob WATSON 20:28
3 Kevin DAVIES 20:36
5 John HARTLEY 21:10
23 Ryan Andrew CLARKE 25:04
27 Dawn TERRY 25:26
28 Martin BRADY 25:30
41 Kath BRADY 28:45 New PB!
59 Christine Jennifer EGERTON 31:37
74 Harry MANNING 40:04

Parkrun roundup

Preston parkrun – A total of 238 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
69 George THOMPSON 00:23:54
79 Martin BRADY 00:24:31
83 Katy THOMPSON 00:25:01

Brockwell parkrun, Herne Hill – A total of 186 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
176 Eileen JONES 00:30:52

Carlisle parkrun – A total of 178 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
11 Chris FUNNELL 00:21:24

 Walsall Arboretum parkrun – A total of 238 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
12 Paul SHACKLETON 00:19:57

 Burnley parkrun – A total of 192 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
2 Jacob WATSON 00:18:09
3 Jonathan PYE 00:18:23
6 Kevin DAVIES 00:19:04
9 Paul BRANNON 00:19:39
20 Stephen AINSWORTH 00:21:02
34 Adam STEVENSON 00:23:04
44 Dawn TERRY 00:23:40
68 Donna SCOTT 00:25:14
74 Richard LAWSON 00:25:42
82 Robert HIRST 00:26:20
98 Annabel WILCOCK 00:27:00
100 John WILCOCK 00:27:01
112 Keira STEVENSON 00:27:30
115 Richard STEVENSON 00:27:35
116 Julie TOMAN 00:27:43
117 Ron CHAPPELL 00:27:45
133 Jack MCGUIRE 00:29:28
152 Rachel STEVENSON 00:31:32
154 Heidi KEWIN 00:31:58
155 Lucy STEVENSON 00:32:05
177 Nicola KAY 00:37:09

Dewsbury parkrun – A total of 99 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
96 Robin PRICE 00:38:35

Pendle parkrun – A total of 35 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
4 John HARTLEY 00:21:14
10 Stephen WHITE 00:23:43

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – A total of 163 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
53 Wendy DODDS 00:25:02

Coming up…

For the fell runners; the Flower Scar Fell Race will be a counter in the 2015 FRA English Championship and entries open 5/1/2015. Let’s try and get a good turn out for this event.

For the road runners; the Winter Warmer 10k on 8th February is the first race in the Club Road Championship 2015. Come on Team Clayton get this in your diary there is also a 2k junior race on the same day.

Mid Lancs Cross Country – Towneley 10th January

Marion Wilkinson, Junior Co-ordinator, ” Don’t forget, this is home turf and training ground for our juniors. We know every blade of grass; so less pressure = better running! Let’s have a good turnout for this local event.”

Club President Dave Scott, ” Towneley can be a good fast course for our Road Men and speed training for the Fells. If you are not shopping or decorating, try to run here, or even help, and ensure a good Clayton turn out.”

If you don’t intend to run but want to help, Paul Archer is organising the races on the club’s behalf. He needs lots of help on the day: setting up the course, marshalling, supervising the finish and collecting equipment after the races. So, if you can help in any way, please contact Paul straight away.

01254 823587 or paularcher09@hotmail.co.uk

 

ByPeter Booth

January Newsletter

Happy New Year! The latest edition of The Harrier is now available here. Click on the link to see a new year’s message from El P, more comment and reaction to the Tour of Pendle, as well as all the usual features, fixtures and results. January Newsletter 2015

ByAdrienne Olszewska

Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas Catchup

It may have been the Christmas holidays but that didn’t stop our members from getting together for a social run on Pendle Hill, or from taking part in Boxing Day racing.

Christmas Eve Club Social Run

There was a great turnout for this festive social run up and around Pendle Hill.  As well as lots of our junior members and helpers, there was an additional group of senior members as well as a number of members of Trawden AC. Most people got into the festive spirit and sported santa hats and, having divided into appropriate groups, we were off.

Christmas Eve Run

Clayton junior members looking good to go on the Christmas Eve social run

Whether you were running with the juniors or out with the seniors, this is a brilliant social get together and really blows away the cobwebs.

Christmas Eve Run

Clayton Ladies Katy Thompson and Linda Lord at the Christmas Eve Run

Clayton Juniors

George and Curtis after the Christmas Eve Run (or should that be slide!)

Team Holdsworth chose to have their run at a different time but still managed to look good and festive whilst out and about.

team Holdsworth

Team Holdsworth – Looking festive

Worden Park 10k – 26 December

314 runners lined up for this Boxing Day 10k. Well done to Bryan Searby who was the sole Clayton Harrier taking part in this 10k race in Leyland. He was 184th in a time of 52:14.

Full Results

Whinberry Naze Dash festive fell race – 26 December

It seems that our members don’t need much persuading when it comes to fancy dress! Lots of you dressed up and took part in this festive fell race.  228 runners raced. At time of publishing, no results are available.

Clayton Ladies

Clayton Ladies ready for the festive Whinberry Naze fell race

Looking pretty good on this descent our ladies were sticking together it seems.

Clayton Ladies

Clayton Ladies in action at Whinberry Naze

Awaiting Results

Ribble Valley 10K – 28 December

The race goes back over 30 years to the early 1980s when Clayton Le Moors Harriers, first organised the race in the winter as the Clitheroe 10k in parallel with their Clitheroe 10 mile road race held in the spring. Although sadly the 10 miler fell by the wayside the 10k race survived and Blackburn Harriers took over the organisation of the race in 1998.

Ron Hill

Ron Hill at the Ribble Valley 10k. Photo courtesy of Sport Sunday

The Ribble Valley 10k now has everything a road racer wants out of a road race. The competition at the front increased in quality and times came down to regular sub 30 minute clockings for the men and Olympian Helen Clitheroe herself regularly going under 33 minutes for the women. The women’s course record is now held by her at 32mins 30 secs and in the men’s race by Jonny Mellor at 29mins 10secs. He set the record in 2011 outsprinting Alistair Brownlee, the soon to become 2012 Olympic triathlon champion.

There was a great turnout of 39 club members at this race which included the Northern Athletics 10k Championships 2014. There were some great performances from our members in a fast and competitive race.

Ribble Valley 10k

Jonny McKenna at the Ribble Valley 10k

Jonny McKenna was the first Harrier in 33:45 and 51st place overall, and Dawn Terry was the first Clayton lady in 45:54.

Well done to our two junior members, George Pier and Jordan McDonald for a couple of excellent performances.  They are beginning to give the senior men a real run for their money.

Ribble Valley 10k

Clayton Junior, George Pier at the Ribble Valley 10k

A special mention to one of our newest club members, Clare Wilson, who ran for the club for the first time earning herself a new personal best as well. A great start; well done Clare!

Pos Forename Surname Cat ChipTime GunTime
51 Jonny McKenna Men 20-39 00:33:45 00:33:48
73 Andrew Stubbs Men 45-49 00:35:03 00:35:06
113 Kevin Davies Men 50-54 00:36:51
117 David Bagot Men 20-39 00:36:49 00:37:02
118 Richard Stevenson Men 20-39 00:37:03
119 Jacob Watson Men 20-39 00:37:01 00:37:06
145 Dave Motley Men 20-39 00:37:33 00:37:42
150 John Hartley Men 55-59 00:37:41 00:37:47
169 Carl Helliwell Men 20-39 00:38:14 00:38:18
201 Michael Hogan Men 45-49 00:39:02 00:39:06
230 Jon Hanson Men 20-39 00:39:34 00:39:41
267 George Pier Men Junior 00:40:27 00:40:39
275 Nick Roscoe Men 45-49 00:40:39 00:40:46
278 Tim Pigott Men 20-39 00:40:37 00:40:50
291 Alan Life Men 50-54 00:41:06
297 Chris Funnell Men 45-49 00:41:03 00:41:12
319 John Wilcock Men 50-54 00:41:43 00:41:49
331 Stephen Biscomb Men 60-64 00:42:06 00:42:11
343 Jordan McDonald Men Junior 00:42:15 00:42:28
386 Stephen Ainsworth Men 55-59 00:42:45 00:43:19
502 Alan Clarkson Men 55-59 00:45:21 00:46:03
532 Dawn Terry Female 50-54 00:45:54 00:46:44
537 David Scott Men 70-74 00:46:38 00:46:48
546 Stephen White Men 55-59 00:46:10 00:46:58
593 Brian Wildman Men 45-49 00:47:19 00:48:02
595 Julia Rushton Female 50-54 00:47:25 00:48:06
637 Martin Brady Men 50-54 00:48:38 00:48:51
660 Ted Orrell Men 75+ 00:49:16 00:49:22
663 Rebecca Webb Female 20-34 00:48:44 00:49:25
676 Susan Clark Female 45-49 00:49:03 00:49:40
696 Carol Life Female 45-49 00:49:19 00:49:56
711 Kathryn Brady Female 50-54 00:49:44 00:50:23
718 Tanya Bunkham Female 20-34 00:49:30 00:50:36
777 Sarah Helliwell Female 20-34 00:52:05 00:52:16
799 Clare Wilson Female 35-39 00:51:57 00:52:45
924 Stuart Barker Men 45-49 00:55:25 00:56:23
999 Marion Wilkinson Female 70+ 00:58:34 00:59:30
1042 Ron Hill Men 75+ 01:01:25 01:02:37
1054 Christine Leathley Female 65-69 01:02:22 01:03:43

Full Results

Wansfell Race – 28 December

3.43.4 KM /407m elevationKM /407m elevation

Wansfell race

Andrew Firth at the Wansfell race

Andrew Firth, Mark Nutter, Wendy Dodds and Colin Woolford all took part in the Wansfell race finishing in that order. Results not published yet, but Rob Hope won.

Awaiting full results

Parkrun Roundup

Recovering from the excesses of Christmas or warming up for the Ribble Valley 10k, plenty of our members took part in this Saturday’s parkrun.  Tom Brewster had a great run finishing first at the Burnley event with a number of our members finishing in the top tens at a range of parkruns. Well done all of you!

Burnley parkrun – A total of 93 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
1 Tom BREWSTER 00:17:25
7 Richard STEVENSON 00:19:46
8 Kevin DAVIES 00:19:57
11 Curtis HOLT  New PB! 00:20:23
14 Sean CLARE 00:20:53
15 Thomas BRADLEY 00:21:07
19 Gordon BARRETT 00:21:51
21 Ryan Andrew CLARKE 00:22:35
29 Dexta THOMPSON 00:23:42
49 Robert HIRST 00:26:56
56 Annabel WILCOCK 00:27:53
57 John WILCOCK 00:27:55
58 Daniel BRADLEY 00:28:04
68 Donna SCOTT 00:29:06
90 Adrienne OLSZEWSKA 00:39:47

Keswick parkrun – A total of 72 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
3 Jonathan PYE 00:18:53

Pendle parkrun – A total of 33 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
3 John HARTLEY 00:21:51
8 Alan LIFE 00:23:29
21 Martin BRADY 00:27:57

Running Resolutions

I asked for your New Year’s running resolutions and here’s a selection of what you came up with;

Running Resolutions

Running Resolutions from some of our members

Coming Up..

New Year Club Run
On Monday December 29th there will be a club run, walk, bike ride. (It all depends on your post-Christmas fitness and inclination!) It will be the same format as previous years. Start 1:00pm at the bottom of The Memorial Park, Great Harwood (map ref. 736 331). Approximately 2 hour run, walk or ride. Then to the Royal Hotel for food and a drink.

More Info

Boulsworth Night Race

Neil Hardiman is organising a night race on Thursday the 8th of January up Boulsworth in Trawden. It’s approx 4 miles and free to enter. It’s a Bedlamite event and promises to be a really laid back run. All you need is usual running kit and a good head torch. Registration is at the Trawden Arms from 6.15pm with the race at 7.00pm. It will be a good event for those who want to try a night event as it will be marshalled. Please let Neil know if you want to run (or marshal).

Contact info: 07946 412655. Or e-mail: hardimannj@hotmail.com.

 

 

ByAdrienne Olszewska

Stoop, Red Nose, Grand Tour and the rest of the week’s action

There’s just no stopping our club members. Even in the midst of Christmas preparations you are still out there competing and taking part in a range of events. Congratulations to Ron Hill on running every single day for the last 50 years. An amazing achievement.

Tour de Helvellyn – Saturday 20st December 2014

154 people finished this event and 12 retired. Four of our club members travelled up to the Lake District to compete in this tough, winter 38 mile event. Well done to Martin Terry for an excellent 14th place. Jean Brown finished 33rd overall and was the third lady to complete the course. Andy Armstong and Nicholas Olszewski also put in a couple of solid runs finishing in 54th and 57th place.

Report by Nicholas Olszewski

The day started early, at 04:15, loaded up the car with what seemed an excessive amount of kit, before heading over to Colne to collect Martin Terry. Met Andy Armstrong and Jean Brown at Gisburn and travelled up together in the one car arriving in Askham with plenty of time to go through the final registration process and kit check.

Tour de Helvellyn

Martin Terry and Jean Brown making last minute preparations for the Tour de Helvellyn

At last we were off, it was about 07:45 and just about becoming light. Jean and Martin sped off into the early morning sunrise, Andy and I trotting along at a nice steady pace. For me this race is a part of my master plan for competing in the Lakeland 100 next July and was about time on my feet and acclimatising my legs to the Lakeland hills.

Tour de Helvellyn

Andy Armstrong at the Tour de Helvellyn

We passed through the first checkpoint at Martindale, the next at Patterdale didn’t open till 09:30 and anyone arriving before that time would have to wait. So, no sense rushing too much as we had a long way to go yet. We arrived at about 09:40 had a quick snack and ploughed on though to the next checkpoint at Greenside, which was in the middle of nowhere. Ahead of us was the climb over Sticks Pass.

As we gained elevation the wind became stronger and the temperature dropped, but the view of snow-capped tops was spectacular. On the descent to the checkpoint at Thirlmere, which became very steep and muddy at one point, I did a dramatic slide on my arse for a good way. Andy commented that if it’d been part of a fell race you’d have had someone there with a video camera recording runners sliding down. We checked into a rather posh and very clean Legburthwaite Village Hall at Thirlmere, which I felt guilty entering as I was covered from head to toe in mud after my dramatic slide.

The next section I have to admit I didn’t enjoy, I’m not a road runner and I find running on the road a bit tedious. The normal route on the east side of Thirlmere had been changed due to forestry work and re-routed down a quiet lane on the west side of Thirlmere, no other option for the race organizers, but this section was hard and when looking down the lake from the head it looked like an infinity lake, which didn’t help. We reached the check point and moved forward towards Dunmail Raise.

The climb from Dunmail to Grizedale Tarn was hard and steep but you knew that you’d turned a corner and were heading back. I could imagine this section being quite treacherous in icy conditions as the path is narrow and wet with a very steep drop off to your left.

The journey from Dunmail to the next checkpoint at Patterdale went without any hiccups, apart from being a little annoyed with myself for following others instead of taking the route I’d plotted for a small section round Grizedale Tarn. I’ll try not to do that again. Arriving in Patterdale the day behind us was now starting to tell, we had one stiff climb left and, having just guzzled half a litre of flat coke, I was ready for it. By now Andy had worked out that we would return just before it was very dark which was a relief as the Cockpit Stone Circle can be a bit confusing in the dark.

We arrived at the final checkpoint, Martindale in good spirits and knew the end was now in sight, as we trundled along. Motivation to keep running is hard as it’s so easy to walk when you can run, but as the light began to fail we passed the Cockpit and I could see the light of Askham shimmering not far away. As we entered the community centre and dibbed for the last time it felt great that we had done it and great to have done it with someone as so many races are all about heads down and running your guts out. It made a change to spend eight and half hours running, walking, laughing and feeling the pain with someone else.

Tour de Helvellyn

Andy Armstrong and Nick Olszewski at the Tour de Helvellyn ultra. Picture by www.granddayoutphotography.co.uk

A great day, great event and I’ll be back next year, possibly with my race head on, just to see if I can knock an hour off this years time. Thanks Andy for running round with me.

Position Name Category Time
14 Martin Terry MV50 07:21:31
33 Jean Brown FV40 07:58:59
54= Andrew Armstrong MV40 08:33:49
57 Nicholas Olszewski MV50 08:35:31

Full Results

Podium 5k -Saturday 20st December 2014

21 super fast runners took part in this competitive race. Podium5k has been set up on a brand new purpose built cycle track (1k loops with 3.6ft of climbing, no corners, just sweeping bends, floodlit and traffic free) and claims to be the fastest 5k in the country.

Well done Johnny McKenna and Dave Motley.

Position Name Category Time
17 Johnny McKenna M 16:05
37 David Motley M 18:42

Full Results

Rudolph Red Nose 5 mile Race – Sunday 21st December

5 Clayton Harriers took part in this 5 mile festive run.

Position Name Category Time
21 Stephen Biscomb MV60 00:35:23
58 Christina Lewis FV50 00:40:43
59 Robert Russell MV60 00:40:47
116 Kevin O’Brien MV70 00:49:41
121 Nicola Kay F 00:51:15

Rudolf Red Nose 5 Results 2014.

Mental Elf 5k – Sunday 21st December 2014

Astley Park, Chorley

Exercise is great for your Mental Elf, he really thrives on it… all those endorphins that exercise produce help to keep him, fit healthy and ready to take on everything that Christmas can throw at him… and just think…. Burning off all those calories means more mince pies and an extra SnowBall… Yum!

Well done Bryan Searby who was the sole club member to take part in this fundraising and promotion of the charity Lancashire Mind. He finished in 20th place with a time of 26:40. 250 runners took part.

Mental Elf 5k

Bryan Searby (L) at the Mental Elf 5k at Astley Park

Full Results

Stoop Fell Race – Sunday 21st December

5 miles – 800ft of ascent. Report from the Woodentops website

It was a typical Penistone Hill day driving rain and wind for the 26th annual Stoop race the snow from last week had disappeared which made the course very wet, lots of bogs to fall in. After a bit of track at the start the bog arrived quite quickly. There was lots of camaraderie as runners helped each other along and tried to avoid losing their Santa hats to the bog.

Festive fell running

Festive fell running at Stoop fell race. Pic courtesy of Debi Nicholson & Scott Leach

Lots of fast running too on slightly firmer ground, some challenging slippy descents where I think everyone fell over at least once, and a good battle in the ladies race. The juniors got the worst of the weather which made it more challenging as they charged round clad in their Santa hats.

Stoop Fell Race

David Bagot at the Stoop Fell Race. Pic courtesy of Debi Nicholson & Scott Leach

Position Name Category Time
46 David Bagot M 39:17
56 Tim Edward MV40 39:48
165 Chris Funnell MV40 45:49
214 Richard Briscoe M 48:21
256 Jon Sharples MV50 51:21
271 Colin Woolford M 51:54
295 Dawn Terry FV50 52:51
300 Linda Lord FV60 52:59
305 Katy Thompson FV60 53:20
326 Robert Hirst MV60 54:59
354 Stephen Fish MV60 56:56
412 Julie Toman FV40 66:21
422 John Francis MV70 71:25
423 Jack McGuire MV50 71:37

Congratulations to Julie Toman who was one of the fancy dress winners.

Well done Christopher Brown, our sole junior runner, who came 25th in the U10/U12 &U14 race in an excellent time of 8:16

Full Results

Parkrun roundup

Lots of club members donned a santa hat or other festive garb and took place in a range of christmas-themed parkruns.

Heaton parkrun – A total of 360 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
245 Ron HILL 00:29:20

Bolton parkrun – A total of 205 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
49 George THOMPSON 00:24:44
51 Julia RUSHTON 00:24:58
64 Katy THOMPSON 00:25:47

Burnley parkrun – A total of 117 runners took part

Position parkrunner Run Time
2 Jacob WATSON 00:18:56
3 Jonathan PYE 00:19:25
4 Richard STEVENSON 00:19:57
9 Susan BURNS 00:20:59
10 Stephen AINSWORTH 00:21:09
16 Andy QUINN 00:22:36
25 David Ian SCOTT 00:23:30
33 Dawn TERRY 00:24:12
40 Donna SCOTT 00:25:34
59 Robert HIRST 00:27:18
63 Stuart BARKER 00:27:37
66 Julie TOMAN 00:27:55
67 Ron CHAPPELL 00:27:59
70 Jack SKELLY 00:28:08
71 Natalie HARRISON 00:28:09
79 Annabel WILCOCK 00:29:02
80 John WILCOCK 00:29:05
84 Richard LAWSON 00:29:14

Pendle parkrun – A total of 76 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
2 Kevin DAVIES 00:21:13
4 John HARTLEY 00:22:02
35 Amelia DUGDALE 00:28:01
57 Christine Jennifer EGERTON 00:32:26
63 Christine LEATHLEY 00:34:53

Fell Foot parkrun, Newby Bridge – A total of 125 runners took part.

Position parkrunner Run Time
37 Martin BRADY 00:23:44
92 Eileen JONES 00:30:48

A run a day

On 20th December, club member Ron Hill, had run every day for fifty years. An amazing achievement from a running legend. Congratulations Ron and here’s to many, many more daily runs.

#runeveryday

Ron Hill

Ron Hill who has run every day for 50 Years

And finally…

Why not get in the Christmas spirit by coming along to the Christmas Eve social run.  Meet at Barley Car Park for an 11.00am start.  We’ll be heading up or around Pendle Hill.  Juniors, seniors and walkers all welcome.

For the more competitive amongst you, there is a 10k in Worden Park, Leyland on Boxing Day at 10.00am.  Perfect for running off the excesses of your Christmas dinner. Or if you fancy a bit more off road, how about the Whinberry Naze at 11.30 at Marl Pits in Rawtenstall.

Whatever you do, have a great run and don’t forget to take lots of pictures and tell us all about it. We am also interested in any running resolutions you might have for the coming year?  Let us know and we will feature them in the New Year Roundup.

Have a Merry Christmas!