When the weather is hot you can reach right out and you will find Clayton-le-Moors Harriers racing all over the place. This week you have been hot footing around the fells, mountains trails, parks and roads with plenty of great results. Ladies, men, seniors and juniors have all been strutting their stuff in the sunshine.

Wednesday 1 June

Astley Park Trail Series

Jonathan Pye finished in 5^th place in the second race of the series with a time of 26:46 along with Ted Orrell who finished in 99^th place.

Jonathan Pye at the Astley Park Trail Series. Photo by Alan Dorrington

Full Results

Astley Park Junior Trail Series

Clayton Juniors at the Astley Park Trail series. Photo by Nicola Thompson

A great turn out of Clayton-le-Moors Juniors despite this race falling slap bang in the middle of the Spring Bank half term week. On a pleasant, balmy evening 19 juniors lined up to race in the second event of this popular series.

Adam Stevenson storming to the finish at the Astley Park Junior Trail Series. Photo by Nicholas Olszewski

There were age category first places for Dexta Thomson (U11), Helana White (L11) and Felix Thompson (U7). A great set of results for our juniors.

Thomas Ashworth and Keira Stevenson at the Astley Park Junior Trail series. Photo by Nicholas Olszewski

Full Results

Littleborough 5K Series

Paul Walsh was our sole representative in the third race of this 5K series. He finished in 71^st place with a time of 25:41.

 Full Results

Thursday 2 June

Cuerden Valley Badger Trail 10K

The Cuerden Valley Badger Trail 10k is the second race in the club’s trail championship and 7 club members took part. Our first finisher was Fell Captain Dave Motley who was 11^th place overall with a time of 40:14. Nerina Gill was our first lady finisher in 95^th and with a time of 51:21

Report from Dave Motley

A Tale of Two Races… part 1

Looking at the race calendar I noticed that in order to try and compete on all fronts in the club championship I would have no choice but to double up and race both the trail & fell club championship this week. So having already raced at Bowley Hill Trail race on Monday, I turned up at Cuerden Valley for the Badger 10k Trail race with tired legs.

After registration and a good warm up the race started. It’s always strange to race in a slightly different area as you don’t know the faces and reputations of the other runners so myself and Richard surprisingly found ourselves in 1st & 2nd place after 800m and we were wondering if anybody would join us and not long after a group of 4 joined in. The 10k undulating trail has a little of everything including 6/7 swing gates, a number of bollards, which I found out as I ran into one with Richard Stevenson and a few other runners comically falling over me and a cow dodge as you climb through a field.

A really quick race but with stops at the stiles and swing gates knocking you out of your stride, a tough one. I finished the race in 11th place after suffering a really bad stitch between mile 4 and 5 and for the geeky like me I checked my Garmin splits and it probably affected me by nearly a min over that mile, think I need to revisit my pre evening race prep as toast doesn’t seem to be the way forward. I finished in just over 40mins and was really happy with my run despite the stitch finishing 1st Clayton back in front of Richard

Full Results

Henderson’s End Fell Race

There was a good turnout of runners in Half-Term week when it was expected a lot of runners would be on holiday with family. However, 94 runners entered Hendersons End fell race (which is about the average turnout) to run a tough course that starts at the upper barn at Rivington and climbs to the Pigeon Tower, Pike, 2 Lads and the Trig Point before returning back almost the same way to finish back at the barn. This course is approx. 6.8 miles with 1200 ft of ascent and is a good testing run.

Andrew Howarth was our sole representative at this race finishing in 57^th place with a time of 66:50

 Full Results

Ingleton Scenery

67 runners took part in this scenic race around the Ingleton Waterfalls. A quartet of Clayton Harriers was amongst them. Alan Life was our first man home in 13^th place overall and 1^st MV50, with Andrew and Peter Dugdale in 38^th and 51^st respectively. Carol Life was our sole lady runner and finished in 51^st place.

Full Results

Saturday 4 June

The 10th Highlander Mountain Marathon

Report by Colin Woolford

So what seemed like a distant memory of arranging to run the Highlander Mountain Marathon one winter’s eve in the Pendle Inn became a very apparent reality as Mark Nutter strode into view to pick me up from Pitlochry at the end of my family holiday with wife and son. The 10^th Highlander – dubbed “the final fling” as the organisers had deemed this to be the last –  was almost upon us and a quick 90 minute blast up the A9 took us to Inverness and then on to Glen Cannich, the venue for this now iconic Mountain Marathon, usually in April, but moved to June to take advantage of the vacant LAMM slot.

Mark Nutter and Colin Woolford at the Highlander Mountain Marathon

Normally Scotland in June means overcast, showers, mild, and midge hell – WRONG!  Wall to wall blue sky with a brisk enough breeze to keep the little biters away and keep us cool. We registered on Friday night before a planned 8.00am bus to the start line from the village hall in Cannich on Saturday morning.

Not what the forecast promised

In the valley the weather was glorious but a 30 minute bus trip later to a reservoir and dam up on the hill at around 200m and the forecast clag was down with low cloud obscuring any chance of a view. We really could have been anywhere! Hoping the forecast would be right and this would lift by late morning we set off confident of a strong performance, both having done Mountain Marathons in the past and plenty of other “Nav” based events.  We were in for a treat.  With the maps given to us as we crossed the start line and the clock started ticking, we marked the maps up with the checkpoints we had to visit before racing off into the cloud and mist to seek them out.

We spent a frantic 5-10 mins trying to find the first of the nine Checkpoints we had to find over the next 22+km/1250m ascent of day one before eventually getting our eye in to the map and formulating a plan on the move we began to climb up.  And up.  And up.  It is here we remind ourselves that Scotland is BIG!

Breath taking surroundings

Two hours into the day and three CP’s down the cloud lifts and were greeted with a stunning day of views, mountains, Munros and hills, banter with other teams and some of the most challenging terrain to move over in scorching heat.  This was made all the more challenging by large sections of the course being without water courses – the terrain was so dry, whereas this made moving across bogs easier and faster than usual, trying to stay hydrated was a challenge and after CP6 we made sure our route to CP7 crossed a stream for welcome relief of thirst.  On our way to the overnight camp we were treated to the briefest of conversations with the now legendary Jasmine Paris of Carnethy Hill Running Club and Innov-8 – whose recent record breaking exploits on a summer Bob Graham Round meant that she was competing here “just for fun” with her Mum as a team mate!  Chuffed we had run past a fell running legend we headed to the overnight camp to replenish some very depleted fluid and energy levels after 7 hours 9 minutes of moving over challenging terrain in sweltering conditions carrying all our kit for the weekend on our backs.

The Highlander is famous for its remote locations, challenging terrain and navigation and of course a Ceilidh and bar at the midway camp.  What else would you expect!  The band started up at 8.30 and by 8.32 the floor was full of revellers, sorry, I mean competitors dancing the Gay Gordons, flings and jigs of all sorts.  It should be noted here that several competitors appeared to have saved their energy for this occasion!

Day two broke with the expected low cloud and fortunately lighter packs having eaten food and used fuel for the evening meal and breakfast.  Off we went into the clag over more tough pathless ground.  We broke through the cloud at about 600m and were greeted by the most amazing temperature inversion.

Above the clouds

The day carried on clearer and hotter than the day before, but fortunately with more streams to collect water from as we went.  Mountain Marathons on day two typically have a much shorter route, to get people back to the finish/event centre.  Not the Highlander, another 20km+/1100m ascent day and for us 6 hours 50 minutes, with most of the drop outs/DNF’s occurring on day two, and Mark and I bearing witness to two of these teams bowing out, one team in quite a painful way, we dug in to finish in one piece and not counting minor cuts, bruises, sunburn and very tired ankles and calves we were able to do so.  We came in 33rd place from 60 “C” starts, only 46 finishing.

A fantastic event in amazing surroundings. The toughest Mountain Marathon I have competed in and it would be real shame if this does indeed prove to be “the final fling” for the Highlander.

Results

Kelbrook Fell Race

This race was first organised by Rev Andrew Proctor, the vicar of Kelbrook Parish Church in conjunction with a garden party held in the grounds of the vicarage, with the profits going towards church finances. More recently, the race has become part of the Pendle & Burnley Grand Prix with a consequential increase in the numbers taking part and the vicarage garden party gave way to Kelbrook Gala The original race route went up Waterloo Road and on to Cob Lane before heading out on to the fells, but a new route was introduced in 2003 which took out the road sections and made the race trail and fell only.

Team Clayton out in force at Kelbrook fell race. Photo by Geraldine Varley

There was a bumper turnout of Clayton-le-Moors Harriers at this race in the popular Pendle and Burnley Grand Prix series. Jordan McDonald had a tremendous run finishing in 3^rd place.

Jordan McDonald at the Kelbrook fell race. Photo by David Belshaw

Also finishing in the top ten were Matthew Duckworth and Chris Snell. Thomas Bradley and Beth Quinn continue to make superb progress from junior to senior racing with an excellent 20^th place finish for Tom and 86^th for Beth. John Wilcock has been focussing on speed and this has paid off for him as he raced to win 1^st M50 and 24^th overall.

John WIlcock at the Kelbrook Fell Race. Photo by David Belshaw

Roger Brewster was 1^st M60, Robert Hirst was 1^st M65 and Barry Mitchell was 1^st M70.

Elizabeth Mullan was the first Clayton Lady finisher in 61^st place and 7^th lady.

Elizabeth Mullan at the Kelbrook Fell Race. Jim Hickie and Jean Knightley chasing. Photo by David Belshaw

Irene Roche was 1^st W55, Linda Bostock was 1^st W60 and Beth Quinn was 1^st U18. We had a fantastic turnout of women in the race with almost half the field running for Clayton-le-Moors.

Beth Quinn at the Kelbrook Fell Race. Photo by David Belshaw

Full Results 

Pen-y-Gent Fell Race

Report from Dave Motley – A Tale of Two Races… part 2

Saturday, baking weather and the next of the Club Championship races at Pen-Y-Ghent in Yorkshire. Although I’ve run this hill before as part of the 3 Peaks race, I’ve never had a go at the hill on its own. Looking at the map on the start line the race didn’t follow any of the 3 Peaks route and started with almost a mile of tarmac which meant only one thing a Dave Bagot 1 mile dash. When we entered the fell Dave had a commanding lead over the chasing Clayton lads (me, Carl Helliwell & Pete Coates). But on entering the fell this is where Pete Coates came into own and he stormed up to the summit passing both me & Dave, I managed to get past Dave ½ way up the climb with Carl hot on my tail.

Clayton runners at the Penygent Fell Race. Photo by Sarah Helliwell

After we summited we had a long run off the hill where Pete stretched his lead over me &Carl; Carl passing me half way down the descent as my body started to scream at me to stop. I think the heat, combined with my 3rd race of the week, increased mileage and the heat finally took its toll and I knew at this point I wouldn’t be able to stick with Carl. I finished the race in 23rd place overall and was a little disappointed with my performance as I felt I had nothing on the climb. The race itself is really tough 6 mile over one of Yorkshire highest peaks and next time I will not underestimate it and will run smarter and not race 3 times in one week. Well done to Pete Coates who at the moment looks in a commanding position to become Mr Fell 2016.

Full Results

Wharfedale Trail Half Marathon

No results as yet for this event but a couple of Clayton ladies were spotted taking part in this event. Angela Shian and Vicky Heys have been adding this year’s green finishers’ buffs to their growing collection.

Angela Shian and Vicky Heys at the Wharfedale Trail Half marathon

Sunday 5 June

Burnley 10K

Over 1300 runners took to the roads of Burnley for this popular 10k race. Danny Collinge was our first finisher taking 2^nd place in 35:15.

Danny Collinge (R) with Barlick’s Matthew Lalor at the finish of the Burnley 10K. Photo by David Belshaw

Louisa Powell-Smith was our first Clayton Lady over the line and also first lady runner in the race overall. Reece Laurence and Lucy Stevenson both aged 15 were our youngest runners successfully making their transition from junior to senior racing.

Reece Lawrence at the Burnley 10K. Photo by David Belshaw

Lucy Stevenson at the Burnley 10K. Photo by David Belshaw

Not many runners had clubs listed next to their names on the results so if I have missed anyone, apologies!

Race Report by Louisa Powell-Smith

Despite feeling under the weather, I was determined to take part again and try out the new course to secure my title from 2015. Having reccied the route before the race I was disappointed and though it was boring and less scenic than the Pennine route. However, my experience on the day was great! The atmosphere and support throughout the whole route was brilliant and the start and finish in Towneley Park was perfect.

Louisa Powell-Smith at the Burnley 10K. Photo by David Belshaw

In all a great race; tough and very hot conditions but nonetheless an enjoyable experience with some great performances from everyone.

Full Results

Edenfield FR

Geoffrey Gough and Katy Thompson took part in this 6.4 mile fell race with 1565ft of ascent organised by Rossendale Harriers.

Full Results

Kettlewell BOFRA

Senior Race

Four Clayton men took part in the third event of the BOFRA 2016 championship races. Our first finisher was Andrew Holt who was 28^th with a time of 15:17. Richard Briscoe was 54^th and the cohort of Clayton runners was completed by Andrew Firth and Stephen Fish 71^st and 85^th place respectively.

Report from Andrew Holt

It was a scorching hot day, next to the river, idyllic village setting, bring your own food BBQ, home-cooked cakes and tea. The 1st  BOFRA I’ve run for three years; I was talked into it by my daughter Briony, who didn’t even watch cause she playing in the river! The run consisted of 3/4 mile run walk up to the top, 200m across, 3/4 miles down scree and grassy banks to the finish. I hobbled to a respectable 28th despite having no one to pace myself on, but lost by three seconds to Briony for the second time this year!A classic,enjoyable BOFRA race

Richard Briscoe Reports

On Sunday I did a BOFRA fell race at Kettlewell. It was only a short race 1.5 miles but it is a straight up and down route. Was very warm for the race as they start at mid day. The route goes up a crag via the chimney up to the top of the hill and back down. It was good turn out for Clayton for the juniors and a few seniors myself Andy Firth, Steve Fish, and Andy Holt.

Junior Races

Report from Alan Dorrington

Round 3 of the BOFRA series was held at Kettlewell on a beautiful, hot, sunny day in the Dales. Some of the Clayton Juniors had raced there before and so were prepared for one of the hardest and most intimidating courses on the calendar, the principle difficulty being a breakneck descent (after a very hard climb), off the valley side through broken ground, steep grass and a particularly unnerving rock chute. Those that hadn’t raced before soon became acquainted with the steep terrain on a recce, helped and supported by the other juniors that had already experienced the ‘proper’ fell racing there.

The U9s were off first, with Felix Thompson the sole Clayton runner, plugging away to the turn point which luckily avoided the worst of the descent for that age group. Dexta Thompson, Jenson Bentham, Kady Thompson and Ella Dorrington were next up in the U12s, running up through the limestone notch and across the first lip on the valley side before coming back down through the rock chute descent. Both Dexta and Jenson had great climbs and clean, fast descents, coming in 2nd and 6th respectively whilst Ella had to do an ’emergency’ flip round onto all fours to avoid falling above the rock chute, had a quick pit stop to be sick lower down, and still managed to hold on to her place as 2nd Girl. Kady had a nasty tumble below the rock chute, but soldiered on really well to finish.

Dexta Thompson and Ella Dorrington at the Kettlewell fell race. Photo by Chris Thompson

The U14s climbed higher with an extra descent before the main descent and Jackson McKay, who had been practicing the descent several times, descended really confidently into 14^th place. Claudia Bentham didn’t have her best race in the U14G but being in her first season on the fells, is building valuable experience race by race.

Briony Holt was unchallenged in winning the U17G, coming in some way ahead of her nearest rival on a course she apparently loves!

On such a hot day, the Juniors didn’t take much encouraging to get into the river afterwards, with Team Jumping In being the most popular activity of the day.”

U17 Race

U14 Race

U12 Race

U9 Race

Full Results 

Lakeland Trails Half Marathon Challenge

Congratulations to Jo Perry for completing her first half marathon distance at the Lakeland Trails Half Marathon Challenge. She finished in 144th place with a time of 2:22:22 in tough and hot conditions in Coniston in the Lake District

Full Results

Morecambe Superbowl 10K

The Morecambe 10km is popular with new runners and PB hunters alike! Starting and finishing on the Promenade this seaside race provides a good course coupled with lovely views across the Bay.

Unsurprisingly, the clash with the Burnley 10k meant that there were only two Clayton runners at this event. Daniel Isherwood had a good run finishing in 13^th place overall with a time of 40:29 and Kevin O’Brien was 131^st with a time of 1:05:27

Full Results 

North West Junior Triathlon Series

Ellie Root took part in her 1^st triathlon of the year at Blackpool in the North West Series. It was an early start as her race was scheduled for a 9:15 start. Ellie had a decent swim coming out of the pool in 5^th place. She was quickly onto her bike and off for the 10K cycle. This was her first time racing in her cleats and she had a great ride pulling herself up to 2^nd place. The run was over 3K on grass. She looked very strong from the outset. She was briefly overtaken by another runner but was soon back in front. With her eyes set firmly on one more target, Ellie pushed hard to move into 1^st place and claim her first victory and her 100 points. We are all very proud!

Ellie Root at the North West Junior Triathlon. Photo by Thomas Root

Helana White also took part in the junior triathlon series finishing in 4th place. She was in 12th place after her swim and managed to make up a few places on her bike. However, it was having the fastest run of her class that gave her the 4th place.

Well done to our talented juniors!

Parkrun roundup

Burnley parkrun celebrated its 4th birthday this weekend and plenty of Clayton-le-Moors Harriers were in attendance. Congratulations to Jonathan Pye and Annabel Wilcock for winning points prizes for senior male and junior female.

Top parkrunners Annabel Wilcock and Jonathan Pye ( far left). Photo by David Belshaw

Bramley parkrun – A total of 179 runners took part

Burnley parkrun – A total of 302 runners took part.

Halifax parkrun – A total of 116 runners took part.

Pendle parkrun – A total of 73 runners took part.

Woodbank parkrun – A total of 163 runners took part.

Woodhouse Moor parkrun – A total of 421 runners took part.

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

Midweek

Foe Edge Fell Race

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

Full Results

Harrock Hill Series 1

Full Results

Burnley Lions 10k

Louisa Powell-Smith – photo David Belshaw

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

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

Andrew Stubbs – photo David Belshaw

Carl Helliwell – photo David Belshaw

Sean Clare – photo David Belshaw

Beth Quinn – photo David Belshaw

Full Results

Saturday 28

Edinburgh Marathon

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

Danny reports:

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

Full results

Blackool Prom 10 miler

Hutton Roof Fell Race

Full Results

LDWA Dorset 100

Photo Nicholas Olszewski

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

Adrienne reports back:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo Nicholas Olszewski

Results to follow

Sunday 29

BOFRA Coniston Gullies Fell Race

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

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

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

Briony Holt at Coniston Gullies – photo Geoff Thompson

Full results

Helvellyn and the Dodds Fell Race

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

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

Results to follow

Liverpool Rock and Roll Marathon and Half Marathon

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

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

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

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

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

Judith Carey – photo Jamie McIllvenny

And this from Jacob Watson:

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

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

Jon Cleaver writes:

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

3 Amigos including Jon Cleaver and Jacob Watson.

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

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

Full results

Rossendale Triathlon

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

Full results

Bank Holiday Monday

Bowley Trail Race

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

Andy Bradley ran and provided this report:

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

Carl Helliwell also ran:

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

Bowley Trail runners – photo Sarah Helliwell

Full Results

Park Run Roundup

Burnley Parkrun – a total of 382 runners took part

Richmond Parkrun – a total of 396 runners took part

Woodhouse Moor Parkrun –  a total of 403 runners took part

Heaton Parkrun – a total of 603 runners took part

Harrogate Parkrun – a total of 345 runners took part

Marple Parkrun – a total of 247 runners took part

Dewsbury Parkrun – a total of 104 runners took part

Witton Parkrun – a total of 78 runners took part