News

ByIrene Roche

Ladies Cross Country

Well done and thank you to all the Clayton ladies who ran at Towneley on Saturday. We had a good a turn out, so good we could hardly fit on the photo taken before the race!! (to be placed on here soon…). A brilliant effort from all, achieving around mid table over all for Clayton ladies, proving “the more the better”  :-).

Next up is Liverpool at the end of the month. Although a bit of a journey its a good experience with the slightly longer course, lots of mud, flat (apart from one little incline worth a few strides)  and an earlier start to the other Mid Lancs races (check details for times in the news letter).

Hope to see you all there.

Regards Irene

 

ByJim Hickie

Mid Lancs XC – Towneley Park

The recent weather certainly made for a well prepared cross country course on Saturday at Towneley with plenty of surface water and mud for the competitors. We were lucky on the day itself especially as the wind did not blow as forecast and we had no ground pegs for the tent!

The juniors certainly lead the way with 24 competitors from under 11’s to under under 17’s not far short of the total of seniors who ran on the day!! i cannot think of a time when this has happened previously and only goes to show what a great job Marion,Andrew,Jason and the parents are all doing in encouraging the juniors. Long may it continue.

XC

In the junior section whilst it is totally unfair to single out any particular runners as they all put in such a good effort i would like to mention how well Millie Stubbs did in the under 11’s girls race she certainly had a very determind look at the start of the race and fought really hard to come 5th. In the boys under 15’s Ryan Clarke had a really good run, despite looking behind him for most of it, because he thought he was going to be overtaken by boys who would normally be in front.Who knows where he would come if he looked where he was going! Well done Ryan.

In the seniors races 149 ladies and 302 men competed with Liverpool winning both events. Clayton had 9 ladies running who were lead home by captain Irene,in the mens there were 21 Clayton runners with Spencer Riley coming in as first counter. He was well supported by his fellow clubmates ensuring our first team beat the likes of Blackburn and Preston. Phil Hall also deserves a special mention as not only did he have a good run he was just warming up to run for Clayton again the following day in the Accy 10k. Not only is Andrew Armstrong developing the junior section his additional training is also pushing him up in the results and was pushing Phil all the way.Also thanks to the lads who put Clayton Harriers before Burnley FC at least for 40 minutes,glad you did not miss the goals.

A big thank you must go to Richard and Val Lawson who make this day possible for all and ensure Clayton le Moors Harriers host one of the best Mid Lancs fixtures. We can now all look forward to Liverpool and the opportunity to run against some of the best x country runners in the UK as it is used as a trial  for selection for the European x country championships. Watch the notice boards and face book to arrange lifts etc.

ByJim Hickie

Team Clayton Report – Accy 10k

On a cold, wet and very windy Sunday morning over 250 runners lined up for the Accrington 10k road race. Started by the mayor of Accrington the runners were off at 10am, starting the fast initial 3 miles through Huncoat, over the M65 and down towards Altham before taking a left turn to head back into town.

 Road Captain Tom Brewster took an early lead, striding out to lead the field down towards Altham followed closely by Nick Gaskell and Phil Hall. Many people had warned us of the fast start followed by the long arduous climb back into Accrington town but nothing really prepares you for the slog itself, especially as the heavens opened just as the leaders reached the climb and a headwind kicked up making the challenge twice as hard. Newcomer Nick Gaskell took up the battle with Tom on the climb, claiming 8th place with Tom just behind in 9th overall.
 Accy
Excellent runs were had by Phil Hall (10th) and the two Passco boys, Leon outpacing dad Lee at the finish and just missing out on snatching 28th from racing regular Richard Briscoe.
Also in attendance for Team Clayton were Ryan Wilkinson and Adam Shaw showing improvement on their 10k times (coach Roche’s speed sessions paying off!!), Damien Fletcher, Stephen Biscomb, Stephen Greenwood, Alex Braysford, Gary Balmer, Colin Baxter, Brian Wildman, Martin and Kath Brady, Ron Chappell, and club legend Ron Hill. Also Worth a mention is Jo Motley who posted a superb personal best with Mick Hogan and Captain Dave Motley providing the much needed cheering section!
Overall an excellent showing by Clayton Harriers supporting this local race with the leading lads just missing out on the team prize to Blackburn AC and superb runs from all on a tough course in adverse weather conditions!!
Full results HERE
Photos from Steve Bateson HERE
ByJim Hickie

Results Round Up 26th & 27th October 2013

XCA cracking weekend of action from Team Clayton all the results can be found at the links below:-

Mid Lancs XC @ Towneley Park – HERE

Burnley Parkrun – HERE

Cannonball Events Tandle Hill Trail Race – HERE

Accrington 10k – HERE

Bronte Way Fell Race – HERE

The OMM – HERE

It’s great to see our club so well represented at so many races in all different disciplines every weekend, the future’s bright!!

ByJim Hickie

30th Tour of Pendle – Entry List as of 28/10/13

Updated entry list as of 28/10/13 :-

2013 Tour Entries

Race information

ByAndy Armstrong
,

Junior XC Series 2013-2014


UPDATED; RESULTS AFTER TOWNELEY


This is a new series for this season, based around six of the more
local Red Rose and Mid Lancs cross country fixtures. The format will be
similar to the summer series and all the details are HERE

Prizes will be awarded to all completing at least four races, and
also to age category winners, calculated from their best four events.

Cross country uses the ‘school year’ age category system; Age on
31st August with races for u9, u11, u13, u15 and u17. Minimum age 8 on
race day.

The first race is Saturday 28th September and is the Red Rose
fixture at Leigh Sports Village, near Wigan.

ALL RACES ARE FREE TO ENTER!

ByJim Hickie

Mid Lancs XC Results – Towneley Park

XC

Results from today’s Mid Lancs Cross Country meeting at Towneley Park can be found by clicking HERE

Well done to all runners, marshals & volunteers – full reports and pictures to follow this week.

ByJim Hickie

30th Tour Of Pendle – Update 23/10/13

The Updated entry list and also the race information for this years Tour of Pendle is available to view at the below links:-

Tour Entries

Race information

Also the FRA do is on the same evening of the race, it would be good to get as many there as possible. We as a club are organising the event and it would be good if we could get a good crowd there. Tickets can be purchased from Marie Greenwood & all the information is on the homepage.

ByJim Hickie

Even the wildlife love us….

Clayton Caterpillar

This caterpillar spotted in Colarado Loved the Clayton Colours so much it decided to wear them permanently!

ByJim Hickie

Snorkelling In Wales – British Fell Relays 2013

Sunday 20th October saw the 25th running of the British Fell Relays in Llanberis (Snowdon), Wales. The conditions were interesting with strong winds and heavy showers; maybe a snorkel & flippers should have been a mandatory part of the kit check! Clayton Harriers were out in force with 4 teams entered: A, V40, V50 & Ladies and in total over 200 teams entered.

 Leg 1 – The relay got underway with a mass start and covered 7.4km and over 350m of climbing through a quarry and up onto Cein-du and back. The A team led by Tom Brewster and V40 team led by Paul Shackelton had a real tussle throughout this leg changing positions 4/5 times as the terrain changed, Tom getting the better of his more experienced counterpart on the climbs but Shack coming strong on the descent and rough terrain. The leg eventually finished in a sprint finish along the last 200metres of tarmac with Tom Brewster, on the promise of a double meal, finishing seconds in front of Shack bringing the A team home in 41st with Shack in 42nd(9th V40). John Wilcock on his relay debut ran really well for the V50’s finishing as 4th V50. The ladies led off by Sue Burns finished in 16th (out of nearly 40 teams).Spen

 Leg 2 – The first of the pairs legs led the teams over 14km and 1000m of terrain climbing onto Moel Cynghorion & Moel Eilio before descending back into the event field. All the teams found this leg tough being battered by the elements. After Leg 1 the Clayton A & V40’s set off as a quartet, the A team of Matt Perry & Dave Walker getting the better of ‘the old boys’ Paul Thompson & Garry Wilkinson bringing the team back in 27th, the vets not far behind finishing still as 9th V40 and only running 1 min slower than the ‘young uns’. The V50’s led by Ste Whittaker & Martin Terry had a good run finishing in 5th in the V50 category. The ladies led by Capt.Jean Brown & Anna Kelly finished the leg in 17th.

Leg 3 – The dreaded navigation leg ran in pairs. On this leg runners set off not knowing the route, given a map with checkpoints marked on just as you’re tagged by the Leg 2 runners! This means you can’t pre plan or recce the course in anyway. The ‘A’ team were led by Capt.Motley & Dave Bagot (who stepped into the team on 48hr notice) and you’ll be surprised to hear that they didn’t get lost and managed to run the leg quicker than both V40 & V50 team, which included the experienced navigators Hardiman & Wallis. The ‘A’ team improved their position into 23rd. The V40’s Neil Hardiman & Paul Hesketh finished the leg with the team in 9th V40 and Mike Wallis & Geoff Gough finishing in 6th V50 position. The Ladies with Katy Thompson & Kath Wallis finished the leg with the team in 20th.

Wendy

 Leg 4 – A really tough leg leading the runners over 8.5k and 600m of climbing up and down Moel Eilio. Spencer Riley had a stormer on this leg after returning from injury in May (broken foot) bringing the Clayton ‘A’ team back home to finish the relay in 19th.  The V40’s led by Sean Clare came home finishing as 13th V40 team and Dave Naughton ran really well bringing the 50’s home in 6th. The ladies with Wendy Dodds running the last leg finished the day in 22nd place which was a fantastic result against much younger teams in the category.

Again my Thanks goes to all the runners that ran for team Clayton. This is what club running is all about and I’m already looking forward to selecting the teams for the Calderdale Relay in May.

Full results are available HERE