Evening folks & a Happy New Year to you all! Here’s a little holiday reading for you – the last Fell Update for 2024.
December 2024 – once we’d got Storm Darragh out of the way, things calmed down a little!
The final race in this year’s champs saw a fantastic turnout of 29 Harriers on the start line for the Mytholmroyd (BS) race on Sunday 1st December, which was also doubling up as the YVAA Fell Champs event due to the cancellation of Meltham’s Cop Hill race and which certainly boosted the numbers, with the race fully subscribed. Tommy Holroyd, who finished 3rd at this race last time out, has had a fantastic year, and after a great battle with Calder Valley’s Gavin Mulholland, emerged victorious to win the 6.2 mile/1650ft race in 48.48. Also in the prizes, we had Tim Brook (9th overall & 1st MV40), Katie Walshaw (17th overall & 1st lady), Helen Ilsley (40th overall & 3rd lady), Fran Whitworth (2nd FV50) and Kevin Yewlett (2nd MV70). We also won the team prize, which for Calder Valley races is calculated on 2 men & 2 ladies, which meant Tommy & Katie were joined by Ben Kellett (who was 5th overall) & Helen Ilsley in grabbing more goodies from the prize table! There were also prizes a-plenty in the Vets Champs as well – needless to say it was a great day out!
This all means that the final Championship placings are confirmed & for the Men, it’s many congratulations to Tim Brook, who has dominated this year’s champs, entering 10 of the 15 races available and amassing an impressive 237 points from his 7 qualifying races, as well as taking part in 3 of the fell relays and racing at 2 of the English Champs events. This year’s runners-up are Phil Hewitt (177 points) and Michael Sanderson (174 points), so well done to them, as well as an honourable mention for Jon Burdon, who also qualified, having completed the required 2 Long, 2 Medium & 2 Short races, to come back with 138 points. For the Ladies, Fran Whitworth also entered 10 of the available races and was equally dominant, registering 216 points from her 7 qualifying races, as well as taking part in 3 of the fell relays, so very well done to her. Diane Lee finished 2nd (on 194 points), with Stef Dickinson 3rd (on 171 points) & Becky Burdon 4th (on 157 points). Final table will be on the website soon.
In total, we had over 90 Harriers taking part throughout the year, either at races or at the fell relays, with 28 racing at least 3 times and we regularly had over 15 runners at races, with the biggest turnouts being at Ian Roberts & Mytholmroyd (29 on each occasion), which was great to see! We also had a weekend away in April at the Newlands Memorial race, which we’re hoping to repeat in 2025 – venue to be confirmed! Finally, special mentions for Tommy Holroyd, Adam Sunderland, Gavin Baxter, Jim Durrans and Katie Walshaw, who took part in all 4 of the fell relays that were held this year – many thanks for making my job a little easier!
For the juniors, it was also their last race of 2024, with a visit to The Stoop on Sunday 22nd December. On a bitterly cold morning, 3 hardy Harriers braved the snow & wind in the quarry & took on the bleak Penistone Moor, so well done to Arthur Gibbs (BU11), Florence Gibbs (GU15) & Alice Parry (2nd GU17) for flying the Amber flag! No changes to the Champs tables, with Arthur clinching the BU11 title & Niamh Sykes the GU11 title. See website shortly for final tables.
The senior & junior calendars for 2025 will be updated to the website in the next day or two and many thanks in advance to the Web Editors, who continue to do a great job! As ever, we’re trying to get as many Harriers to take part in these races as possible, including the English Championship events & once again I’ve tried to mix it up, with local races, evening races & some further afield to choose from. There will also be additional points available for those representing the club at the fell relays & national Championship events. First up for everyone (seniors & juniors) will be a return to the perennial favourite Stanbury Splash on Sunday 19th, which holds no fears for anyone wanting to try out the fells for the first time! As well as Stanbury, there are also a couple of other races this year where the seniors & juniors will all be racing on the same day, Edale on Sunday 8th June and Tebay on Saturday 12th July. Both of these are English Junior Championship races, with Tebay also being an English Senior Champs race, so we should definitely try & get some transport sorted if possible & make it an HHAC day out!
Elsewhere, great to see a few out & about, including Tim Brook at the Leeds Country Way 2 day Ultra (which only survived 1 day thanks to Storm Darragh), new dad Curtis Firth & Phil Brown at Moors The Merrier (where Curtis had a great run & finished 3rd overall), Tim Brook, Bob Dickinson & Diane Lee at the Coley Canter, Patrick Needham, Leighton Moxon, Kevin Yewlett, Debbie Hall, Neil Midgley, James Spencer & Elaine Stewart at Amble’s Revenge, Hannah Austin, Bob Dickinson & Craig Sheard at Auld Lang Syne and Keith Baird, Helena Croft, Matt Crompton, Jim Durrans, Mark Henderson, Phil Hobbs, Patrick Needham, Andy Shortt, Adam Sunderland, Katie Walshaw & James Washington at Wormstones (where Katie was 19th overall, 2nd lady & 1st FV40).
Finally, a couple of local(ish) races over the next few weeks:
Lamb’s Longer Leg (AS) – Chinley, nr. Hayfield – Sunday 12th
Hoofstones (BM) – Todmorden – Saturday 25th
Tigger Tor (BM) – Longshaw, nr. Hathersage – Sunday 26th
Wadsworth Trog (BL) – Old Town, nr. Hebden Bridge – Saturday 1st February
See you at Stanbury (if not before).
Cheers,
Phil
