Evening folks & a Happy New Year if I haven’t seen you yet! Time for the latest Fell Section update to whet the appetite for the coming months!
January 2025 – big weather! Storm Eowyn the strongest of the season so far, which when coupled with a week of ice & snow made for some interesting conditions out there.
It was just chuffing cold for the first of this year’s races, the Stanbury Splash meeting over at Haworth on Sunday 19th January, where we had another great turnout of 17 seniors all eager to get their 2025 championships off to a flying start. The previous week’s snow had all melted & with little rain leading up to race day, the ground was soft to firm, the streams were only ankle deep & the bogs non-existent! First back for the club and continuing where he left off in 2024, Tommy Holroyd gave Ilkley’s Jack Cummings a real run for his money, before settling for 2nd place in an excellent time of 48.33 for the 6.8 mile, 1200 ft race. Not too far behind, Patrick Needham is clearly enjoying this fell-running lark, coming back 8th in 50.46 and staying ahead of Curtis Firth, 14th in 54.28. First lady overall, by a comfortable 7 minute margin, was Katie Walshaw, 15th overall in 54.55, whilst just behind we had a repeat of last year’s tussle, with Michael Sanderson (22nd in 57.40) once again edging out Adam Sunderland (23rd in 57.47) – maybe next year Adam! We then had a steady stream of runners arriving back, with Bob Dickinson 34th in 61.57, Mark Wilson 44th in 65.11, Matt Crompton 54th in 67.05 and Jim Durrans 72nd in 70.20. Scott Gibbs has spent many a cold hour in the quarry watching the juniors race the Rat Runs, but this time decided that he was going to step out & have a blast around the rest of the moor, which he did to great effect, finishing 86th in 73.06. He also professed to having enjoyed the experience, so now we just need to get him a vest! Hot on his heels, another close contest ensued, with Jon Burdon (95th in 76.16) saving just enough for a strong finish across the car park to pip Phil Hobbs (96th in 76.28). Rob Kersey ran another good race to finish 107th & 2nd MV70 in 82.40, Mark Henderson took a few scalps, coming back 119th in 89.02 and Becky Burdon chalked up another completion, finishing 132nd in 97.34. There were 135 starters (somewhat down on last year), but plenty stayed for the prize-giving & the traditional chocolate/Soreen throw-out at the end!
Under the watchful eye of the afore-mentioned Scott Gibbs, a handful of juniors made it across for the Rat Runs and they all performed admirably on a chilly morning in the quarry, with Arthur Gibbs 7th overall & 2nd BU13, Florence Gibbs 19th overall and Alice Parry 3rd GU17, so well done to them all.
Exciting times in the Age of Ultra, where we had 2 heroic excursions this month, in some interesting weather! First up was Phil Brown, taking on the Spine Challenger South for the first time, a mere 108 miles from Edale to Hawes along the route of the Pennine Way, starting on Saturday 11th January. Coming just 36 hours after the heavy snow, it was touch & go whether the races would go ahead (a few, including The Trigger, had already been cancelled) and I imagine there was anticipation coupled with some trepidation on the start line at 8.00am. Phil was very thankful for the front-runners who broke the trails through the deep snowdrifts across much of the route, but commented that it was still incredibly technical, with ice in many places demanding the utmost concentration, particularly during the night. To give you an idea of how challenging this was, over half of the field retired during the race, with just 71 finishers from 155 starters, with 30 not even making it to Hebden Bridge! The competitors have 60 hours to complete the race and we dot-watchers were willing Phil on as he battled yet more snowdrifts and noticeably slowed on the Cam Road approaching Hawes. Thankfully, he found some energy from somewhere and crossed the finish line in a time of 55.25.49, so many congratulations to him – all pretty comfortable really! He’s promised to write a report for the website, which should be very entertaining – I know he took some decent photos whilst he was out there!
A couple of weeks later on Saturday 25th January, Tim Brook was undertaking his latest adventure – the Arc of Attrition, 100 miles of the Cornish coastal path (with 4000m of climb) from Coverack to Porthtowan, via The Lizard, Lands End and St.Ives. No snow for this one, but instead the small matter of Storm Eowyn to contend with! Tim set off in fine form and was actually leading at one stage after Lizard Point, but fell victim to his choice of footwear, with his trail shoes holding water and causing blisters on the slippery, muddy route and sadly he had to call it a day at Lands End after 55 miles, having had to walk the last 15 miles from Penzance. I’m sure he’ll be back!
Elsewhere, great to see a few out enjoying themselves, including Tim Brook at the LCW Winter Ultra 2 Day Event, where he was the overall winner, Martin Page (in his first race since surgery last year on both Achilles tendons) at the Bowland Trail Half, where he finished 4th overall, Adam Sunderland & Simon Platts at Lambs Longer Leg (where Adam was 7th overall & 2nd V50) & Adam again at Hoofstones.
All the necessary permits have been requested from National Trust and Yorkshire Water for the Ian Roberts race on Sunday 9th March, so just waiting to hear back. The email will be going out very shortly with my request for volunteers, so please let me know if you can help, even if you’re planning on running, as we can find a job before the start!
Next month, the seniors will be in action at Mickleden Straddle on Sunday 2nd February, whilst the juniors will be heading over to Mirfield for the Hoppits Hill race on Sunday 16th February.
Finally, some local(ish) races to have a go at:
Winter Half Tour of Bradwell (BL) – Saturday 8th
Windy Hill (Denshaw, Saddleworth) (BM) – Sunday 9th
Hoppits Hill (Mirfield) (BS) – Sunday 16th
Midgley Moor (Booth, nr Sowerby Bridge) (BS) – Sunday 16th
Flower Scar (Todmorden) (AM) – Saturday 22nd – incorporates the Yorkshire Senior & U23 Champs
Doctors Gate (Glossop) (AL) – Sunday 23rd
Saddleworth Ten Res (Greenfield) (BL) – Saturday 1st March
Ilkley Moor (AS) – Sunday 2nd March
See you at Mickleden (sadly in a watching brief)!
Cheers,
Phil
