April 2026, and, whisper it quietly, plenty of sunshine!
For the seniors, it was the 2nd English Championship race at the AS Blackstone Edge on Saturday 18th. This has been chosen for the English Champs on a couple of occasions and with 1200 feet of climb in just 3.5 miles, this is at the short, sharp end of racing! Renowned for its boggy descent from the Roman Road to the stream, we knew it going to be bad, as Dave Woodhead (of Woodentops fame) had positioned himself & his camera at a particularly soggy spot & was rewarded with plenty of face-plants & muddied bodies! To avoid any congestion on the course, there were separate races for the Men & the Ladies, with the Ladies off first, helping to churn up the bogs even more! We had 4 Harriers on the start line, all hoping to pick up some English Champs points and first back for the club, and continuing her strong start to the season was Helen Haigh, who had a storming run, finishing 10th overall & 1st FV50 in an excellent time of 36.04, just 2 ½ minutes behind the race winner (Emily Cowper-Coles of Dark Peak). We then had a great battle between Fran Whitworth & Sophie Cromwell, with Fran (73rd in 44.52) just edging it by 7 seconds from Sophie (74th in 44.59)! Diane Lee prefers the longer races, and although this perhaps wasn’t part of the usual build-up for The Fellsman, still ran well, coming back 109th in 56.59.
It was then the turn of the Men, where we had 9 Harriers amongst the 251 starters, ranging from U23’s to V75’s! First back & relishing the challenge of the fells was Steve McCarron, who finished an excellent 62nd overall & 6th MV50 in 33.34, picking up some notable scalps on the way! Not too far behind, Paddy Needham came back 93rd in 35.40, with Phil Hinchcliffe following on, 114th in 37.04 and Adam Sunderland hot on his heels, 123rd in 37.22. Laurie Smith Bodle has only recently joined the club & certainly looked the part in Amber as he finished 146th & 12th MU23 in 39.47, whilst for the Vets, Gavin Baxter was 185th in 43.21, Keith Baird was 199th in 44.48 & Phil Hobbs was 235th in 52.30. Last, but not least, super-vet Bill Hunter conquered the hill, finishing 249th & 4th MV75 in 65.25, so well done to him! At the sharp end, it was a very close race, with Dark Peak’s Finlay Grant just edging Oxford University XC’s Tom Wood by 7 seconds, coming back in 26.46 – so fast!
It was then a trip up to the Yorkshire Dales for this year’s Three Peaks AL race on Saturday 25th April. Although not part of the champs, we still had a good turnout, boosted by the 2 teams we’d entered in the Relay event (which had been introduced as part of last year’s 70th celebrations). On a very warm day, all 8 Harriers beat the cut-offs and made it round in one piece, which was an achievement in itself, as there were 164 DNF’s from 731 starters (a 22% drop-out rate)! Safely navigating the 24.2 mile, 5330ft course, we had Ben Jarvis (48th in 3.58.12), Jamie Wood (76th in 4.13.13), Curtis Firth (78th in 4.15.57), Paddy Needham (152nd in 4.33.13), Ben Kellett (220th in 4.48.19), Annie Garside (236th in 4.49.56), Phil Hinchcliffe (275th in 4.55.24) & Andy Shortt (517th in 5.51.58) – a great effort in those conditions!
50 teams had entered the Relay, and with 49 starting, the race was going to be close across the 3 different categories (Open, Mixed & Ladies). Last year, it was often difficult to tell who was running the relay & who was in the full race, so this year the organiser gave each relay runner a green ribbon that they had to attach to their vest or kit, which hopefully avoided any confusion & stopped anyone tearing off after a runner, only to find they were in the relay! We had a Mixed team and an Open team & they both flew round the course, buoyed no doubt by the fact that they only had to summit one of the Peaks, rather than all 3! I was quietly confident that the Ale Stars Mixed team of Andy Swift (in his first outing in Amber), Richard Anderson, Helena Croft, Zoe Storr, Tim Brook & Helen Haigh would be very strong & so it proved, as they finished 1st Mixed team, 2nd overall in 3.29.16, only beaten by the Wharfedale Open team. Andy & Richard were the fastest pair on Leg 1, whilst Helen & Tim were the quickest to the top of Ingleborough, as Tim will testify! The Holmfirth Raiding Party Open team of Steve McCarron, Jordan Millar, Adam Sunderland, Gav Baxter, Julian Rank & Bob Dickinson also had a great run, finishing 7th overall in 3.50.26, made even more impressive by the fact that other than Jordan, the team was all Vets!
The juniors had the fast & furious Rivington Pike races over the Easter weekend on Saturday April 4th and this time, it was the Clarke/Whipp show! In the U10’s, Jasmine Clarke was 5th GU10 & Hetty Whipp was 13th GU10, whilst in the U12’s, Marcus Clarke was 6th overall & Bonnie Whipp was 7th overall & 2nd GU12 – great running everyone!
In terms of the Holmfirth Senior Champs, after 4 races, Adam Sunderland is setting the early pace, amassing 99 points, after completing 2 English Champs races & the 3 Peaks Relay as well as 3 of our champs races. Hoping to rein him back, we have Phil Hinchcliffe (66 points), Paddy Needham (65 points) & Steve McCarron (62 points). For the Ladies, it’s very tight, with Helen Haigh on 88 points, just ahead of Fran Whitworth (86 points) & Sophie Cromwell (85 points). Mind you, we’re barely a quarter of the way through, so plenty of time for things to change!
At the time of going to press, looking good for the Calderdale Way Relay on Sunday 17th, with pretty much 4 full teams plus a few reserves. Fingers crossed it stays that way! In terms of the champs in May, as well as the Calderdale, the seniors have The Cake Race on Saturday 2nd & Castleton on Friday 22nd, whilst the juniors also have a very busy month, with 4 races to go at – the first 3 English Champs fixtures – Sedbergh on the 9th, Esk Valley on the 17th & Ogden Water on the 30th, as well as Coiners on the 4th!
Elsewhere in the month, we had plenty out & about, including Katie Walshaw at Rivington Pike (where she was 2nd lady & 1st FV40), Bob Dickinson at the Bunny Runs, Mark Henderson at Wardle Skyline, Damien Briscoe at the Ripon Stinger 35 mile Trail Ultra (where he was 6th overall), Matt Crompton & Mark Henderson at Herod Farm, Katie Walshaw & Mark Henderson at Kettleshulme (where Katie was 7th overall & 1st lady), Jordan Millar taking on the George Fisher Tea Round (46km & 3800m climb) on Friday 17th & then joining Tommy Holroyd at Newlands Memorial on the 18th (where Tommy was 12th overall), Tim Brook & Annie Garside at Teenager With Altitude (where Annie was 8th lady), Bob Dickinson at Burnsall Trail Half Marathon, Helena Croft & James Washington at Burnsall Trail 12k (where Helena was 9th overall & 2nd lady and James was 1st MV50), Diane Lee at The Fellsman, Jo Jones, Helen Ilsley, Steve Berridge & James Spencer at Hartcliff Hill, where Jo was 1st lady & Steve was 1st MV65 and taking on Trunce 2, we had Laurie Smith Bodle, Chris Beadle, Annie Greenwood, Andy Shortt, Debbie Hall, Kevin Yewlett & Elspeth Taylor trying to beat the queue at the first stile!
Finally, some other local(ish) races to head off to over the next few weeks:
Coiners (BM) – Mytholmroyd – Monday 4th
Five Trigs (BL) – Delph – Saturday 9th
Cressbrook Crawl (BM) – Cressbrook, nr. Buxton – Saturday 9th
Trunce 3 (BS) – Oxspring, nr. Penistone – Monday 11th
Hayfield May Queen (BS) – Hayfield – Friday 15th
Mount Famine (AS) – Hayfield – Saturday 16th
Lantern Pike Dash (AS) – Little Hayfield – Sunday 17th
Bamford Sheepdog Trials (BS) – Bamford – Monday 25th
Trunce 4 (BS) – Oxspring – Monday 1st June
Hebden Bridge (BM) – Hebden Bridge – Tuesday 2nd June
See you on a hill sometime!
Cheers,
Phil
