June 2026 – when heatwave warnings went from amber to red! Plenty for the seniors to get their teeth into, with Buttermere Sailbeck on Saturday 13th, Harden Moss on Saturday 20th & Blencathra on Sunday 27th, whilst the juniors had the latest 2 English Champs races, Edale on the 14th & Clougha Pike on the 20th.
First up was this year’s Fell Section Weekender at the challenging AM Buttermere Sailbeck race on Saturday 13th. A classic Lakes medium race, and with steep climbs, a scramble or two, some spectacular ridge-running & a superb long descent into the finish, this has something for everyone and it was great to see it in the calendar, as there had been some doubt it would take place, with the previous race organiser retiring after last year’s race. Although illness & double-bookings meant we didn’t have a full complement taking part, there were still 12 Harriers on the start line (with a couple of human supporters, plus Archie)! The weather forecast talked of sun, with occasional showers and 40mph gusts on the tops, so the turn-back after Causey Pike was likely to be challenging. As it turned out, it seems my vantage point on Whiteless Pike was the windiest section of the whole race – should have walked further up…! In terms of the racing, Paddy Needham put in another strong performance on the 9.3 mile/4300ft course, finishing 20th overall in an excellent time of 1.59.39, which bagged him 25 points in his bid to retain his Harriers Fell Championship trophy. Adam (Single Malt) Sunderland probably won’t need reminding that he had a 2 minute lead over Michael Sanderson & Curtis Firth going through the final checkpoint, but as the last 1 ½ miles are all downhill, it was inevitable that the chasers would reel him back & so it came to pass – Michael finished 27th in 2.05.49, closely followed by Curtis (28th in 2.06.08), with Adam 30th in 2.07.00 – need some more of those uphill finishes! Helena Croft & James Burbidge kept each other company the whole way round, with James even having time to shoot the odd video as he took in the views – he certainly seemed to be enjoying himself as he went past me! The encouragement must have worked, as Helena came back 48th overall, 9th lady & 3rd FV40 in 2.15.17 & scooped a voucher at the prize-giving, whilst James crossed the line 49th in 2.15.18! Annie Garside was supposed to be racing on Arran, but the ferry was cancelled because of the strong winds, so she (& other half Ethan) decided to enter the race on the Friday. Although her legs were still feeling the effects of racing Ennerdale the weekend before, she toughed it out & finished 52nd overall & 11th lady in 2.17.54, which was a great effort (for the record, Ethan had an excellent race, finishing 7th in 1.50.40 – shame he lives in Barrow)! It was then a small gap to the V50’s, with Keith Baird 68th in 2.28.48, Jim Durrans 79th in 2.37.48, Fran Whitworth 87th in 2.48.43 & Nick Helm 91st in 2.56.51. Unfortunately, Logan Anderson had to retire on the way to Causey Pike, but that just gave him the opportunity to head out on his bike instead, which was just as well, as the race leader (Tom Day of Keswick AC) had taken a wrong turn & ended up on the road, so Logan was able to put him right, to good effect, as he won in a cracking time of 1.40.02. There were 99 starters, with 2 DNF’s & 1 DSQ, with Keswick dominating the prizes as you’d expect, including the 1st lady, Beth Pascall, who finished 19th overall in 1.59.23.
Once the prize-giving was over, we retired to The Bridge Hotel for some well-earned food & liquid refreshment, before heading along to the Buttermere YHA for a wash & brush-up. After a re-group, it was back into the village, first to The Fish Inn & then a return to The Bridge, where Jim introduced Adam to a selection of whiskies before last orders! A steady start to a glorious Sunday morning with breakfast at the Youth Hostel, after which more exercise was the order of the day, the severity of which depended on how mashed your legs were! One group headed straight up Red Pike & back, others were content to bag a few Wainwrights at a slightly more leisurely pace, whilst others opted for a low-level yomp around the lake itself. All-in-all, an excellent weekend – we must do it all again next year!
The following weekend, we were blessed with glorious sunshine up at the Harden Moss Sheepdog Trials and the very low-key James Blakely race on Saturday 20th. We had 19 Harriers amongst the 30 starters for the 5k/180m route, with Richard Anderson 1st overall, Paddy Needham 3rd overall, Helen Haigh 6th overall & 1st lady, Jo Jones 2nd lady, Annie Greenwood 3rd lady, Mark Wilson 1st MV40 & Bob Dickinson 1st MV50 – pretty much a clean sweep, especially as we also picked up the team prize, with Richard & Paddy joined by Curtis Firth! Many thanks again to everyone who helped on the day – it all seemed to go pretty smoothly & the results were all out in plenty of time to allow for a beer & a burger!
Finally, it was the AM Blencathra race on Sunday 28th – the latest English Championship event, guaranteed to provide a stern test in the Northern Fells. Although injuries knocked out a few of us, we still had 9 Harriers on the start line of the 8 mile, 2700ft course, thankful for the slightly cooler conditions. The Ladies race started 15 minutes ahead of the Men, so it was going to be interesting to see if any of the men could catch Helen Haigh! And the answer was a resounding ‘no’, as she blazed round, finishing 6th lady & 1st FV50 (& FV40) in 1.17.38, although Richard Anderson gave it a good go, finishing an excellent 49th overall in 1.11.35! We then had an exciting 3-way battle, with Phil Hinchcliffe (101st in 1.19.11) just edging out Paddy Needham (102nd in 1.19.13) & Tim Brook (107th in 1.19.52) – packing well! Not too far behind, Adam Sunderland had another good race, finishing 137th & 10th MV55 in 1.23.31, whilst Michael Sanderson looked to have saved himself for the final downhill, coming in 204th in 1.30.28. Mark Wilson is returning to racing after a frustrating few months, so was pleased to finish in one piece, 279th in 1.40.06, whilst Sophie Cromwell kept up her strong challenge in the Fell Champs, crossing the line 302nd overall (72nd lady) in 1.44.30, whereupon she promptly dived into a handy stream, just in time for the team photo!
In terms of the Fell Champs, with 8 of the 15 races completed, we’ve got 7 Harriers who have completed 5 races or more, and 75 who have raced at least once (including the 3 Peaks & Calderdale Way Relays), which is very encouraging. As far as the current standings are concerned, Adam Sunderland leads the way for the Men on 176 points from 6 races, ahead of Paddy Needham (127 points) & Phil Hinchcliffe (114 points), both from 5 races. For the Ladies, it’s another close affair, with Helen Haigh on 153 points from 5 races, just ahead of Fran Whitworth & Sophie Cromwell, both on 146 points from 6 races! As everyone needs to complete 7 races in total, including 2 from each category (Long, Medium & Short), the positions are bound to change over the next couple of months, so all to play for!
Many congratulations to Tim Brook, who took on the Montane Spine Sprint North race on Tuesday 16th hoping to break the 8 hour mark for the 43 mile/5800ft route from Brown Rigg to Kirk Yetholm & ended up winning the race outright in a new record time of 7.45.52! There were some very excited dot-watchers that day, especially when he started to put some daylight between himself & the second-placed runner. Go, Tim!
Not to be outdone, Katie Walshaw ran at Settle Hills on Sunday 21st as part of this year’s Yorkshire Senior & U23 Championships and took Yorkshire Gold, finishing 16th overall & 1st lady (some 3 minutes ahead of 2nd place). Superb stuff!
For the juniors, it was a strong team that headed down to Edale, so well done to Jasmine Clarke (8th FU10), Hetty Whipp (19th FU10), James Frame (14th MU12 in his first fell race), Marcus Clarke (15th MU12), Noah Sutton (27th MU12) & Bonnie Whipp (13th FU12) – some great running there! Noah Sutton & Dolcie Biggs both managed to persuade their Mums & Dads to take them up to Clougha Pike (near Lancaster) on another glorious afternoon, with Noah 42nd overall & 30th MU12 and Dolcie 62nd overall & 25th FU14 on what are always long courses, so very well done to them both – a grand day out!
Elsewhere in a busy month, there were plenty of other Harriers racing, including Paddy Needham, Katie Walshaw, Bob Dickinson & Mark Henderson at Hebden Bridge (where Paddy was 8th overall & Katie was 14th overall & 1st lady, breaking the Ladies record by over 30 seconds), Annie Garside at Ennerdale Horseshoe (where she was 8th lady), Nick Helm at Pen Y Ghent, Jim Durrans (& Freya) at the North Leeds Skyline Sprint 15k (where Jim was 3rd overall), Michelle Rushby at the Lakeland Trails Coniston 16k, Ben Jarvis, Philip Hinchcliffe, Jordan Millar, James Washington, Tom Heap, Helena Croft, Bob Dickinson, Juliette Le Mare & Abi Macdonald at the Marsden 10 (which Ben won, Phil was 6th, Jordan was 7th, Helena was 2nd lady & Juliette was 4th lady), Andy Shortt & Mark Henderson at Edale, Jim Durrans at Reservoir View, James Washington & Mark Henderson at Whaley Waltz, Katie Walshaw, Phil Hewitt & Claire Leaver-Hewitt at the Bakewell Pudding Race (where Katie was 7th overall & 1st lady) and finally there were 2 editions of the Trunce, which saw Andy Shortt, Chris Beadle, Leighton Moxon, Janet Foreman, Diane Lee, Annie Greenwood & Debbie Hall taking on the masses!
Coming up in July, the juniors have the final English Champs race at Whinlatter, near Keswick on Sunday 12th July, whilst the seniors have the Eskdale Mixed Relay on Saturday 18th, followed by Holme Moss on Sunday 26th – a reminder that if you’re not planning on running, then Jon & Ian still need some marshals & also volunteers for sweeper – full or part-route to suit!
On the admin side, entries for Hodgson Brothers Relay (Saturday 3rd October) open on 3rd July. After last year’s cancellation, the organisers have said that everyone who had a place last time would be offered a place again this year, as long as they enter in time, which hopefully will avoid any potential disappointment! And no sign yet of any details for the British Fell Relays, which this year are due to be hosted by our friends over the hill in Todmorden on Saturday 17th October – watch this space!
Finally, some local(ish) races to have a go at:
Heptonstall Festival (AS) – Heptonstall, nr. Hebden Bridge – Saturday 4th
Warslow (AS) – Warslow, nr. Buxton – Saturday 4th
Great Hucklow (BM) – Great Hucklow, nr. Buxton – Sunday 5th
Stoodley Pike (BS) – Lumbutts, nr. Todmorden – Tuesday 7th
Thurlstone Chase (BS) – Thurlstone, nr. Penistone – Thursday 9th
Charlesworth & Chisworth Carnival (BS) – Charlesworth, nr. Glossop – Saturday 11th
Peak Forest (BS) – Peak Forest, nr. Buxton – Sunday 12th
Trunce 6 (BS) – Oxspring, nr. Penistone – Monday 13th
Bamford Carnival (BS) – Bamford – Wednesday 15th
Turnslack (BM) – Calderbrook, nr. Littleborough – Saturday 18th
Alderman’s Ascent (AS) – Greenfield – Saturday 25th (English Championship Counter)
Up The Nab (AS) – Glossop – Wednesday 29th
Trunce 7 (BS) – Oxspring, nr. Penistone – Monday 3rd August
See you on a hill sometime!
Cheers,
Phil
