So, into September & a confused weather picture, with torrential downpours punctuated with late-summer sunshine! Which shoes to pack?
First up, we had the Cross Keys Road & Fell Relay on Saturday 6th, with teams being organised this year by Adam Sunderland to great effect, as we had 5 teams (20 Harriers) battling it out amongst the 38 registered. And once again, it was a very successful afternoon out for the club, with the Mens Open team of Fionn Kerry, Patrick Needham, Tom Heap & Phil Hewitt 1st overall, the Mens Vets team of James Washington, Andy Shortt, Mark Wilson & Adam Sunderland 1st Mens Vets and the Ladies Vets team of Joanne Jones, Katie Walshaw, Claire Leaver-Hewitt & Fran Whitworth 1st Ladies overall (& 1st Ladies Vets). We also took both of the Ladies fastest leg prizes, with Joanne & Katie the fastest ladies on the road & fell respectively. It was great to see so many taking part, and to welcome back some old faces to the racing fold, for what is a cracking low-key event, finished off with a pint & a chip butty – lovely!
A couple of weeks later, on Saturday 20th, it was time for the last Long race of this year’s champs, the 13.5 mile/5400ft AL Three Shires in Little Langdale. To alleviate the problems with access & parking that had caused issues in previous years, the organisers decided to move the race headquarters from the Three Shires Inn to Tilberthwaite Farm, reverse the direction to anti-clockwise and add an extra mile, plus 1000 feet of climb. Thanks, guys! For the Harriers, plenty at stake, as Adam, Helen & Fran all needed to finish to chalk up their 2nd long race & qualify for the champs. In the end, we had 5 Harriers on the start line, hoping the gap in the weather would hold & they wouldn’t need to break out the waterproofs! First back & cementing his place at the top of the champs was Patrick Needham, having another good run to finish 33rd overall in a decent time of 2.47.31. Close behind & emphasising her return to full fitness, Helen Haigh had a great battle with Poppy Wardley of Dark Peak for second place in the Ladies race & was just pipped on the run-in from the final checkpoint, finishing 3rd lady & 1st FV50 in 3.01.34 (just 50 seconds behind Poppy and only 6 minutes behind Sharon Taylor of Helm Hill, who won in 2.55.21). Adam Sunderland usually classes long races as a necessary evil, but speaking to him after the race, he actually really enjoyed this one, saying it had something for everyone – a nice route with tough climbs and runnable descents, helping him to finish 66th overall in 3.07.41. Conversely, Annie Garside, who has raced several of the Lakes events this year, didn’t enjoy it quite so much, although this was because she had been feeling under the weather in the run-up to race day. It didn’t slow her down too much though, as she finished 70th overall & 7th lady in 3.09.48. Completing the Holmfirth contingent, Fran Whitworth shook off her injury niggles to finish 137th in 4.06.15. There were 152 finishers (from 163 starters), with Tom Simpson of Ambleside the race winner in an impressive time of 2.07.27!
In terms of the Championship, with just one race & the autumn fell relays left to come, nothing has been decided yet and it will all come down to the last race. The current leader is Patrick Needham, who is on 269 points from 10 races, so that will need to be whittled down to his best 7 scores (which must include 2 Long, 2 Medium & 2 Short races). Similarly, Adam Sunderland has also completed 10 races & is on 252 points, so will be hoping that’s enough to fend off any challenge from Curtis Firth (149 points from 7 races) & Bob Dickinson (144 points from 7 races). Michael Sanderson & Tim Brook have both finished 6 races, so will need to complete the final race (the Beast of Bamford) in November to ensure they qualify as well. For the Ladies, Fran Whitworth is currently leading on 208 points (from 8 races), with Helen Haigh (171 points from 7 races) and Sophie Cromwell (168 points from 7 races) close behind.
Coming up for the seniors we have the Hodgson Brothers Fell Relay from Patterdale on Saturday 4th October, where we have 2 teams, which this year are an Open & a Mixed team, whilst at the UKA/British Fell Relays in Meirionnydd, Southern Snowdonia on Saturday 18th, we have 5 teams going (Mens Open, Ladies Open, MV40, MV50 & V60’s). The juniors have the Withins Skyline Rat Runs on Sunday 12th (although this clashes with the first of the West Yorkshire Cross Country races, which is rather unfortunate!), followed by a new race, The Strawberry Lace Race on Sunday 19th, which is being hosted by Saddleworth Runners, based at the Cross Keys Inn, so hopefully they’ll have plenty of chip butties available!
Elsewhere, great to see a few out & about in Amber, including Andy Shaw (with his 19th completion) at Ben Nevis, Tom Edwards, Neil Robins, Paul Girdlestone & Jo Robinson at the HUT 50k Ultra (where Tom was 6th overall), Bob Dickinson & Chris Barr at the Yorkshireman Off Road Marathon (where Bob was 5th MV50 & Chris was 5th MV60), Jamie Wood, Tom Heap, Helena Croft, Mark Wilson & Bill Hunter at Darkwood Demon, (where Jamie was 6th overall & Helena was 10th overall & 1st lady), Jordan Millar at the UTMB Julian Alps 125km in Slovenia, Matt Crompton & Mark Henderson at Fat Boys Stanage Struggle, Sean McCaffrey & Phil Hobbs at Stainland Trail, Lucy Byram & Erica Byram at Rombalds Romp (where Lucy was 1st lady & Erica was 4th lady),Tim Brook wishing he hadn’t started the 13 Valleys Ultra, Julian Rank at Eskdale Show (where he was 16th overall & 1st MV60) and Ken McGuire at Trunce 9.
Finally, some local(ish) races to try your hand at (if you’re not relaying or running/helping at the Holmfirth 10k!):
Withins Skyline (BM) – Penistone Country Park, nr. Haworth – Sunday 12th
Castle Calf (BM) – Old Town, nr. Hebden Bridge – Sunday 12th
Tideswell Terminator (BS) – Tideswell – Sunday 19th
Race You To The Summit (BS) – Summit, nr. Littleborough – Saturday 25th
Shepherds Skyline (BS) – Lumbutts, nr. Todmorden – Saturday 1st November
See you on a hill sometime!
Cheers,
Phil
