The Pendle Half was the latest Red Rose race in the Grand Prix. 24 RRRRs were in attendance. First RRRR male home was Dan Hughes, in 3rd place overall, who easily beat the course record time by about 2 minutes. First RRRR lady home was Claire Shaw. Vet prizes went to Vicky Gore F40, Sue Tonge F55 and Stuart Cann V50. Lydia Plackett competed in the 10k race and received the F65 prize. Both the 10k and half marathon routes provided a gruelling challenge to all runners, with several very tough hills to tackle but runners were rewarded with fantastic views all the way round. The race was well organised and the marshals were encouraging. Lucie Clipston and Jacob Fisher successfully competed in the Junior race in the afternoon and were surprised to discover it was a FELL race, involving running up a massive field, climbing over rocks, dodging waterfalls and negotiating nettles! A grand day out was had by all. RESULTS: Dan Hughes 1.30.32, 5th Richard Maughan 1.33.57, 13th Stuart Cann 1.44.17, 17th John Naylor 1.49.28, 19th Gary Corcoran 1.50.06, 28th Chris Brown 1.57.32, 31st Doug Brydon 2.00.19, 32nd Simon Gardener 2.02.49, 33rd Dave Maudesley 2.04.22, Claire Shaw 2.07.57, Paula Plowman 2.08.45, Vicky Gore 2.13.41, Gareth Fairey 2.15.19, Sue Tonge 2.15.19, Anneke Crosby 2.20.14, Bernie Mitchell 2.21.08, Anees Shaikh 2.21.16, Emily Ingham 2.22.21, Alison Mercer 2.24.24, Jenny Fairclough 2.32.17, Sarah Haslam 2.45.53, Ann Donoghue 2.50.06, Martin Foley 2.50.07, Lee Burton 2.50.08.
In the 10k race Keith Burrows ran 63.10 and Lydia Plackett 91.53. In the trail race David Bayliss finished in 50.08.
So very proud of Lucie Clipston and Jacob Fisher, 2 intrepid juniors. We went up to Pendle to run the fun run that is on the junior championship calendar. Only 2 from RRRR juniors made it up there and it was as they stood on the start line that it became obvious why… "Welcome to the junior FELL race!" Fell?? That was news to us!
Anyway they did RR proud, they may have come in last but they climbed over rocks, dodged through waterfalls and ran a hill that makes Cuerden look like a ramp and then they did it all again coming down. Lucie even had a fight with a nettle bush and lost but I couldn’t have been more proud of them(especially as they were in road shoes 🙈) oh and the best bit? They have the same medal as you lot that did the half marathon!
Ben Donoghue, Barry Wheeler and Pita Oates travelled to Snowdon to take part in the race to the top. The course was a 9.5 mile up and down with 3300ft of elevation. The light rain with misty conditions meant little or no visibility but with an average gradient of 13% and a maximum gradient of 32% not many runners would have been taking in the scenery. Ben reached the summit in 58.52 and got down in 1.30.00. Barry was equally well paced, up in 62.11 and down in 1.36.46. Pita’s brave attempt saw her reach the summit in just 1.33.52 performing equally efficiently as the two men getting down in 2.29.40.
John Shepherd scored a major success with a victory at the Calder Vale Supper Run. His winning time was 21.48. In 10th place Mike Hall finished in 24.44 and with strong run, Mark Midgley was 13th in a time of 25.33. Ian Wharton finished in 29.01. Our only female runner was the reliable Debbie Porter with a time of 30.56. Jim Robinson ran 33.59 and Arthur Green came in 41.02.
A great night was had by our runners attending the Bull Hill Fell Race. Gary Corcoran led the way with a time of 51.47. Emma Plant had a storming run finishing in 53.17.Results: Bernie Mitchell 61.47, Lynn Melvin 64.49, Graham Roberts 65.04, Alison Mercer 66.42, Mary Conway 68.34, Jenny Fairclough 75.19.
Carla Davies put her serious training to the test over the weekend. Taking part in the epic ‘Race to the Stones’ event, Carla covered approximately 51km on the first day before completing the 100km race in Sunday in a fantastic time of 12 hours 1min 47seconds. She came 9th out of 302 women. Brilliant!
Rob Mather took part in the DT30 ascending almost 3000ft from Swaledale up to the Tan Hill Inn, Great Britain’s highest pub. The course goes through the tiny hamlet of Ravenseat before heading up and across some of the country’s most remote expanses of moorland to reach Tan hill Inn. A section of the Pennine Way follows including a a stiff ascent of Swinner Gill before a fast flying descent on moorland trails back to Swaledale. Rob was placed 75th out of 217 in 3.39.34.
A small band took on the Windmill Half, with Jose Pinon Shaw finishing 16th in 1.26.02. Nigel Britton ran a fine 1.40.16 followed by Paul McMonagle in 1.48.49 and Jonathan Gore in 1.54.03. Angie Fox Lane was our best placed lady in 2.15.49. Louise Davitt ran 2.19.52 with Louise Withnell impressing on her debut in 2.20.37.
At Preston Parkrun, PB’s were achieved by Stephen Walker, 30.21 and Katie Johnson 31.29.