Final club championship results 2011

The final club championship results, following Tour of Pendle have been posted:
Click here to go to championships 2011 page

There were more of us turning out to the club champ races this year than we have ever had before (a total of 321 appearances, an average of more than 21 per race) – though unfortunately less women than in most previous years.

There were two new competitions for 2011 – a V50 championship and a female vet championship. The V50 competition was excellent, with an average of 4 or 5 competitors at each race, but the FV competition was not popular, with only 1 or 2 female vets at each race. So it was decided at the AGM that  we will continue to hold a V50 championship in future years, but not continue with the female-vet championship.

Our club champions for 2011:

  • club champion: Ben Mounsey
  • 2nd place: Jason Stevens
  • 3rd place: Rob Dobson
  • women’s champion: Joanna Stevens
  • vet’s champion: Jason Stevens
  • female vet’s champion: Linda Hayles
  • V50 champion: Mike Wardle
  • handicap champion: Mark Wharton
  • short race king: Matt Flanagan
  • medium race king: Rob Dobson
  • long race king: Kevin Hoult
  • short race queen: Joanna Stevens
  • medium race queen: Sharon Godsman
  • long race queen: Anne Johnson

Tour of Pendle Completes 2011 Club Championships

photo by Hannah Dobson

Calder Valley Fell Runners were out in force on Saturday at the Full Tour of Pendle Fell Race in Barley, Lancashire as the race was the final counter in the club’s annual championships. With a few categories still to be resolved, there were a number of runners in the hunt for silverware. The men’s club championship had already been won by Ben Mounsey, so attention turned to the ladies and it was Joanna Stevens who prevailed, claiming a well deserved first championship title. There was a double success in the Stevens household with Jo’s husband Jason winning the Vet 40s category, a title claimed by Linda Hayles in the lady vets. Mike Wardle ran out as Men’s V50 championship winner, but Rob Dobson who was poised to win the handicap championship could see Mark Wharton wrestle that trophy out of his hands if Mark ran well enough, final calculations still pending. Other prize winners confirmed on the day were Kevin Hoult and Anne Johnson, who picked up the ‘Long Race King and Queen’ trophies.

The Tour of Pendle is the last long fell race of the fell running calendar and has been run in horizontal hail and sleet in recent years, so runners were happy to only have to contend with the race’s seventeen miles and nearly 5000 feet of ups and downs in unseasonal sunshine. Detractors of this classic race complain that the race is ‘contrived’ as it criss-crosses Pendle summit and runners find themselves visiting parts of the course twice, but this has its advantages for spectators and supporters, like Helen Lambert and Hannah Dobson, who plied their club mates with water and jelly babies and plenty of encouragement. Also, on a day as good as Saturday, it’s a privilege to be able to see the hill from all angles, even if it doesn’t feel like it on the fourth climb up to the summit.  What is certain is that the race continues to be one of the biggest pulls of the racing calendar, with a record number of 380 competitors racing on Saturday.

Calder’s James Logue, who won the race last year, was tracked by the in-form Carl Bell of Howgill Harriers for much of the route, with the conditions too good for Logue to be able to find a covert line that Bell wasn’t able to follow. With the end in sight, Bell made the decisive move, with Logue finishing in a superb second place. Third was Andy Brown from host club Clayton-le-Moors, who is also becoming a regular podium finisher in local races. Jason Stevens enjoyed the day in the sun and ran in second Calder counter in tenth place. Calder’s Tim Black, Kevin Hoult and Steve Smithies all finished in the top fifty.

Like Carl Bell, Lindsey Brindle of Horwich is another runner who has really hit the heights this year and she posted one of the quickest tours ever run and finished a full fifteen minutes clear of Calder’s Anne Johnson, who was first veteran. Renee Saxton of Otley was third.

No results are currently available but they should be published at this link first: http://www.clayton-le-moors-harriers.co.uk/index.php?pageref=results

Photo (of wife and mate's bird!) courtesy of Andy Holden (Wharefeego)

Wadsworth Half Trog & Presentation Do

Some of the country’s top fell and mountain runners assembled at the Pennine Manor hotel in Huddersfield this weekend to collect their prizes in the annual individual and team English and British Fell Running Championship evening do. Amongst those collecting silverware were Helen Fines, who came second in the individual English championships and as team captain of the ladies helped them to a gold in the British. The Vet 40 men also collected bronze in the English and British team championships, with Steve Oldfield collecting an individual silver in both the British and English V50s. As a prelude to the evening, Calder Valley’s Adam Breaks arranged a tough little fell race to help those celebrating work up a thirst with the running of the Wadsworth Half Trog Fell Race from the Hare and Hounds in Chiserley. The race is usually run alongside its big brother, the Full Trog in February, and it features a tour of Midgley and Wadsworth moors, with some tricky, trackless terrain to negotiate. Unfortunately, for many that have tackled either race the highlight is a steep descent into Luddenden Dean, a quick trawl through knee deep mud and a tough climb back out again. This year, a clash with a pheasant shoot on the nearby Schofield estate meant that that section of the race was skipped and runners were instead rerouted along a long catchment drain, which added a mile to the advertised route, but reduced some of the climbing. The speed that the leading three men were running might have meant that they would have outstripped the flying shots with Calder’s James Logue, Shaun Godsman and current English champion Lloyd Taggart of Dark Peak running well clear of the field. In the end Taggart, who had followed local man Logue around much of the course, finished joint first with Logue, the Dark Peak man too sporting to outsprint his rival in the final stages. Godsman finally capitulated late into the race and ran in a minute or two behind the joint winners. Five minutes later, Bingley Harrier Lee Athersmith and Calder’s Tim Black ran in to take fourth and fifth place respectively, with Calder’s Mark Goldie and Steve Smithies some three minutes or so further adrift. In the ladies race, Eryri Harrier’s Australian import Sarah Ridgway managed to beat her club mate Jackie Lee with Calder’s Anne Johnson continuing to impress in third place and first lady Vet. Helen Fines also enjoyed a decent run out in the unseasonal sunshine as she returns to running from a recent broken foot. With three Calder men (Logue, Godsman and Black) in the top five and three Calder ladies (Johnson, Fines and Scarf) scoring highly Calder Valley Fell Runners left the Hare and Hounds laden with prizes.

[press report by Jason Stevens and photos by Carl Greenwood] Photos from the presentation are available from this link. 
http://greenwood-photography.com/fra-dinner/

[Results: James Logue: 1:07:25; Lloyd Taggart (Dark Peak): 1:07:25; Shaun Godsman: 1:09:17; Tim Black: 1:14:57; Mark Goldie: 1:18:38; Steve Smithies: 1:18:42; Sarah Ridgway (Eryri): 1:22:27; Alex Whittem: 1:22:30; Jackie Lee (Eryri): 1:24:46; Richard Crossland: 1:24:32; Anne Johnson: 1:24:59; Helen Fines: 1:29:11; Mark Wharton: 1:29:15; Phil Scarf: 1:31:43; Nick Murphy: 1:32:01; Stephen Grimley: 1:32:42; Lance Parker: 1:32:44; Brian Horsley: 1:32:53; Andy Thorpe: 1:38:30; Jackie Scarf: 1:41:28; Claire Hanson: 1:44:10; Ben Davies: 1:46:34; Linda Hayles: 1:52:19]

Shepherds Success

Calder Valley’s James Logue gave five times English fell Running championships winner Ian Holmes a close race at the Shepherds Skyline Fell Race on Saturday. Holmes has won the race eight times in the last nine years, the only blip being three years ago when he didn’t race, but this was one of the closest skyline races that the Bingley man has competed in with Logue leading the race for much of the ten kilometre route. The race route takes runners from the Shepherd’s Rest Inn in Lumbutts and up to the Stoodley Pike monument high on the skyline. From there a rapid descent to London Road precedes a tough climb back up to the moor before a breakneck return to the start. Logue, who has been in fine form of recent and the ever reliable Holmes were well clear of some classy runners in a huge field of 357 starters, including Leeds City’s Chris Birchall who was third, a minute and a half adrift of Logue. Tim Black had another impressive run with club mate Steve Smithies regaining some of the form he showed earlier in the year. Wharfedale Harriers, who are a club growing in stature, sent a strong team to Lumbutts and they duly picked up the men’s team prizes, just pipping host club Todmorden Harriers.

In the ladies race Anne Johnson, like Logue, is also back to her very best with a fine first win in this race although this was an even closer result than the men’s with Johnson just edging out Keighley and Craven’s Sharon Walton by two seconds. Johnson’s club mate Trudi Entwistle, who has recently broken into the ladies relay teams, also ran very well again to place as second Calder lady. Jackie Scarf ensured a successful team outing for Calder’s ladies, who won the team prizes.

Jason Stevens