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Tuesday 30 October 2012

Preston Half | Snowdonia Marathon | Yorkshire Coast 10k | OMM

Todmorden Harrier’s Club Road Championship was back on the agenda, but it was the recently crowned Club Fell Champion who was leading the way for the club at the Preston Guild Half Marathon.


Nick Barber recorded a time of 1:19:02 as he finished in 9th place out of over 2300 runners, in wet and windy conditions on Sunday.

Martin Stork continued his return from injury with 26th place, followed by Paul Alexander in 135th place.

Mel Robertson was the sole Todmorden lady, finishing 3rd in her age category.

Todmorden Results: 9 Nick Barber 1:19:02; 26 Martin Stork 1:24:31; 135 Paul Alexander 1:35:13; 244 Guy Whitmore 1:40:44; 302 Phil Cook 1:43:14; 467 Mel Robertson 1:48:34; 693 Nigel Hanson 1:53:44; 1107 Peter Ehrhardt 2:01:33.

In the simultaneously held Guild event, Joe Daniels took on the full Marathon distance and finished 125th in a time of 3:24:01.



A trio of Harriers were in Wales for the Snowdonia Marathon, with Darren Graham completing the 26 mile circular route around the base of Mount Snowdon in 3:40:07, whilst Julie Wyant finished in 4:24:24 and Elise Milnes completed the tough course in 5:12:00.



Robin Tuddenham finished first at the Burnley parkrun, the third different Todmorden Harrier to do so in the last three weeks.



Two Todmorden runners enjoyed a weekend double starting with the Sewerby parkrun on the cliffs above Bridlington on Saturday, with Richard Butterwick finishing first and Myra Wells in 20th place.

The following day they joined 1200 runners for the Yorkshire Coast 10k in Scarborough, with Richard crossing the line in 40:22 in 74th position and Myra stopping the clock at 57:30 in 805th place.



At the OMM Mountain Marathon, several Todmorden Harriers took on the two day navigational test in the Howgill Hills, with particularly challenging conditions on the second day.

Phil Hodgson teamed up with Calder Valley Fell Runner Phil Scarf to finish in 3rd place in the long class and first veteran pair, just ahead of Dwane Dixon and Ben Crowther who were fifth overall.

Mandy Goth and Sue Roberts finished first female pair and 35th overall, with John Crummett and Kath Brierley in 78th position, and 5th mixed vets, and Dave and Helen Wilson in 83rd place, and 6th mixed vets.

Trevor Smith teamed up with Dave Prentice in the medium class for 93rd position overall and 11th veteran pair.



Wednesday 24 October 2012

Race you to the Summit | Witton Park Cross Country

Todmorden Harrier’s Club Fell Championship went to the wire at the final counter, the ‘Race you to the Summit’ Fell Race on Saturday morning.


Nick Barber overhauled Dwane Dixon to be crowned Men’s Fell Champion and Helen Hodgkinson was crowned Ladies Fell Champion after a close battle with Helen Wilson.

Nick finished in second place in the race, behind Staffordshire Moorlands’ William Neill who won in a time of 30:37. The 4 mile route climbed in glorious autumnal sunshine from the Summit Inn to the Whitehouse and back down again.

Dwane finished in fifth place, with Jackson Cowie just edging out Paul Brannigan for seventh position as the club easily claimed the men’s team prize.

Mel Blackhurst was the first Todmorden lady to finish ahead of Elise Milnes but all eyes were on the battle between the two Helens in the ladies championship.

Helen Wilson was first over the line but Helen Hodgkinson followed just 9 seconds later to hold onto her slender lead in the standings.

Todmorden Results: 2 Nick Barber 31.21; 5 Dwane Dixon 32.09; 7 Jackson Cowie 33.27; 8 Paul Brannigan 33.31; 12 Robin Tuddenham 34.32; 14 Marcel Ellison 34.45; 15 Darren Graham 35.09; 16 Darren Tweed 35.16; 24 Dave Collins 37.21; 25 Michael Harper 37.32; 30 Andrew Glyde 39.13; 31 Phil Hodgson 39.22; 35 Phil Cook 40.07; 36 Mel Blackhurst 40.27; 43 Chris Drinkwater 42.54; 45 Liam Williamson 43.26; 47 Elise Milnes 43.33; 52 Ray Poulter 45.48; 54 Graham Milnes 47.00; 56 Helen Wilson 47.03; 57 Helen Hodgkinson 47.12; 59 Julie Wyant 47.59; 60 Peter Ehrhardt 48.33; 65 Dave O'Neill 54.38.



There was little time to recover for several Harriers as they were straight back in action on Saturday afternoon, at the second round of the Red Rose Cross Country League, on a hilly course in Blackburn’s Witton Park.

Sarah May lead the way for the ladies with a fine third place, followed by Kath Brierley and Issy Pollard as they finished eighth team in the ladies race.

Mel Robertson and Bev Wright enjoyed a close battle to be the third counter for the ladies veterans’ team, with another eighth spot claimed.

Moyra Parfitt completed the ladies turnout, finishing first v65.

Todmorden Ladies: 3 Sarah May 22:23; 27 Kath Brierley 25:25; 51 Issy Pollard 28:03; 60 Mel Robertson 29:08; 62 Bev Wright 29:23; 72 Moyra Parfitt 31:02.

In the subsequent men’s race, a strong showing by the Todmorden men lifted them into third place; with the vets’ team finishing in second place lead in by Andrew Wrench and Jon Wright.

Todmorden Men: 13 Andrew Wrench 38:41; 15 Jon Wright 38:46; 18 John Lloyd 39:41; 42 Nick Barber 41:53; 51 Dwane Dixon 42:38; 58 Martin Stork 43:11; 70 Robin Tuddenham 44:37; 106 Richard Butterwick 48:18.



Thursday 18 October 2012

British Fell and Hill Relay | Burnley parkrun

Todmorden Harriers sent three teams to Shropshire for the British Fell and Hill Relays at the weekend.


The relay was made up of four legs, two run solo and two run in pairs.

Todmorden ladies finished in a respectable 10th position, with Sarah May on leg 1 and Lauren Jeska on leg 4, both posting the 4th fastest ladies times on their respective legs.

The men’s A team finished in 25th place with the men’s B team running them close at times, to finish in 64th position overall.



Jackson Cowie was first finisher at Burnley parkrun on Saturday with a time of 18:44, with Jack Crummett finishing in 6th place with a time of 19:27.

Kevin Coughlan just edged out Keith Parkinson as they crossed the line in 22:06 and 22:08 respectively, as all four Harriers set new best times for the 5km Towneley Park course.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Rab MM | Chester Marathon | Huddersfield Hilly Half Marathon | Burnley Fire 7

Todmorden Harriers enjoyed some success at the RAB Mountain Marathon, a two day navigational event held in the Cheviot Hills, this year.


Ben Crowther and Dwane Dixon finished second placed pair in the elite class, whilst Phil Hodgson and Mandy Goth finished third mixed team in the standard class.

Todmorden’s Peter Bowles teamed up with Calder Valley’s Charlie Boyce to finish fifth pair in the elite class.

Elise Milnes also teamed up with a Calder Valley Fell Runner, Clare Kenny, finishing 9th female vets with Colin Duffield also competing in the standard class.



John Lloyd set a personal best time of 2:47:33 to finish the Chester Marathon in 22nd place, with Robin Tuddenham crossing the line in 2:53:23 for 42nd place.

Joe Daniels also set a personal best time of 3:16:13 as he finished in 230th position out of over 3000 finishers.



Mel Blackhurst finished 3rd lady at the Huddersfield Hilly Half Marathon with a time just over 1 hour 42 minutes.



At the Burnley Fire 7 mile race, Eleanor Lang finished 6th lady, and 55th overall in 52:08.

Richard Butterwick finished in 25th place crossing the line in 48:38, with Graham Milnes in 136th in a time of 1:04:03.

Ian Hodgson Mountain Relay

With the tragic and shocking loss on Sunday, it somehow seems inappropriate to report on this year's Ian Hodgson Mountain Relay.

A much better read...

So many events and so little time.

Monday 1 October 2012

Leigh Cross Country | Kielder Blast | Thieveley Pike Fell Race

Todmorden Harriers were spoilt for choice at the weekend, with the opening fixture of the Red Rose Cross Country League high on the agenda.


The venue, for the first of four rounds, was Leigh Sports village and Todmorden Ladies finished 10th team, and 8th veteran team, over the 5km course.

Todmorden ladies results: 20 Sarah Glyde 22:38; 34: Mel Blackhurst 23:41; 63: Mel Robertson 26:16; 75: Moyra Parfitt 28:14.

Ray Poulter finished second v65 on the same course in 27:00.

The men’s team then tackled the longer 10km course finishing in 5th place, and 2nd veteran team.

Todmorden men’s results: 11: John Lloyd 35:47; 15: Andrew Wrench 35:59; 17: Jon Wright 36:11; 29: Robin Tuddenham 37:28; 50: Paul Hobbs 39:31; 82: Michael Harper 41:57; 92: Simon Anderton 42:25.



The English Fell Championships drew to a close with the Kielder Blast Fell Race. Dwane Dixon was once again in the points as he finished the 9.5km course in a time of 75:29 for 46th place, with Paul Brannigan finishing in 51st place in 58:48.

Peter Ehrhardt finished in 135th, with Peter Marshall in 144th and Derek Clutterbuck making a rare racing appearance to finish in 150th position.



Closer to home Todmorden Ladies claimed the team prize at the Thieveley Pike Fell Race, whilst the men narrowly missed out on the team prize after finishing level on points with Calder Valley, but ht prize going to their neighbours as their forth counter crossed the line first.

Marcel Ellison led the way for the Harrier finishing in third place, with Craig Stansfield in 8th. Dave Collins and Robert Gray were the other counters finishing in 22nd and 28th positions.

The winning ladies team were Sarah Warburton, Issy Pollard and Eleanor Lang who were 4th, 5th and 6th ladies respectively.

Todmorden results: 3 Marcel Ellison 37.44; 8 Craig Stansfield 38.24; 22 Dave Collins 41.58; 28 Robert Gray 42.30; 44 Dan Taylor 44.17; 60 Paul Cook 46.26; 71 Sarah Warburton 48.13; 74 Issy Pollard 48.39; 78 Eleanor Lang 49.14; 101 Elise Milnes 51.53; 105 Graham Milnes 52.40; 106 Sue Roberts 52.57.