Midsummer Madness - Whicken Hill Whizz | Reservoir Bogs | Tom Tittiman

Todmorden Harriers were in local action at the weekend at the appropriately named Midsummer Madness three day race series organised by Calder Valley Fell Runners.

The first race on Friday evening, the Whicken Hill Whizz Fell Race, was a steep up and down race from a soon to be flooded Mytholmroyd.

Dwane Dixon was the first Todmorden man to finish in 6th place, followed by John Lloyd in 8th position.

Issy Pollard finished 3rd lady, with Maria Prescott 5th lady and EliseMilnes 6th lady as the club claimed the ladies team prize.

On Saturday the race HQ moved to the Hare and Hounds at Old Town for the Reservoir Bogs race, a navigational test that saw several runners go astray and miss checkpoints.

First Harrier to finish was Ben Crowther in 8th, followed by Trevor Davies in 10th and Dave Collins in 12 place.

Elise Milnes, Issy Pollard and Maria Prescott crossed the line in quick succession for 6th, 7th and 8th placed ladies to win the team prize again.

On Sunday, the final race was the Tom Tittiman Fell Race, a 4 mile route up to High Brown Knowl and back.

Jon Wright finished in 4th place for Todmorden, with Trevor Davies in 14th and Ben Crowther in 17th place.

The ladies narrowly missed out on a third team prize to Keighley and Craven, with Lucy Hobbs in 5th, Elise Milnes in 8th and Sue Roberts finishing 9th lady.

Three Todmorden men successfully completed the series with Ben Crowther 8th, Trevor Davies in 9th and Dave Collins in 10th. Elise Milnes finished 3rd lady for the series.

Great Lakes Run

Todmorden Harriers were faced with testing conditions at the Great Lakes Run, which formed the third round of this year’s English Fell Championships on Saturday.


With driving rain, raging rivers to cross and summits shrouded in cloud runners were faced with considerable additional challenges, to that of the tough 21 kilometre course that crossed several Lakeland peaks including Scafell and Scafell Pike totalling over 2000 metres of ascent.

Lauren Jeska seemed little affected by the conditions as she not only finished first lady, but broke the course record as well, completing the course in 3:28:38 and 40th overall of the 273 finishers.

Sean Carey was the first Todmorden man over the line in 71st with Geoff Read in 112th place.

Lucy Burnett finished 10th lady, and 118th overall, and Jane Leonard finished 14th lady to lift the ladies into 2nd place on the day.

Todmorden Results: 40 Lauren Jeska 3:28:38; 71 Sean Carey 3:52:10; 112 Geoff Read 4:17:45; 118 Lucy Burnett 4:19:49; 126 Nick Barber 4:24:36; 126 Dwaine Dixon 4:24:36; 128 John Lloyd 4:24:38; 147 Phil Hodgson 4:33:41; 150 Jane Leonard 4:37:23; 177 Mark Whitaker 5:02:28; 210 Sue Roberts 5:39:06; 229 Helen Hodgkinson 5:49:15; 247 Fiona Armer 6:03:51; 247 Mandy Goth 6:03:51.

Hebden Bridge Fell Race | Naden Valley Trail

The Hebden Bridge Fell Race was held under heavy rain on Thursday evening, with the number of runners vastly down on last year’s record turnout.


For race organiser Andrew Bibby it capped a busy week, after he had successfully completed the Joss Naylor Challenge the previous weekend.

Joss’s challenge involves climbing 30 Lakeland peaks, crossing some 48 miles of mountain terrain and ascending nearly 17000 feet within a set time limit. The run starts in Pooley Bridge, Ullswater and finishes at Greendale Bridge, Wasdale.

Back in Hebden, Andrew saw off 51 hardy runners taking on the 9.6 kilometre rain lashed route, which started and finished in Calder Holmes Park and included over 350m of climb as it looped around Erringdon Moor to the highest point at Stoodley Pike.

Calder Valley’s Ben Mounsey led the way to finish in 44:35, two minutes clear of team mate Alex Whittem.

Todmorden’s Dwane Dixon claimed third place, with Ivan Gee in sixth position and Marcel Ellison in 13th.

Jane Leonard led in a trio of Todmorden ladies for 5th, 6th and 7th ladies respectively, with Maria Prescott and Sue Roberts following her across the line after Julie Field of Stainland Lions had claimed the ladies win in 60:49.

Todmorden Results: 3 Dwane Dixon 46.5; 6 Ivan Gee 48.46; 13 Marcel Ellison 52.1; 20 Dave Collins 56.44; 22 Clive Greatorex 58.33; 27 Joe Daniels 61.12; 33 Jane Leonard 67.19; 34 David Leslie 68.59; 36 Maria Prescott 70.33; 38 Sue Roberts 73.1; 40 Peter Ehrhardt 74.19; 42 Fiona Armer 76.04.



In equally wet conditions, the Naden Valley 6 mile trail race at Norden formed the latest round in the club’s Trail Championship on Saturday.

The route featured over 300 metres of ascent across a variety of terrain from roads, tracks, fields and woodland paths, much of which were covered in water. With stiles and slippery wooden bridges to also contend with, runners had to keep their minds alert to stay on their feet.

John Lloyd showed no signs of tiredness following his recent performance at the Cork Marathon to finish in second place behind race winner Danny Walsh of Rossendale Harriers.

Paul Brannigan ran a well paced race to snatch third place on the last corner with Paul Hobbs finishing in 8th place, a result that makes him favourite to claim the crown of club trail champion, with two races remaining.

Dave Collins was the next Harrier to finish, winning the v55 prize in the process with Peter Ehrhardt also claiming first in the v65 category.

Todmorden Results: 2 John Lloyd 40:42; 3 Paul Brannigan 41:53; 8 Paul Hobbs 43:37; 22 Dave Collins 47:24; 28 Richard Butterwick 48:50; 37 Simon Galloway 51:10; 39 Phillip Cook 51:53; 51 Chris Drinkwater 58:12; 53 Peter Ehrhardt 58:38.

Wadsworth Jubilee Fell Race | Burnley parkrun

The Wadsworth Jubilee Fell Race suffered the worst of the weekend weather on Sunday, but that didn’t stop over 50 runners taking to the hills above Hebden Bridge.


The 5 mile course followed an anticlockwise loop up and around High Brown Knoll.

Calder Valley’s Tim Black won in a time of 30:54 ahead of Holmfirth’s Alistair Rees.

Ivan Gee was the first Todmorden runner in third place, with Paul Hobbs in fifth place.

Calder Valley’s Holly Page was the first lady in 34:47, with Todmorden’s Sue Roberts finishing fifth lady.

Todmorden Results: 3 Ivan Gee 32.50; 5 Paul Hobbs 34.22; 23 Lee McCluskey 40.24; 31 Phil Cook 42.05; 36 David Leslie 44.57; 42 Sue Roberts 48.35; 43 Peter Ehrhardt 48.40; 50 Reg Czudek 51.25.



In the earlier junior races, two Todmorden runners Jack Crummett and Henry Antemes enjoyed a close battle in the U14 boy’s race with Jack eventually crossing the line ahead of his team mate.

Wadsworth Photos by Sally Baines...



On Saturday, eight Harriers attended the first Burnley parkrun event in Towneley Park. The venue is the latest addition to the parkrun family of free 5k runs that take place every Saturday at 9am.

First Harrier to finish in third place in a time of 17:17 was Robin Tuddenham, who then added a first place at the Jubilee parkrun at Wythenshawe Park on the Monday.

Dan Taylor was next to complete the distance in 16th, with Richard Butterwick in 22nd and Keith Parkinson in 40th position.

Andrea Marshall was the first of three Todmorden ladies, finishing in 75th place, ahead of Louise Abdy in 81st and Myra Wells 107th place.

Ian Stansfield finished in 110th of the 120 runners to complete the club’s contingent.