Halifax Harriers Johanna Sutcliffe had an excellent run at the Chester Marathon where she was second lady in a PB of 3:04:38. Also running for the club was David Parrington 4:25:34.
At the Shrewsbury Half Marathon, Fiona Murphy just failed to break the two hour barrier with a time of 2:00:10 for third F60, which was a club record.
Halifax Harriers had two runners at the new Hopton Trail 10k. April Caufield was first lady in 47:39, with Will Stewart just in front of April in a time of 46:39.
At the Littleborough 10k, run in very wet conditions, both Halifax Harriers ladies and men’s teams were clear winners.
The ladies had the first three female finishers in the race and were led home by Johanna Sutcliffe 39:28, followed by April Caufield 41:53, just in front of Helen Ward 41:57. All three ladies also winning age group prizes.
In the men’s category, Halifax Harriers had runners finish in 5th, 6th and 7th positions with Niall Smith in 37:05, junior runner James Johnson 38:03 and Michael King 38:24.
The race started in Littleborough with a steady climb over the first couple of kilometres up to Hollingworth Lake. Then it was two laps of the lake, partly on dirt paths with many deep puddles across the course. The final kilometre was a welcome steady descent to the finish.
There were age group wins for Simon Johnson (M50) 38:47, James O’Rourke (M45) 41:36, Mark Crabtree (M60) 41:46, Raymond Hall (M70) 49:06.
Other runners for the club were – Will Stewart 40:42, Will Carver 41:36 (3rd M40), Fred Carver 44:20, Marc Rocheteau 44:36, Robert Hick 45:16 (2nd M60), Jessica Dixon 46:36 (3rd FSen), Ian Giles 46:58, Nigel Rigg 46:59, Samantha Layfield 51:21, Nigel Taylor 51:54, Paul Greenslade 51:58, David Parrington 52:39, Rachel McCauley 55:53, Christopher Kirkbride 58:44, Kirsty Carver 59:03, Deborah Kirkbride 59:15, Monica Gallagher 1:01:20, Susan Hall 1:04:14 (2nd F70).
The Peak District Challenge is an annual event that takes place in Hathersage, Derbyshire every year. It is organised by Wilderness Development and supports multiple charities including SALVE international who work to reduce the number of children living on the streets of Uganda through education and care.
Walkers and runners can take on a 10km, 25km, 50km, 75km or 100km route, where they need to navigate to check points and arrive before generous cut off times.
Will Carver took on the Bronze Challenge on Saturday 21st September, 31 miles or 50km, more than I have run before. Bronze challengers set off at 07:30 am morning on a bright dewy day, which quickly warmed up.
The Bronze Challenge has a total ascent of 1200m and at its highest point reaches 464m. It is a 50km circular route taking in the valleys of the dark peak, and the scenic trails of the southern peak district.
Along the route were many walkers and runners completing the 75km, Silver or 100km Gold challenge, these competitors had set off on the previous evening and were now well into their challenge.
The weather was fantastic and the navigation of the route all went well. He was able to keep going at a steady pace and motivated himself with a thought of getting a time under 6 hours. He finished in first place in a time of 5 hours 53 minutes and 3 seconds. This was enough to beat the previous course record which was set in 2017! He was pleased to have completed the event in a record time!