Tom Paget and James O’Rourke travelled across the border yesterday to take part in the 40th Tour of Pendle fell race.
Warm up consisted of a jog around Pendle parkrun - a route with plenty of ups and downs and some nice scenery.
Once their bar codes had been scanned, they made a dash from the finish line to the pretty village of Barley to collect their numbers for the main event.
The classic Tour of Pendle fell race is generally acknowledged to be one of the hardest on the calendar at about 17 miles and nearly 5000ft of ascent with many boggy sections, very steep climbs and descents and the infamous drop that is ‘Geronimo.’
Both finished in a creditable sub 4 hour time and James even won a spot prize to put the icing on the cake. After a well earned chip butty and cuppa, they headed back to Halifax.
Stef Dickinson led home the 10-strong Harriers contingent at yesterday's Run Bolton Abbey 10 trail race, finishing in 21st place in 1:37:16.
This beautiful race takes place on the trails around the Bolton Abbey Estate and raises funds for the Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice in Oxenhope. The ten mile event takes in very varied terrain and scenery with a total ascent of over 1,500', and contains a section in the middle that feels very much like a fell race. Conditions were ideal with cool temperatures, no rain and little wind. Views, however, were restricted by mist on a typical November day.
Rachel Standish (1:39:35) and Jenny Hopkinson (1:43:06) followed Stef in, with both taking first place in their respective age groups. Fiona Murphy (1:52:48) was also first in her age group.
Rob Hick unfortunately took a wrong turn and added three miles to his run. There was some talk that Rob was simply seeking full value for his money as he had initially entered, and paid for, the half marathon race!
Other Harriers to compete were; Andrea Ackroyd, Sharon Jamieson, Martin Ellis, Margaret Deacon and Jane Hobson. Full results can be found in the Recent Races section on the website.
This was the latest race in the club's Fell & Trail League. The situation is very tight in the women's section with Jane Hobson and Stef Dickinson tied at the top with Rachel Standish just one point behind. In the men's section, Ryan Barker leads Will Carver by one point with Tom Paget in third. There are three races left in the 2024/25 season with the next race being the Coley Canter on 28th December.
Harry Johnson on Saturday 9th obliterated his own 5K PB by an astonishing 31secs to finish 12th in the highly recognised Adidas Podium 5K at Barrowford.
Stacked full of internationals, Harry ran 14.03 ahead of Olympic gold medallist Jonny Brownlee and arch rival of fellow club mate of Max Burgin, Ben Pattison. The race was won in 13.36 by Belgian Ruben Hendrix with Leeds City's 2024 Marathon Olympian Phil Sesseman 3rd in 13.38.
Both Harry and coach Matthew Pierson are delighted with the fast progress, which has elevated Harry to elite status with 18 months of coaching.