Ben Whitehead started steadily away near the front of the pack, but three quarters of the way up the climb, he moved up a gear and was third at the summit.  However, a local runner took a better line on the descent from the monument and he had to settle for 4th place.

4 Ben Whitehead 20:59 (1st M40)
21 Robert Cranham 24:04

In a two horse race, it was a great battle from start to finish between Tom Corrigan and William Walker, who is the grandson of running legend Harry Walker.  In the end , the younger man just shaded it by a couple of seconds, but a good performance from both men.  Another incredible performance was by Gary Shaw who was our second runner home and proving that old saying that age is just a number. 

The Barlickers finished as follows

Men
2 Tom Corrigan 40:51 (1st M40)
5 Gary Shaw 42:47 (1st M50)
6 David Mirfield 44:24 (3rd M40)
11 Luke Butler 45:54
16 Andy Berry 47:07 (3rd M45)
18 Ian Cocks 47:47
27 Robert Cranham 48:49
32 Carl Nevison 49:46
47 Andrew Smith 52:59 (3rd M60)
48 Stan Dreilling 53:09
112 Raymond Banks 1:01:08 (1st M70)

Women
4 Emma Law 52:49 (1st F40)
6 Jacqueline Collins 54:08 (3rd F40)
8 Lucy Brown 55:49
17 Paula Cullen 59:34 (1st F45)
39 Lisa Gee 1:08:17
49 Gemma Carson 1:10:30

4 David Pease 21:30
5 Robert Cranham 21:33
41 Anne Marie Beech 32:11

118 Stephen Jackson 28:33

173 Richard Shilton 29:34

There were a lot of runners from both Calder Valley and from Todmorden in this race as apparently for both club, it was a club championship race.  The competition was quite fierce as there were some quick runners from both clubs.

23 Robert Cranham 33:23

143 starters.

8 David Pease 37:23 (2nd M40)
14 Andrew Smith 38:58 (1st M60)

The pub run will be from the Rolls Royce Club at Barlick.  Be there for 7:00 pm.

For anyone fancying a race, there is The Cragg Vale Race and entry is on the day.

Fell running in the Lake District.  That is what sorts out the men from the boys.  There are two course for this race.  The short course which is over 13 miles and incorporates 5,00 ft of ascent.  Tom Corrigan took part in this race and he threw down the gauntlet to everyone else right from the start by taking the lead and setting the pace for this race by being the fastest runner in each of the first four legs up to Whiteless Pike.  At that point, he had built up a 5 minute lead.  But racing in the Lakes is tough and the chasing Paul Preston was not giving up.  In leg 6 up to Melbreak, Paul closed the gap and took the lead by 18 seconds.  .  But on the last leg to the finish, Tom pulled out all of the stops, once more taking the lead and finally running out the race winner by 13 seconds.  It was exciting racing and well done to Paul Preston for having the grit and determination to make a race of it. 

The other race is the long race which is 22 miles, incorporating 8260 ft of climb.  Julian Hood entered this race and again put in a good performance to finish in 8th place and 1st M40.  Great racing for both runners.

Short Race
1 Tom Corrigan 2:36:39 (1st M40)

Long Race
8 Julian Hood 4:48:35 (1st M40)

41 Anthony Brown 24:24

After arriving at Burnley parkrun, Bez and the gang realised it had been cancelled. A quick dash was made to Pendle Parkrun, arriving there at 8:54am with 0 miles of fuel left in the van. Whitfield made his warm up from the service station and then led the Barlickers home in first place. Thanks for the adventure Bez!

1 Jethro Whitfield 19:08
3 Ian Beresford 19:31
4 Andy Berry 19:42
6 Robert Cranham 20:15
11 David Pease 21:18
75 Stephen Jackson 30:22
83 Savanna Beresford 31:52

This week, something quite amazing has happened.  John Boothman had entered this race quite sometime ago and during the London Marathon, he picked up an injury to his leg, which he has been nursing ever since.  Now you do not embark on a 268 mile race with a dodgy leg, but having already paid the quite considerable entry fee for this race, John decided to give it a go and if his leg became troublesome, he would pull out. 

In addition, the recent heavy rain made the going heavy for the summer spine race.  The race started and at the first check point, John was in 18th position.  He kept gaining places and by the time he got to Hebden Bridge, he had moved up to 9th place.  He had all his usual problems of his body adapting to the food, bur remarkably enough, his dodgy leg was not giving him a problem at all. What was giving him a problem was his feet.  Generally the ground was very wet and this had seeped into his shoes causing him all sorts of difficulties.  In addition, because of the heavy going, his time was quite slow for a summer spine.  But something remarkable was happening.  Although, he was going much slower than normal, he was continuing to gain places  and he kept slowly moving up through the field.  By Middleton, he was in 5th place in the men's race and 6th overall.  Shortly after that, he gained two more places and was in a podium position.  He is a 61 year old man and before the race, a podium place was not even considered to be a remote possibility.  But perhaps there was something about the conditions which suited John which did not suit many of the other competitors.  John, by his own admission is not a speed merchant in these events, but he does walk very quickly. Perhaps the quick runners found the conditions too energy sapping which either slowed them down or caused them to drop out.  There does look to be a high number of drop outs and once everyone has finished, we can have a look at that aspect. 

For part of the race, John found himself running along with Steve Maloney.  It was a good thing that they were working together and helping each other along, but they both must have had it at the back of their minds about that third place and which of them would take it.  By the Hadrian's Wall John had built up a lead over Steve.  Not a huge lead, but a lead nevertheless.  When John arrived in Byrness, which is the last check point before that evil climb over the mountain range to the finish, John did not stop for a rest, which would have been the most sensible thing to do before that final ascent.  It was as if he had unwittingly found himself with a podium place and that there was no way that he was going to give that up lightly. Maybe he felt that if Steve Maloney once more caught sight of him, it might spur him on to chase John.  John was very tired, but with great determination and a great deal of adrenalin at the thought of being third, he pressed on.  His pace on the ascent was quite remarkable.  He did not know where Steve was, but it was as if he wanted to put so much distance between them that Steve would eventually give up all thoughts of chasing John.  Once over the highest point, it was all more or less down to the finish except for The Schil.  He seemed to romp up it and then his pace quickened considerably with the organisers constantly having to revise down his estimated finishing time as he ate into those last few miles.  Despite the exhaustion and the very sore feet, he managed to jog over the line for the cameras. 

What started out as a race where there was a distinct possibility that he might have to drop out, turned out to be a performance of a lifetime and a podium place in what must be one of the toughest, if not the toughest challenges for an ultra runner.  And all from a man in his sixties.  John was very tired and very sore at the end, but when he has recovered, he will no doubt let us all have his account of what must have been one of the best races in his life. 

A lovely June evening saw fifteen Barlickers come together for this race. Tom put in top class good performance, but found himself up against the younger and in form Joseph Ormrod from Rossendale who ran out a comfortable winner, pushing Tom into second place.  Tom was chased all the way by  another in form runner - Adam Wale of Clayton , but Tom managed to comfortably keep him at bay.

The ladies race was  dominated by Molly Ralphson who is flying at the moment and she finished just ahead of our own Emma Law with Jacqueline Collins coming home 4th.

Afterwards it was beer and the presentation in Neil Worswick' s barn which rounded off a very pleasant evening. 

Men's Race
2 Thomas Corrigan 25:24 (1st M40)
12 Ian Cocks 29:20
14 Sam Horrocks 29:43
16 Andy Berry 29:54 (3rd M45)
19 Robert Cranham 30:19
20 Carl Nevison 30:32 (2nd M55)
26 David Pease 31:14
43 Andrew Smith 32:53 (2nd M60)
78 Mark Horrocks 36:28
97 Raymond Banks 38:38 (2nd M70)

Womens' Race
2 Emma Law 32:59 (1st MW0)
4 Jacqueline Collins 34:04 (2nd W40)
14 Paula Cullen 36:36 (3rd F45)
34 Lisa Gee 41:10
35 Lucy Brown 41:11

There will be no pub run as it is the Hurstwood Trail Race.  Sadly, it is pre-entry.  Whatever happened to turn up, pay your fee and run?

7 Jethro Whitfield 1:01:50 (3rd V40)
32 Stan Dreling 1:14:02
57 Peter Jackson 1:20:58

Full Results

This race seems to attract its share of inclement weather and this year was no exception.  Before, during and after the race, it was a complete downpour.  This race is unusual in that the really steep ascent is at the beginning of the race before you have had any time to get warmed up.  How to tackle this early on steep ascent is one of the tactical aspects of this race.  Do you attack this ascent and then leave yourself struggling for the remaining ascent up to the memorial or do you take it steady, leaving something in the tank for later? 

Jack Cummings made his approach absolutely clear.  He attacked this ascent, challenging the others to respond.  Marcus Preedy, Tom Corrigan and Paul Crabtree tried to stay with him, but by the time Jack had disappeared from view, he had already built up a strong lead.  With any lesser athlete, you might wonder if he had gone off to fast, but with Jack, you knew that the chasing pack would struggle to catch him. 

When Jack reappeared, he was on his own with no challenger near to him.  That meant that there was no pressure on him when making the steep descent which was now very slippy due to the incessant rain and he ran out a comfortable winner.  Behind him, Tom Corregan had shacken off Marcus Preedy and like Jack, he was able to descend quickly, but without the pressure to take unnecessary risks.  Tom came home in a comfortable second place. 

In the ladies race, Annie Hassell had a comfortable win with W50 Kirsty Hall in second place and 11th overall.  The years might be advancing, but this girl can still put in a tremendous performance.

Some runners seems to be drawn back to this race every year.  Colin Moses first ran this race when he was 16 and forty years later, he not only returned, but managed a top ten finish.  Clayton always used to attend this race in numbers when they hired a "boozer's bus" and after the race, they made their way home calling off at all the pubs on the way.  Sadly, the lad that organised that event was kicked out of the club and it ceased to take place, but Mark Nutter returned for the sake of auld lang syne.  Of the old regulars, it was good to see John Thompson and Tony Shepherd and the ever green Norman Bush.  He is now in the M75 category, but he can still put in a performance that can shame much younger men.

There were fewer entries this year than normal, but there was so much going on on the same day, including another race just down the road at Kettlewell.

2 Tom Corrigan 39:58 (1st M40)

The day is broken down into a series of 5K races, denominated by the runners' time expectations.  The Barlickers times were as follows:

Men
Ian Cocks 18:13
Robert Cranham 18:41
Sam Horrocks 18:52
Andrew Smith 20:06
Raymond Banks 22:03
Mark Horrocks 25:35

Women
Lucy Brown 20:42
Lisa Gee 24:36
Sarah Allen 25:08

The junior times are on the Junior Website.

Matthew Watson has not raced this year as he has been out with injury and he chose this race to make his comeback.  This is a tough trail race with around 3,000 feet of climbing.  In the first half of the race, Matt felt good and that he was going well.  In the second half of the race, he felt that he battled a bit more.  Despite that, he easily won the race with almost a ten minute gap to the second place runner. 

What a comeback.

1 Matthew Watson 1:46:14 (1st M40)

89 Nicola McNamara 3:12:56

3 Nathan Smedley 18:21
4 Andy Berry 19:00

1 Robert Cranham 21:04
21 Ella Beresford 27:40

124 Richard Shilton 28:16 PB

32 Anthony Brown 24:21
90 Stephen Jackson 28:55

7 Robert Cranham 32:05

This will be from the Shooter's Arms at Nelson.  Be there ready for a 7:00 pm start.

11k race: 

1 Robert Cranham 44:37

66 finishers

John Boothman made a late entry into the 23 mile Settle Saunter to test out his leg and do a few miles before next week's Spine.  The weather was damp at the start and breezy. but ideal for a jog round the trails.   It was a very well organised event - low key with staggered starts. John set off late and enjoyed passing people on the way round, although he had no idea of his position in the field, especially as the 13 mile route is same as the 23 mile for first half.

He had a respectable time and result, but once he had seen the results, he wished that he had pushed on harder.

5 John Boothman 4:10:11 (1st M60)

Full Results

The weather was fine, but very windy and the runners were heading into the wind on the ascent.  William Walker of Clayton led the runners on the way out and he was closely followed by Tom Corrigan,  As they approached the summit, the gap began to close with Tom taking the lead on the return.  The gap between the two runners gradually widened, with Tom evetually taking the honours with a one minute lead.  Behind those two, there were two Barlickers battling it out for third place, with David Mirifield just edging it over Ben Whitehead. 

In the ladies race, Molly Ralphson led everyone home to not only win the race, but to also finish first W50.  She is certainly on form at the moment.  Second place went to the unattached Hannah Goldswain and like the men's race, there was a battle between two Barlickers for third place, with Jacqueline Collins taking the honours over Lucy Brown.   Married life must be suiting Paula Cullen as she had an excellent race to finish in sixth place and third Barlicker. 

Barlick won both the men's and the ladies' team prizes.

The Barlickers finished as follows:

Men
1 Tom Corrigan 39:58 (1st M40)
3 David Mirfield 41:45 (2nd M40)
4 Ben Whitehead 42:03 (3rd M40)
10 Ian Cocks 45:32
14 David Pease 47:13 (2nd M45)
15 Andy Berry 47:43 (3rd M45)
18 Carl Nevison 48:44 (2nd M55)
22 John Mason 50:26 (2nd M50)
23 Andrew Smith  50:29 (1st M60)
34 Shane Muller 53:01
36 Stan Dreiling 53:04
48 David Cockell 56:25
54 Glenn Whittaker 57:25
55 Pete Jackson 57:34 (2nd M65)
89 Raymond Banks 1:07:32 (3rd M70)

Women
3 Jacqueline Collins 51:55
4 Lucy Brown 55:50
6 Paula Cullan 57:02
20 Nicola Muller 1:06:04
25 Lisa Gee 1:09:36

23 Sam Horrocks 44:45
36 Mark Horrocks 49:48 (1st V60)

162 Stephen Jackson 27:37
214 Richard Chilton 29:49

41 Robert Cranham 28:26

39 David Halliday 25:20

This will be from The Bull at Broughton.  Be there ready for a 7:00 pm start.