This was the first run for John Boothman since the Summer Spine Race.  He was very tired towards the end but super happy to get round in a half decent time, despite his lack of running and training since the London Marathon.  John reports that this is a very well organised local event.

He has now resolved that it is time to get back to a bit more training. 

597 John Boothman 1:46:30
1721 Michaela Mckenzie 2:21:51

37 Marie Beech 31:23
42 Robert Cranham 32:30

9 Lucas Payne 20:59
41 Anthony Brown 24:55

You would think that the demands of Hendon Brook would be enough to keep anyone quiet for a week,for some people are addicted to running.  Robert Cranham decided to give this new race a go.   He did not feel his best when warming up - stiff and sore muscles.  But once racing he loosened up a bit and came home in 9th place.  Not bad so soon after Sunday.The race was won by that young whippet Joe Ormrod from Rossendale. 

9 Robert Cranham (2nd V45) 35:28

A nice little one-two for Barlick.

25K Ladies Race

1 Emma Law 2:18:48
2 Emma Taylor 2:20:23

The conditions today were ideal for this race.  Cool for the time of year, with a touch of rain in the air.   At the top of the climb out of Nelson on to Southfield Lane, Chris Holdsworth of Clayton had already built up a good lead and he looked to be running well.  Jonathan Cleaver was next with Tom Corrigan in third place.  Tom looked very focused and was running well.  Well up in the field at this point was David Mirfield and just behind him was Ben Whitehead. and Andy Berry.

Jacqueline Collins led our ladies at the top of the climb, just ahead of Lucy Brown and Hayley Whitehead.  By the reservoirs, Tom had moved up into second place and Jonathan Cleaver who was just behind him looked like he was struggling. 

On the final ascent up Southfield Lane, Chris Holdsworth was way out in front and behind him was Tom Corrigan who had now opened up a gap in front of the chasing Jon Cleaver.  Lucy Brown appeared as our first lady as Jacqueline Collins was feeling the strain of this demanding race.

Special mention should go to Lisa Gee.  She is a new comer to running and has never run over this distance before.  Not only that, but she probably never realised what a demanding race that this is.  Prior to the race, she was worried about being able to complete it.  She had never any need to worry.  All the way round the course, she looked to be running well and was cheerfully smiling and she was still running up the final ascent before finishing in the top half of the field.  That was some performance from this novice runner.

The Barlickers finished as follows:

Men
2 Tom Corrigan 1:21:31 (1st M40)
6 David Mirfield 1:27:30
18 Ben Whitehead 1:35:28
20 Nathan Smedley 1:35:39
21 Andy Berry 1:35:46
40 Robert Cranham 1:42:43
47 David Pease 1:46:54
60 Andrew Smith 1:51:50 (3rd M60)
66 Shane Muller 1:53:21 (3rd M50)
99 Raymond Banks 2:10:58 (2nd M70)

Women
5 Lucy Brown 1:53:53 (3rd F40)
7 Hayley Whitehead (2nd F35)
8 Jacqueline Collins 2:03:03
19 Nocial Muller 2:16:24
20 Katie Towers 2:16:24
24 Lisa Gee 2:22:49

8 Sam Wadsworth 21:52
38 Robert Cranham 27:48
53 Anne Marie Beech 32:02

6 Ian Beresford 18:50
16 Ian Cocks 20:01
195 Richard Shilton 28:59
240 Ella Beresford 30:35

This race is on tarmac and is a little over a mile in length.  It is all uphill and is open to both juniors and seniors.  It is surprisingly popular and regularly attracts over 200 runners.   Being short, it favours junior runners as was shown this year when half of the top ten finishers were juniors. including an under 12 runner from Bingley Harriers.   This year, it attracted two Barlickers.  Craig Shearer is not fazed by youngsters with a turn of speed and he happily mixed it with them to come home in 5th place. For Robert Cranham, he found that out that in short races, youngsters are no respecters of age and will happily show their elders the way to the line if you give them the slightest opportunity. 

5 Craig Shearer 7:27
24 Robert Cranham 8:44

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