Only two Barlickers were at this race, which was easily won by the in form Tom Adams of Ilkley. Tom led the runners up the hill from the pub towards the top of the ridge and never looked like losing the lead. On the return, he cruised down the hill to take an easy victory, ahead of Chris Farrel of Horwich and Tim Ellis of Calder Valley.
Sam Wadsworth was 17th as they made their way up the hill and after the descent from the monument, he lost quite a few places as they climbed back up to the ridge again. However, once on the top and on the descent, he started pulling a few places back to finish 19th.
Rachel Lowther looked to be going well on the ascent, but looked to be exhausted as she made the last bit of descent towards the finish line. She was plagued in the race by her shoe laces coming undone, which in itself cost her a few places.
19 Sam Wadsworth 49:01
210 Rachel Lowther 71:24 (35th women out of 64 starters)
279 runners.
The race was very well organised by Todmorden Harriers who lived up to their reputation for getting the results out in double quick time.
93 Michael Alexander 46:38
234 finishers.
61 Helen Stead 31:44
Five Barlickers entered this race, which was won by Tim Ellis of Calder Valley. He was followed home by Sam Watson of Wharfedale and Lee Athersmith of Bingley.
Sam Wadsworth had a good run to lead the Barlickers home, finishing in 8th position,
Conditions for the race were such that it was muddy underfoot, with the prevailing wind behind the runners, but when the showers did come down, they were heavy, with hail greeting the runners as they reached Water Sheddles Reservoir. In the early stages of the race, Sam Watson was shadowing Tim Ellis and looked to be waiting for the moment to pounce, but he ran out of steam in the last stage and could only watch Tim pull away from him.
Sam Wadsworth was lying 10th at Water Sheddles Reservoir, but climbing the gate, as opposed to the stile moved him into 9th place and on the descent to Ponden Reservoir he gained another place which he retained until the end.
8 Sam Wadsworth 58:33
65 Andrew Driver 1:10:04
81 John Boothman 1:12:05
86 Dave Halliday 1:13:06
97 Tom Mason 1:15:34
Nine Barlickers turned out for our first race in this league. As a new club in the league, we have to start in division four, but teams from all four divisions run together. As a result, it was difficult to know how the team was doing.
The race was fast and furious and there was no respite. The first six finishers from each team are counters, but runners further down the field can still play their part, if they can push opposition team runners further down the field.
The provisional results indicate that Barlick were 13th team overall, which at first glance seems to suggest that we beat some division one teams. However to confirm this, a bit more detailed analysis is required. However, it does appear that we are at least in the first two teams of division four. The finishing positions were as follows:
48 Nick Treitl 37:18
49 Shaun Chew 37:18
77 Dan Taylor 39:08
94 Andy Berry 39:59
129 Rob Weir 41:29
130 Stuart Bryan 41:29
158 Des Walkden 42:52
243 James Fent 48:30
245 Alan Davis 48:39
Today, we are used to seeing Richard Treitl down the field battling it out with the other V60s, but it hasn't always been like that. Years ago, he was there at the top of the field battling with the leaders, as the above clip from the 1984 Kelbrook Race Results shows.
Lloyd Davies ran as a guest in the under 17 race as a Barlick Fell Runner and he finished in 22:34 which would have put him in 20th position.
This will be held at the Old Stone Trough at Kelbrook. Everyone in the club is welcome along with partners. If you wish to some, please email your choice of food to Rachel Lowther and also get the money to her. No one is definitely booked in until she has your money. There are only 70 places so if you snooze, you could miss out.
John Boothman returned from a holiday in Florida on Thursday and being jet lagged and a lack of serious training whilst on holiday is not the best preparation for a marathon. As a result, he ran out of steam on the last 10K and had bad cramps. However, taking everything into account, his was still not a bad performance.
444 John Boothman 3:33:21
3,880 finishers.
It was certainly a good day for Dark Peak at these races. The leading teams were:
Men
1 Dark Peak
2 Mercia
3 Dark Peak 'B'
Ladies
1 Hunters Bog Trotters
2 Ambleside
3 Dark Peak
56 Barlick Fell Runners 5:38:39 +1:36:39
| Leg1: Des Walkden | 48:10 | 72 | 48:10 | 72 | |
| Leg2: Pete Jackson & Dave Halliday | 1:56:21 | 79 | 2:44:31 | 80 | |
| Leg3: Sam Wadsworth & Andy Berry | 1:59:15 | 47 | 4:43:46 | 59 | |
| Leg4: Scott Baistow | 54:53 | 33 | 5:38:39 |
45 Kathryn PAYNE 29:27
51 Helen STEAD 30:52
Earlier in the year, before the clocks went on, we held the first night points scoring event. In view of the popularity of that event, we are putting on another one. It will be on the above date and it will be in place of the normal pub run. It will start from the Pendle Inn at Barley.
A great run by Tom Adams of Ilkley Harriers saw him win this race in a records time of 39:26. He was followed home by Simon Bailey of Mercia in 41:32 and C Farrell of Horwich in 42:52.
21 Sam Wadsworth 45:56
30 Andy Berry 48:56
Under 8s
57 Tabitha Berry 4:41 (18th girl out of 28)
Winner - Shaun Chew in 53 minutes.
James Fent 1 hour 9 minutes.
446 Richard Starkie 2:00 51
Richard was pleased with this result, as it was an improvement of 15 minutes over his time for last year.
74 Helen STEAD 30:42 New PB
28 Marcus PAYNE 21:15
50 Mason PAYNE 23:55 New PB
22 Michael ALEXANDER 55:59
The end result was that Barlick were 19th overall in 4:29:37.
It was a day of highs and lows. Everyone set off from Patterdale and there was Barlick, the new boys, in second place, as they made their way up the steep ascent to Boredale Hause. The commentator on the loud speaker at Patterdale was perplexed. His commentary was, "Borrowdale are in the lead, closely followed by... er ... Barlick...". Gary Shaw and Stephen Chew, first leg runners, then moved into the lead and things were looking good. But the Ian Hodgson relay is not so simple. Clag covered the tops of the hills and suddenly our leaders were not so sure of the route. They waited for others to catch them up and then they discovered that lines which looked good in a recce were not quite so good on the race day. The long and the short of it was that at the changeover at Hartsop, Barlick were in 8th place.
Sam & Scott then took over and ascended into the clag and into the head wind which now included rain. Sadly this leg lost many places, although they were not the only ones to do so. Helm Hill, who were 10th at Hartsop suddenly found themselves in 1st place, much to the surprise of their 3rd leg runners who were not ready to set off. Our third leg team of Andy Hirst & Pete Jackson set off into the rain and mist in 23rd place. Despite their years, their experience of Lakeland races soon made itself felt and they gained two places to hand over in 21st place.
Nick Treitl and Shaun Chew set off on the final leg, again in poor conditions and an exciting sprint finish saw them finish just in 19th position, just in front of Ilkley.
Although we hoped that we might do better in this race, given that we are a new club, we perhaps did not do too bad against clubs with runners who have years of experience in this event. Afterwards, everyone agreed that we learnt a lot on the day and that next year, with a little bit of experience ourselves under our belt, we will do much better.
The race was extremely well organised, there was a great atmosphere and it was great taking part in this Lakeland classic. Roll on next year.
71 Helen STEAD 30:57
Another good night, but perhaps one where everyone should have had a head torch. The dark seemed to affect some runners, even those with head torches. On the other hand, several runners shook off the effects of the dark and recorded PBs. It was good to see junior member Elliot Halliday give it a go and record a sub 30 minute time.
The main aims of the club are to increase the participation of running in Barnoldswick and to keep organised running as accessible as possible.