Imagine training for and running in a marathon. Quite an achievement and great respect to everyone who has done it. But imagine running in four back to back marathons without a break. Then imagine a few of the well know fell races, such as Withens, the Lothersdale Fell Race or Pen Y Ghent. Then imagine adding in a few more hills that are part of the Pennine Way between Derbyshire and Hardraw and mix them all up and you have the challenge which John Boothman took on this weekend. One hundred and four miles of serious fell running with no sleep and just stops for sustenance.
John not only completed this, but he came second in the race. The winner, Michael Harrison, put in a tremendous performance. In the early stages, he looked as thought he might have gone off too fast, such was his lead, but he managed to keep up that blistering pace to the end. Behind him, by the time they reached the Cowling / Lothersdale area, John Boothman and Matthew Wilkinson were having a fair old tussle and it was nip and tuck between them both. But John had great determination and he pushed on relentlessly, so by the time they reached the summit of Pinhaw, there was a full nine minutes separating them.
Both ran on through the night up to Malham and then across Fountains Fell towards Pen y Ghent. After over twelve hours of running John made the ascent up the end of Pen Y Ghent as Matthew seemed to fall even further behind. From then on John seemed to dig deep and push on relentlessly until he reached the summit of Ten End from where he could see the town of Hawes and the finish just beyond at Hardraw. At that point, only a disaster, like crocking an ankle separated John from what felt like a famous victory, even though it was second place. Luckily, he descended at a fair pace, but managed to keep on his feet to go through the centre of Hawes and jog alongside the river up to the finish.
That was over thirty hours on his feet, apart from meal breaks and it says a lot about John's strong mental character, in addition to his incredible physical fitness. The times for the first three were:
1 Michael Harrison 27:45:02
2 John Boothman 30:33:34
3 Matthew Wilkinson 32:24:29
1 Jack Villiers 18:46 New PB
2 Lucas Payne 18:58 New PB
9 Alex Mason 20:23 New PB
10 Scott McCredie 20:36
21 Rachel Villiers 21:34 New PB
25 Lucilie Pickles 22:23 New PB
35 Tony Duffy 23:41 New PB
46 Ciara Duffy 25:33
72 Marie Beech 30:06
86 Lisa Pickles 32:16 New PB
15 Ian Cocks 19:22
37 Derek Walkden 21:19
301 Sharon Newbold 30:41 New PB
There were good performances all round from the Barlickers, with David Mirfield coming home in 2nd place and Jon Cleaver in 4th. Together with a top ten finish finish from Andy Collins, it was just enough to take the team prize, by one point.
A brilliant run from Jacqueline Collins saw her take 1st place, ahead of team mate Rachel Villiers. This together with a strong performance from Paula Cullen was again enough to take first team place, again, by just one point.
2 David Mirfield 37:20
4 Jon Cleaver 38:48
7 Andrew Collins 39:02
11 Andy Berry 39:46 (3rd V40)
15 Jimmy Wright 40:33
21 Carl Pawson 41:43 (2nd V45)
26 James Austin 42:19
46 Jacqueline Collins 44:45 (1st lady 1st F35))
54 Rachel Villiers 45:12 (2nd lady, 2nd F35)
58 Zac Kaye MS 45:45
61 Derek Walkden 46:06
63 Andrew Smith 46:13
65 Paul Elcock 46:18
70 Shane Muller 47:10
78 Peter Jackson 48:24 (2nd M60)
109 Paula Cullen 52:34
129 Cloey Mason 55:07 (3rd F45)
140 Emma Pease 56:42
155 Nicola Muller 59:01
181 Jean Rawlinson 1:02:45 (1st F65)
190 Susan Hird 1:04:35
U9
18 Oscar Clayton 04:35
U11
51 Lily-Grace Clayton 11:25 ( 19th Girl )
U15
7 Jack Villiers 16:32
Under 7/Under 9 - 1K
2 Harry Roberts 4:05
4 Bella McCredie 4:17
8 Harry Driver 4:33
17 Summer Fitzpatrick 5:09
22 Betsy Pickles 5:53
24 Evie Wright 5:55
Under 11/Under 13 - 2K
13 Lucille Pickles 8:07
24 Logan McCredie 8:36
55 Isabella Wright 11:44
59 Max Villiers 12:08
Under 15/Under 17 - 3K
2 Jack Villiers 11:06
15 Ciara Duffy 13:36
19 Connor Fitzpatrick 13:59
28 Daniel Plant 20:55
73 Angela Donlan 34:46
5 Lucas Payne 18:50
162 Susan Hird 34:29
Great competition in these races between team mates, with a close battle going on between Matt Lalor & Lee Parrington in the Elite Race and with Craig Shearer and Jon Cleaver in the A Race.
Sub 16:30 Race
28 Matthew Lalor 15:55
29 Lee Parrington 15:56
A Race
2 Craig Shearer 16:05
3 Jon Cleaver 16:09
9 David Mirfield 16:45
14 Dan Mills 16:54
29 Andrew Carson 17:33
45 Lee Edwards 18:20
B Race
11 James Austin 19:05
16 Daniel Plant 19:12
35 Derek Walkden 19:49
39 Rachel Villiers 19:51
43 Paul Elcock 19:57
50 Andrew Smith 20:14
58 Shane Muller 20:40
59 Zac Kaye 20:44
79 Paula Cullen 21:40
93 Heather Driver 22:22
109 Cloey Mason 23:12
130 Nicola Muller 24:35}
147 Susan Hird 26:24
152 Jean Rawlinson 26:47
A good competitive run from Jacob Reeday saw him take the honours in a close U12 race.
U9
7 Isaac Reeday 6:09
10 Alfie Muller 6:23
15 Oscar Calyton 7:08
20 Summer Fitzpatrick 7:33
U12
1 Jacob Reeday 6:21
19 Harley Treitl 7:51
24 Lucille Pickles 8:06 (3rd girl)
35 Garth Duffy 8:45
51 Chloe Boothman 9:58
52 Lily-Grace Clayton
57 Amber Muller 10:35
U14
28 Connor Fitzpatrick 16:01
U17
9 Jack Villiers 14:56
6 Nick Treitl 12:37
25 Andy Berry 59:54
34 Lucas Payne 1:02:13
35 Lee Edwards 1:02:40
155 Richard Treitl 1:27:16
Published at 4.15 pm 16 June 2018
If you see any mistakes in these results, please let us know
Jack Cummings of Ilkley Harriers returned to defend his title, but he found himself up against the master of all the Wharfedale Fell races, Ted Mason. Going up the initial steep ascent, Ted took the lead and already it was not looking good for Jack, as Ted is a renown master of descent. However, it was early days and maybe Jack could build up some lead as the going got easier. However, by the summit, Ted was still leading with Jack chasing and they were both ahead of Neil Crampton of Pudsey & Bramley. However, by the lead mines, things had once more changed, as Sam Watson, again a force to be reckoned with in any fell race, had moved up into third place. By the time the runners came into view, Ted had built up a good lead and as he went down the steep descent towards the beck, he once more once more demonstrated why he is such a master of descent. Jack followed a little while later, but by this time, Sam Watson was coming into his own and of the two, he was certainly the better man on that notorious final descent. However, would he be able to catch Jack and claim second place? In the end, it was a close run thing with Jack crossing the line just six seconds in front of Sam Watson.
The ladies race was a bit more spread out with Helen Wood of Ilkley Harriers taking a comfortable victory ahead of Jenny Gillies of Spey Runners. However, a very strong performance from Vet 50 Jean Powell saw her see off the competition and come home in third place.
Another good performance in the Vet 50 category was from Wharfedale Harriers runner Andy Holden. He literally started the race right at the back, but he gradually worked his way through the pack, picking off runners one by one and he ended up, not only with the first V50 prize, but with a top ten finish. It was quite a remarkable performance and it harked back to performances Andy would regularly put in, in his younger days.
Wharfedale carried off the men's prize with Ted Mason, Sam Watson & Tom Millard, whilst Calder Valley took the ladies' team prize with Helen Buchan, Catherine Holder & Charlotte Wetton.
As usual, the weather was absolutely dreadful during the race and the trailing runners had to endure hailstones on the top and apparently quite large ones too. However, once the race was over, it was possible to enjoy a leisurely pint outside the Buck Inn and soak up the Dales sunshine.
The Barlickers finished as follows:
7 Andy Berry 42:07 (1st V40)
22 John Boothman 47:46
25 Peter Jackson 48:48 (1st MV60)
29 Paul Elcock 49:37
33 Jennifer Hird 50:36
36 Dave Halliday 50:47
37 Glenn Whittaker 50:51
55 Cloey Mason 1:02:40
The main aims of the club are to increase the participation of running in Barnoldswick and to keep organised running as accessible as possible.