This is a tough challenge and not for the faint hearted, but three intrepid BFR members made the trip to Wasdale Head for this 21 mile, 9000ft AL Lakeland Classic.
It was a cloudy start to the day but by the time race start came, the forecast was proving accurate with the sun beating down. It was a day for slapping on the sunscreen & staying hydrated.
140 started and only 117 finished.
It was very hot & humid on the first couple of climbs but a bit of cloud started building up as the afternoon wore on and the runners got some respite from the heat. Gary Bradley had a good run and knocked 18 minutes off his previous best. Stephen Shorrock also had a good run too, knocking 6 minutes off his best as well. As for Jack Ingham, he said that had forgotten just how tough it was.
55 Stephen Shorrock 5:36:08
73 Gary Bradley 5:49:03
108 Jack Ingram 6:38:05
A good win for Jack Villiers in the U17 race and a good win too for Emmett Edwards who stormed to victory in the U7 race. Also in the U7s, Oliver Teal had a good run to come third and secure a opdium finish
U17
1 Jack Villiers 10:25
U15 Boys
9 Connor Fitzpatrick 12:38
U15 Girls
9 Amber Muller 14:58
U13 Boys
7 Logan McCredie 6:42
9 Harley Treitl 6:46
17 George Fitzpatrick 7:24
22 Max Villiers 9:33
U13 Girls
15 Grace Hindley 8:34
22 Ruby Beresford 9:38
U11 Boys
7 Michael Rigg Moya 7:39
8 Toby Nixon 7:47
9 Alfie Muller 7:50
10 Elliot Shackleton 8:48
12 Zach Beresford 8:55
U11 Girls
10 Isabelle Teal 8:04
14 Summer Fitzpatrick 8:42
U9 Boys
5 Ned Beckett 2:48
9 Lewis Milligan 3:26
11 Harry Roberts 4:01
U9 Girls
4 Betsy Pickles 3:07
6 Layla Plummer 3:29
7 Olivia Hindley 3:40
U7 Boys
1 Emmett Edwards 3:13
3 Oliver Teal 3:50
Jonathan Cleaver set off determined to give the lads from Blackburn Harriers a run for their money and led everyone out of Townley Park onto the roads. However, he was up against some class competition and when they returned Ben Fish was leading, with Jacob Watson second and John Cleaver third - all finishing under the 34 minute mark - some top class racing from all three. Luke Turner continues to improve and finished just outside the top ten.
In the ladies race, Jacqueline Collins had a good run to finish 3rd lady.
3 Jonathan Cleaver 33:50
11 Luke Turner 37:28 (1st M50)
19 Barrie Charnley 38:56
23 Steven Roberts 39:39
34 James Austin 40:53
41 Carl Nevison 41:23
45 Jacqueline Collins 41:40 (3rd Lady, 2nd F35)
56 Shane Muller 42:45
66 Anthony Brown 43:41
94 Jenn Hird 46:54
121 Heather Driver 49:54
148 Nicola Muller 52:51
200 Marie Beech 59:44
This show used to take place in September, but is now being put on earlier in the year in the hope of enjoying some better weather on the day. Unfortunately, when planning this change, the Young Farmers never gave any thought about the fell race and with a week to go, no race had been planned. Wharfedale Harriers normally host this race, but they could not help this year, due to it clashing with the Alva Games.
However, with the help from a couple of locals in the village, the race went ahead and even at such short notice, it managed to attract 17 runners.
First home was Ian Beresford of Barlick, who was effectively having a duel with team mate Lee "Swell" Hird. Third home was James Fieldhouse who wenet home with two trophies, one for being the first young farmer and the other for finishing first local.
The Lothersdale Show Fell Race harks back to the Victorian era and in common with races at that time, all competitors run together, bot young and old. As a result, the first lady home was under 14 Megan Wilkinson and her father took much delight in confiscating the bottle of wine which she had won, leaving her just with a rather attractive iced ginger bread figure, which she won as first GU14.
The weather was kind for the new date and hopefully, next year will attract more runners to this historic race.
1 Ian Beresford 11:51
2 Lee Edwards 13:05
5 Martin Carson 19:18 New PB
7 James Austin 19:38
10 Emma Bailey 20:19
71 Daniel Van Hessen 33:55
A good run and new PB for Barlick junior Harry Roberts.
25 Harry Roberts 22:47 New PB
7 Andy Smith 2:43:00
74 ran
A good turnout for this Lakeland club championship race where the Barlickers were led home by Jimmy Craig.
11 Jimmy Craig 1:19:16
15 David Poole 1:22:19
21 Stephen Shorrock 1:24:48
25 Tim Chadwick 1:25:37
41 Ian Cocks 1:31:42
53 Karl Robb 1:35:48
58 David Pease 1:36:57
59 Andrew Smith 1:38:52
72 John Boothman 1:42:02
77 Dave Halliday 1:45:02
94 Ian Beresford 1:53:59
103 Hannah Newbold 2:00:54
104 Katie Towers 2:02:19
110 Richard Treitl 2:48:49
35 Karl Robb 1:02:45
A massive well done to all the juniors that competed in the FRA Junior Championships. This year has seen some of the most brutal races for juniors ever seen in this competition. Team BFR finished 14th out of 53 competing teams over the six races. Whether you did one race or all six you should be proud of yourselves. Those that finished in the championship / T-Shirt positions were:
U11s
Oscar Clayton 6 races
Isabelle Teal 5 races
U13s ( out of 67 runners)
3rd Lucille Pickles
25th Lily-Grace Clayton
U17s ( out of 52 runners )
11th Jack Villiers
Club Position (out of 53 competing clubs )
14 Barlick Fell Runners
This is the real tough challenge in the Grand Prix Series and there was some quality competition at the front of the field. Credit therefore is due to our two athletes with a top ten finish, Jon Cleaver and Andy Collins. Jon has written an interesting account of the day from the perspective of battling it out in the tough environment at the front of the field.
"The Jewel in the the GP crown. 2000ft half(ish) marathon taking in the stunning countryside of Pendle. I set of with the intention of hitting it hard and going for broke to try and make the immortal Hall of Fame list of runners who had made it round in under 83 minutes. From the start I knew a Podium was going to be tough with the 3 times champ David Rigby, Ben Fish & Ben Coop toeing the line. I was leading the race until the climb to the Shooters where the Ben(s) took over which was fairly inevitable at some point. I stuck with Rigby until just after Thursden where I started to put a gap into him. For the rest of the race I was on my own versus the clock as I knew that third would happen as long as I kept on pushing and Coop had too big a gap for me to claw back. In the end I came in 01:22:18 which I was delighted with. On the day fortune favoured the brave!
Some other cracking runs from the club with Andy Collins & Andy Berry in the men’s seniors putting in solid times.
On to the next one!
PS - Shout out to Luke Turner who is on his way back in the BFR vest. One to watch in a few months!"
3 Jonathan Cleaver 1:22:18
8 Andrew Collins 1:28:40
14 Andy Berry 1:35:07
18 Luke Turner 1:36:26
32 Carl Dawson 1:40:31
37 Jacqueline Collins 1:43:50
45 Carl Nevison 1:45:31
59 Shane Muller 1:50:16
124 Cloey Mason 2:09:00
154 Nicola Muller 2:17:28
181 Helen Harrison 2:25:07
182 Emma Pease 2:25:07
184 Maie Eden 2:25:13
14 Emma Bailey 20:12
229 Max Villiers 29:28
334 Graham Wadsworth 34:25
4 James Crook 21:51
The main aims of the club are to increase the participation of running in Barnoldswick and to keep organised running as accessible as possible.