Today not only marks the end of the calendar year, but it also marks the end of an era. After over thirty years or organising races, Dave & Eileen Woodhead have decided to call it a day. Thankfully, Wharfedale Harriers have agreed to continue to put on this unique series of races and we are very greatful to them for that, but the absence of the dominant presence of Dave, barking out orders to the runners, will take some getting used to.
Over the years, Dave & Eileen have provided lots of enjoyment to senior and junior fell runners alike and having now laid down the onerous burden of organising races, everyone at Barlick Fell Runners hopes that they can get out and enjoy the sport they have done so much for, without having to worry about the organisational aspect of it.
Anyone turning out for this race can proudly boast that they have competed with British Olympic Gold Medal Winner, Alistair Brownlee. Having said that, once he took the lead in the race, he looked as though the rest would struggle to catch him. Carl Bell, gave it a good go, but you always felt that Alistair always had a bit more in the tank, if he was really pressed.
As usual, this race was full of the festive spirit with lots of imaginative fancy dress on show, including Paul Elcock & John Boothman. Luckily Paul managed to bring home his ukulele (a Christmas present from his daughter) in one piece, despite having a fall on the treacherous muddy downhill section on the return. The times for today were:
1 Alistair Brownlee 38:30
2 Carl Bell 38:46
126 Andrew Smith 59:49
135 John Boothman 60:44
190 Paul Elcock 65:22
262 Cloey Mason 71:46
41 Craig Shearer 33:23
90 James Tingle 36:04
140 Chris Smale (1st MV50)
159 Sarah Jarvis 38:43 (2nd FV40)
293 Derek Walkden 42:17 (27th MV50)
1023 Sally Scothern 1:00:09 (18th FV55)
1199 Sharon Newbold 1:09:20 (50th FV50)
7 Lucas Payne 19:11
23 Alex Mason 21:16
79 Cloey Mason 25:34
2 Marc Hartley 17:43
A very swift run by Lee Parrington saw him take a comfortable victory in this race over Nathan Townsend of Trafford AC. Another swift run, this time by young Jack Villiers, saw him secure a creditable top twenty finnish. Finally, for Barlick, was another promising young runner, Maddison Parrington who quite remarkably finished 133rd out of 405 finishers.
1 Lee Parrington 12:34
15 Jack Villiers 14:29
133 Maddison Parrington 21:03
405 finnishers.
The race winner was Chris Smithard in a time of 38:43.
121 Nick Kendall 51:03
7 Lucas Payne 19:11
23 Alex Mason 21:16
79 Cloey Mason 25:34
5 Marc Hartley 17:19
7 James Tingle 17:24 New PB
22 Jack Villiers 20:11
4 Scott Boardman 19:20 New PB
101 Susan Hird 28:04
Corrigan is back!
1 Tom Corrigan 17:41
2 Andy Berry 19:46
3 Jack Villiers 20:40
Well, what a day. It started off so brightly. After the start, three teams broke away from the main pack, Bingley, made up of Victoria Wilkinson & Ian Holmes, Wharfedale, made up of Sam Watson & Christian Holmes and Barlick made up of Matt Lalor & Julian Hood. Going through Laycock, these three were running as a compact group and were way ahead of the chasing pack. At this point, it had all the makings of an exciting race. By the time the runners got to Pole Road, above Sutton in Craven, things had changed dramatically, as suddenly Queensbury were in the lead. Then the word came through, that Julian had broken his ankle quite badly.
When this happened, Sam Watson & Christian Holmes, Ian Holmes & Victoria Wilkinson all sacrificed their own races to help Julian. This was tremendous sportsmanship on their part and a big thanks goes out to both clubs from Barlick for what they did and it demonstrates the tremendous camaraderie of fell running.
When Julian had been attended to and safely dispatched to Airedale Hospital, Matt Lalor continued on with his leg, as did the two other clubs.
Further down the field, the Barlick Ladies (Snowbelles) (Leanne Dinsdale & Paula Cullen) were trialing the Bingley girls team at Laycock However, by the end of leg one, both runners were dead on their feet, but they had passed the Bingley team and handed over a lead to 2nd leg runners, Lorraine Slater & Sarah Bell. These two pushed each other on to increase this lead, which they passed on to Laura Craig and Victoria Peel. Again both girls gave their all to again pass on a good lead to the final pair of Jacqueline Collins and Rachel Villiers. These two seemed to make short work of the ascent passed Druids Altar and they were soon coasting (not so steadily) down the hill towards Keighley. They successfully managed to navigate their way through the centre of Keighley and once more the Barlick girls finished first ladies' team. It was a great effort from everyone who made up the team.
In the meantime, the race organisers let our 'A' team continue, even though only one runner had finished leg one. This was a good team and gradually, they made up for the lost time and clawed their way back to the front of the race to win the competition. Brett, the race organiser was faced with a difficult situation, as once two of the leading teams dropped out to help an injured runner, it upset the whole balance of the race. He felt that the Barlick 'A team had done well to come through to take first place, but could not be awarded with first team prize, in view of the fact that both runners had not completed leg one. The first team prize therefore went to Keighley, who were the second team back.
Not much further down the field, the Barlick 'B' team were quietly doing well and and they came home behind Bingley who had recovered from their stop to take third place and finally, the Barlick Vets showed their strength to come home in 6th place and probably first vets team. That was four teams in the top ten and showed the strength in depth that is being built up in the club. The top ten finished as follows:
1 Barlick 'A' 3:41:27
2 Keighley & Craven 3:49:25
3 Bingley 'A' 3:52:03
4 Barlick 'B' 3:57:28
5 Queensbury 4:01:03
6 Barlick Vets 4:08:10
7 Bingley 'B' 4:08:30
8 Keighley Crackers 4:009:47
9 Keighley Christmas Puddings 4:13:31
10 Barlick Ladies (Snowbelles) 4:15:24
A terrific performance by Sarah Jarvis saw her finish in 2nd place and great support from Rachel Villiers and Lorraine Slater saw the girls finish first team. Not only that, but Leanne Dinsdale, Jennifer Hird and Victoria Peel ran their socks off too, for the ladies B team to finish 6th overall. As a bonus, the Barlick ladies also finished first V35 team too.
For the men, in the early part of the race, James Tingle and Lee Parrington were pushing each other round, but as the race progressed, James opened up a gap on Lee. In third place for Barlick was that redoubtable runner Lucas Payne and working his way through the field behind him was another fine veteran of running, Chris Smale. Together with support from Dan Taylor and Ian Cocks, the team came home in 7th place overall.
The finishing times and places for the Barlick runners were:
Senior Women
2 Sarah Jarvis 21:41 (1st WV35)
11 Rachel Villiers 22:59
14 Lorraine Slater 23:17
26 Leanne Dinsdale 24:48
27 Jennifer Hird 24:48
31 Victoria Peel 25:05
74 Nicola Muller 28:50
100 Anne-Marie Beech
Senior Men
22 James Tingle 40:21
33 Lee Parrington 41:00
40 Lucas Payne 41:33
54 Chris Smale 42:51
86 James Austin 45:14
138 John Boothman 48:39
140 Ian Cocks 48:46
154 Paul Elcock 49:54
203 Tony Duffy 54:29
Report by Stephen Chew
The 5th Annual Barlick Fell Runners Presentation Night took on the above date and around 70 people attended. The prize winners were as follows-
Overall Female- Lorraine Slater
Overall Male- Thomas Corrigan
Xcountry Male- Thomas Corrigan
Xcountry Female- Lorraine Slater
Parkrun Male- Scott McCredie
Parkrun Female- Jenna Boothman
Road Champion Male- Scott Boardman
Road Champion Female- Rachel Villiers
Fell Champion Male- Stephen Shorrock
Fell Champion Female- Lorraine Slater
Most Improved Male- Stephen Shorrocks
Most Improved Female- Rachel Villiers
Performance Female- Emma Bailey
Performance Male- William Onek
Vet 50 Fell- John Boothman
Vet 40 Fell- Dave Halliday
Thanks to Rachel Lowther for organising the event and everyone for raffle prizes.
Sam Watson had a very good run and not only won this race, but in doing so, he set a new course record. Sam is a great lad and and all at Barlick Fell Runners will want to congratulate him on this achievement..
However, in setting this record and winning the race, he was closely pushed by our own Danny Mills, who finished just one second behind him! That was great racing between these two athletes. Not only that but David Mirfield was following on closely behind them both in third place and with Andy Berry in 8th place, it meant that Barlick took the team prize.
With our 4th runner securing a top twenty finish, it was a good day out for Barlick
1 Sam Watson 1:11:12(Wharfedale) (New Record)
2 Danny Mills 1:11:13
3 David Mirfield 1:11:30
8 Andy Berry 1:17:58
16 Lucas Payne 1:23:15
48 Emma Bailey 42:06
267 Gary Bailey 1:06:01
19 Lucille Pickles 25:08
42 Graham Wadsworth 36:51
11 Alex Mason 20:47 New PB
76 Susan Hird 28:11
1 James Tingle 17:37 New PB
The main aims of the club are to increase the participation of running in Barnoldswick and to keep organised running as accessible as possible.