A  mixed bunch turned out for Barlick in this race.  There were some that were really trying, there were those that had not run for a while and were getting back into the swing of things and then there were those that were only in the race for the beer. 

Amongst those who was really trying was Emma Taylor who had a very determined run to finish 2nd woman.  Even towards the end, on the last ascent up Haworth Moor, she looked very strong and her 2nd place was a well deserved reward for such a performance.

In the men's race Robert Cranham, who is improving all the time, had a good race to lead the Barlickers home and finish in 11th place.  On another day, he might have made a top ten finish, but this was his first attempt at this race and at one stage, he was out running on his own and he had to stop and ask the way from passing walkers.

Carl Nevison & Andrew Smith were both really trying and were together at the first res on the tops, but age eventually made its mark and Carl finished 2nd for Barlick.

John Boothman was another Barlicker who was really trying, but at 8 miles, he was only just getting warmed up as he came to the finish line.

Ben Whitehead was not feeling too good on the day and he had a steady run over with Hayley.  Jacqueline Collins is still recovering from giving birth to her latest family member and for Des, this was his first run out for a little while and he certainly felt it as he approached Haworth. Paula Cullen was another one who knew that she had been in a race when she came to the last ascent.

It was good to see 15 Barlickers out in the race and good also to see many out on the course supporting.  It is a good race (thank you Keighley & Craven) and to cap it all, there was a good post race atmosphere outside The Fleece at the finish. 

The Barlickers finished:

11 Robert Cranahm  64:39
19 Carl Nevison 68:02
25 Andrew Smith 71:00
33 Emma Taylor 75:12 (2nd woman)
35 John Mason 75:48
37 Ben Hoyle 76:40
39 Carl Pawson 76:50
40 John Boothman76:52
47 Ben Whitehead 79:10
48 Hayley Whitehead 79:11
51 Derek Walkden 80:24
53 Jacqueline Collins 81:00
62 Paula Cullen 84:22
87 Anthony Brown 91:46
126 Zac Kaye 115:00

140 finishers

Full Race Results

Men

10 Gary Shaw 37:41
71 David Pease 44:74
86 Dan Taylor 45:49
117 James Austin 47:55
119 John Mason 48:14

Barlick 5th Vets Team

Women

46 Hannah Newbold 27:34

2 Robert Cranham 20:27

48 Dave Halliday 25:21
108 Craig Child 30:18

This race saw a first win for Robert Cranham and is a reward for all the effort he has put in to training.  He made a decision some time ago to go out for a run everyday, even if he had raced the previous day and that dedication has now paid off.

This race was one of a mixed set of races and all runners started together.  As a result, in the first stages of the race, you had no idea of how well you were doing, as some people were only running 10K.  Robert was chasing the runner in front, when that runner suddenly turned off onto the 10K course.  In a flash, Robert found himself in the lead.  Then a schoolboy error caught up with him. His laces became undone.  He always ties his laces in double knots before a race, but today, he forgot to do so.  He stopped to tie his laces, but his hands were cold and he was wearing gloves which he had to remove.  Whilst he was fiddling about with cold hands to try and tie his laces, he was passed.  When he started running again, it took him two miles to regain the lead.  Once in front, he did not let up and kept pressing on, even towards the end, when he was no longer under any pressure.

It was an early start for this race (8:00 am), but well worth getting out of bed for.

1 Robert Cranham 1:51:32

A great performance from our mixed team saw the club take 3rd place out of 26 teams in a time of 4:47:01.  A good start  by Victoria Peel saw her hand over in 5th place to the second leg pair of Ben Whitehead and Jimmy Craig , who took the team up to third position, which the last two leg runner retained.  The leg times and places were as follows: