The conditions for this race were really tough with it being wet under foot and a strong wind blowing against the runners right up to the Stoop stone.  It was the first of Woodhead's races for Richard Cranham and he wondered why the start was a cavalry charge.  Once he got onto the moors, there was a complete bottleneck with few passing places and he then realised why everyone put so much effort into getting a good start.

It was tough going up to the Stoop stone, but much better (and faster) on the return, although a few deep bogs took a lot of runners by surprise.  There were three Barlickers out in this race and they finished as follows:

26 Robert Cranham 40:50
55 Andrew Smith 44:46 (1st M60)
99 Lucy Brown 53:27

30 Molly Ralphson 21:13
35 Raymond Banks 21:48

Robert Cranham won the most improved runner of the year at the presentation night and he continues to improve.  Today he won this race and improved his PB over 10K by 50 seconds. 

During the race, he took the lead early on and was chased by Paul Hill who was constantly breathing down his neck and pushing him on.  It rapidly became a two horse race with those two way out in front of the chasing pack.  When they got to the last 100 metres, Robert put on a sprint but Paul did not respond, so he ran out the winner by 12 seconds. 

1 Robert Cranham 40:40