Well, what a day out for our ladies. Despite Leanne Dinsdale having to drop out at the last minute with injury and Victoria Peel picking up an injury during the race, the team did really well, finishing 5th team overall with three runners finishing in the top twenty. Victoria incurred a back injury during the race and whilst many a lesser runner would have dropped out, Victoria battled on to the end, determined to get a finishing place, despite the pain that she was suffering.
In the vet's category, the first two teams were way ahead of the rest of the field, with Blackburn just shading it over Barlick by three points with the Barlick team members getting silver medals.
In addition to the silver vet team medals, there were several individual medals, as follows:
Gold: Sarah Jarvis - 1st LV40
Silver: Lorraine Slater - 2nd LV45
Bronze: Rachel Villiers - 3rd LV35
Bronze: Paula Cullen 3rd LV40
They finished as follows:
12 Sarah Jarvis 27:21 1st V40
17 Lorraine Slater 28:31 2nd LV45
19 Rachel Villiers 28:49 3rd LV35
27 Paula Cullen 30:45 3rd LV40
42 Victoria Peel 33:22
Chris Smale led the Barlickers home and in so doing earned himself a silver medal as 2nd V50. Second home for Barlick was James Austin, with Scott McCredie shorly behind.
Silver: Chris Smale 2nd V50
55 Chris Smale 37:40 2nd V50
100 James Austin 41:34
121 Scott McCredie 43:49
10 Nick Kendall 20:15
15 Emma Bailey 20:42
94 Susan Hird 28:20
105 Daren Holdsworth 29:07
125 Gary Bailey 31:05
165 Amanda Tarn 35:15
172 Graham Wadsworth 36:39
125 Maddison Parrington 29:35
35 Nicola Muller 27:11
44 Anne Marie Beech30:38
1 Mat Lalor 16:57
38 Peter Maher 22:42
Jack Villiers started the New Year in style by going off and testing himself in a senior fell race. And what a great performance he put in too, finishing in 28th position out of a field of 153. In fell running, every race is different and the first time you have a go at a race, you never run it as well as you could have done, as you are learning the course. Expect an even higher place from Jack if he has another go at this race next year.
28 Jack Villiers 21:12
First fell race of the New Year and young Jack Villiers took part before rushing off to watch the Burnley game. He had a particularly good run competing against the seniors, coming home in 28th place.
28 Jack Villiers 21:14
153 finishers.
Corrigan is definitely back and made a great start for the New Year by taking the win in this race.
1 Tom Corrigan 17:59
442 finishers
3 Lucas Payne 20:14
24 John Boothman 23:39
40 Paul Elcock 25:01
34 John Boothman 22:44
38 Paul Elcock 23:11
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
The main aims of the club are to increase the participation of running in Barnoldswick and to keep organised running as accessible as possible.