The conditions today were ideal for this race. Cool for the time of year, with a touch of rain in the air. At the top of the climb out of Nelson on to Southfield Lane, Chris Holdsworth of Clayton had already built up a good lead and he looked to be running well. Jonathan Cleaver was next with Tom Corrigan in third place. Tom looked very focused and was running well. Well up in the field at this point was David Mirfield and just behind him was Ben Whitehead. and Andy Berry.
Jacqueline Collins led our ladies at the top of the climb, just ahead of Lucy Brown and Hayley Whitehead. By the reservoirs, Tom had moved up into second place and Jonathan Cleaver who was just behind him looked like he was struggling.
On the final ascent up Southfield Lane, Chris Holdsworth was way out in front and behind him was Tom Corrigan who had now opened up a gap in front of the chasing Jon Cleaver. Lucy Brown appeared as our first lady as Jacqueline Collins was feeling the strain of this demanding race.
Special mention should go to Lisa Gee. She is a new comer to running and has never run over this distance before. Not only that, but she probably never realised what a demanding race that this is. Prior to the race, she was worried about being able to complete it. She had never any need to worry. All the way round the course, she looked to be running well and was cheerfully smiling and she was still running up the final ascent before finishing in the top half of the field. That was some performance from this novice runner.
The Barlickers finished as follows:
Men
2 Tom Corrigan 1:21:31 (1st M40)
6 David Mirfield 1:27:30
18 Ben Whitehead 1:35:28
20 Nathan Smedley 1:35:39
21 Andy Berry 1:35:46
40 Robert Cranham 1:42:43
47 David Pease 1:46:54
60 Andrew Smith 1:51:50 (3rd M60)
66 Shane Muller 1:53:21 (3rd M50)
99 Raymond Banks 2:10:58 (2nd M70)
Women
5 Lucy Brown 1:53:53 (3rd F40)
7 Hayley Whitehead (2nd F35)
8 Jacqueline Collins 2:03:03
19 Nicola Muller 2:16:24
20 Katie Towers 2:16:24
24 Lisa Gee 2:22:49
8 Sam Wadsworth 21:52
38 Robert Cranham 27:48
53 Anne Marie Beech 32:02
6 Ian Beresford 18:50
16 Ian Cocks 20:01
195 Richard Shilton 28:59
240 Ella Beresford 30:35
This race is on tarmac and is a little over a mile in length. It is all uphill and is open to both juniors and seniors. It is surprisingly popular and regularly attracts over 200 runners. Being short, it favours junior runners as was shown this year when half of the top ten finishers were juniors. including an under 12 runner from Bingley Harriers. This year, it attracted two Barlickers. Craig Shearer is not fazed by youngsters with a turn of speed and he happily mixed it with them to come home in 5th place. For Robert Cranham, he found that out that in short races, youngsters are no respecters of age and will happily show their elders the way to the line if you give them the slightest opportunity.
5 Craig Shearer 7:27
24 Robert Cranham 8:44
Ben Whitehead started steadily away near the front of the pack, but three quarters of the way up the climb, he moved up a gear and was third at the summit. However, a local runner took a better line on the descent from the monument and he had to settle for 4th place.
4 Ben Whitehead 20:59 (1st M40)
21 Robert Cranham 24:04
In a two horse race, it was a great battle from start to finish between Tom Corrigan and William Walker, who is the grandson of running legend Harry Walker. In the end , the younger man just shaded it by a couple of seconds, but a good performance from both men. Another incredible performance was by Gary Shaw who was our second runner home and proving that old saying that age is just a number.
The Barlickers finished as follows
Men
2 Tom Corrigan 40:51 (1st M40)
5 Gary Shaw 42:47 (1st M50)
6 David Mirfield 44:24 (3rd M40)
11 Luke Butler 45:54
16 Andy Berry 47:07 (3rd M45)
18 Ian Cocks 47:47
27 Robert Cranham 48:49
32 Carl Nevison 49:46
47 Andrew Smith 52:59 (3rd M60)
48 Stan Dreilling 53:09
112 Raymond Banks 1:01:08 (1st M70)
Women
4 Emma Law 52:49 (1st F40)
6 Jacqueline Collins 54:08 (3rd F40)
8 Lucy Brown 55:49
17 Paula Cullen 59:34 (1st F45)
39 Lisa Gee 1:08:17
49 Gemma Carson 1:10:30
4 David Pease 21:30
5 Robert Cranham 21:33
41 Anne Marie Beech 32:11
118 Stephen Jackson 28:33
173 Richard Shilton 29:34
There were a lot of runners from both Calder Valley and from Todmorden in this race as apparently for both club, it was a club championship race. The competition was quite fierce as there were some quick runners from both clubs.
23 Robert Cranham 33:23
143 starters.
8 David Pease 37:23 (2nd M40)
14 Andrew Smith 38:58 (1st M60)
The pub run will be from the Rolls Royce Club at Barlick. Be there for 7:00 pm.
For anyone fancying a race, there is The Cragg Vale Race and entry is on the day.
Fell running in the Lake District. That is what sorts out the men from the boys. There are two course for this race. The short course which is over 13 miles and incorporates 5,00 ft of ascent. Tom Corrigan took part in this race and he threw down the gauntlet to everyone else right from the start by taking the lead and setting the pace for this race by being the fastest runner in each of the first four legs up to Whiteless Pike. At that point, he had built up a 5 minute lead. But racing in the Lakes is tough and the chasing Paul Preston was not giving up. In leg 6 up to Melbreak, Paul closed the gap and took the lead by 18 seconds. . But on the last leg to the finish, Tom pulled out all of the stops, once more taking the lead and finally running out the race winner by 13 seconds. It was exciting racing and well done to Paul Preston for having the grit and determination to make a race of it.
The other race is the long race which is 22 miles, incorporating 8260 ft of climb. Julian Hood entered this race and again put in a good performance to finish in 8th place and 1st M40. Great racing for both runners.
Short Race
1 Tom Corrigan 2:36:39 (1st M40)
Long Race
8 Julian Hood 4:48:35 (1st M40)
41 Anthony Brown 24:24
The main aims of the club are to increase the participation of running in Barnoldswick and to keep organised running as accessible as possible.