Harriers hit top gear as race season peaks
ROSSENDALE Harriers have had quite a selection of events to choose from over the past fortnight with fixtures on the road, cross country, fell and track on offer and all have been matched by great performances and, in several cases, very pleasing personal bests.
The Rossendale Junior Schools cross county races took place on May 25th at Marl Pits and the Harriers had a great day with wins for Elsie Duffy, Harry Hopkinson and Alice Carr, who dominated the year 5/6 Girls race from start to finish.
On the same date in the evening Marcus Law and Jonathan English line up with over 250 runners for the Wesham 10K Summer race which is run over the same course as the very popular November version, a slightly undulating route around the lanes of Salwick and Lea Town.
Marcus, in only his first season with the Harriers, ran a personal best time of 34mins 39secs which placed him in eighth, an impressive performance and Jonathan crossed the finish line in 24th place with a time of 37mins 05secs.
Later in the week in the Yorkshire Dales, prolific racer and marathon specialist, Jon Cleaver, ran in the Kettlewell Trail Half Marathon, a tough but very scenic race with three significant climbs totalling 3,000ft of ascent along the route.
Calder Valley’s Chris Holdsworth led from start to finish but Cleaver ran a sensible race, eventually coming through to take third place and first MV40 in 1hr 56mins 26secs.
Just five days later on Thursday Jon was in action again in the 8 mile Austwick Amble Fell race in North Yorkshire where he finished in tenth place after 52mins 45secs but the best run for the Harriers was Andy Mellor’s third place in 50mins 04secs behind Shettlestone’s Daniel Bradford and Altrincham’s Andy Norman, a rare outing on the fells for Mellor but a very impressive one.
Stephen Corbishley also had a solid run for eighth place with 52mins 09secs.
There were also junior races and in the U13s Holly Nicholls had a fine run for fifth spot and third girl, followed by Ruby Cleaver in seventh and Iona Bell in eighth.
After a disappointing early season Sean Greenwood was in good form on Thursday in the Leo Pollard fell race over 7.5 miles and with just short of 1400 feet of ascent around Rivington and Winter Hill.
Horwich’s Luke Foley was a convincing winner after 50mins 30secs but Greenwood will be pleased with his second place finishing just over a minute later. Jo Wells also ran and was fifth woman.
The wet weather is holding up the completion of the new track at Marl Pits but Track & Field Captain Andy Grenfell is determined to promote the discipline and with that in mind he assembled seven senior Harriers at Stretford on Tuesday evening for the latest Trafford Grand Prix meeting, some of them making their debuts on the track.
In the first very quick 3000 metre heat, won by Blackburn’s talented youngster, Matt Ramsden, Matty Harris stepped up from his usual 800 metre distance and just missed out on a personal best with 8mins 54.9secs for 13th place.
In the second heat Edge Hill student, Ben Kirkman showed an impressive
turn of speed to overhaul Andy Grenfell in the last 100 metres of the seven and a half lap race to finish with a personal best of 9mins 14.69secs for fifth place; Grenfell also bettered his personal best with 9mins 15.39secs finishing one place later.
Alder Grange student and talented fell runner, Will Curry, finished in seventh place with 9mins 16.43secs and looked at home on the track despite making his debut there with a brand new pair of spikes he’d never worn before!
Andy Mellor put down an early season marker with 9mins 28.21secs for 14th place, John Cleaver ran a personal best of 9mins 29.35 for 15th place and an out of form, Rob Webb was 19th with 9mins 34.48secs for his first time at the distance; there will be more to come from Webb later in the season.
On Saturday, Barlick Fell Runners staged the fourth race in the popular Burnley & Pendle Grand Prix, the Kelbrook Fell Race, a tough 3.4 miler with 700 feet of ascent and for Stephen Corbishley it was a slightly frustrating day as he finished just a second adrift of winner, Barlick’s Ben Whitehead, after 23mins 14secs.
However, Corbishley should be pleased with the result as Whitehead had approximately 100 metres on him at the top of the course so he will take heart from being so close to him at the finish. Matthew Clawson had a solid run for 27th and Thornton Taylor was first MV65.
It was a good day for the women with Jo Wells taking second woman, Michelle Young first FV45, Davina Raidy first FV50 and Eileen Wadsworth second FV60.
Elsewhere on Saturday at the Cowling Gala Grant Cunliffe made a rare outing on the fells and took third place less than 20seconds behind the winner, Skipton’s Julian Hood.
Grant has been plagued by injuries for several years so it was pleasing to see him back in a race, possibly inspired by his daughter Annie who placed seventh and third girl in the U9s race.
On Sunday, Matthew Clawson staged the Edenfield Fell Race, one of the Harriers’ eight promotions, a tough but very runnable B category race over 6.3 miles and with 1299 feet of ascent.
In very wet and windy conditions Calder Valley’s Alex Whittem established a small lead on the climb from the cricket club up to Cowpe Lowe and the gap between him and Ben Kirkman remained the same on the way to Whittle Pike and for the rest of the race and at the finish Whittem crossed the line after 46mins 42secs, just 30 seconds in front of Kirkman.
It was a great performance for the young Harrier who is maturing into a fine athlete and a great asset for the club on all surfaces and it marked somewhat of a milestone in his running career.
Ashley Holt looked to be on the way back to his best with a good run for ninth place, Ian Duffy wasn’t far behind in 12th, Thornton Taylor was 22nd and first MV65 and Ken Taylor was first MV75 in 54th place. It was another good day for the women as they took first female team with Jo Wells third woman in 27th place, Hannah Goldswain fourth woman in 33rd place and Anne-Marie Hindle first FV50 in 44th place.