Middleton carves through Loftus Poultry Run rivals
Messenger and Westron tackle challenging Roseberry Topping Marathon
A record 47 club members competed in the 134th running of the Loftus and Whitby AC’s annual Poultry Run.
The multi-terrain race of just over seven miles is very competitive at the sharp end, but it is mainly a festive occasion with many runners dressed as Santa Claus and many other forms of fancy dress.
The prizes for the leading runners are, as the race title indicates, items of seasonal poultry.
The runners had to contend with cold and wet weather this year, but they all enjoyed the first of many races scheduled over the Christmas and New Year period.
The first finisher for the club was the in-form Matt Middleton, who was placed 15th overall of 444 finishers.
He was followed by Phil Markham in 38th and Sean Kelly 43rd.
Neil Scruton was up in 85th overall and most notably the first Over-50 for which the veteran won a goose.
Nikki Carr led the club’s 30 women runners, and was the 17th female finisher.
She was followed by Fay Hethershaw in 36th and Ellen Clapham 51st. Other male results: D Hepples 72nd, M May 97th, D Field 132nd, R Broadley 145th, G Shelton 148th, J Bamford 164th. W Foster 175th, C Bourne 183rd, R Sheader 187th, N Combes 194th, H Forkin 215th, P Barnard 226th, D Parke 230th Other female results: J Ireland 59th, L Bourne 67th, M Padgham 72nd, S Partridge 79th, , K Webster 80th, S Elwick 81st, G Wilkins 81th, H Coates 81st, R Dent 85th, R Frank 100th, M D’eath 101, S Casey 104th, E Foster 105th, S Corden 119th, J Trown 120th, C Pelluci 130th, D Trown 131st, A Hornsby 133rd, P Morris 135th, K Settle 145th, S Rees 146th, S Shepherdson 149th, S Field 150th, L Raper 151st, J Fish 152nd, N Edmond 153rd, H Westron 158th.
Two club members competed in the Hardmoors Roseberry Topping Marathon.
This is an extremely arduous endurance event which starts and finishes at Guisborough and consists of a 30-mile course over the North Yorkshire Moors and includes two climbs of Roseberry Topping and one to Captain Cook’s Monument.
The terrain was a mixture of frozen moorland mud, some sheet ice and short tarmac sections.
Andy Messenger finished 20th overall of 114 in 5 hours 33 minutes.
Heather Westron, who was taking part in her first ultra race of this magnitude, hung on well to complete the course in 9 hours 14 minutes and well inside the cut-off time.
Juliette Pilgrim competed in the half-marathon which was over 15 miles, and also included two ascents of Roseberry Topping.
She was pleased to finish 11th female in 3 hours 13 minutes