Weekly Racing Round – w.e 21st Oct – Spenborough XC , Fell Relays…

—Spenborough Cross Country – West Yorkshire Cross Country League Race #1 ( Club Run).
Before we even get onto the results it was great to see such great team camaraderie, spirit and mutual support.  With 21 ladies running, 21 men running  , Peter Schofield, Brian Hughes, Neil Strange and Richard Gott giving great support and many of our runners resplendent in their Union Jack shorts .A nice tribute to the man who helped nurture our many successes, especially in cross country , Andy Neale.

The 2018/19 Cross Country season had a brilliant start with Knavesmire’s Ladies dominating their race, with four YKH runners in the top 10 they were by far the strongest team on the day, and now lead the league table.

Despite having raced in the tiring Fell Relays the day before ( see below ) Nik Tarrega looked strong throughout the 3 lap race , making up places after the congested start to take second place. The Ladies ‘A’ team was completed by  a returning to form Becky Penty claiming fourth ,  Helen Cross powering through the field  for  fifth and Aoife Burke 10th .

More photos on the Knavesmire Facebook Group Page

Team Knavesmire Ladies also featured:

12th Lucy Pinder
24th Anna Blackwell
27th Megan Thompson
38th Corrie Percival
40th Clare Rowntree
43rd Eva Zehentner
48th Maddie Foot
55th Clare Antrobus
78th Mandy Clarke
83rd Qin Zhou
91st Anna Marshall
95th Caitlin Clark
98th Jane Nodder
102nd Jane Morby
103rd Hannah Strange
104th Edwina Wilcox
109th Sam Lyth

Knavesmire’s Men ran valiantly but were unable to match the stellar achievements of our Ladies.
Knavesmire’s resident Ferrari ( very fast but high maintenance ) Kim Critchley, took a break from his Turbo Trainer  to show us some of his old magic. His last competitive outing saw him take victory at the Pocklington 10k Summer League race. After a very cautious start he wound up the speed throughout the 5 lap Mens race , leading the club home in 35th.

Completing the six to count Mens ‘A’ team were Simon Fricke 46th ,new club Member James Browne 61st, Giles Hawking 64th ,  Toby Hone 70th and Darren Hendley 80th.

Team Knavesmire Men also featured:

90th Dan Chan
92nd Rory Henderson
94th Darren Noyland
104th Abbas Khan
115th Richard Tarrega
125th Pete Downes
129th Ian Fairlamb
130th Michael Hemsworth
137th Graham Gill
138th Andrew Clark
148th William Orpin
157th Andrew Johnson
163rd Richard Tarren
169th Adrian Thear
172nd Duncan Chambers

Next XC race is Nunroyd Park, Guiseley on the 4th November.

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—The British Fell Relay Championships 2018, Grasmere.                  report by Tom Ratcliffe.

The British Fell Relay Championships came to Grasmere in the Lake District this year. The home of Wordsworth, Grasmere sits in the middle of a stunning valley, a valley full of history (the farm where we began the relay race was owned by one of the famous fell running Bland clan) and thus was an inspirational setting for the 30^th year of the British fell relays. The relays are made up of four legs – two solo legs, a paired leg and a navigation leg (also paired). For the first time ever, we had two teams participating – a Mixed team and a Men’s team.

The famous Lakeland fog and drizzle was already set in stone by the time the Leg 1 runners started on Saturday morning. Katie Smith (Mixed team) and Tom Ratcliffe (Men’s team) were representing YKH on this first leg and they found themselves jostling for places as the 244 runners clambered up the first grassy bank trying to take the initiative in this ferocious start.

As the mountain started to gradually get steeper, the terrain became relentless with slippery granite rocks everywhere – the slipping became so much that at points you felt yourself sliding backwards towards the start line. After the old packhorse route to Checkpoint 1, there was a final vertical climb up to Seat Sandal and then the descent started. At this stage in the race Katie came across a runner who had unfortunately injured himself badly and she handed over to him her kit to stay warm. A moment of great care in these abrasive conditions.

The descent to the bottom of the valley began – it was fast, mainly grass but patches of sheer rocky outcrops that made you hesitate as you threw yourself down the mountain side struggling to find any type of grip. The clouds soon started to disappear, and you could make out the speck of a white marquee at the valley bottom – full of malodorous runners and splendid cake. We ran for a bit longer through a river, up a final sharp hill, then on to a muddy track, down the final grassy bank and then the finish of leg 1 was in sight. The noise of the howling wind turning into clapping and cheering.

Our leg two runners were the Chris double act (Chris and Christian) and the legends pairing (Baz and Giles) in the mixed. Both pairs climbed strongly, Christian and Chris flying up towards Great Rigg and Giles and Baz not taking any prisoners as they went past teams from Scotland, Wales and other parts of the UK. It was Great Rigg then Checkpoint 3 at the top of Fairfield. Off Fairfield, a peak standing at 873 metres, both pairs knew what was coming – a wild, rocky, rollercoaster of a descent. Quickly using all of their fell nous, Giles and Baz discovered a magic line down it which no other team on that day would find. They descended so swiftly that they even managed to fit in a debate about the name of the rocks on top of the adjacent Helm Crag – ‘The stones are called the lamb and lion’ said Giles. ‘That’s a pub in York’ said Baz. Chris and Christian also came down at an astonishing pace with the 24^th fastest descent off Fairfield on leg 2 – the improvised sliding on the backside technique was key to this amazing time.

It was now over to our navigation teams on leg 3 – Simon and Andy Holladay (Men’s) and Nik and Rich (Mixed). Both teams knew that this leg would be a tough challenge in the low-lying fog, occasional showers and arduous terrain. Thoughts of the treacherous conditions that our navigation team had faced in the relay championships in Scotland two years previously came to mind. They picked up the maps and as they made their way from Checkpoint 1 to 2, all of the runners suddenly seemed to vanish. Nik and Rich found themselves alone encircled by white thick fog. They continued to wander lonely as a cloud before runners appeared from all types of angles and then Checkpoint 2 gratefully came into view. Over to the Simon and Andy pairing and they had also found themselves in a thick fog and no runners situation but as Simon looked over his shoulder, expecting Andy to be there, Andy was nowhere to be seen. In the fog he speculated where Andy had disappeared to – had he located something better than a checkpoint on the top of fell? Perhaps a café selling the world-famous Grasmere gingerbread? It was not to be – Andy’s voice was heard calling ‘It’s this way Simon’ and they were back on track heading to another checkpoint. The second half of Leg 3 became easier as both of our teams adapted to the conditions, walked / ran very strongly and found some great lines to the other checkpoints and then the finish with Rich and Nik overtaking another team as they sprinted home.

The discussion around Leg 4 was all about the final ‘cliff-like’ descent which you could see from the finish line with comparisons to the roller coaster Oblivion being made. We had the valiant Sarah Attwood and Tim Harvey on this leg. Tim had already set off by the time Sarah began in the mass start and he had an excellent run with his intimate knowledge of the area. Sarah also ran really well attacking and overtaking people on the climb up to Heron Pike and trying to not lose any places on the vertical, cliff-like descent down to the finish line. As they both came in they had smiles on their faces and knew they had survived another day out on the fells.

Results:

Men’s Team: 71^st : 4 hours 54 minutes

Mixed Team: 163^rd : 5 hours 47 minutes

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—Yorkshire Coast – Scarborough 10k.

POS	BIB	GENDER	NAME		CAT	CAT POS	CHIP TIME	FINISH TIME
1	901	Male	Luke Osborn		18-39	20/315	00:38:29	00:38:31
2	16	Male	Robert Ward		V40	9/148	00:38:59	00:39:02
3	19	Male	John Wiley		18-39	28/315	00:39:34	00:39:37
4	2166	Male	Brian Smith		V45	18/165	00:41:45	00:41:53
5	124	Female	Kate Osborn		18-34	25/230	00:47:57	00:48:28
6	1863	Male	Adrian Turner		V45	104/165	00:50:55	00:54:53
7	172	Female	Clare Moffatt		V45	30/196	00:54:00	00:55:26
8	1525	Female	Cheryl Dabrowski		V45	75/196	00:59:35	01:01:56

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—Shaun Lee Johnson Memorial 10 Mile Multi Terrain Race.

Pos	Num	Name	Cat	Club	Time
15	80	Martyn Rennison	M16-39		01:08:09
24	146	John Oliver	M60+		01:11:30
49	54	Martin Medlar	M60+		02:19:09
95	26	Gabriel Uttley	M60+		01:29:52
109	112	David Bygrave	M50-59		01:36:03
113	53	Maureen Medlar	F55+		01:39:39
114	43	Liz Matthews	F55+		01:39:39

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—Holmfirth 15 mile Road Race.

81st David Darton 2:18:25
109th Colin Lea      2:48:17

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—Saint Aidan’s Trail Half Marathon.

Course taking in not one but two nature reserves East of Leeds.

59th Stef Durkin 1:46:35

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—Langdale Half Marathon.

30th Anniversary of the Marathon race of which Paul and Sue have taken part 25 times ( Marathon or Half ).
Paul Adams 03:03:49
Su Adams 03:13:03    1st F65.

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—Isle of Axholme Half Marathon.

Richard Walker ( 1:34:23) was 35th and  2nd MV50 at this race in Epworth, North Lincolnshire

Helen Leach ( 2:20:58) was 159th .

 

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—York Parkrun.

535 participants, 38 from YKH ( 7.1 % of total ).

York Parkrun PB’s for :

Andrew Lowson 19:18
Mark Robinson 20:32

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—Heslington Parkrun.

284 participants, 16 from YKH ( 5.6 % ).

Heslington Parkrun PB’s for :

Jonathon Boyle 22:22

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—New Earswick Parkrun.

81 participants , 6 from YKH ( 7.4 % ).

New Earswick Parkrun PB’s for :

Hannah Strange 28:55

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