Cool Hand Luke

With the holiday season well and truly behind us now, 19-20th September 2026 was another busy weekend for the Harriers …

We start with Bury 10K, where last Sunday Rochdale Harriers’ very own Luke Harrison enjoyed the spoils of first position in the race overall. Luke crossed the finish line in a tremendous time of 32:05. His hard work at the club’s Track Tuesday events will no doubt have helped sharpen his speed for the road race.

The Bury 10K was also the penultimate race in the club’s road championships; so we were guaranteed an excellent turnout, with 28 runners competing from the Harriers. Starting at The Rock shopping centre near the Bury Transport Museum, the course took runners down Tottington and Bury Road before rounding the corner and following the Kirklees trail path back to The Rock for the finish line. This was a testing course, with around 300 ft of ascent, so not a ‘PB’ course as such. Following Luke, second back for Rochdale was the ever consistent Danny Bennett, coming home in 36:39, in 12th position overall and taking first position in his age category of M50. Phil Lockett and Andrew Whitehouse were next back, in 38:17 and 40:11 respectively. Isabel Mitchell was fifth Harrier back and first female, in a time of 41:04 – coming in as 4th female overall in the race. A splendid performance from Izzie, who has recently returned to racing after having a break from the sport. Too many great performances to mention, and a thoroughly enjoyable event experienced by all.

The Sun Always Shines on Cross Keys

A day earlier, Saturday saw the Cross Keys Inn in Saddleworth play host to what is undeniably one of the highlights in the running calendar: the Cross Keys road and fell relays! This is somewhat of a unique team event, bringing fell runners and road runners together as a celebration of the skills of each others’ disciplines. Teams of four runners contest a relay over two road legs of 3 miles and two fell legs of 2.5 miles. The road leg consists of two laps of a hilly circuit, packing three stinging climbs into such a short distance. The fell leg is a single lap of an undulating course climbing up over Saddleworth Moor and is particularly notable as it provides a chance for the fearless runner to ‘jump the gate’, as the terrifyingly fast descent from the moor meets the road!

Cross Keys was another wonderful team event organised by Saddleworth Runners with great camaraderie, on a day when the sun again decided to shine – as it so often does for this event. The recent rain we have encountered made for a testing fell course, but failed to dampen the spirits of those involved.

Rochdale Harriers fielded five teams in the event (20 runners), with the best placed of our teams being the Daley Mixtures team, featuring Danny Bennett, Kay Welsby, Steph Harrison and Luke Burley. They finished in 8th place overall out of 34 teams who competed. In their race category of Mixed Teams, the Daley Mixtures team finished in 2nd place among 8 teams in a time of 1 hour 34 mins. Danny Bennett posted a rapid time of 18 mins 56 for his road leg, whilst Steph Harrison was super strong in her fell leg, completing in 24 mins 10.

In the Open Men race category, the Colin’s Quartet team (in honour of Colin Robinson), featuring Bruno Rolinha, Dave Parton, Stephen Smithies and Jonny Lawler finished in 6th place among 10 teams, in a time of 1 hour 41 mins. Colin’s Quartet finished in 11th place overall in the event. Dave Parton, our fastest fell runner, whizzed round the fell leg in 22 mins 56!

In the Veteran Men race category, the elder statesmen of the Dale’s Double Centurions team (or The Rochdale Four as they appear in the official results), featuring Stephen Leak, Mark Walker, Chris Gee and Jack Liddle finished in 5th place among 5 teams in a time of 2 hours 11 mins.

In the Open Women race category, the Dalies Anagram team, featuring Lottie Peacocke, Ruth Fearn, Sam Fretwell and Sharon Annable finished in 4th place among 4 teams, in a time of 2 hours 36 mins. This was Lottie Peacocke’s first relay race with the Senior women and she continued her fine form of late, clocking a seriously impressive 23 mins 41 for her road leg. Well done Lottie!

In the Veteran Women race category, the eponymously-titled Team with the Best Name, featuring Helen Campbell, Shirley Sneddon, Christie-Anne Cunningham and Jenny Grindrod finished in 3rd place among 3 teams in a time of around 2 hours 40 mins (there is a technical glitch in the official results listed for this team).

Alas, the ‘Team with the Best Name’ turned out to be a little presumptuous; robbed of the best team name prize! This prize went to the ‘Chips n’Grav’ity’ team. Oh well, fair dues: love this name!

Juliet and Danny Remain On Track

Ladies Captain Juliet Smith and Danny Bennett recently competed in the 1500m race in the British Masters Track & Field Championships in Derby. On a dry, humid day, Juliet bagged a podium place, finishing 3rd in her age category of F50, in a time of 5:34, whilst Danny finished in 4th place in his age category of M55, just missing the podium, with a time of 4:37.

Julie’s Super Series

Venturing further afield, Julie Smith enjoyed a memorable weekend of running in the cool city of Copenhagen, taking in a local Parkrun with Dame Kelly Holmes (!) before participating in the Copenhagen Super Half Marathon. The Super Half is a series of six half marathons in Lisbon, Prague, Berlin, Copenhagen, Cardiff and Valencia. Julie is now officially a ‘SuperRunner’ after completing the six events over a period of two years. She was awarded a huge golden medal for her troubles and she may well be the first Rochdale Harrier to achieve the Super set.

The next couple of weekends may give the Harriers a chance to draw breath before the eagerly-awaited cross country season starts and the experienced fell runners anticipate the final race in the fell club championships, the daunting Langdale Horseshoe in the Lake District.

Further pictures from the weekend of 19-20th September 2026 are included in the gallery below: