Pennine Marathon, Golf Ball, Tatton 5K, Bury Mile and Littleborough Lions 5K, 2024
29th August 2024
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THE THIRD WEEK OF AUGUST, 2024, was A relatively quiet period for the Harriers as there were no championship races, either fell or road taking place. So it was a case of each Harrier deciding whether to run a race, or take the opportunity to go for a relaxing training run, over one of their favourite routes.
Saturday 24th saw Lee Meadowcroft tackling the Inov8 Pennine Trail Marathon. Starting and finishing in Worsthorne nr Burnley, the route headed-up to Gorple Rocks, then over to the Walshaw Dean Reservoirs, before reaching Top Withins. From Top Withins, it headed to Howarth via the Bronte Waterfalls, then into Hardcastle Crags, before going back over Widdop and Gorple Rocks to the finish. It is 43.6km in length with a climb of 3814ft. Lee came a very creditable 59th out of 238 runners, with a time of 5hrs, 7m, 41s.
Zain Zia ran in The Sun Tatton Park 5K. The course follows a route around the park, Zain’s time was 19m, 20s.
Seven Harriers ran in the Golf Ball Fell Race. It starts at the CPA Club (Calico Printers Association), Loveclough, Rossendale and is named after the shape of the Met Office Radar Station, situated on the route. It is 5 miles long, with 900ft of ascent, a lot of it occurring literally right from the start, so a tough race. A big well done to Ryan Keenan (M40), first Harrier back in 4th place overall, 45m, 9s, Pete Butterworth (M50), came next, 53m, 58s, followed by Kurtis Vincent (MSEN), 55m, 18s. First Harrier lady was Stephanie Harrison (FSEN), 55m, 12s, Jennie Ransome (F60) was second, 58m, 1s.
Bank Holiday Monday saw 3 Harriers running on an entirely different surface and for a far shorter distance – the track. Danny Bennett, Corina Haynes and Ian Aitchison tried their luck at running the Bury Track Mile. A massive well done to Danny who ran the 5th fastest Male Vet 55 category mile in the UK this year, in a time of 4m, 55.96s. As a consequence he was also the winner of his age category. In addition, Ian, Male Vet 65 and Corina, Female Vet 60 came first in their respective age categories. Ian completed in 6m,41.33s and Corina in 7m, 11.65s. Very well done to them.
Tuesday had four Harriers running the Littleborough Lions 5K, organised by the Littleborough Boxing 2 Fitness Club. From Littleborough the runners headed down Stubeley Mill Lane, alongside the River Roch to Smithy Bridge Road, then up to Hollingworth Lake, along the embankment and back down to Littleborough. Unfortunately the results have not been published before this report went to press. However, Izzie Brandon was first lady overall in a competitive field, posting about 19m, 12s. Jonathan Lupton finished in 9th position, with the same time as Izzie. Other Harriers who ran, included Chris Gee and Tom Mitchell.