Stephanie wins FV40 Category at Edenfield Fell Race

The weekend of 6-7th June 2026 had no club championship races, either road or fell, but the Harriers themselves were busy running in races. Not only that, the races were spread far and wide around the North West.

Saturday saw Mark Walker make the journey over to Horton in Ribblesdale, to run in the Pen-y-Ghent fell race. 7.6 miles (12.2km), with 1640ft (500m) of climb. Starting from Horton it heads out of the village towards Settle, before going over the fields via Bracken Bottom Scar to the summit. From there is follows the Three Peaks route. On meeting the Pennine Way, it follows the route back into Horton to the finish. It may be a relatively short race, but it is tough, no rest climbing all the way to the summit of Pen-y-Ghent, followed by a non-stop fast descent to the finish. Mark was 123rd from 156 finishers in a time of 1hr, 24m, 9s.

Sunday was the busiest day, the furthest travelled Harrier being Juliet Smith, making the long journey to Grimsby for the Grimsby 10k. This is a circular route run in a clockwise direction around the town centre and is a very popular race. Juliet finished 36th out of 1,440 lady finishers, in an excellent time of 41m, 34s.

On the other side of the North West, Richard Lee and Sean Farnworth made the short journey down the M62 and M56 motorways to Runcorn, to run in the Jubilee Bridge 10K, starting and finishing on the Silver Jubilee Bridge, a grade ll listed, which connects Widnes and Runcorn over the Mersey. First back for Rochdale from the 763 finishers was Richard in a time of 50m, 53s (170th), followed by Sean (231st) with a time of 53m, 38s.

Another two Harriers made the journey up the M6 to the beautiful Lakeland village of Coniston, to compete in the Lakeland Trails Coniston Challenge 16K. This is an event for both runners and walkers, starting and finishing in Coniston. The route heads to Copper Mines Valley, skirting around it and going under the Old Man of Coniston. From there, it heads down to Torver, then across the fields to the shores of Coniston Water, before following the shore back to the village of Coniston. 210 participants ran or walked the route. First to finish for Rochdale was Chris Gee in 44th place, in 1hr, 42m, 16s. Dan Merlo came 108th in 2hrs, 1m, 51s.

Finally, nearer home, Stephanie Harrison and Ryan Keenan (MV45) made the short journey to Edenfield Cricket Club for the Edenfield Fell Race. This a tough, 6.3 mile (10.2km) race with 1,300ft (396m) of ascent. The race route ascends Sandbeds Lane to Cowpe Lowe, from there it follows the Rossendale way, past Waugh’s Well to Whittle Pike. From there it heads back to the finish at the cricket club. Ryan finished 22nd in a time of 56m, 29s. Stephanie completed the race in 1hr, 1s in 36th place, winning the FV40 age category.

The coming weekend sees the Harriers largest organised event, “The Three Day Event”.  Starting with a road race on Friday, trail race on Saturday, culminating in the Knowl Hill Fell Race on Sunday. All races start from Norden Bowling Club. Runners can compete in individual races, or all three. Entry ‘on the day’ is possible.