A very busy weekend with a clash of races saw some difficult choices to be made, and 21 members opted for the Club Championship race at Ripley, among the 804 at the popular and very tough Guy Fawkes 10, with its Birstwith Brute and Swincliffe Swine maybe giving a hint of what was ahead! Matt Jones was first club finisher, 31st in 65.43, with Dan Garthwaite 42nd in 67.32, Paul Peacock 46th and 2nd M55 in 67.46, and Gary Wilkinson 58th in 69.52 (the previous day, Gary had finished 1st in the Epworth Equestrian park run in 20.32). Next was Richard Grant in 77.05, with Kim Wilkinson, 78.13, Howard Cross 78.02, Chris Coates 78.13, Alan Simpson – having done the 24 mile Kilburn Canter the previous day – 80.31, Tom Brockbank 81.16, Adrian Elsworth 81.31, Ken Wood 83.52, Louise Mayfield 90.43, Kirsty Naylor, 91.34, Anna Whitham 93.17, Andrew Pollard 94.33, in a sprint finish with Duncan Fothergill, 94.39, Ruth Pollard 95.12, beating her last year's time by a full 8 minutes, Martyn Coy 95.22, Kelly Grieve 101.18 and Faith Coy 103.29.
Some of the team at Guy Fawkes 10 with the man himself in attendance, L to R – Louise Mayfield, Kelly Grieve, Paul Peacock, Richard Grant, Andrew Pollard, GF, Alan Simpson, Ruth Pollard, Martyn Coy and Faith Coy.
Gary Wilkinson at the Guy Fawkes 10
The NYSD cross country league continued with the race at Fox Hills, Redcar, and there was plenty of mud to be had! Kerri-Lee Wooding was first club finisher in the ladies' race, 65th out of 128 in 34.27, Trish Radford 93rd in 38.27 and Beth Haggath 98th in 39.29. Helen Hindmarch took 39.39, Sharon Keegan 44.51. Margaret Wikeley 44.58, Christine Burn 45.52 and Carol Thompson 49.37. With Over 65 men running with the ladies, Rob Burn took 28.40 and was 1st M70, Geoff Bullock 38.31, Ken Evitt 39.19, Hugh Jennyns 40.39 and Alan Wikeley 49.54.
Only two men were involved in the senior men's race over twice the distance of the ladies, with Joseph Matlow 54th out of 160 in 38.34 and Josh Cooper 77th in 40.43.
Andrea Colls and Sarah Harrison decided on the Old Mother Shipton Shuffle and were rewarded with pie and peas at the end.
Andrea Colls and Sarah Harrison enjoying pie and peas after Old Mother Shipton's Shuffle
On Saturday, 4 members undertook the LDWA Challenge, the 24 mile Kilburn Canter, with a time limit of 10 hours set on it. Again, ankle deep mud was the order of the day, with thick fog much of the time. Over a lengthy running career, Fran Jeffery took her first ever 1st lady prize, in a time of 5 hours 2 minutes. Well done, Fran. Lindsey Collins took 5.33, and Kimberli Werner and Alan Simpson came in together on 7.23.
The previous weekend saw the opening of the Dave Parry Winter Fell Race Series, the Lockton Limping fell race, with head cam footage by Rorie McIntosh of Esk Valley Fell Club showing the terrible conditions – more thick mud combined with steep descents in places which required slithering down on feet or bottoms, standing water, fallen trees, not to mention sharp corners and some steady climbs! Tom Levi overcame it all to finish 8th in 54.27, Esther Harrison 45th and 2nd Open female, in 65.03 and Trudy Morrice 69.59. Alan Simpson took 73.50, Gary Wilkinson 77.30, Marc Davies 78.27, Kim Wilkinson 79.20, Bronwyn Mayo 79.48, Laura Heslehurst 80.05, Lorraine Hiles 82.23, Fran Jeffery 84.17, Rosie Gatenby 85.45, Helen Ashworth 85.47, Hilary Coventry 89.06, Kirsty Naylor 89.46 and David Tervit 93.12. Perhaps the cake at the finish made it all worthwhile, that and the standing water in the road enabling runners to wash off some of the mud!
Some of the team at the Lockton Limping Fell Race
In sunnier climes, Josh Fothergill flew the flag for the club, finishing 2nd in the Bali Hard Rock 5k in 16.41.