Fell

Conditions were good for this latest in the Hayfield series of fell races, which was probably as well, given that this is the toughest race in the series - 3490ft of climb in 16 miles, taking in Lantern Pike, Burnt Hill, Mill Hill, Kinder Downfall and Cracken Edge after crossing the ridge between Mount Famine & South Head. The race was won in 1h55m; first Strider home was Neil Bradley, 67th of 127 runners, in 2h38m36s, followed by Jon Legge, 78th, 2h43m16s, Mark Williams, 79th, 2h43m22s, Sarah Colbert, 83rd, 2h47m38s, John Williams, 92nd, 2h53m44s and Malcolm Savage, 110th in 3h07m38s   

Next weekend around a dozen or so Striders  will be in Yorkshire for the Midsummer Madness series of fell races, followed by the Orion Fell Race on Friday 25th June. The Orion race is one of the few opportunities to run a fell race in the south; a low key race in Epping Forest, ideal as an introduction to the discipline. 

MOUNT FAMINE

Neil Bradley 106th 1:04:22

Sarah Colbert 111th 1:05:20

John Williams 112th 1:05:22

Malcolm Savage 141st 1:11:42

FAIRFIELD HORSESHOE

Roger Gooding 2.05

Mark Williams 2.18

LARKFIELD 10K

Richard Taylor 42.17

MALBOROUGH DOWNS 33

Janet Hill 6.36

MALBOROUGH DOWNS 20

John & Sue Clark 2.56

More details on chatboard

A long way to go for a 5 miler? Not in the eyes of the 5 Striders who travelled to Derbyshire for the race on Saturday. It starts with a hands on knees climb of 70m in the the first 150m of the race, before a run along the dragons back ridge south of Hayfield, taking in the peaks of Mount famine and South Head, a swoop down into Dimpus Clough, then another strenuous climb back up Mount Famine. Back on the ridge the route retraces itself back to finish at the recreation ground in Hayfield, even including 200m of road, to please everyone. Conditions were again very good, with Simon Bailey of Mercia finishing some 4 minutes clear of the next finisher in 40'33", a new record. The Striders packed well, Neil Bradley being first home, 106th in 64'26", followed by Sarah Colbert, 111th in 65'20", John Williams, 112th in 65'22" and Malcolm Savage, 141st in 71'42". Wisely, Andy decided to save himself for the more arduous outing to Lletty in the Clwydian Hills next weekend.

Our next trip to this excellent series of fell races from Hayfield will be on Sunday 13th June for the Kinder Trog (16m/3490').

The Midsummer Madness weekend in Hebden Bridge follows (18th - 20th June), which is an ideal introduction to fell running for anyone interested. There is some info on the notice board as well as on the chat board, and it would be good to take some newcomers along (accommodation has been booked).

This is closely followed by the Orion Fell race on Friday 25th June.

Conditions were near perfect for this classic fell race, 9.6miles and 1970ft of climb up from Hayfield, round the west edge of the Kinder plateau, with a fast descent from Edale Cross. The winning time was 1h08m47s. First Strider home was Andy Kettles, 132nd in 1h36m50s, followed by Jason Praill, 141st in 1h38m18s, Neil Bradley, 144th in 1h38m51s, Gary Wright, 146th in 1h39m06s, John Williams, 158th in 1h40m18s, Sarah Colbert, 171st in 1h42m20s and Malcolm Savage, 199th (or thereabouts) in 1h53m. Second claim Strider Kevin Ellis came home 95th in 1h32m28s. All were pleased with their times and day out on the fells, and the organisers were again pleased to see us, the clubs mentioned at the start being Dark Peak Fell Runners, Pennine Fell Runners and Springfield Striders.

Over the coming weeks we are looking forward to day trips to the fells for the

Mount Famine Fell Race (5m/1850') on Saturday 15th May (one of my personal favourite races), again from Hayfield;

Lletty (9m/2900') on Saturday 22nd May, in the Clwydian Hills in North Wales.

Also there is the weekend trip to the Midsummer Madness weekend at Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire.

Further details of these and other trips are on the Fell page should you wish to join us.