It has been great to see that our hardy P&B members, in between guzzling mince pies and pints, have been very active in the fell racing scene over the festive period. These are just some of the results – send any more through and we will get them added to the website (plus any pics!)
Mytholmroyd – 8th December
First up is Mytholmroyd on the 8th December. This race saw a strong field of over 100 competitors – Ian Nixon put in a fantastic performance, coming home in 2nd, with Alex Jones cool as a cucumber in 21st and Steve Woods 64th. In the ladies Caroline Harding was 64th overall and 7th lady). Photo courtesy of woodentops.
Ian Nixon 00:49:39 Alex Jones 00:56:45 Steve Woods 01:07:22 Caroline Harding 01:11:03
Really Wild Boar – 14th December
Then there was the Really Wild Boar – run by P&B’s very own Gary and Debbie Devine on the 14th December up on a bleak but beautiful fell near Kirkby Stephen. What started off on the day as promising weather, turned into gale force winds and driving rain as 10 P&B hardy members took to the start line.
Only the bravest among us actually removed rain jackets (which incidentally was a smart move as on the way up the headwinds made your jacket into an inflatable sail… all good training anyways). Danny Hope put in a strong performance, made sure he visited every check point to take home the fabulous rubber boar trophy once more… He was closely followed home by John Heneghan in 5th – great to see John back on the fells. Brian Stevenson took off down the hill in his waterproof jacket, finishing strong in 33rd and was being chased down by a top finish by Alex Jones in 44th. Charlie ran around with Rachel… apparently offering support by jogging on ahead and chatting… and finished in 64th, with Andrew Birkenshaw in 81st and Mick Hill getting back into racing in 88th – great to see you back as well Mick and Andrew. P&B newcomer Graham Pilling (still running for Kirkstall) finished with a cold in 94th.
In the ladies, Claire Green made it to the top in 1st place but a lot of pansying on the way down meant she lost this position to a strong finishing Caitlin Rice, to come in 2nd lady overall. Rachel Pilling was swiftly chasing Sharon Taylor down hill to finish in 4th place and Caroline Harding came home in 20th. This was enough for the ladies to take home the team trophy and was great to have such a good P&B turn out for this event – I hope we can see a few more out there next year.
Danny Hope 00:42:55 John Heneghan 00:44:22 B Stevenson M50 00:49:29 A Jones 00:50:11 C Green 00:50:36 R Pilling 00:54:10 C Macintosh 00:54:26 A Birkinshaw 00:58:02 M Hill 00:59:23 G Pilling 01:00:33 C Harding 01:06:24
The Stoop – 20th December
The Stoop saw a plethora of festive hats and outfits on show with a mixture of Seniors and Juniors taking the fells for this pre-Christmas foray into the fells of Howarth. A great end to the 2013 for Rob Hope, coming home in 3rd position, with Neil Armitage in 16th, Brian Stevenson in 53rd, Alex Jones in 55th, Shane Green in 101st, Rachel (fastest elf in the north) Pilling 102nd and 6th lady, Charlie Macintosh in 229th and Caroline Harding in 240th and 27th lady.
In the Juniors, Douglas Tiffany was 23rd in the under 8’s 0.5mile race, and in the 2 mile race, Archie Armitage was 47th, Emma Bobcok was 59th and Mitchell Bobcock was 84th. Well done all – great to see some juniors taking to the fells. Photo from woodentops.
Chevin Chase – 26th December
Running off the Christmas excesses and joining a bumper field of 964 runners, 6 P&B members took off in the busy Chevin Chase race – I’m kinda counting this as a fell race (I’m also counting Martyn (Christmas Tree) Finn and Shane (schoolboy) Green.) Rachel Pilling had an absolute corker of a run, fighting her way through the packed field and finishing 3rd lady overall, and 2nd in her category. Well done Rach! Well done also to Martin Landells finishing 2nd in the V50 category.
Martin Landells 55th 00:47:12 Rachel Pilling 80th 00:48:35 Claire Green 157th 51.44. Mick Hill 165th 52.23. Shane Green 193rd 53.23 (Couldn’t find Finny in the results, guessing he took Richard Pattison’s number – but I will search out a pic of him dressed as a Christmas Tree as evidence he is back on 2 feet – might we see him next year???)
Wansfell – 28th December
The original date for Wansfell had to be put back a day due to very stormy conditions in the lakes last Friday. The Hill brothers made the trip up on the revised date and had a good sibling battle, with Mick (42nd) just pipping Pete (46th) by 9 seconds.
Mick Hill 00:29:40 Pete Hill 00:29:49
Auld Lang Syne 31st December
It was cold, wet and windy – just right for the Auld Lang Syne fell race held up at Howarth by Dave Woodhead & Co. Conditions were way less than atrocious as they were last year, with 6 P&B runners setting off for a pre-NYE blast on the moors above Howarth, and with myself and Rachel being extra excited to be given elite entries, it was such to be a good bit of festive fell running.
First home was Matt Lockyear, showing a top return to form after a 2 year lay off, he finished in 8th position overall and is showing great promise for next year. Following him home in 30th was Dave Alcock with a solid performance – hopefully we may also see more of Dave next year! The ever improving (and shrinking) Mick Hill finished in 117th place followed by Shane Green in 179th place. Claire Green was 3rd home for P&B and 3rd in the ladies, again loosing a place in the final descent and run into the finish (needs improvement). Rachel Pilling plucked her way through the mud, gaining ground throughout the race to finish in 7th position in the ladies, and Caroline Harding brought the team home in 46th lady, 13th FV40 and 254th overall. Also extra kudos to Graham (the dog rabbit thing) Pilling – a new transfer to P&B starting from January. Graham ran round nursing a knee injury to finish in 338th. Photo from woodentops.
P&B’s Rachel Pilling and Claire Green with Olympic Triathlon Champion Alistair Brownlee at the Auld Lang Syne 2013 race – photo c/o Woodentops
Giants Tooth & “Brown Willy Run”- 1st January
Finally – running off the NYE hangovers, and for some extra hardy runners, the second race in 2 days, the Giants Tooth saw a small contingent of P&B out for the final festive frolick on the fells today. Rachel Pilling was 1st P&B home in 29th overall and 2nd lady, followed by Mick Hill in 30th. Brother Pete Hill was 49th and Caroline Harding 76th and 12th lady. Nice one to everyone out in again wet and windy conditions today – cracking day for a run on’t ‘ills.
Well done also to Alex Jones having a corking race and finishing 3rd in the Brown Willy run down in Cornwall on Bodmin moor…. great to see P&B vests flying all over the country and that in Cornwall (I like to think of it as a down south Yorkshire) they all finished the race with a pint in the pub.
So that is it for this festive season – well done to everyone racing and again, sorry if I have missed anyone by mistake or if there are other races I have missed off, feel free to do a round up! Brian and Boff are working their magic on the website and it would be great to see more reports up there for 2014.
So Happy New Year and here’s to a very successful, healthy and injury free 2014!