Both the Mid Lancs and the Red Rose Cross Country leagues come together for this event.  It is a fast course, it has huge fields and attracts a lot of top cross country runners. 

We only had one senior representative there who was John Mason. In the juniors, we did also have Lexi Allen and her details are on the junior website.

480 John Mason 43:10

1 Andy Berry 19:54
2 Robert Cranham 20:10
6 James Crook 22:12
13 Peter Jackson 24:40

22 Raymond Banks 21:34 PB
27 Derek Walkden 21:43
220 Sharon Newbold 34:57

For those who do not know about David Staff, he was a young member of Darwen Dashers and at age 17, he was running in the Clitheroe 10K when he suddenly collapsed and died during the race.  His death was caused by a rare condition known as Hyperthropic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy.  Every year, the money raised from this race goes towards research into this condition.

On to the race itself, torrential rain greeted the runners as came together for the start and it never let up for the rest of the day.  On the ascent out of Sunnyhurst Park, Jonny Murphy took the lead, followed by John Horrocks and Robert Cranham.  This group were running together until Jonny Murphy decided to push on, leaving the other two trailing behind.  Initially, John Horrocks did not follow him and continued at his own pace up the steep ascent to Jubilee Tower.  Suddenly, John also decided to up the pace and close the gap on the leader, leaving Robert running in the middle of nowhere.  When they reached the tower, the two leaders were neck and neck and Robert was following on some distance behind, with a comfortable lead over 4th place.  The positions remained unchanged after the run around the tops before the descent back to Sunnyhurst when John Horrocks took the lead and ran out race winner.  It had been a cracking race between those two fine athletes.  Robert was still running in the middle of nowhere, being too far behind those leaders to make a serious challenge, but still having a comfortable lead on the chasing pack.  And that was how it remained until the end.  It was a good performance by Robert and perhaps confirmation that he deserved the club award for most improved runner of the year.

Further down the field, the other Barlicker, Mark Horrocks was having a steady, if undramatic, race.  But looks can be deceptive as Mark showed some of the old form for which he is famous and made a top ten finish whilst at the same time, scooping the first M60 prize. 

3 Robert Cranham 34:02 (1st M40)
8 Mark Horrocks (1st M60)

Full Results

26 Raymond Banks 21:45 (1st M70)

In keeping with club tradition, it was a case of get hosed down after the Tour of Pendle and get out to the club presentation night, this year held at Barlick Town Football Club.  The prizes this year went to:

Most Improved Runner of the Year

Female: Helen Harrison
Male: Robert Cranham

Club Championship

Women
1 Molly Ralphson
2 Heather Driver
3 Paula Cullen

Men
1 David Mirfield
2 Robert Cranham
3 Andrew Smith

The usual muddy boggy course once more greeted the runners in this race.  The results that we have so far are:

8 David Mirfield 2:36:33
11 Julian Hood 2:44:44
111 Andrew Smith 3:25:43
143 John Mason 3:33:27
156 John Boothman 3:36:00
179 Hannah Newbold 3:42:44

1 Robert Cranham 20:41

41 Dave Halliday 25:14

Another win for Robert Cranham in this 4 mile race round Fewston Reservoir in the dark.

1 Robert Cranham 26:44

These are a series of charity races with the proceeds going to Sue Ryder.  The main event is the half marathon which attracted top runner Chris Holdsworth from Clayton and as you might expect, he won it in a time of 1:23:15.

John Boothman, our only representative, came home in 32nd place.

In the 10 mile race, Fionnula Swann had a good run to finish 1st woman and 8th overall.

It seems that those who thought that Chloe Boothman had left running to concentrate on horse jumping were mistaken.  She not only took part in the pub run last Wednesday, but she also entered the 10K race today where she finished 129th out of 211 finishers.

It was a good family day out for the Boothmans as mum Angela went to watch and after the racing, everyone enjoyed a bit of lunch together. 

Half Marathon

32 John Boothman 2:03:58

10 Mile Race

8 Fionnula Swann 1:31:38 (1st lady)

10K Race

129 Chloe Boothman 1:07:18

2 Robert Cranham 20:13
6 Molly Ralphson 22:43

7 Sam Wadsworth 20:55
41 Heather Driver 24:55
94 Craig Child 29:09

37 Helen Harrison 21:45
66 Raymond Banks 23:23
98 Emma Pease 26:08

36 Molly Ralphson 20:38

This was a 10 mile race for the benefit of Sue Ryder.  It was won by local man Mark McGoldrick in a time of 1:06:47. Molly Ralphson came home in 6th place overall and 2nd woman.

6 Molly Ralphson 1:21:03 (2nd woman)

This is a classic race yet only David Mirfield seems to run in it.  He was there again this year and once more had a top ten finish.  Andrew Smith seems to be running every week at the moment and is on top of his game with another M60 1st

8 David Mirfield 47:57 (1st M40)
41 Andrew Smith 60:28 (1stM60)

4 Nathan Smedley 20:18 PB
11 Sean Fitzpatrick 24:15
12 David Pease 24:18
13 Will Pease 24:19
38 Emma Pease 29:27

34 Dave Halliday 25:10
88 Craig Child 29:21

A  mixed bunch turned out for Barlick in this race.  There were some that were really trying, there were those that had not run for a while and were getting back into the swing of things and then there were those that were only in the race for the beer. 

Amongst those who was really trying was Emma Taylor who had a very determined run to finish 2nd woman.  Even towards the end, on the last ascent up Haworth Moor, she looked very strong and her 2nd place was a well deserved reward for such a performance.

In the men's race Robert Cranham, who is improving all the time, had a good race to lead the Barlickers home and finish in 11th place.  On another day, he might have made a top ten finish, but this was his first attempt at this race and at one stage, he was out running on his own and he had to stop and ask the way from passing walkers.

Carl Nevison & Andrew Smith were both really trying and were together at the first res on the tops, but age eventually made its mark and Carl finished 2nd for Barlick.

John Boothman was another Barlicker who was really trying, but at 8 miles, he was only just getting warmed up as he came to the finish line.

Ben Whitehead was not feeling too good on the day and he had a steady run over with Hayley.  Jacqueline Collins is still recovering from giving birth to her latest family member and for Des, this was his first run out for a little while and he certainly felt it as he approached Haworth. Paula Cullen was another one who knew that she had been in a race when she came to the last ascent.

It was good to see 15 Barlickers out in the race and good also to see many out on the course supporting.  It is a good race (thank you Keighley & Craven) and to cap it all, there was a good post race atmosphere outside The Fleece at the finish. 

The Barlickers finished:

11 Robert Cranahm  64:39
19 Carl Nevison 68:02
25 Andrew Smith 71:00
33 Emma Taylor 75:12 (2nd woman)
35 John Mason 75:48
37 Ben Hoyle 76:40
39 Carl Pawson 76:50
40 John Boothman76:52
47 Ben Whitehead 79:10
48 Hayley Whitehead 79:11
51 Derek Walkden 80:24
53 Jacqueline Collins 81:00
62 Paula Cullen 84:22
87 Anthony Brown 91:46
126 Zac Kaye 115:00

140 finishers

Full Race Results