The Montane Spine Race is designed to be gruelling, and this year’s British winter didn’t disappoint. Blizzards, 70-mile-per-hour winds, waist-deep snow, and low overnight temperatures all took their toll on race participants. “Britain’s Most Brutal” event takes place along the 268-mile Pennine Way, which stretches from the Peak District in England to the Scottish borders. Participants run unsupported: they carry all their supplies (food, sleep system, clothing, and medical supplies), and no pacers are allowed.
John Boothman has become a bit of a club specialist in these challenging events and even though he has entered this competition previously and knows what it entails, he once more put himself forward for days of pain and suffering.
He was not long into the race and he felt sickly, to the point where he considered pulling out of it. Not only that, but there were strong winds and it was raining heavily and the going was very tough People were constantly passing him and by the time he got to Hebden Bridge, he was in 46th position. However, he slowly started feeling better and although he was just plodding steadily along, he was actually improving his position as many people were dropping out.
He slowly started clawing his way back up the field to the point that when he reached Alston, he was in 28th position. At one stage, because of the snow fall, he veered off the track and found himself up to his waist in a snow drift. He managed to get back on the track, but lost half an hour and a lot of energy with that mishap. Ascending the last major hill before the finish, again he did not feel well and his stomach felt upset. However, once on the descent, there was a hut where he could get a coffee and eat a chicken wrap and with that inside him, it gave him a new lease of life. I was a good job too, because as he was leaving the hut, three chasing runners were just arriving. He felt that he had to put as much space as he could between himself and these three runners and he was going as fast as he could. When he left the hut, there was a group of runners about a mile in front of him. With just seven miles to go, catching them looked an impossibility, but with his new found energy, he kept going and not only passed them, but led them home by 33 minutes. As for the chasing group, he led them home by 40 minutes. It says a lot about his strength of character and determination that after 260 gruelling miles, he could muster the energy to actually jog towards the finish, whilst those around him were just concentrating on slowly plodding home.
His final position was 21st man which was quite some comeback from his position at Hebden Bridge.
This is an 80 mile race going from Hessle, just outside of Hull, following a circuitous route through the Yorkshire Wolds to Filey. On the Wednesday before the race, John Boothman did not look too good and he had not been right for a little while. Many wondered if he would indeed take part in this race. But, he seemed keen to do so and said that he would take it steady. Over the years, we have all heard that on many occasions, but when your toe is on the line, adrenalin takes over and common sense flies out of the window. It therefore did not surprise anyone when John set off at a fair pace. The question was, "how long could he keep that pace going"? The answer was; pretty much throughout the whole of the race. He settled down early on within the top twenty and never lost that place. The race is effectively three consecutive marathons all in one day and this took its toll on many who had entered and they dropped out. But John was relentless and he kept going from the start of the race at 8:00 am on Saturday morning until the finish in the wee small hours of Sunday morning and coming through some horrendous running conditions in the last four hours. His reward was not only to get a finish, but also to finish first V60. A good performance in itself but given how he looked on the Wednesday before the race, it was a brilliant performance.
Burnley Park Run - 6 August 2022
Written by Graham Wadsworth34 James Wadsworth 21:52
123 John Wadsworth 26:51
147 Mark Wadsworth 27:56
Rougemont Chase - 31 July 2022
Written by Graham WadsworthThis used to be a BOFRA race which went up to Almscliffe Crag, but the Police eventually put a stop to it as crossed the busy A658 Harrogate Road. The race now takes another route, but is more of a trail and road race. An amazing feature of the race this year was that Antonio Cardinale was NOT last.
10 James Wadsworth 28:17
Burnley Park Run - 30 July 2022
Written by Graham Wadsworth72 John Wadsworth 25:12 PB
101 Mark Wadsworth 27:05 PB
11 Matthew Watson 31:30
10 Stephen Hall 4:51
8 David Mirfield 56:09
12 Stephen Shorrock 58;00
Widdop Fell Race - 13 July 2022
Written by Graham Wadsworth17 David Pease 1:03:51
29 Andrew Smith 1:09:40
A confident Tom Corrigan led the pack up to the turn and all the way back, holding off challenges from Mark Magee and Steve Corbishley. He was the first home of four Barlickers who finished in the top ten.
1 Thomas Corrigan 15:31
4 James Craig 16:21
7 Stephen Hall 16:37 1st MV45
8 David Mirfield 16:40
18 Barrie Charnley18:02
36 Gary Thompson 19:28 1st MV60
79 Lucy Brown 21:43
97 Hannah Newbold 22:47
105 Heather Driver 23:17
199 Richard Treitl 31:50
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Andy Collins, Billy Haines and Stephen Shorrocks.set out on this challenging run around Snowden. The sting is in the tail of this race, as after 17 miles, you have to ascend almost 3,000 ft before doing a similar descent to the finish. Adam Fieldhouse led from early on and he never lost that lead. By the first check point, Andy was in third place and going well.with Stephen a couple of places behind him. Throughout the race the position of Stephen varied between 5th and 7th and he finally ran out in that position and finishing first MV40.
After briefly dropping to 4the position, Andy settled into 3rd position and baring a mishap, that looked like it would be his finishing position. However, on the final leg, Simon Jones, who had been steadily rising through the field, swept passed the 2nd and 3rd place runners to take 2nd place and pushing Andy down to 4th in the process.
Billy Haines adopted a different strategy from Andy and went off quite steady before moving up the field in the second half of the race to finish in 8th place. .
Andy must be disappointed that he did not have a podium finish, but nevertheless, it was a good performance from all Barlickers to have three finishers in the top ten out of 251 starters.
1Adam Fieldhouse 4:13:59
4 Andy Collins 4:41:30
7 Stephen Shorrocks 4:47:32 First FV40
8 Billy Haines 4:54:01
There was also a women's race and there were two Barlickers in the top twenty. They finished as follows:
13 Helen Harrison 6:08:49
14 Katie Towers 6:10:59
35 Amanda Haines 7:00:14
This is an old fell race which goes back to the Victorian era. It was common in those days for juniors and seniors to run together and with this race, that tradition has continued to the present day. Being a short up and down fell race, it favours the juniors and so it proved today. Will Pease, a very promising U13 junior took on all comers and managed to hold one of the Jebb family at bay to take the overall race win. In the women's race, it was again a junior who took the honours, with Under 13 runner Bethan Buckley leading them all home. In fact 6 runners out of the top ten finishers were juniors.
The weather was good for this race, which is why the show was moved from September and it was run in an nice atmosphere with many family members all taking part together. It also attracted runners from far afield and perhaps some were on holiday in the area.
Hendon Brook - 3 July 2022
Written by Graham Wadsworth
What a good day out for the club in this tough 13.5 mile race. Emma Jarvis had a faultless run. By the time she passed the Shooter’s Arms at the top of the first climb, she had already built up a good lead. However, she kept her concentration and kept up her pace to finish an easy winner with a lead of over 4 minutes over 2nd woman, April Thorpe. Further down the field, Jackie Collins looked to be struggling and she came home fourth.
In the men’s race, Tom Corrigan set off at a good pace and by the Shooter’s Arms, he had built up a good lead, he was looking comfortable and going well. By the time he reached the reservoir and the Coldwell Activity Centre, his lead over chasing runner Aidan Holgate of Clayton had closed. On the touch line, spectators were asking whether he had gone off too quickly. By the time the leaders reach the last climb up Southfield Lane, Aidan had taken the lead but he looked to be battling as he approached the top of the climb. However he managed to keep going and led Tom home by just under 40 seconds. These two had been in a battle of their own and finished well in front of the chasing pack.
However, the top ten was dominated by Barlickers. Andy Collins had a sound run and was in 5th place ascending the final climb, but he dug deep and came home 4th. He was followed home by David Mirfield in 8th and Stephen Hall in 9th to make it four Barlickers in the top ten.
Further down the field Gary Thompson always looked to be going so easily, yet he had a great run to finish 1st V60 with a lead of 15 minutes over Dave Naughton of Cheshire Hill Runners.
The Barlickers finished as follows:
2 Thomas Corrigan 1:20:51
4 Andrew Collins 1:24:43
8 David Mirfield 1:26:03
9 Stephen Hall 1:27:53
18 Ben Whitehead 1:34:23
25 Andy Berry 1:37:46
26 Hannah Jarvis 1:38:16 Race Winner, 1st F35
31 Gary Thompson 1:42:18 1st V60
43 Jacqueline Collins 1:47:15
48 Andrew Smith M55 1:48:41
49 Carl Pawson M45 1:48:45
94 Anthony Brown 2:03:41
It was almost a perfect day for racing. It was not too hot, it was dry underfoot and the only drawback was a strong head wind on the top. Being both a British & an English Championship race, it brought all the top runners in the UK together. The first runner home was Finlay Wild who broke the long standing record for this race set by Colin Donnelly in 1988. Not only did he break the record for the race, but he cycled over from Oxenholme in the Lake District after catching the train down from Fort William. What probably spurred him on to this new record time was the fact that he was being hotly pursued by Daniel Haworth of Matlock AC who came home in second place. It was an inncredible performance from these two athletes. This was fell racing at its best. These two were followed by Matthew Elkington of Ambleside AC
What was also remarkable was that the fact that the fourth runner home was an MU23 and is only 18 years old. It was Finlay Grant of Dark Peak. This young man has a very bright future in the sport.
In the ladies race, Sarah Willhoit was leading at the summit cairn, but on the descent, she was passed by race winner Hannah Russell and second place Nicola Jackson.
Behind the first three, Sharon Taylor put in a good performance to finish first FV40and Eve Pannone was first FU23 in 7th place.
About us
The main aims of the club are to increase the participation of running in Barnoldswick and to keep organised running as accessible as possible.