Boulsworth Fell Race
The Boulsworth Fell Race was the final event in this years Burnley & Pendle Grand Prix consisting of fourteen Races. Blackburn Harrier Chris Davies had targeted the Series with a view to getting into the top 5. He went one better and finished 4th overall after coming home in 5th place at Boulsworth with a time of 44.18 – the winner Chris Miller posting a time of 42.16.
Chris reflected on the Series and his own performance when speaking to the Club and commented “I new today would be tough and that I was running a race that was out of my comfort zone. I had to run this one though due to it being the last of the Pendle & Burnley series and I needed nine races and this one was it. I started the race well, climbing the hills hasn’t been a problem this year and I felt comfortable for the first two miles were I was positioned in third place. Once we got up on the fells though it became a slightly different matter. I slipped and fell pretty early on (first of two falls) I managed to recover but you can do without it. I managed to get too the top of the main climb in third position but due to lack of experience and confidence on the descents I fell back into 6th place. It wasn’t to much of a blow, I managed to stay close to these guys and pulled a place back later in the race. With a mile and bit to go I was gaining on 3rd and 4th place but took a wrong turn and came off the running path, I tried to find a route back on it but in doing so fell again into a load of reeds, clambered out but had lost to much ground to catch them up. Like to be. That said though it was good finishing position in a race that probably doesn’t suit me best but I still enjoy doing them anyway. Good for strength work and better than running through Whitebirk nearly every Sunday morning. Really pleased to finish 4th in the whole series as well and I look forward to the Presentation evening at Burnley Football club next Friday night”.
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Pilgrims Cross
One hundred and forty one runners including Blackburn Harrier – Andy Heys – took part in this local Fell Race won by Callum Davidson in 38.58. The Race saw Andy come home in 34th place with a time of 49.24 which was a pretty solid performance with Borrowdale still in his legs from the weekend before.
Andy commented after the Race that “In an attempt to wake my legs up after Saturday, I completed the pilgrims cross fell race. After completing it last year, I knew the course which is runnable throughout. As a change to my usual approach, I made the decision to push from the onset and see how I would go, rather than start steady and finish strong. Surprisingly, I felt OK throughout and could have probably gone quicker if It wasn’t for my (stupid) choice of trail shoe rather than a full on fell shoe to tackle the muddy, wet conditions and so have more confidence in my foot placement.
Still, all things considered (heavy legs, worse conditions, wrong footwear) I was really pleased to knock a minute off my time from last year”.
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One hundred and five runners lined up in the Catforth 5k last weekend – August 13th – won by Ian Livesey in a time of 15.39. Blackburn Harrier Andy Buttery ran a good time of 16.49 to finish 4th and 1st V45 in the Race.
Speaking to the Club Andy said “I did Catforth Canter 5k last night and finished 4th overall and first Vet only 2secs off 3rd. Clocked 16.49, which was a bit slower than I hoped, but times were down in general. Perhaps due to it being a bit warm and windy, though I didn’t really notice in the race. Solid enough return to the roads all things considered”.
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