It was a good day for the Harriers as a number of them lined up in the Preston 10 which also incorporated the Lancashire Championships and Northern Masters Championships (RESULTS). Two hundred and thirty two runners finished the race and among them Blackburn Harriers Chris Davies; Danny Maynard; Chris Marsden; Paul Guinan, Vikki Robertshaw; Dominic Bretherton and Joanne Nelson. The race was won by Josh Birmingham in 51.13 followed by Ben Johnson in 2nd (52.41 and Luke Edwards in 3rd (52.43. Chris Davies was first across the finishing line for the Harriers, running 58.33 in 22nd place – 3rd V45 overall and 1st Lancashire V45. Next home in 38th spot was Danny making his debut over the distance in 61.33. New member Chris Marsden followed not far behind in 50th spot, running a time of 63.10, and again, his first time running the distance in a race. V55 Paul crossed the line in 57th spot with 64.44 followed by V45 Vikki who took 6th place in the Women’s race and running her first time over the 10 mile distance, resulting in a time of 66.33 and 1st V45. V40 Dominic was yet another debutatnt over the distance and came home in 72nd position with a time of 66.57 with team mate Joanne placing 14th in the Women’s race in a time of 70.38 and winner of both the V50 open category and Lancashire Championships V50. In the Lancashire Championships team prizes, The Club took Bronze in the Senior Men and Silver in the Male Vets;
L-R Danny Maynard – Chris Davies – Vikki Robertshaw – Dominic Brethertomn – Joanne Nelson
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The day prior – Saturday November 16th – was the date for the category A L Fell race, the Tour of Pendle, run over 17 miles with close to 5000ft of climbing – over 500 runners taking on the course which isn’t for the faint hearted. Blackburn Harriers Josh Holgate & Marc Hartley lined up for this one. Todmorden’s Doni Clarke was victorious on the day, taking the win in 2hr 19.53 followed in 2nd place by Keswick’s Harry Bolton (2hr 22.08) and Pudesey’s Henry Ruddell in 3rd place (2hr 26.53). Josh Holgate had a fine run on the day taking a top ten place with his 2hr 37.21 and told the Club afterwards about his race saying “The tour of Pendle is a classic but unforgiving fell race, which represents the last long fell race of the year in the fell running calendar. It’s a 16.8 mile, 4800ft mammoth that takes in most areas of the pendle hill massif. I see it as a race of two halves, with the first 9 miles being relatively ‘decent’ running encompassing a long climb up to the trig from barley village, a nice long steady net downhill to the nick, another climb up from churn clough reservoir and finally a heart pounding decent down the infamous ‘Geronimo’. If you make it to this point feeling worse for wear then proceed with caution, because the 2nd half is where the race really begins. 3 progressively taller and steeper climbs on the north side of pendle over a period of <5 miles followed by a long, cramp infested run back into barley from the trig is what awaits runners. Given a lack of consistent training over the last year I went into this race with little expectation other than to make it back in one piece. After starting quite steady I found myself hot on the heels of 5th place coming up the penultimate climb, however this is where the lack of mileage kicked in and the wheels inevitably came of, culminating in each muscle in my legs taking it in turns to cramp until reaching the finish line. In the end I came back in 10th and only a few minutes slower than last time, so can’t complain!” Marc Hartley was the next Harrier home and although the day and race didn’t go as well as he would have liked, Marc commented to the Club that “It was a bad day at Black Rock today at the Tour of Pendle for me. I struggled from the start and never really got going…but at least I finished. Still a cracking event though, that’s incredible well supported with lots of folk out on the course with words of encouragement. A special mention to Josh who ran a great race to finish 10th, a cracking performance doing himself and the Harriers proud.”
Marc Hartley – Photo courtesy of David Belshaw
Marc Hartley – Photo courtesy of David Belshaw
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All races have history, but the David Staff Memorial Race has one that is full of emotion and a commitment to raising funds for a very worthy cause, most of which goes to Cardiac Risk in the Young in memory of David. “David turned 17 years of age on 5th December 1994 which then allowed him to compete as a senior for the Dashers. His first race (and last) as a senior was in the Clitheroe 10k on 27th December 1994. David collapsed and died by the road side at 5 miles from a condition called Hyperthropic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy, which in laymans terms is an abnormal thickening of the heart muscles which interrupted the electrical pulses which keeps the heart working. This condition takes the lives of approximately 8 so-called fit and healthy young people a week, most of them are actively engaged in sport, but it is not the sport that kills; it is the exertion that acts as a trigger. The race is run in memory of David Staff, who joined the Dashers as a 15 year old and competed in many fun runs as a junior. In September 1994, he completed the Great North Run in 1 hour 49 minutes 02 seconds along-side his dad Granville wearing his Blackburn Rovers home and away kit, needless to say the comments along the route in Newcastle cannot be repeated. David was a very likeable person who got on with everybody he came into contact with; young and old and had a very bright future ahead of him, not only as a young man preparing to take his A-levels at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School but also as a member of Darwen Dashers. We host this race to raise funds for Cardiac Risk in the Young, the charity that David’s father Granville actively supports. The funds raised are used to provide heart screening in the young; so far over 60 people have had heart defects identified as a result of Granville’s fund raising. Since David’s death, Granville has raised over £100,000 and we are proud to continue to support this cause.” (Organised and written by Iain Asher 2024 (Darwen Dasher)
This years David Staff Race – featuring 152 runners – was the scene of a comfortable win by V50 Rob Hope in a time of 29.05, nearly four minutes in front of Dylan Grindley in 2nd (33.01) and John Millen in 3rd (33.21). Blackburn Harriers V60 Ian Clarkson came home in 114th spot in a time of 44.40.
Ian Clarkson with Darwen Tower in the background
L-R Dylan Grindley – Rob Hope – John Millen
Still on the Fells and this time with Theo Robinson who was competing in the Junior Arnside Knott race on Sunday November 17th where he placed 3rd in his race with a time of 16.08. (RESULTS)
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