Tom grabs second at Padfield

A large contingent of 19 Penistone runners headed over to Padfield near Glossop to compete in the Padfield Fell Race on a chilly Saturday morning.  The 4.5 mile route is mainly on farm tracks and stony footpaths.  Conditions were relatively good with the early rain making the course slippery under foot on the descent.  Tom Fryers led at the half way stage but eventually conceded first place to finish in an excellent second place and inside 30 minutes.  First lady back for Penistone was Helen Wright who also picked up an age category win in the ladies over40 age category, as did Jo Boreham (over50 ladies).  The ladies also packed well to pick up first prize in the ladies team event.

Harriet Drouin took on the unique challenge of the Escape from Meriden event.  Competitors are given 24 hours to run as far as they can from Meriden which is known as the traditional centre of England.  The distance used to judge the positions of the runners at the end of the event is the ‘way the crow flies’.  Harriet along with a friend covered 43.8 miles (37 miles the way the crow flies) in 14 hours before calling it a day.

Mark Crossley completed the 20 mile Wharfedale Skyline in 4-49-12.  On Wednesday night Dave Lovatt took on the Hathersage Night Race finishing in a time of 46-29.  The race is run in the dark and requires competitors to complete the route using head torches.

Four runners travelled north to compete in the Tadcaster 10 mile road race.  First back for the club was Michael Nicholson in 1-17-55.  Bill Phillips' time of 1-25-46 was a new club record in the men’s over75 age category.  Shaun Swallow ran the same distance but at the Derby 10 mile road race where he finished in a time of 1-14-22. 

Sunday saw the third and penultimate race in the South Yorkshire Cross Country League at a breezy and cold Penistone showground.  Results still to be released but there were plenty of strong runs from juniors through to the veterans.

On the parkrun scene there were first places for Jade Crosby (Barnsley), George Parr (Penistone), James Mumford (Selby) and Dawn Broom (Albert Park).  There was a second place for Simon Pike (Penistone).  Peter Beever completed his 150th parkrun at Lister Park and Ash Howlett completed his 50th at Penistone.  Age graded performances of the week were Dawn Broom (87.37%), Julia Johnson (81.17%), Martin Ball (80.91%), James Mumford (80.46%) and Ian Neville (78.13%).