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Penistone Runners Conquer Marathons and Mountain Trails
On a weekend when many runners were tackling the Spring Marathons, Penistone runner Tom Fryers took on and won the Bleaklow Blitz fell race in the Derbyshire peaks. It’s a tough race and consists of one of the longest continual climbs in the Peak District. Steve Storey also took part, finishing in 20th place. Graihagh Turner also came first at the Duddon Dash, part of the Junior English Fell Running Championships.
On the marathon front Penistone was well represented at the London and Manchester marathons. In very hot conditions, first back for the club was Suzanne McGill whose attempt to get under 3 hours again was scuppered by a fall at 15 miles. Nonetheless she still recorded an excellent time of 3-03-46. First man back was Andrew Pearson in 3-08-02, a new club record for the vet 60 category.
Simon Pike continued his fundraising challenge by completing the Yorkshire Three Peaks fell race on Saturday, followed by completing the London Marathon the following day. An amazing achievement given the distances involved and the logistical challenges. Chris Hodgson and Martyn Goodwin also completed the 24-mile Three Peaks fell race which takes in the summits of Penyghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.
At the Manchester Marathon, Andrew Heppenstall had an excellent run to finish in a time of 2-44-45. He was followed by Rob Davies who dipped under 3-20 with a time of 3-19-14. Also on the marathon front, Gareth Irvine made the trip to Blackpool to compete in the town’s marathon. He completed the course in 3-28-07.
Six runners took on the Dronfield 10k: first back for Penistone was Alex Melhuish in 41-46. First lady back was Jade Crosby in 43-41.
During the week the Higham Hurtle took place on a pleasant Thursday evening. George Parr had a good return from injury picking up third place overall. There were age category wins for James Mumford (Men’s Over 40), Lois Lopez (Ladies Over 50), Alan Knox (Men’s Over 70) and Ray Brown (Men’s Over 80).
Monday saw the second Trunce take place. Richard Cottam had a great run to claim second and George Parr wasn’t far behind in fourth. First lady back for Penistone was Becky Timms.
On the parkrun front there was a gender first place for Jade Crosby at Nostell Priory and second places for Lois Lopez (Nostell Priory), Dawn Broom (Market Rasen) and Sean Pitt (Rother Valley). Heather Simpson completed her 100th parkrun at Clapham Common. Age graded performances of the week were Dawn Broom (89.88%), John Broom (79.76%), Ian Neville (77.65%), Flynn Rogers (76.47%) and Rob Lees (75.13%).