Autumn success on roads, country and fells

Gareth Irvine and Alex Crosby were first back for the club at the Worksop Half Marathon, held through the autumn colours of Clumber Park. Gareth ran 1-29-00 to finish 70th overall and 10th MV45, while Alex continued his fine form with 1-35-48 for 146th. Bill Phillips made a welcome return after a year’s break from racing, finishing in 2-00-02, just two seconds outside his target.

Thursday evening saw the third round of the club’s Philip Senior Winter Handicap, with 27 runners tackling the hilly 4.5-mile course from Penistone Leisure Centre via Rockside and the Windmills. Chris Hodgson claimed victory, finishing first on handicap in 33-41 – over 6 minutes faster than predicted – ahead of Steve Dommett (52-08) and Gareth Irvine (31-31). Ben Wilkinson (39-39), Claire Watts (50-51), Daniel Limb (32-18) and Mandy Mallinder (42-20) also beat their predicted times, while Fay Nicholls (38-55) and Jemma Williams (35-53) maintained their consistent form. Kim Rogers (51-20) finished exactly on her handicap. Ian Neville now leads the age-adjusted league on 75 points from Julian Williams (63) and George Parr (59).

There was further success on the fells where Damian Kilpin represented the club at the Lockton Limping Fell Race in the North York Moors. The event formed the final round of the Esk Valley Fell Club Summer Series, a long-running championship of classic North Yorkshire fell races. Damian’s strong and consistent performances across the series earned him fifth place overall in the standings. Further north, Mark Crossley and Jon Hallam completed the demanding two-day Original Mountain Marathon in the Lake District, placing 30th of 138 teams in the Linear B class over a rugged mountain route.

A large Penistone contingent also competed in the second fixture of the South Yorkshire Cross Country League, held at Longley Park. Conditions were mild but testing on the undulating course, and the club was well represented across all age categories. Full results were not yet available at the time of writing.

Saturday’s parkruns saw 69 Penistone seniors compete across 25 venues. Richard Heppenstall was first at Concord in 17-53 (83.78%), while Suzanne McGill took second female at Penistone (21-11). Dawn Broom featured among the leaders at Nostell, Rob Lees took third overall at Yarborough, and Stephen Lavender celebrated his 150th parkrun with a strong run and first place at Wanneroo in Australia. The week’s top age-graded performers were Julia Johnson (84.54%), Richard Heppenstall (83.78%), Ian Neville (79.31%), Rob Lees (79.25%) and Suzanne McGill (78.21%).