Festive fixtures bring success for Penistone runners

The club's runners were in fine form at the Travellers 6, the traditional pre-Christmas six-mile road race organised by Denby Dale Athletics Club. Starting and finishing at the Pie Hall in Denby Dale, the undulating rural course is well known as a stern test rather than a fast run, and once again Penistone runners featured prominently throughout the field. Tom Fryers led the club home with a strong seventh place overall in 38-16, followed by a series of age-category victories that underlined the depth of the Penistone squad. Damian Kilpin claimed first place in the men’s over45 category with 40-49, while Ian Neville topped the men’s over60 standings in 42-17 and Andrew Shelbourne added a further podium place with second in the same category. Suzanne McGill continued her consistent winter form by winning the ladies over45 category in 44-04, and Shaun Swallow added a further category victory with success in the men’s over55 category in 44-17. Further category wins came from Stuart Woodhead in the men’s over70 and Raymond Brown in the men’s over85, as Penistone collected a notable haul of age-group honours across the field.

There was further road race action at the Stockport 10, where Pete Beever represented the club at the popular Cheshire event, completing the undulating ten-mile course in 1-26-53. Nichola McNally added to the weekend’s success with an excellent run at the Langdale Christmas Pudding 10K in the Lake District. Racing on an undulating but highly scenic course, Nichola finished second lady overall and claimed first place in the women’s over50 category, recording a time of 44-00.

Harriet Drouin took on the demanding Moors the Merrier event, covering 21 miles of rugged terrain around Hebden Bridge with approximately 4,000 feet of climb. Harriet completed the challenging winter route in 5-21. A small contingent also took part in the Sherwood Pines Festive Duathlons, staged in the Nottinghamshire woodland near Mansfield and organised by Wild Deer Events. The off-road courses combined trail running with mountain-bike-friendly cycle routes through the forest. In the Standard Duathlon, Philip Hinchliffe led the club home with a strong fourth place overall finish in 2-18-29, followed by Dan Rushforth in 15th place in 2-28-00. Robin Clough completed the course in 2-28-57 for 16th overall and topped his age category, while Simon Lovidge rounded out the Penistone representation with a solid run to finish in 2-42-33. Chloe Hinchliffe was also in action at the event, competing in the shorter Sprint Duathlon and finishing in 1-21-24.

At the weekend’s parkruns, 71 club members were in action across 25 venues. At Penistone, Suzanne McGill led the women home with first female place in 22-11, while Tom Fryers and Hannah Shaw both secured second gender places. There were further podium finishes elsewhere, with Gemma Nutton second female at Pontefract and Rob Lees second overall at Armley. Third places came from Alan Nutton at Pontefract and Sean Pitt at Rother Valley, where Sean also recorded a personal best. Seuranie Johnstone marked a milestone at Hillsborough, completing her 50th parkrun. Strong age-category performances were a feature throughout the weekend, including wins for Richard Heppenstall at Hove Promenade, Julia Johnson at Huddersfield, Oliver France at Riverside and Danny Batty at Barnsley. The top five age-graded performances of the weekend came from Julia Johnson (88.73%), Richard Heppenstall (86.19%), Dawn Godley (81.09%), Ian Neville (77.52%) and Alan Nutton (76.10%).