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Success at home and away
Our club's runners were in action across road, fell, trail and parkrun events over a busy Easter weekend, with Graihagh Turner and Richard Cottam among the standout performers. Graihagh produced an outstanding double at the Isle of Man Easter Festival of Running against strong senior competition. In Saturday’s Peel Hill Race, run in some of the windiest conditions in the event’s history, she finished ninth in the women’s race and was first under18 in a field of 164. She followed that up on Sunday in the festival 5k, finishing 16th in the women’s race and again first under18 from 212 finishers. Helen Turner also took on Sunday’s 5k, rounding off a successful family weekend on the island.
Back in South Yorkshire, Penistone made a strong start to the 2026 Trunce series, the first of nine races that will run through the summer at Oxspring. Richard Cottam led the way with victory in the senior race in 27-22, while George Parr finished sixth in 29-03. There was further strength through Jon Hallam (31-52), Daniel Limb (32-56), Oliver Pike (32-58), Phil Hinchliffe (33-38) and Ian Neville (33-42), while Philip Shaw was first in the men’s over60 category in 34-17. Hannah Shaw was the club’s first woman home in 34-30, with Lesley Parker (39-05), Chloe Hinchliffe (39-11) and Rebecca Timms (39-19) all running strongly. In the junior race, Edward Holley continued his excellent form with third place in 14-19.
Penistone also produced a big turnout at the opening South Yorkshire Road League race at Elsecar. Flynn Rogers was first home for the club in 20th place in 25-07, followed by Richard Heppenstall in 25-29, James Mumford in 25-46 and Sean Pitt in 25-55. Alan Nutton also made the top 40 in 26-14, while George Parr, Oliver France, Rob Lees and Daniel Rushforth all finished inside the top 85. Jade Crosby led the Penistone women in 29-28, supported by Suzanne McGill, Josie Smith and Gemma Nutton as the club showed strong depth across the field.
On Easter Sunday, Damian Kilpin and Nichola McNally tackled the Helmsley Easter Multi Terrain 10k, a varied course over tarmac, forest tracks, footpaths and fields. Damian finished 22nd overall in 41-26, while Nichola ran 45-00 to place 56th and take first place in the ladies over55 category. Elsewhere, Keith Gordon was the only Penistone runner at the Halifax 10k, finishing 527th in 57-01 and placing second in the men’s over75 category, while Heather Simpson ran 50-03 at the Battersea Park 10k to finish 143rd overall and second in the women’s over50 category.
At the weekend’s parkruns, Penistone recorded 78 seniors across 31 different venues during the holiday period. Fresh from his Trunce win, Richard Cottam took first place at Glossop in 18-39. There were second gender places for Faye Nicholls at Dewsbury and Oliver France at Penistone, while Julia Johnson at Huddersfield, Dawn Godley at Vermuyden Way and James Mumford at Rothwell all recorded third gender finishes. Suzanne McGill was first female at Sewerby in 20-53, Rob Lees was first over45 at North Yorkshire Waterpark, and Heather Lindley was first over60 at Cusworth Hall. Flynn Rogers ran 16-38 at Battersea to finish tenth overall and first under15, while George Parr was first senior at Millfield. Rebecca Parr also reached her 200th parkrun, 191 of them at Penistone. The highest age-graded performances of the weekend came from Julia Johnson with 89.74 per cent, Barbara Haigh 84.38, Flynn Rogers 82.36, Dawn Godley 82.22 and James Mumford 79.46.