Club half marathon record at Blackpool

Another another packed weekend of racing, with the headline performance coming from Richard Heppenstall at the Blackpool Festival Half Marathon. Richard produced an outstanding run on the Lancashire coast, finishing sixth overall in 1-19-11 and taking second place in the men’s over50 category. His time also set a new Penistone male over50 club half marathon record, improving the previous mark of 1-19-57 by 46 seconds.

At the TCS London Marathon, Alex Best led the club home in 3-16-43, with Suzanne McGill showing great determination to finish in 3-53-04. Nick Pepper also ran strongly to record 3-55-25, while Ian McNulty and Jim Simpson completed the capital’s 26.2-mile course in 4-53-27 and 4-55-28 respectively. Steve Dommett also completed a virtual London Marathon, marking his first run over the full 26.2-mile distance as part of a group effort. There were also strong performances on the road at the FlyCarb 5K, where John Broom ran well to record 20-12.

Damian Kilpin was also in action at the Heartbeat Hobble in the North York Moors, completing the challenging trail course in 54-05 and gaining seventh overall and second place in the men's over45 age category. Penistone were strongly represented at the second race of the Trunce series, with Richard Cottam producing the standout club performance to finish second overall in 26-15. George Parr also ran well to place sixth in 27-12, while Jon Hallam, Daniel Limb and Phil Hinchliffe provided strong support near the front of the field. There were also notable runs throughout the field, including Hannah Shaw, Chloe Hinchliffe, Rachael Winterbottom and Josie Smith. In the veteran categories, Richard Cottam was first veteran male, Philip Shaw finished second in the men’s over60 category, and Shaun Swallow was among the leading men’s over50 runners.

Also on the fells, Chris Hodgson completed the demanding Three Peaks fell race, covering the 24.2-mile course with more than 5,000ft of climb in 5-18-29. Harriet Drouin was also in action at the challenging Kinder Downfall race, finishing in 2-13-35 on the tough Peak District terrain. There was further fell action at the Tigers Trail fell race, organised by Totley AC from Fox House. Martyn Goodwin finished 150th in 61-32, while Harriet Drouin completed the course in 67-06 for 177th place.

Penistone were well represented at the Cat Lane Canter, with Brent Carlin producing an excellent run to finish 12th overall in 46-17. Shaun Swallow also ran strongly to finish 19th overall in 51-12, while Dave Lovatt completed the course in 52-56. Steve Owen enjoyed success at the Bamburgh Duathlon, racing in GB kit over a standard-distance course of 10k run, 50k bike and 5k run, winning his age category in tough coastal conditions.

Saturday’s parkruns saw 76 Penistone seniors compete across 22 venues. Ashley Firth took first place at Penistone in a personal best 17-52, while Jade Crosby was first female in 20-12, also a personal best. Richard Cottam placed third overall at the same event in 18-39. James Fryers won at Kirkharle Courtyard in 17-49, while Hannah Shaw was third female at Monsal Trail in a personal best 23-04. Phil Hinchliffe celebrated his 50th parkrun at Nostell, finishing seventh, while Gemma Nutton also completed her 50th parkrun at Selby. The highest age-graded performance of the weekend came from Barbara Haigh with 85.21%, followed by Dawn Godley (80.88%), Ian Neville (76.59%), Dawn Broom (75.61%) and Richard Cottam (74.89%).