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Four Penistone champions in Trunce series
The club enjoyed an outstanding conclusion to the points-scoring races in the 2026 Trunce series, collecting four individual series titles and eight top-three finishes. Hannah Shaw was crowned female champion with 165 points, with clubmate Chloe Hinchliffe completing a Penistone one-two in second on 153. Richard Cottam won the men’s over40 championship with 155 points, while Josie Smith was runner-up in the women’s over40 competition with 159. Jill Scrivens finished third in the women’s over50 competition with 141 points, Dawn Godley won the women’s over60 title with 157 and Barbara Haigh was women’s over70 champion with 170. Ray Brown completed the club’s series podium haul by finishing second in the men’s over80 category.
There was also plenty of Penistone success in the eighth Trunce race itself, where 30 club runners tackled the popular four-mile course at Oxspring. George Parr led Penistone home in ninth place overall in 28-25, closely followed by Richard Cottam in tenth with 28-32 and first in the men’s over40 category. Steve Sanders was 18th overall in 31-05 and second in the men’s over50 category, while Shaun Braddock took third over60 in 38-12 and Stuart Woodhead was second over70 in 44-52. Penistone were particularly dominant among the women, with Josie Smith first woman overall in 33-38 and Hannah Shaw completing a club one-two in 34-26. Josie was also first women’s over40, while Dawn Godley won the women’s over60 category in 42-38, taking around two minutes from her previous best, and Barbara Haigh was first women’s over70 in 51-09.
Bank Holiday Monday brought further success at the 10th anniversary Denby Dash, where 20 Penistone runners tackled a scenic and testing 5.6-mile trail course around Upper Denby featuring around 700 feet of climbing through fields, woodland and the historic Quaker village of High Flatts. Richard Cottam led the club home in fifth place overall in 38-56 and collected the first men’s over40 prize, with Alex Harris 12th in 41-20 and Marc Robertson 13th in 41-22. Phil Hinchliffe finished 17th in 43-03 and was second men’s over50, while Suzanne McGill produced the standout women’s performance, finishing 27th overall and third woman in 46-07 to take first women’s over50. Jemma Williams, making her first appearance at the event, finished 44th in 49-25 and collected the first women’s over40 prize. Lesley Parker was third women’s over50 in 49-53 and Chloe Hinchliffe third senior woman in 50-46. Dawn Godley added another category victory by finishing first women’s over60 in 56-30, while Keith Gordon was second men’s over70 in 1-02-27. There was also a fitting anniversary coincidence for Kate Rushforth, who completed the 10th anniversary race on her own 10th wedding anniversary.
Penistone youngsters were also in action in the Denby Dash junior races. In the Pirate Ship Challenge, Alexander Wright finished 13th overall in 15-42 and third in the boys’ under16 category, while Heidi Morley was 40th in 18-43 and third under14 girl. Harrison Morley completed the course in 20-17. In the shorter Denby Gallop, Matilda Cottam finished 19th in 11-54, with Thom Cottam 26th in 13-52.
The Denby result capped a particularly successful few days for Dawn Godley. In addition to her Trunce race victory, two-minute personal best and women’s over60 series title, she won the women’s over65 category at the Pennington Flash 5 Mile Trail Race in 43-29. She also showed her speed over a much shorter distance at the Ramsbottom Summer Mile, recording 7-08 with an impressive 86.30% age grading and finishing second women’s over65.
On the North York Moors, Damian Kilpin produced another strong fell-running performance at the Tripsdale Trot Fell Race, finishing fourth overall in 44-30 and taking second place in the men’s over45 category.
Saturday’s parkruns saw 78 Penistone seniors compete across 29 venues, with plenty of success around the country. Tom Fryers led the way with victory at Penistone in 17-29, where George Parr finished second in 18-18 and Emily Duckett was third woman in a personal best of 21-41. Jade Crosby also produced an excellent run at Barnsley, clocking a personal best of 20-17 to finish first woman, while John Halstead was first overall at Trentham Gardens in 17-53. Richard Cottam celebrated his 100th parkrun with second place at Concord in 18-42 and Jon Hallam finished third overall at Silloth Prom in 19-32. There were further milestones for Steve Dickinson, who completed his 350th parkrun at Withernsea Prom, and Luke McGuinness, who reached 150 at Barnsley. Flynn Rogers ran 17-42 at Hillsborough to finish first in his junior age category, while Shaun Swallow recorded a personal best of 21-35 at Huddersfield and Ryan Duckett clocked 20-07 at Markeaton. Angela Rollinson also set a new best at Penistone with 27-04. The weekend’s top age-graded performances came from Barbara Haigh (84.52%), Julia Johnson (83.43%), Flynn Rogers (76.27%), Keith Gordon (75.69%) and Jon Hallam (74.91%).