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Graihagh takes second at English Schools Fell Championships
Graihagh Turner produced the standout performance of a busy weekend when she finished second female overall at the English Schools Fell Running Championships Years 12 & 13 at Sedbergh School. Representing Penistone Grammar School over the 7.3km course, Graihagh finished 20th overall in 38-38 and won the Year 13 girls’ category.
Penistone also fielded a full team at the Hodgson Brothers Mountain Relay, finishing 55th overall and 31st in the Open category in 5-23-30. Flynn Rogers and James Fryers opened with 45-15 on leg one before Jon Hallam and Dan Rushforth completed leg two in 1-37-16. Steve Sanders and Shaun Swallow covered leg three in 1-25-56, with Tom Fryers and Damian Kilpin bringing the team home on the final leg in 1-35-03.
There was a strong Penistone turnout at the ASICS Manchester Half Marathon. Alan Nutton led the club home in 1-20-21, finishing 597th overall and 42nd male over45. Gemma Nutton followed in 1-44-14, her second-fastest half marathon and around 30 seconds outside her personal best. Chloe Hinchliffe recorded 1-47-16, while Ian McNulty finished comfortably inside two hours in 1-56-02, exactly two minutes outside his personal best. Adele Stenton and Amber Stenton finished just one second apart in 2-43-06 and 2-43-07 respectively.
At the Lincoln Half Marathon, Olivia Clough led the Penistone pair home in 2-12-52, finishing 1,228th overall, with Lorraine Mackie recording 2-23-16.
Harriet Drouin was in fell-running action at the Castle Calf race, finishing 53rd overall in 1-47-53. Harriet was 12th female and fourth in the senior women’s category.
Three Penistone runners tackled the Curbar Commotion fell race. Matthew Robinson led the way in 33rd overall with 1-34-55, placing seventh male over50. Heather Graham and Mark Graham both recorded 2-27-53, with Mark ninth male over60.
Jill Scrivens secured a podium category finish at the Mighty Morley 10K, taking third female over55 with a net time of 52-12. Andrew Taylor also enjoyed a strong age-category performance at the Run for Wildlife 5K at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, finishing fifth male over60 with a net time of 27-58. Karen Schofield completed the Roundhay Half Marathon in 2-42-21, finishing 63rd overall and 32nd female.
Race two of Penistone’s 2026 Winter Handicap saw John Howsham take victory after running 38-29, two minutes and 51 seconds quicker than his estimated time. Jane Cockerton was close behind in second, beating her handicap by two minutes and 49 seconds with 46-21, while Simon Pike claimed third after clocking 31-05, more than two minutes inside his prediction. Paul Fryers and Kim Rogers completed the top five.
George Parr recorded the fastest actual time of the evening with 28-17, ahead of Alex Harris in 29-51 and Simon Pike in 31-05. Jade Crosby was the fastest female in 32-33, with Linda Walton second in 38-14 and Jane Cockerton third in 46-21. In the WMA age-adjusted standings, Barbara Haigh produced the leading performance, her 48-08 converting to an adjusted 25-16 and earning the maximum 25 points. Linda Walton was second with an adjusted 27-38, while George Parr placed third with 28-17. Barbara now leads the overall age graded league with a perfect 50 points from the opening two races, ahead of Julian Williams on 46 and George Parr on 45.
Saturday’s parkruns saw 71 Penistone seniors compete across 18 venues. At Penistone, Sean Pitt celebrated his 50th parkrun by taking first place in 17-30, with Ashley Firth second in 17-46. Jade Crosby was first female in 20-31 and Suzanne McGill third female in 21-36, while Lee Hopkins reached the major milestone of 600 parkruns, finishing in 27-45. Richard Cottam took an outright win at Castle in 17-38, while Emily Duckett was third female at Hillsborough in 21-56. There were also age-category wins for Danny Batty at Penistone, Keith Gordon at Bittesby Country Park, Ian Neville, Alan Knox, Sue Hall and Ray Brown at Barnsley, Simon Pike at Pontefract, Dawn Godley at Bramley and John Lawcock at Crewe. Cottam produced the run of the weekend with the club’s highest age grade of 79.21%, followed by Dawn Godley on 78.61%, Suzanne McGill on 77.62%, Sue Hall on 77.47% and Dawn Broom on 77.14%. Former national fell champion David Cartwright also marked his 250th volunteer at Penistone Parkrun, having missed just 19 events since the event began back in 2019.