Victory in Pendle for Titmuss at the Lancashire fell championships

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The sun was shining and the ground was firm at the Pendle fell races in Barley, as competitors duked it out for the Lancashire fell championships on Saturday 5th April. Mark Titmuss took a commanding victory in the U17 race to be crowned best in his county with a time of 22:15, 30 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. Harry Yates (25:28) was also in the mix in 8th place. In the U13s race, Louis Yates was 11th in a time of 16:16. The seniors were last up, with Adam MacDonald finishing 40th in 39:22 over the 4.5 mile (1,500ft) race. He achieved a top 10 in the competitive M40 category. Mark Walsh wasn’t far behind in 53rd (41:15), finishing 7th in the equally stacked M50 category.

Mark Titmuss on his way to victory in the U17 Lancs Fell Champs at Pendle
Mark Titmuss on his way to victory in the U17 Lancs Fell Champs at Pendle on Saturday, courtesy of Dave Woodhead

Horwich athletes enjoyed a fantastic first meeting of the athletics season as they assembled in the sun at the Trafford Open on Sunday 6th. The seven juniors accumulated an impressive ten PBs and two SBs between them. U20 Alistair Shorrock ducked under 11 seconds in the 100m for the first time (10.96), whilst Oscar Burke (U15) won his race in 12.00, knocking 4 tenths of a second off his PB. Both lads went on to run PBs in 200m. Emily Hellewell made her debut for the club, clocking 30.01 after playing a football match that morning. U15 Sarah Lawman and U17 Evie Parker both impressed in the 300m. Sarah knocked just over a second off her PB (45.86), whilst Evie shaved a humungous 2.5 seconds of hers (50.34). The performance of the day was undoubtedly the U11 Polly Parker, who ran in the 75m, 150m and 600m, knocking 1 second (12.58), 3 seconds (24.41) and 8 seconds (2:12:12) off her PBs in each event respectively.

Bolton News contributor Richard O’Reilly was in Fleetwood on Sunday for the town’s eponymous Spring 10k. His time of 40:52:24 secured him 3rd place MV55. The lighter nights herald the start of mid-week racing again, with Curley’s 5K on Wednesday 2nd kicking off a long summer of evening races. George Butler was the sole Horwich representative lining up at the Jolley Crofter’s. He clocked 23:33 to finish 19th in a large field of over 100.

Six Horwich members took to Haigh woodland parkrun. Marcus Taylor managed a sprightly 5th place with a time of 18:44. Richard O’Reilly (20:09, 2nd MV55) was warming up for the following day. Chris Charnley celebrated his 275th parkrun with his fastest time of 2025. He’ll be hoping to stay injury free and clock up his 300th appearance later this year. He’s still 4 appearances behind Tony Hesketh, who clocked 28:25. Jason (23:18) and Janet (30:43) Middleton travelled to Victoria Park, Leicester. Milly Lever (19:38) was 1st female finisher at the The Wammy parkrun in Newcastle under Lyme whilst her mother, Adele (31:02), took on the short, sharp hills of Avenham. Rob Jackson (18:37) was joined by his Uncle Steve (33:29) and two Andrews, Crickmore (20:33) and Storey (27:02), at his familiar haunt, Peel.