Northern 12-Stage Team Qualify For The Nationals

March 28th saw the annual Northern Men’s 12-Stage Championships, with twelve runners taking to the start at the Sheepmount Stadium in Carlisle. Four athletes tackled the longer 7k legs while the other eight handled the 5k legs. Horwich fielded a strong team consisting of James Scott-Farrington, Matthew Harrison, Ian Conroy, Ryan Snee, Thomas McKee, Daniel McParland, Tom Rigby, Adam McDonald, Alastair Murray, Marcus Taylor, Matthew Dewhurst, and Matthew Smith. Out of 40 competing teams, Horwich rose as high as eighth after the second leg and finished in the top half of the field in 19th place (3:53:37), successfully qualifying for the national finals at Sutton Park. In the associated junior events, Ava Winstanley competed in the U15s championships over 5k, producing an excellent 19:37 to finish 15th.

The Lancashire Fell Championships also took place this weekend at the Pendle Fell Race. This short but fierce 4.5-mile course packs in 1,500 feet of climb. Luke Foley blasted around the route in 32:34 to take second place, just twelve seconds behind the winner. Mark Titmuss was the second Harrier home in 38:24, followed closely by Julian Goudge, who finished just nine seconds later to take the 1st V50 prize (38:33). James Titmuss was 2nd V50 in 40:08, Mark Walsh finished in 42:08, and Alison Mort had a strong run to finish in 50:24. Further afield in the Lake District, Dan Gilbert faced the gruelling Coledale Horseshoe. Covering 13.7km with 3,500 feet of ascent, Gilbert finished well inside the top third of the field in 1:36:35.

In the weekly parkrun round-up, the Lake District proved popular as Brendan Bolland headed to Keswick, finishing in 28:24. Janet Middleton travelled to Congleton (30:42), while Grace Freary took on the trails at Pennington Flash in 23:04. Haigh Woodland saw Jeanette Lewis finish in 28:50, and Jamie Rockcliffe represented the club at Worsley Woods in 28:10. At Ormskirk, Julie Williamson clocked 32:28.

Three Harriers were in action at Worden, where Richard Howarth finished 6th in 20:26, with Linda Webb (25:42) and Michael Salmon (25:43) separated by just one second. The largest club contingent was at Peel parkrun in Salford. Danny Hope led the five Harriers home, taking 5th place overall in exactly 18:00. Rob Jackson continued his consistent form with 19:20, followed by Richard Pollitt (20:37). Both Tony Hesketh (29:29) and Steve Jackson (29:43) successfully dipped under the 30-minute mark.