Storm Gareth? Storm Hannah? Whatever Next? Its the Weekend Report!

Heatwave Dave, Drizzle Barry, Breezy Roberta, Cloudy Margaret – just where did this trend come from, where we feel the need to name normal UK weather events? It seems almost ridiculous now, that just a few weeks ago we were mowing the grass, and mooching around Glossop’s hills and streets in our running vests and shorts, with optimistic dreams of the summer to come. The good old British weather, yet again, lulled us into a false sense of security, and it would seem we have been plunged back into grimness. Huge amounts of Strava activity this weekend, and actually quite a few races. I had initially thought this would be a slow news week, but again, you just refuse to be put off by a normal weather event with a snazzy name. Big Thanks to Els Swan being my additional eyes and ears this weekend, plus Immy Trinder, Pete Wallroth and both Pauls – Peters and Skuse.

To kick off, on the Thursday Social run, Harriers gathered to remember former chairman John Hewitt, a year since his untimely passing. With a trip up Cock Hill followed by the pub, I imagine some great stories were told and embellished, beers were swilled, and perhaps even the odd tear. RIP John.

It seems that the crew went to The Star judging from the photo. At The Commercial, I once took part in a quiz round called “are you taking the p**s”, where we had to name the Glossop boozer based only on a photo of the Gents toilets. I got 10 out of 10. We’re all good at something, right? Now, I’ve teed up a hundred different puns for you with that one!

Wolf’s Pit

Without any further toilet talk, lets boot off with yet another Champs race, which seem to be coming thick and fast presently. This week it was Wolfs Pit in the Fell Championships. Our man Paul Skuse was on hand, and sent in the following:

There was a massive turnout for this one (though not from GDH – where were you all? Excuses from the no shows to be posted in the comments below). Over 350 runners rocked up causing considerable delay to the start time. This gave us all extra kit faff time allowing us to try to find something appropriate for the conditions which were as changeable as I’ve ever seen. The starting field was more than a little grim, a morass of thick cloying mud. Most of this ended up being worn by the runners as they passed through it and headed into Shatton and up the hill. To be fair, the rest of the course was surprisingly runnable with just one or two treacherous spots. The weather continued to change but was far better than I think any of us expected. As always I’ve no idea about results but I had a great time battling it out with Joe Travis and Whippersnapper Harry Hawkins. Joe got a well-deserved first GDH with Harry in just moments behind. Also looking resplendent in their blue and orange were Rob Sheldon, Pete Wallroth, Alex Critcher, Wendy Trelease, John Stephenson and the omnipresent Nick Ham. Tea, bread and soup were scoffed, a man was seen stripped to his shorts and bathing (basking?) in the icy ford and Pete got lost looking for his car (Not quite true but I thought it would let Luke off the hook for a while). Finally, big thanks to Pete who took on chauffeur duties.

And here are those results. Really tight at that front end! Well done all!

63           Joe Travis                           52.27

70           Harry Hawkins                   53.00

74           Paul Skuse                          53.15

153        Rob Sheldon                      58.21

186        Pete Wallroth                    1.00.31

223        Alex Critcher                      1.02.35

246        Nick Ham                            1.04.38

289        John Stephenson              1.07.59

306        Wendy Trelease                1.10.14

Church Stretton

Immy Trinder was down in the Midlands, and the following arrived in the Inbox….

I ran Stretton Hills today. It was a 9.2km/635m ascent English champs race. There were a few familiar faces there from Pennine and I also met Andy Fox on the start line, so I wasn’t as lonely as I thought I might be!

I was 270th overall and 55th woman – pretty near the back, but had a nice day out!

Wigan Half Marathon

Through the grapevine, we heard Adele Metcalfe did Wigan Half Marathon, and in a time of 1.55. Not sure if this is a PB, but she is reportedly very pleased, and so she should be too!

Poynton 10K

Jessica Camp was over in Poynton for this mixed terrain 10K. Her official time was 45.27, which is pretty darn speedy. Well done Jess!

Trimpell 20

Another race on Sunday where I’m thin on info, was the Trimpell 20. 20 miles around Lancaster where Paul Dury sped round the course in 3.31. Nice one Juke Box!

Lancaster Cup

This just in from speedster Paul Peters, who was running around in circles up in Lancaster….

Another quick check in from your non-resident member to the north. I’d been looking forward to the track 5k for a while, good chance at PB’s and all. Unfortunately the Lancashire weather had other ideas, very strong winds and a nice downpouring of rain so I ran for position instead of time. Really enjoyed racing tactically and came out on top in 1^st, so can’t complain in the end!

Side note, 400m’s are not as easy as they sound. I was drafted into the 4x400m last minute, and while I enjoyed it I did blow up a tad at around 300m! Luckily our more able sprinters recovered to take the win again.

SELCC Presentation

I believe results of the SELCC series have been posted in an earlier report, but its worthy of reminding you of some amazing GDH performances. David CL went to the presentation evening and collected our little haul which can be seen below.

In her debut season, Martha Wallroth came 15th in the under 11 girls category. Caitlin Swan 4th in the under 13, and Josie Swan 2nd in the under 15. Amazing performances from our Juniors! Meanwhile Joanne Brack was 3rd in the L50 category, and David Christie-Lowe 2nd V60. Well done to all who took part!

Parkrun

Kudos to all Harriers who got out on Saturday morning for Parkrun, which resembled more of a swim than a run actually. Glossop and Hyde saw the most GDH action, with Steven Pepper managing another PB at Glossop with 21.33. Tony Hillier racked up his 150th at Hyde today. Congrats Tony!

Christine Peters managed a PB at Newcastle 26.21, and Emma Peters continues her rich vein of form, nabbing a PB at York.

Meanwhile there was further tourism from Robert Webster at Marple, David Munday in Pennington Flash (near Wigan), Sean Phillips at Heslington (near York)

See consolidated club report here

Junior Parkrun

Martha and Merlin Wallroth were over in Marple, and have today claimed their Half Marathon bracelet. Math’s aint my strong suit, but I recon that’s 10 (possibly 11?) junior parkruns. Either way its a fantastic achievement and great to see our growing junior contingent.

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Other Stuff

For anyone interested in navigation training, I believe there are still spaces available on 24th March. This training has been subsidised by the club, and at £15 represents fantastic value. Please PM Jude Stansfield if interested, and there is a thread on our Facebook page with more detail. The first of these sessions was orchestrated by Tim Budd today, and it looks like the mixed weather built some additional character in those attending.

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Don’t forget, we love to hear about your exploits big and small. Please email us at gdhweeklyreports@gmail.com!