Ladies FRA Bronze!!

Monday, 19 October 2009

I just wanted to say a huge well done and thank you to the Keswick Ladies Team at the FRA..... Pippa, Suzy, Sheila, Cat and Jo you were all fab. But I wanted to thank Cat most of all, my team partner for leg 3, the nav...... she was truly amazing at navigating us both, dragging me round the route blindly stumbling having absolutely no idea where we were or where we were going! My map was firmly scrunched in my left hand for the whole 1.31mins of running, the right grasping the dibber! The route took us into the sheepfolds, through marsh and bogs, over crags, then up over Gavel, through horrendous heather tussocks which nearly broke both ankles,to a fence post, round Blake Fell, all the time I was trying desperately to keep up with Cat in near zero visisbilty, the yellow vest a beacon ahead!!! Then up onto Sharp Knott, before decending to the forest and the track to the finish..... we were overtaken by the pursuing ladies (think Calder Valley here.... sorry my ankles only just managed the descent and kept giving way on the fast track route in. So Cat you were the star on leg 3..... and helped the team win 3rd place!!! Thanks for putting up with me, and I will be trying even harder over the winter months to get faster, fitter to keep up with you next year!!! Maybe??!!!

Hope this gets onto the blog.... have had a few technical hitches!

Dublin Marathon 26th October

Conditions were perfect for the Dublin Marathon with warm, dry, still weather and a huge turnout of enthusiastic Dubliners along the route. They call it The Friendly Marathon and it is easy to see why.

After a twisty start from Merrion Square the route winds through the centre of the city, over the Liffey and out into Phoenix Park before a long sweep round the suburbs to the West and back in to the start/finish area.

A total of 10,413 runners from around the world completed the course and amongst them were;

Andrew Slattery MV40 3:02:44 345th
Rachel Slattery FV40 3:57:39 3740th

Great Cumbrian Run Half-Marathon -Sunday 25th October

22 Keswick AC club members took part in the 27th Great Cumbrian Run Half-Marathon today in rather gusty but mostly dry conditions. Well done to all -it was nice to see a few of you enjoying your running.

The race followed the new route that was first run in 2008 -starting from the Castle, competitors run past the cathedral and through the City Centre before heading out on a scenic and undulating course through the picturesque villages of Cumwhinton, Wetheral and Scotby, with the course then returning to the city to pass behind Carlisle United's Brunton Park football ground, through Rickerby Park, into Bitts Park and the finish at the Sheepmount Athletics Stadium.

Race winner was David Kirkland of Alnwick Harriers in 1.12.16. First female was Gill Laithwaite in a time of 1.25.24.

STEVE HEBBLETHWAITE -01:16:59 7th
MARTIN SCOTT -01:30:23 5th M50
JOHN WAITE -01:32:28 75th
MIKE BEECHEY -01:39:22 67th M40
JOHN DAWSON -01:38:05 69th M40
NIGEL PRITCHARD -01:40:28 135th
GARY HADWIN -01:41:34 83rd M40
JOHN STEVENSON -01:45:39 123rd M40
DAVID HARRISON -01:45:24 40th M50
DERYCK HUTCHINSON -01:51:55 59th M50
R BURCHETT -01:52:22 1st M70
PATRIC GILCHRIST -01:53:33 21st M60
ALLAN BUCKLEY -01:59:36 24th M60
JAMES JOHNSTONE -01:59:29 73rd M50
IAN MILNE -02:17:36 289th M40

DIANE SHAW -01:48:59 11th F40
NICOLA DAVISON -01:52:40 73rd Female
LINDSAY MILNE -01:58:19 106th Female
KATHLEEN FRAMPTON -01:59:29 12th F50
ALISON CUTTS -02:00:12 45th F40
MARY ELLIOTT -02:06:53 158th Female
HELEN SMITH -02:11:40 188th Female

Full results HERE.

ITV Border News item HERE.

The Screes Race - 24th October 2009

This race was being run in memory of Danny Hughes who sadly passed away this year. Danny was pivotal in the development of fell-running, a keen member of Cumberland Fell Runners and well known on the Mountain Running scene. There is a lovely article in the latest Fellrunner about Danny.

The race starts in Nether Wasdale and takes in the lower of The Screes fells, Whin Rigg. Yesterday saw mixed conditions with a warm air temperature but a cool breeze and some cold showers. 48 runners lined up outside the pub at the start and it was Joss Naylor who got us underway accompanied by a starters horn.

Three Keswick runners were out for the race. Toby Cushion, showing no signs of weariness after a quick mile time-trial at Club training (5:10), set a fierce pace up the fell. He was well up the field at the summit but took a couple of tumbles on the boggy and rocky descent and I managed to sneak in ahead of him. I finished 6th and Toby 8th. Colin Valentine was also out adding another race to his impressive number this year and finished 11th.

A cracking little race that would have seen us first team except you needed four runners to count - d'oh. Nick Fish of Borrowdale was overall winner in 43:28 and, keeping it in the family, Julie Fish was first female finisher.

Ian Davies - 6th (48:17)

Toby Cushion - 8th (48:37)

Colin Valentine - 11th (50:54)

2010 Championship fixtures

The races for both the 2010 British Championship, and English Championship have been announced.

British Championship 2010:

10th April Slieve Binnian (Medium)
19th June Sedbergh 3 Peaks (Short)
31st July Dollar (Medium)
25th September Black Mountains (Long).

English Championship 2010:

27th Feb Noonstone (Medium)
1st May Coniston (Medium)
12th June Ennerdale (Long)
26th June Sedbergh Three Peaks (Short)
18th July Holme Moss (Long)
5th September Shelf Moor (Short)

The format for the British in 2010 remains the same as for this years championship with 3 races (one at each distance) to count from the 4 races above. For those that wonder how they may be able to fit in 3 races, as well as the English and Club-championship, spare a thought for runners up until 1985 where the British Championship had been made up of 15 'A' category races from which competitors could count 10 scores from the 3 different race distances.

A few Keswick AC runners will be making a weekend of the opening 2010 British Championship race, Slieve Binnian in the Mourne Mountains of Northern Ireland -get in touch if you want to come along. Likewise, there's usually a seat in a car to the other championship races, and we need 5 to count for a mens team and 3 for the ladies, so get the dates in your diaries and we'll put in some good teams at a few of the races next year.

The British Championship was first recognised in 1972. Former British Championship winners from Keswick AC have included Alan McGee, Billy Bland, Kenny Stuart, Dave Spedding (in V40, V50 and V60 categories), and Dunc Overton the V50 Championship. A number of Keswick AC ladies have had success at the British too, including Pauline Haworth, Angela Brand-Barker, Louise Roberts, Pippa Jackson and Lyn Thompson in the V50 Championship.

The first English Championship was held in 1986 and previous winners from the club have included Angela Brand-Barker, Louise Roberts, Pippa Jackson, Lyn Thompson in the V50 Championship, Dave Spedding the V50, V55 and V60 Championships, Dunc Overton the V50 Championship and Billy Bland as a V40 in 1988.

Borrowdale Fell Race -'Youtube' video

See the following link for a good video of the leaders in this years Borrowdale Fell Race, and the runners who followed, on the descent form Scafell Pike to the Corridor Route.

See 5:35 in the video for "a fine example of how not to take the optimim line". Sorry Mark -some things must be broadcast if only to discourage their reccurence, ever again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OsL6brYV-I

Cumbria Cross Country League –Race 2, Penrith, Saturday 17th October

Well done to the following for some good runs at race #2 in the Cumbria League, at Frenchfields on Saturday. Particular mention to junior, Mark Donovan on a great run and win in the Under 11 race -well done Mark.

Juniors
Under 11
Mark Donovan 8:06 (1st)

Senior women
Hayley Hodgson 34:54 (3rd)
Kim Clark 35:50 (4th)

Senior Men
Ian Davies 27:33 (9th)
John Beetham 28:21 (11th)
John Waite 28:46 (14th)
John Niccoll 28:56 (16th)
Quentin Merritt 29:33 (22nd)
Gary Hadwin 34:32 (28th)
Chris Clark 35:30 (32nd)

Full results here.

Fell and Hill Running Relay leg-times, splits and full results

Full results from yesterday's 21st UKA Fell and Hill Running Relay Championship are now online here.

Split times that illustrate how fast (or how slowly) you ran between individual checkpoints are also online here and make interesting reading...

...a few stats for the geeks amongst you:

Matt Fraser posted the 2nd fastest leg 4 time of the whole day behind only GB International Nick Swinburn.

Dave Owens's time for leg 4 was the 2nd fastest MV50 time for the leg -he was acctually 12th fastest veteran overall on the leg, from a total of 42 V40 and V50 teams.

The Keswick AC ladies pair of Cathrine Evans and Deborah Edgington gained 32 places (taking the team from 88th to 56th team overall) on leg 3 -the navigation leg.

And also, Keswick AC's opening runner (10th fastest leg time) posted the fastest leg 1 split-times between CP1-2 and between CP2-3 of any team. Some well researched lines and the confidence to follow them.

Photos from the UKA Fell and Hill Running Relay Championship

A full set of photographs from today's relay are online here -all photographs courtesy of Pete Richards.

21st UKA Fell and Hill Running Relay Championship -Sunday 18th October

A big thankyou and very very well done to those who represented the club at the 21st UKA Fell and Hill Running Relay Championship today.



Today saw one of the best performances by the club at the event in some years: Keswick AC ladies came away with medals for a super team performance to claim 3rd! -An amazing achievement for a club of our size up against some of the bigger fell running clubs from across England, Wales, Sotland and Northern Ireland, and a credit to team Captain Jo Gillyon and all the girls on the team.



Following our great run at the Ian Hodgson, the open men finished in a top 10 position again, competing in a high class British Championship field -the UKA relay is a prestigious event; Sale Harriers from Manchester brought a strong team along that included GB runner Gareth Raven who raced at the IAAF World Half-Marathon Championship last week (in a time of 66:51!), and Bingley a team that included former English and British Champions Robb Jebb, Ian Holmes and World Champion triathlete Alister Brownlee. The Keswick AC Open team's 3:48:16 (9th) saw us highest placed Lake District club behind Borrowdale Fell Runners who won the event, and is a performance to be extreemly proud of -one that is only achieved by all the lads on the team putting in a lot of hard work, and a lot of lads not on the team also running hard all year aswell. The relays are real fun too and it is such days that make it all worthwhile.

Keswick AC also fielded full MV40 and MV50 teams; the V40 team got off to a good start from Rob Wynne who ran some good lines around Blake Fell and Burnbank (after some exstensive recce sessions with myself) to take the team into 62nd place (from a total of 149 Open, women and Vet teams). Dave Prosser and Craig Smith had a flyer on leg 2 making up 20 places and handed over to Nick Ogden and Colin Valentine for the nav leg. The nav pair to had a super run gaining 11 places with the 39th fastest leg 3 time of the day. Secret weapon Dave Birch took over the the final leg and posted the 15th fastest leg 4 time of the day and 5th fastest V40 time to bring the team home 5th V40 and 25th overall. This was a great result in a competition that, as descibed above, included some very talented athletes from the best fell running clubs in Britain.

The MV50 competition is a new category introduced at this years event. 10 MV50 teams took part, 4 of the Keswick team were over 60 -V60 Dunc Overton posted 53:16 for leg 1 7th fatest V50 time, and handed over to Dave Spedding and Keith Loan for the 6.7m/2500' leg 2. Dave has been putting in a lot of cyling miles recently, and gave Keith a hard time on the big climbs. The pair arrived back at the showfield in a time of 1:34:24, with poor Keith head to toe in mud, looking like he had been dragged around the leg by his feet! By the time leg 3 pair Patric Gilchrist and Jim Downie set off low cloud and rain was falling. Despite the best laid plans the pair who had somewhat reluctantly agreed to undertake the navigation leg a few days earlier were one of 4 teams that struggle to locate CP 5 in the mist and rain yet this didn't stop them from returning to the showfield wet through but with smiles on their faces. Dave Owens (another who deserves a mention for his commitment in the last few weeks to recce the course) set off on leg 4 a man on a mission and returned to the showfield via the steep final descent from Knock Murton in a time of 52:23 which was the 2nd fastest V50 time of the day! Also the 12th fastest of all the V40 and V50 teams (from a total of 42).


A big thankyou to everyone involved in these teams for your enthusiasm to get involved both before and on the day, and to Pete and Pat Richards who provided excellent logistical support and moral boosting throughout.

Penrith Cross Country

I am doing the cross country race in Penrith on Sat 17 Oct. The senior race starts just after 1pm, so I am planning to leave Keswick at noon, or possibly 11.45am, to allow plenty of time for finding the place, parking, registration, warm up, cold sweats and panic, and so on. If anyone wants a lift, email me (q.merritt@tiscali.co.uk) or give me a ring (017687 72730).

Good luck to all those running in the FRA relay :)

Quentin

UKA British Relay Championship - Ladies Team

Following the announcement of the mens relay team the ladies team is also confirmed as below;

Leg 1 Pippa Jackson

Leg 2 Suzy Grindley & Sheelagh Veitch

Leg 3 Cat Evans and Deb Edginton

Leg 4 Jo Gillyon

Reserves include Anne Downie, Kim Clark, Sarah Bailey.

Full details about the relay can be found on the CFR website.  Anyone wanting to car share please get in touch with me or Steve Heb.

Leicester Marathon -Sunday 11th October

Well done to Sue Denham-Smith who was targeting this event for a fast time. The Leicester Marathon returned in 2006 after a 20 year absence, numbers for the event and a half marathon increasing this year to nearly 1000 entries for the marathon and 2000 for the half.

Sue has been training hard for the marathon, which paid off on Sunday with an improvement of her PB for the 26.2 miles by more than 30 minutes! Finishing in 4:12:43, the third fastest Keswick AC ladies marathon time this year (club ranking), this is a great achievement and great to see someone enjoying their running so much.

Cross Country - Penrith Saturday 17th October

The second counter for the Cross Country Championship takes place in Penrith this weekend.

Sadly another clash with a relay, this time the FRA which is taking place in Ennerdale on the Sunday. So there will be some notable absentees but with the fell season coming to its conclusion we can expect competition to start heating up over the coming weeks. Despite the clashes there is plenty of opportunity for those missing the opening Cross Country races with four races remaining and three required to qualify.

For those interested, the Penrith Cross Country will kick off with the juniors from midday. The senior race will begin just after 13:00. This year the race will be situated at Frenchfields (turn right just after Penrith Rugby Club). The usual; £2 entry fee, Club vests, bring your own pins, and remember your number if you took part at Cockermouth.

Penrith Rotary Club 10k Trail Race - Sunday 11th October

A new event took place last weekend –the Penrith Rotary Club with the permission of the Lowther Estates Trust organised a 10K trail run alongside a 4K ‘family fun run’. The trail race consisted of a one-lap course in Lowther Park on grass, farm track and tarmac, starting and finishing at the Lowther Parish Hall in Hackthorpe village. Proceeds from the event will go towards helping to buy wheel chairs via the Wheel Chair Foundation of Great Britain and Ireland.

Five AC members took part in this new race. Martin Sluce testing his knee following surgery in August was our fastest man posting 44:45 for 19th followed by Colin Valentine running 46:17 for 28th. Well done to Jim Downie who took the 1st MV60 prize in 50:02 and to Anne Downie who was 8th placed woman in 53:22.

The men’s race was won by Stuart Robinson in 39:11 and women’s by Border Harrier Clare McKeown, in 43:03.

Langdale Horseshoe –Saturday 10th October

The final counter in the both the English Championship and Lakeland Classics Trophy, a strong field contested this year’s Langdale on Saturday. With the other long-counter in this year’s English Championship being the Wasdale Horseshoe, the Langdale was always going to be a keenly contested race. Competition at the front end of the field was fierce with the top five runners across the line all within 20 seconds of each other. Andy Styan’s 1977 record of 1:55:03 is safe for another year -first was Simon Booth (Borrowdale) in 2:05:02 with first woman Jane Reedy (Ambleside) in 2:33:14.


Eight Keswick Athletic Club members tested themselves over the 14m/4000’ horseshoe. The cloud was down and some route choices were closer to the optimum than others, while some entailed greater than 14m/4000’ of distance and ascent than others! Well done to all, some good times on a hard race.

Craig Smith 2:41:32 (78th)
James Pearson 3:12:58 (189th)
Andy Murray 3:16:50 (212th)
Geoff Somers 3:26:39 (241st)
Lucy Dunn 2:44:00 (43rd)
Chris Clark 3:53:20 (278th)
Kevin Otto 4:09:00 (296th)
Kim Clark 4:14:00 (55th)






Photographs courtesy of Darian Bridge/Borrowdale Fell Runners

UKA British Relay Championship teams announced

The Keswick AC mens open, vet 40 and vet 50 teams for the 20th British Fell & Hill Relay this weekend, have been announced. The event this year is hosted by Cumberland Fell Runners will be based at The Leaps, Kirkland, nr. Ennerdale. 160 teams have entered and over 1000 runners are expected to be involved.

The Keswick AC open team placed 17th in the 2008 edition of the Relay in the Clywyd Hills of North Wales (results).

Keswick AC Open

LEG1 -Steve Hebblethwaite
LEG2 -Mark Denham-Smith + Will Veitch
LEG3 -Chris Edis + Dave Troman
LEG4 -Matt Fraser
Reserve: Jamie Luxmoore

Keswick AC Vet 40

LEG1 –Rob Wynne
LEG2 –Dave Prosser + Craig Smith
LEG3 –Nick Ogden + Colin Valentine
LEG4 –Dave Birch

Keswick AC Vet 50

LEG1 –Dunc Overton
LEG2 –Keith Loan + Dave Spedding
LEG3 –Jim Downie + Patric Gilchrist
LEG4 –Dave Owens
Reserve: Geoff Somers

Lakes Runner shop, Ambleside

We are expanding the services we are offering to runners at Lakes Runner in Ambleside, I thought it may interest some members of Keswick AC. Is there any chance you could forward it on to the members of your club? Obviously they will already know John Beetham well!


Good luck on the Relays,
Cheers
Ian

At Lakes Runner in Ambleside we are now offering the following services in our new Sports Clinic.

1) Sports Massage - John Beetham (runs for Keswick AC) from 'Hands on Keswick' is doing every other Thursday in the shop. Dealing with all Musculo-skeletal injuries and all running niggles, aches and pains. His prices are very reasonable and he comes highly recommended. Check out www.handsonkeswick.co.uk for more info or give the shop a call on 015394 33660 to make an appointment.


2) Sports Nutrition - Qualified Sports Nutritionist Abby Harman, is going to be practicing every other Wednesday from the shop. She uses food to optimise the results from your running. A nutritional protocol from Abby can maximise your ability to train, race and recover. Along with this she can have a huge positive effect on issues such as combating general fatigue, cold and flu, joint and muscle pain, stress, and safe weight loss/gain. To book a Free 10 min Chat with Abby to see if she can help please call the shop on 015394 33660.

3) Podiatry - David Nicolls our sports podiatrist from footprints health care has been working from Lakes Runner for over 2 years now and has already helped ton's of runners with Bio mechanical issues. He specialises in the production of Orthotics that fit into Fell shoes, which can be an issue with bulky off the peg alternatives. He practices every Wednesday and Saturday at the shop and can really help with foot pain, Ankle and knee problems, Hip and Back issues. Again if this is something you think may benefit you please call the shop to book a 10 min Free consultation. 015394 33660.

4) Runners Cafe - I know its not part of the Sports Clinic but its worth mentioning we are re-opening the Runners Cafe above the Shop this December (2009). This will serve good wholesome healthy Grub that won't break the bank! All the race results will be available to peruse along with Internet access and a good crack. So the next time your up reccying a race route, bob in for a brew and a piece of cake. More details of the menu and a launch party will be posted on the website when we have them. Rumour is its going to be managed by an up and coming Fell Running Star !!!!! Watch this space.

More Details on all of the above at www.lakesrunner.com

Cheers
Ian Barnes
Lakes Runner

Cockermouth 5K road race -Saturday 10th October

A cool morning with little wind provided good conditions for running and 83 runners toed the line for the second 5K race on the same course this year. The races have been organised by Sam Ayres of Cumberland FR and use Cockermouth Rugby Club's Grasmoor Sports Centre facilities. The large turn-out of club athletes and unattatched runners for the two races this year are testimony to the popularity of a 5K race which is most welcome in the North Lakes, the only other similar evant being the popular Lancaster 5K series, and further races are expected.


The race starts at Strawberry How Farm and heads away from town to take in a scenic and undulating rural loop before returning towards Cockermouth via Lorton Road and the finish at the sports centre. The race took on a slower pace than July's edition of the event and after the first kilometre John Fletcher of Border Harriers and myself had opened a lead on the chasing runners and remained together until the 4km mark when Fletcher who has recorded 15.34 for 5000m this year pulled away to win comfortably in 16.48.


Keswick runners Quentin Merritt and Peter Bingham had a good contest, Peter setting the tempo for the first half of the race until Quentin who had started conservatively, forced the pace enough to open a gap which he was able to maintain to finish just 27 seconds faster. Quentin was 2nd V45 and together with Peter and myself took the men's team prize.

Keswick Results:
2nd -Steve Hebblethwaite -17.09
9th -Quentin Merritt -20.30
11th -Peter Bingham -20.57

Full results here.

Photographs courtesy of Toby Cushion

Cumbria Cross Country League –Race 1, Cockermouth, Saturday 3rd October

With the fixtures clash of the Ian Hodgson Mountain Relay taking place the following day, there was a lower attendance at the first meeting of the 2009 Cumbria Cross Country League series at Cockermouth on Saturday. With some strong performances Keswick AC took both the mens and ladies team prizes in the 2008 series, and this year sees the inaugural Keswick AC Club Cross-Country Championship based on runners' best 3 results from 6 races, with awards in Junior, Senior, and Veteran Male & Female categories. Details of the races included in the Club Championship are here.

With several lads competing in the Ian Hodgson, John Niccoll stole a march in the championship with a great run of 36.03 for 2nd overall behind CFR’s Chris Knowles.

The senior men and women both raced over a lapped 8400m course which is one of the toughest in the Cumbria League, in characteristically autumnal conditions which couldn’t have been more fitting for the opening XC race of the season. Also steeling a march on his rivals John Beetham bagged 2nd place points in the new club-championship with 37.10 for 5th place, ahead of Chris Clark who now leads the V50 category, running 44.38 for 19th.

In the Senior ladies race, Hayley Hodgson ran 44.45 for an excellent 3rd place overall behind Clare McKeown (Border Harriers) and Eden Runner Karen Heaviside. Hayley was also 1st V40 and now leads her category going into the second race of the series at Penrith on Saturday 17th October.

Full results here

Junior results

Northern Intercounties –Wigan, 29th August

Well done Laura Vaillant on achieving selection to represent Cumbria in the 1500m at the Northern Intercounties, which was held at the Robin Park Stadium in Wigan on Saturday 29th August. Running in the under 17 race Laura ran 5.02.27 for 4th place, a result that will give her a lot of confidence, showing that she can compete at the higher level which the Intercounties represents.

Full results from Wigan here.

Cumbria Cross Country League –Race 1, Cockermouth, Saturday 3rd October

The junior races at the first meeting of the 2009 Cumbria Cross Country League series were well supported with a total of 10 clubs from Cumbria and the North West represented including good young athletes from Keswick, CFR, Helm Hill and Eden, as well as more track & field orientated clubs like Carlisle Aspatria AC, Seaton AC and Border Harriers.

The friendly, low key atmosphere characteristic of the Cumbria League meetings prevailed, 53 boys and girls across the age categories of U11, U13, U15 and U17 enjoyed the good courses provided by host club Derwent AC –the League courses range through distances of 1500m for U11 boys and girls to 4000m for U17s.
In the U13 girls race, Christina Tully was an excellent 3rd place in 10:54. Keswick had two boys running the U11 race Mark Donovan an excellent 2nd in 6:21, and Alexander Niccoll who clearly takes after his father (2nd in the senior race) who ran 9.58 for 16th. Well done to all. The next race is at Penrith on Saturday 17th October.

RAB Mountain Marathon –Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th September

The RAB this year was based on the Howgills from Sedbergh. Keswick AC ‘O’ expert Dave Troman had a great weekend with his mountain marathon partner Simon Patton, the pair running a 6:52:05 day 1, and 5:36:40 on day 2 with some good navigational decisions to secure 4th in the Elite class. Well done also to Jo Gillyon and Catherine Evans who ran 5:22:17 on the Saturday which put them in 4th place in the women’s competition at the end of day 1, and then followed this with a super day 2 of 4:49:26 with some super navigation to take 2nd place overall, an very admirable performance in a tough event which demands a real physical fitness and stamina.

Full results and split-times from the weekend here.

Ian Hodgson Mountain Relay -Sunday 4th Oct

After ominous looking forcasts all week, good weather prevailed and it was a wonderful day to be running on the fells with friends. The Keswick AC teams all did the club proud.



Keswick's open men's team completed the relay in an outstanding 4:00:43 -the whole time spent swapping positions with clubs who were jostling for positions in the top 10, so well done lads -just reward for the hard work put in to preparation for the day. On leg 1, Chris Edis and Steve Hebblethwaite set off fast and found themselves taking up the chase of a leading group that was made up of a fast running Bingley team lead by newly crowned triathalon world champion Alistair Brownlee, Dark Peak, Calder Valley, Pudsey & Bramley and Borrowdale. Chasing hard on the heels of the Borrowdale pair over Dove Crag and up the climb of Red Screes the Keswick pair then found themselves in 5th as they passed the early leaders Bingley in difficulty on the descent from Red Screes. They handed over to leg 2 duo of Dave Birch and Matt fraser in 58.47 and 5th place. Dave and Matt were not phased and flew round the leg in 1.02.40 to hand over to Toby Cushion and James Luxmoore at Hartsop in 6th. Toby and James ran a good leg posting 38.18 and pulling back a place -handing the baton over to Ian Davies and Mark-Denham Smith just behind Bingley who were by now moving back up through the field. And so for the run to the finish, only 3000+ feet of ascent -over St Sunday Crag, Fairfield and Hart Crag in the way. Ian and Mark took chase out of the handover at the playing fields on the heels of Bingley's Robb Jebb and Andy Peace but couldn't hang on -Peace and Jebb went on to post the 2nd fastest time for the leg while the Keswick lads posted 1.20.58. The team will now be fired up for the FRA Fell and Hill Relays, this year over the Ennerdale Fells on Sunday 18th October.





The Keswick AC Ladies placed 5th covering the four-leg course which starts and finishes at Sykeside, Brotherswater in a time of 5:16:18. Suzy Grindley and Lucy Dunn led out on leg 1, posting 1.28.12 for the the 2848' ascent and 4.5 miles. Trudy Beetham and Sara Hodgson then took up the baton, running hard over the 7.5 mile second leg to gain the team a fantasic 6 positions in a super 1.20.08 -the 3rd fastest ladies time of the day. Anne Downie and 'super-sub' Kim Clarke, who stepped into the breach late in the day when one of the team was lost to illness, fought hard to post 53.04 for leg 3, from Hartsop to Patterdale. At Patterdale playing fields our ladies team's secret weapon -the duo of Cat Evans and Jo Gillyon took the baton up, with the 4th placed team Holmfirth Harriers almost 15 minutes ahead. Running a fantastic leg of 1.34.54 (4th fastest ladies time of the day) Catherine and Jo pulled the Holmfirth pair to within just 90 seconds!





The Keswick AC 40+ team too had a good day. Boasting super-fast V50s and a V60 they placed a fantastic 8th V40 team against some stiff competition (the first V40 team placed 6th overall!). Dunc Overton and Neil Thompson led out on leg 1 negotiating the course to Kirkstone Pass in 1.11.29 where they handed over to Dave Owens and Rob Wynne who dashed round the 7.5 mile leg 2 over Caudale Moor and High Street in 1.12.01, moving thorough the field to pick up 4 places which must have been fun. The pair of Dave Burton and Keith Hill took over at Hartsop sheep folds for the run over Angletarn Pikes and down to Patterdale in a speedy 48.46 where Nick Ogden and Craig Smith were waiting to carry the team through to the finish in 1.24.54 for a total time of 4:37:10 and 27th team overall -A great performance from an injury affected team which was missing one or two runners, and one that could even merrit the inclusion of Birch and Denham-Smith in a team to challenge for a medal next year, also showing promise for the V40 competition at the FRAs in two weeks.





Thanks to all for a great day on the fells. It shows what can be acheived with a little hard work and commitment...and next year a top 5 spot beckons! See you at the FRAs.
Full results are online here. Individual checkpoint split-times are online here.

Photographs courtesy of John Beetham, and Dunc Overton

Cockermouth 5K road race -next Saturday 10th October

For any folk not running the at Langdale Horseshoe, there is a 5K race in Cockermouth next Saturday 10th October. Entry form/details here.

Bodyfit 5K race: Saturday 10th October, 9.30am

Grasmoor Sports Centre (Cockermouth Rugby Club), Strawberry How Road

£4 pre-entry or on the day for UK Athletics affiliated club runners

Accurately measured 5K

Minimum age limit: 14 years