Report from Howard Jeffrey:

I have done Meltham 10K before and don’t remember it being ‘Tough’ as described this year; especially when compared to some of the brutal, alpine and ‘toughest’ races undertaken by fellow Otley AC ians. It is par for the course for the Pennines in winter….i.e. Tough! I had just forgotten. They had added the title following the bad, wet weather last year. This year it was cool and dry although the wind whipped up a bit on the top for a while but generally conditions were OK for January. Even without poor weather the route is a challenge of some seriously long, relatively steep ups and downs. I think the winning time of 37.28 by David Thompson of Barnsley AC reflects the difficulty. 1st Lady Amy Karen Green of Keighley and Craven was 31st in 41.57. 305 finishers: Ego solus iterum Otleymus (or something/nothing like that).

I expected my age group to be won in around 43 minutes, so was a bit surprised to come second (by 11 seconds, 6 gifted at the start!) in 78th place in 45.06. I had raced hard a couple of guys in my category and got the better of them but ran out of track to get first. Pleased enough with weekend workouts and on to Dewsbury next week with a target of sub 40 weather permitting.

Full results here

Otley AC is profoundly sad for the loss of our true friend and fellow runner John Cowan, following his short illness. We are all devastated by his loss and offer our condolences and dedicate our support to his family, friends and colleagues and especially to his partner and our friend Laura Hind. He was a true gentle-man in every way and he will always be missed.

His loss will be initially commemorated with a minute’s silence at the beginning of our first race of 2015, on Saturday the 17^th January  at the club handicap run at Harewood. Please meet at the usual place near the village hall on or before 10.45 for a moment’s silence at 11 and please wear your club vests. Guests are welcome. His partner Laura has asked that after the race we celebrate his life with a pint at the pub

My first race of the year was this weekends The Soreen Stanbury Splash fell race over at Haworth. With freezing temperatures and snow over the weekend the course was changed from the usual Stanbury Splash route to the Stoop Fell race. Racers were warned via social media about the conditions in are around the Penistone Hill Country Park and non 4×4 drivers were advised to park in Haworth.

I had convince Sara Richard in running the race and with the kind offer of a lift from Neil Reed the three of us were greeted with 4 inches of snow upon arrival in Haworth. We parked up and hiked over the hill to the cricket pavilion to register for the race.

With our £4 paid and pockets filled with Soreen lunch box bars we chatted and drank free coffee while waiting to see if there was any other brave/stupid OACers would turn up. While waiting for the start of the race the skies became dark and the snow began to fall. We had the usual start in the quarry pit and I was surprised to see a large turnout of like-minded nutters taking part in this race.

The Stoop fell race course is only 5 miles and has 800 feet of climbing; the conditions underfoot were a mixture of mud, deep icy bogs and inches of snow. Being towards the back (but not as far back as before) I looked ahead and saw a great sight of over 200 brightly coloured vests/jackets snaking up the coming hill and against the pure white snow backdrop it was a picture perfect moment, if only I had a camera.

During the assent I was unfortunately overtaken by a few runners highlighting an area I need to improve upon this year, but once we hit the flat section on the top the gap between those in front and me remained constant. However, this gap was reduced and I eventually I overtook people on the boggy decent. I had read a blog the day before on how to run downhill in fell races. So, with brain disengaged and with large bounding strides I went for it and attacked the hill, god it was so much fun and to my surprise I remained upright. With the final drag up the hill from the road and down to the cricket pavilion the race was done.

The last time I did the Stoop Fell Race route was in December 2013, and I was really pleased to learn the on Sunday I managed to get a 7 min course PB in a time of 64:09. In December of this year I shall aim for sub 60 mins.

The winner was Tom Adams (Ilkley) in 36:06 and the first lady was Linsey Brindle (Horwich) in 39:32.

First home for OAC was Chris Stacey in 166th in a time of 45:37 followed by Jim Sneath in 48:29, Neil Reed in 49:06, Dale Fox 53:41, Colin Best 54:52, Sara Richard 57:02, Sean O’Halloran 64:09 and Gloria Jackson in 70:51.

You knew it was coming so, by popular demand, here is this week’s race report.
I had been looking forward to the aptly named Brass Monkey half marathon today and the met office issued a very helpful weather warning ( storms, gales, tidal waves?):… It is going to be…. Cold! Great, it’s like, January! To be fair it was well accurate and I did check the website for potential cancellation before I left as that has happened before.
There were patches of pretty treacherous black ice over maybe up to three miles of the route in total. My target of 1.30 ish missed by a couple of minutes and more like Antonio’s prediction of 1.32 ish (next week’s lottery numbers please Antonio). I had ‘qualified’ my target with ‘weather permitting’, so was pleased enough with the performance with most miles being at the right rate and as there was no wind, bright sunshine and untesting course profile, it is as good as it gets. Also best time for a while and felt good all the way and 4th in the category so another few steps forward (literally and metaphorically).
Only saw the other Otley AC members at the end but there was a liberal dose of PB’s for Scott, Frank, Tom and Sara, I believe, in a race won by Daniel Jenkin of Durham City Harriers in 1.08.57. First lady, Shona Mcintosh of Hunters Bog Trotters (it’s a Scottish thing) in 1.16.13. The Otley boys done good to get the team prize with Scott Harrington 7th in 1.10.50, Frank Beresford 8th in 1.12.07, Tom Midgley 22nd in 1.14.53. Liam Dunne 73rd in 1.20.32, Tom Potter (2nd claim) in 227th in 1.28.22, Howard Jeffrey 338th in 1.32.57, Andy Webster 677th in 1.44.08, Sara Elliott 683rd in 1.44.20 and Charlotte Dunne 1005th in 1.55.59. All gun times, chip times slightly quicker.
There were 1420 finishers plus one DNF and 8 queries, one of them being a FV50 with a time of 1.12.01! Possible but not likely and as for the seven others, we may never know….or care? The choice is yours!

Full Results here
http://www.resultsbase.net/ViewEvent.aspx?Id=2488

Leeds Park Run

Brueton parkrun

After the recent passing of John Cowan it was decided to run this first handicap of the year in his memory, followed by drink in the Harewood Arms.  After a minutes silence Antonio, Debra, young Nelson Charlton father Neil and Tamara set off on the just over 4 mile route on the tracks around Harewood House.    Hugh was the first to be spotted through the snow showers and came home for his first ever handicap win ahead of Chris and Gavin.  Rogan recorded the fastest time of the day a few seconds quicker than Jeremy.

Thanks to Caron, Tom and Scott for helping out with the course marking, not a day for the flour!  and for Jack on the stop watch  Also the supporters who turned out but didn’t race on a day where our thoughts were with Laura and John’s family.

Sarah with fellow Spine Challengers, Clare Holdcroft and Peter Hutchinson

Photos courtesy of  Racing Snakes and Sean O’.

The Spine is billed as Britain’s most brutal race and they aren’t kidding or exaggerating!  The ‘challenger’ at 112 miles is the ‘sprint’ distance version taking in the pennine way from Edale to Hawes which competitors have 60 hours to complete. This may sound generous but don’t be fooled, take into account 15 hours of darkness a day, the weather, underfoot conditions and the compulsory kit list then it starts to make sense! This race was to be my 3rd attempt at the 100 mile plus distance (after 2* DNF on the lakeland 100) was it to be my 3rd DNF ? Well I’m happy to say no, I finally did it!  So if you have an aversion to pain, suffering and nasty feet then you can stop reading now, you know how it ends!

Report from our newly crowned RoM, Howard Jeffrey: OK, I had a rest on new year’s day and went to make up the relay team numbers in the under 16 girls team (and I cudda been a contenda) at York on 4^th January.

I am now in training for the Euro Long Distance Duathlon championships in April so am spending time in the saddle watching TV and DVD’s (in foreign languages) and must be turning into a kind of ‘turbo potato’. I went to Garstang and got mashed into 3^rdplace in the category!

No surprise to regular readers as Lancashire races can be tough, for spindle limbed are they… and cunning! The conditions were good if a little breezy at times and the course is pleasantly undulating through lovely countryside. The race was won by Ben Lindsay in 30.49 of ‘Manhattan Project’ (obviously not weighed down by having any skin), 1^st Lady Joanne Nelson in 38.22 of Darwen Dashers. 1st 0/60 a good minute and a half ahead, was the one in front at Denby Dale, so has to be the target.

I was 4 seconds behind 2^nd in 42.07, which was exactly the same chip time as 1^st 0/65, who was 90 seconds ahead at Guys 10. I had set off steadily as yesterday I had to cut back on even my slow training run as I was moving like a 1960’s zombie but when I got going today, I had a solid run, finishing 80^th out of 474 and sole for Otley AC. Full results

Tapering this week for the Brass Monkey next weekend and weather permitting.. 1.30 ish target.