Category: News

Race Report : Donkeys Led By Lions

A great race report from one of our new clubs… WWHR (Worsthorne With Hurstwood Runners) :

Two years ago, the Worsthorne With Hurstwood Runners were on the sofa. Grand Prix to them was a car race and the only run they did was of the school or booze variety. But thanks to inspiration of club co-founder Wayne Foster and relentless coaching and encouragement from GP Race Director and Clayton veteran John Roche, they now limber up alongside you on start lines in their yellow and navy vests as if it’s the most natural thing on earth.

2019 marks the club’s first real en-masse foray into the world of summer racing. A good dozen from Worsthorne turned up at Hameldon Hill for the season opener and the numbers have remained consistent ever since.

As the Grand Prix bandwagon rolled into sleepy Colne for the Burnley Lions 10K on Friday, this Worsthorne runner greeted it with a smile. While we train on varied terrain I secretly prefer to race on manmade surfaces.
So rather like a sprinter on a cycling Grand Tour, I’d clung on for dear life in the mountain stages of Hameldon, Pinhaw and Wholan, now it was time to tackle the bread and butter – a good old-fashioned road race. Only it wasn’t as flat as we initially thought.
A recce with a club mates an hour before revealed a nice but challenging hill that would have to be tackled not once but twice. Thoughts of a 10K PB soon evaporated and the onus was soon on keeping up with the runners nearest to us in the overall standings.
As the race began, some sage advice from JR rang in our ears: “Don’t go silly on the first lap.” He was correct, it would have been foolhardy to spray all our bullets on the first time round. The Irish Lancastrian was strategically placed along the route with his camera so he could capture the pained expressions of the Clayton and Worsthorne runners and bait any Rovers fans he set eyes on. As Friday nights go, he looked to be having way more fun that us.
I’m sure it’s a similar story at other clubs but, fast lads aside, there is about a minute that separates a clump of us semi-serious Worsthorne plodders and at times during Friday’s race, being able to run in the company friendly faces was of a blessing.
The finish at the school was raucous and we appreciated the bottled water given how humid the weather was.
Our mantra at Worsthorne is that we are a drinking club with a running problem but after the Lions race it appears our fastest female has made it to the dizzy heights of fifth in the overall rankings.

I lay the blame for that solely at the door of John Roche – life was a lot simpler when all she had to do on a Friday night was get a round in.
See you all at Kelbrook.

Great Hameldon Hill Fell Race Results 2019

261 runners turned out for the 40th Great Hameldon Hill Fell Race, the largest entrant numbers since the heyday of the mid-90s.

Results here :

Junior races : https://www.ukresults.net/2019/hamjun.html

Senior races : https://www.ukresults.net/2019/hameldon.html

Courtesy of Clayton-le-Moor Harriers

Photo David Belshaw