Donard Challenge Fell Race, 8 April 2017
Race Report by Paul Alexander
17 Tod Harriers travelled to Northern Ireland this weekend to compete in the first race of this year’s British Fell Running Championships. The sun shone brightly upon Newcastle County Down but a cooling sea gave comfort during the runners’ exertions. The first fast 3km of the challenging 10km course took competitors straight into oxygen debt before sending them straight up the 853m summit of Northern Irish mountain of Slieve Donard. The impressive sight of an incredible cloud inversion greeted runners as they reached the summit but with no time to spare they were quickly throwing themselves down the technical and treacherous descent.
The men’s race was won by Tom Addison of Helm Hill Runners in 58:03 whilst Kelli Roberts won the Ladies in 1:11:39.
Local runner Andrew Worster had an incredible performance and continued to build on his improving form to finish 1st Todmorden Harrier and an impressive 20th overall with 1:01:56. Jon Wright followed in 56th position in 1:07:06 with Graeme Brown 63rd in 1:08:33. Nick Barber showed his fitness is returning to peak as he pushed hard for a 1:10:51 and 77th overall. The men’s team finished 9th overall and 5th in the V40 category.
V60 Dave Collins showed grit and determination as he picked himself up after a bad fall which moved him down to 5th from 3rd in his category but needed a handful of stitches to his eyebrow at the finish. Dave commented that “Several pints of Guinness settled my nerves afterwards!”.
In the Ladies race, Lucy Burnett put in a solid display and showed great form as she returns from injury. Lucy completed the course in 1:25:17 for 169th overall. Claire Duffield, Rebecca Patrick and Kate Mansell finished 7th in the open category and an excellent 4th in the V40’s.
Full Toddie results:
20 Andrew Worster 01:01:56
56 Jon Wright 01:07:06
63 Graeme Brown 01:08:33
77 Nick Barber 01:10:51
145 James Riley 01:22:03
156 Dave Collins 01:23:32
169 Lucy Burnett 01:25:17
170 Claire Duffield; 01:25:29
176 Paul Hobbs 01:26:20
188 Rebecca Patrick 01:27:41
194 Kate Mansell 01:28:09
196 Melanie Blackhurst 01:28:53
215 Neil Hodgkinson 01:34:13
220 Matthew Annison 01:35:13
222 Dan Taylor 01:35:32
223 Andrew Bibby 01:35:38
246 Helen Hodgkinson 01:51:35