Old County Tops
At 37 miles long and with over 10,000ft of vertical accent, the Old County Tops fell race attracts only the most dedicated and hardened mountain runners in the country. The classic, long distance, navigational challenge from Great Langdale in the Lake District, see competitors racing I pairs over the summits of Helvellyn, Scafell Pike and Coniston.
On Saturday 16th May, Six runners from Todmorden Harriers, along with a couple of Rossendale Harriers, joined the race from the relative calm of the valley bottom and climbed high into Lakeland the fells. After a pretty rough start for Todmorden’s Ultra Supremo, Craig Stansfield and partner Jason Craven (Rossendale), they managed to battle through initial sickness and finish a very credible 25th position in 8hours 33minutes
Stephen Pullan and Dave Garner, both Todmorden runners, fought their way around the tough course in around 9hours 30 whist Michelle Fuller (Todmorden) and Davina Raidy (Rossendale) finished in a time of 11 hours 30 minutes.
Unfortunately for Todmorden Poster Boys Dwane Dixon & Ben Crowther, an injury sustained to Crowthers’ thumb in during the early part of the race stopped the show. They will no doubt be back next year though to earn the hardest won T-shirt in fell racing.
Report by John Allan