Cracoe Fell Race Results
Sunday 17 July 2016
Race Report
There was an element of Deja vue at this year’s Cracoe Fell Race. Unusual for Yorkshire – the weather was very similar to last year, being cloudy with sunny intervals. The course, which starts on grazed pasture, bounds over fields, a strategically placed trailer and walls, became a familiar bog-fest as soon as the fell base was met. To add to the delights of peat bogs, the fell is crisscrossed with marram grass coated ditches and rabbit holes. However, the deceptive nature of the race becomes apparent as the serious ascent to Watt Crag begins. The terrain is now rockier and bilberry coated but the rabbit holes are still omnipresent, making the near vertical approach to the summit a lot more interesting. The steep nature of the final ascent is not apparent from the pasture below and catches out those who are not prepared.The summit is marked by the obelisk war memorial; and wind! The race now descends the way it came, unless you are one of the minority who know a different route back to the fields below.
The final element of the Deja vue came in the finish funnel of the senior race. As in 2015, Mercia’s Simon Bailey won (21.05) with Wharfedale Harriers’ Ted Mason coming 2nd (21.20). 3rd man home was Wharfedale’s James Hall (21.32). The ladies race was won by Wharfedale’s Kirsty Hall (26.16) with Pudsey and Bramley’s Rachel Pilling 2nd (28.44) and unattached runner, Pippa Barrett 3rd (28.57).
Cracoe is one of a clutch of races where the U17 course is the same as the senior route but is run separately. The race was won by Rossendale Harriers’ Matthew McKay (21.47). 2nd and 3rd boys were Keighley and Craven’s Joe Hudson (22.04) and Ambleside’s Joe Edmondson (22.38). All 3 would have been in the top 10 in the senior race. The girls’ race was won by Clayton le Moors’ Briony Holt (27.56). 2nd and 3rd girls were Keighley and Craven’s Katie Atkinson (30.30) and Rossendale’s Corinna Howorth (31.31), putting all 3 in the top 10 ladies senior race.
The U14 race was won by Settle Harrier’s Thomas Marshall (11.12) but 2nd and 3rd places were a real battle throughout the course. The final field became a sprint to the finish and 2nd place was gained, by a gnat’s whisker, by Keighley’s Louis Hudson (11.25) with 3rd place going to Wharfedale’s William Thompson (11.26). The girls’ race was won by Wharfedale’s Freya Mitchell (13.08). 2nd and 3rd girls were Helm Hill team-mates Annabelle Taylor (13.34) and Lottie Beardwood (13.44).
Helm Hill’s Henry Hunter stormed his way to another superb victory in the U12 race, in 8 mins dead. 2nd and 3rd boys were Clayton le Moors’ Dexta Thompson (8.16) and Keighley’s Samuel Headley (8.29). The girls’ race was won by unattached runner Olesia Winder (8.47) with Broughton Runners’ Emily Swarbrick 2nd (9.00) and Keighley’s Beth Roberts 3rd (9.07).
The U9 race is the only one not to mount the trailer and was won this year by Barlick’s Jacob Reeday (3.05). 2nd boy, but 3rd overall, was Wharfedale’s Tom Hooper (3.09) and 3rd boy was Settle’s Jack Sanderson (3.11). The first girl, Keighley’s Maisey Bellwood, was 2nd overall (3.09) and sprinted in alongside the 2nd boy. 2nd and 3rd girls were Keighley’s Phoebe Midgley (3.15) and Wharfedale’s Emily Anderson (3.17).